Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: February 5, 2009 - # 9906 - Title:  How did America get into this economic mess? (815)

A few of us oldsters still remember President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR) words about fear: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” True words then and now!  But human nature being what it is fear tends to creep in when people don’t understand the issues involved – in this case a depressed economy.  

And when fear sets in our world changes and affects our decisions. We fear for our jobs – or businesses - we fear for our family, and our fears feed upon themselves and soon we, as a people, stop buying, stop trading, and the economy, the engine of prosperity, soon dries up – and jobs vanish and wealth disappears. A strong economy depends upon ‘we the people’ buying goods and services – we the people are the economy. We are interdependent with our neighbors for our prosperity.

I was seven years old when dad lost his teaching job in 1934. The economy and tax base died and the school board didn’t have the money to pay dad’s $100 monthly salary. And there were no other jobs, even for a University of Michigan graduate.  Unemployment, unlike today’s 7-8 percent, was 35 percent. That job loss adversely affected my parents the rest of their lives, and it affected many of my decisions over the years. Losing a job, then or now was and is devastating to any family. America is beginning to fear ‘fear’ itself and that, unfortunately, is self-destructive, just as FDR said it was.

The media keeps us posted daily on the number of workers being laid off. This media frenzy tends to feed our worst fears – but it doesn’t help us understand the root cause of this economic recession. Even if we did understand its root-cause we would likely still ask ourselves, what can we do about it? Then answer, nothing - and continue to allow our fears to dominate our decisions.

This economic mess was not caused by the republicans or by the democrats; it was caused, in my opinion, by the American people themselves.  How? By allowing those wielding power to ignore the cornerstone of America’s liberties – the principles of liberty Jefferson inserted into his Declaration of Independence with the words “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” This cornerstone was then used by the Founders to draft a new and unique Constitution based on the principles inspired by the source of Jefferson’s cornerstone, with the final authority for our liberties, including economic liberty, resting with “We the people” – words firmly enshrined as the first three words of the Preamble.   

Now, 221 years later, with what many see as rampant graft and corruption engulfing many of our elected leaders, in both parties, the American people have become fed up and some, not all, would like to do, as did the Israelites, ask God to give us a king to fight our battles. The Israelites wanted a king to be “like other nations” and it caused them their liberty – and with some leaders today wanting to emulate European socialism America could also lose those precious liberties given America by the Founders.

The government America’s Founders established is under attack today by groups who would have America become “like other nations,” and “change” this unique nation of liberty that America was created to become. The term ‘limited government’ reminds me of the three primary roles of government: 1. the protection of life; 2. protecting our property and the right to own property and create wealth; and 3. assure each citizen their right to exercise their conscience.

Our laws protecting life and conscience are well established and generally work well. It is the protection of our properties, those things we accumulate with our earnings that seem to be less than properly protected. Many have lost wealth during this recession and part of it, some believe, is due to the government’s interference in and its inability to establish and enforce fair and equitable rules for the nation’s financial markets. We are a nation of law – laws presumed to be equitably enforced by regulators for everyone. But when the regulated and regulators become corrupted the country is damaged, trust is lost, and people fear – causing the economy to falter. It’s the unbreakable law of economics.

People my age have lived through several recessions including the great depression. While tough we survived and America too will survive this recession as long as the people remember it is “we the people” who create our economy and wealth, and maintain their faith in America’s unique economic system that allows each individual the freedom to try, to buy, to sell, including the freedom to fail. Remember also that faith is the first rung of that ladder called success and with faith in self fear can be overcome.