I have my doubts and suspicions about a lot of things going on right now.
I know the economy as we know it is in serious trouble, indeed, has been forever altered vis-a-vis some of the nationalization of major sectors that has taken place in recent months.
I also know that this crisis is translating into tough times for real people, this diarist not excluded.
However, I'm not real comfortable about all this I hear about "saving the economy".
In fact, I find it nothing short of depressing/frightening/mind-numbing that we should be saving an economy that has proven so intrinsically flawed in the first place.
Are we really supposed to accept that all the ills of this economy lie solely with the last 7 years of stewardship, instead of with real, inherent, philosophical problems that go back at least {ahem} somewhat farther?
Hardly.
Yeah, ok, I know how roaring things were in the oh-so-fab Clinton years. I also know that a large portion of that success was due to the expansion of one of the many bubbles (tech/web/IPO's) that this economy is now on the opposite end of. And the bubble approach is part of what I am talking about. To continually rely on such a ridiculous model while the lives of average people continue to decline over time, despite the bubble highs, is pure folly.
There are many, even many of the critics of the current administration, who not long ago would have sang right along with the chorus that anything like the great depression ever happening again in this country was an abject impossibility. Some still insist on at least humming the tune even now. But most of them don't believe the ice-caps are melting either, or if they are, it's "just nature's cycles".
And I'm not saying the sky is falling. But some have been saying so. And still others have said, um, well it might could, maybe, perhaps...
For those of us sharing some sort of common grasp of reality, we just know it's time for some profound systematic alterations.
And no, I am not espousing some sort of "socialism".... certainly no more than what the kings of the fake free market, the Nixon/Reagan/Bush GOP, have already delivered.
The thing is though, of all the billions and billions, er trillions, currently being "invested in our future", it is a bit of a shame that so much of it is going to the wrong recipients. "The Crisis" has won the day again, mostly for those who caused it in the first place.
At this point though, I am clinging to a bit of patience with our President-Elect. I am desperately hoping that the supposed logic at work here is no mirage, wherein within the damage control there's a "catch" that comes along with the offer of urgent aid. And this catch is not "22", but some truly new policy(ies) that will create real opportunities for real change. And that all the elegant dancing going on is but a sober but necessary tactic towards ensuring results.
One place I will be watching as I continue to guage the success of such logic, is Detroit, MI.
If it is a must that Wall St. gets a crutch, then it is equally vital that millions of blue-collar jobs, including their union cards, are equally supported.
But both require serious caveats, or the whole notion of "change" will have turned out to be nothing short of naive good-intentions at best, cynical, dis-honest lip-service at worst.
The caveats for Wall St. are something I am less prepared/informed about, so I will have to just state that eliminating the "Golden Parachutes" is a start, and hopefully will lead to an overall rethinking about the grotesque and irrational disproportion that exists between what CEO's make vs. the average salaried worker.
As for Detroit though, I think it is clear: After 30+ years of hemming-and-hawing about improvements to their product, as well as outright obstinance and greed regarding their role in petroleum addiction and global warming, there can be no more incremental baby-step improvements to their dinosaurs and how much gas they consume. This predicament we are in demands boldness, indeed. And well, Mr. President-Elect, 40, 50, or even 60 miles per gallon, hybrid or no, is not bold. Not when, if properly challenged, we are already capable of so much more.
Boldness.
Boldness is helping to launch the next Industrial Revolution. And like the earlier one of the 18th/19th centuries, a key will be how the industries make use of - and more importantly, help make even further advances in - cutting edge technology. Technology that without the benefit of subsidized assistance, and the subsequent ability to reach mass-volume production, would not be "profitable". Well that was once the case with many a great technological achievement, until someone saw the potential they held and put up the kind of support it took to make them an economic reality.
I don't know how it might happen this time around. And in a way I don't care, so long as it does happen. Although I must add that the purist/romantic in me has its own ideas - about seeing some new upstart auto manufacturer put at least one of the big three out of business while making fully electric vehicles (that someday will be re-charged using home-use power generated by solar, wind, and/or water).
One thing's for certain though, all this talk of "saving this economy" had best be tempered by the very real possibility that maybe it shouldn't be saved... at the very least not certain major components of it, literal or philosophical.
How will we make giant leaps towards thriving in the new, as-of-yet-unknown tomorrow, when all our focus is on just barely managing to survive today?
Answer: We won't.
Yet, as I have learned to do throughout the process of watching Mr. Obama's impressive record of successes so far, I am waiting to pass any definitive judgments. Because I suspect there will again be a method to the proverbial madness that is revealed as we move forward...
A madness that I think has a promising future as "Sustainability", but in this case I'm calling it "Oconomy 101".
And we'll learn sooner than later just how popular/successful a theory course it turns out to be... if in the not-too-distant future we see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it turns out to be the on-coming headlights of a very real and fully electric car, that is practical to most consumers.