Yesterday morning I woke up to the phrase "civic virtue." It was a rude awakening. The alarm clock went of and I heard words that I had once had a definition for. Civic virtue had meaning as early a grammar school back in the 1960's, a phrase that I was actually taught in school seems to have become foreign now. How did that happen?
As meaningless as those two words have become in American culture, I have been carrying them around like a talisman ever since yesterday morning. The fact that this nation once had a sense of civic virtue, the memory of civic virtue should be discussed everyday while there is a Democrat in the White House.
Even separated those words seem to be forgotten most places but together they have far more power to disarm those who work against civic virtue than a statement like "Would you be willing to accept one buck in revenue increases for every three dollars in spending cuts?"
The history of that phrase having meaning can be seen everywhere we look. Back in times past when the rich were paying there fair share of the taxes, the nation built an infrastructure that today there are people seriously discussing no longer maintaining. Before the tax structure was rigged for the rich, the presently disappearing Middle Class was growing. All those aspects of our social structure that so many want to take away now are legacies of a forgotten civic virtue.
But who do we have to remind Americans about civic virtue anymore?
With Republicans attacking Democratic values and Democrats unwilling to force or even admit that a return to civic virtue is the answer, the national debt will continue as a Republican talking point. The people have been shoved to the rear for too long and blaming the media? Well, I heard it on the radio.
"The precise point is that money and wealth is accumulated so much at the top that it's time for the wealthiest, richest and most powerful people in this country to play their proper role, to have the civic virtues to support America's recovery — to stop saying that everything is theirs, and the rest of society has to suffer.
"I want the people at the top to have responsibility once again. First, to follow the law, because this has been an era of corporate recklessness and scandal and illegality.
"So, part of civic virtue is being lawful once again. But another part ... is sharing in the responsibility in our society. And I believe that the richest and most powerful people have done very well over the last 30 years — but they have not done right for the American people. And it's time that they do."
After getting my wake up call from Jeffrey Sachs, hearing the reminder of "civic virtue" I went looking for the link to The Price of Civilization by Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs. It's right there in black and white.
Chapter 1: Diagnosing America’s Economic Crisis
A Crisis of Values
At the root of America’s economic crisis lies a moral crisis: the decline of civic virtue among America’s political and economic elite. A society of markets, laws, and elections is not enough if the rich and powerful fail to behave with respect, honesty, and compassion toward the rest of society and toward the world. America has developed the world’s most competitive market society but has squandered its civic virtue along the way. Without restoring an ethos of social responsibility, there can be no meaningful and sustained economic recovery.
I find myself deeply surprised and unnerved to have to write this book. During most of my forty years in economics I have assumed that America, with its great wealth, depth of learning, advanced technologies, and democratic institutions, would reliably find its way to social betterment. I decided early on in my career to devote my energies to the economic challenges abroad, where I felt the economic problems were more acute and in need of attention. Now I am worried about my own country. The economic crisis of recent years reflects a deep, threatening, and ongoing deterioration of our national politics and culture of power.
The crisis, I will argue, developed gradually over the course of several decades. We are not facing a short-term business cycle downturn, but the working out of long-term social, political, and economic trends. The crisis, in many ways, is the culmination of an era-the baby boomer era-rather than of particular policies or presidents. It is also a bipartisan affair: both Democrats and Republicans have played their part in deepening the crisis. On many days it seems that the only difference between the Republicans and Democrats is that Big Oil owns the Republicans while Wall Street owns the Democrats. By understanding the deep roots of the crisis, we can move beyond illusory solutions such as the “stimulus” spending of 2009-2010, the budget cuts of 2011, and the unaffordable tax cuts that are implemented year after year. These are gimmicks that distract us from the deeper reforms needed in our society.
The first two years of the Obama presidency show that our economic and political failings are deeper than that of a particular president. Like many Americans, I looked to Barack Obama as the hope for a breakthrough. Change was on the way, or so we hoped; yet there has been far more continuity than change. Obama has continued down the well-trodden path of open-ended war in Afghanistan, massive military budgets, kowtowing to lobbyists, stingy foreign aid, unaffordable tax cuts, unprecedented budget deficits, and a disquieting unwillingness to address the deeper causes of America’s problems. The administration is packed with individuals passing through the revolving door that connects Wall Street and the White House. In order to find deep solutions to America’s economic crisis, we’ll need to understand why the American political system has proven to be so resistant to change.
You can read on. Perhaps you can find some answers in Jeffrey Sachs.
I have no clue why it has become about Republicans and the media around here but that has gotten really old and really dull. If we the people can't get the Democrats involved while people are protesting in the street, what good are they? If you can't take an honest look at the Democratic Party and the man running it, what good are you?
When the Tea Party owns Republicans but Occupy Wall Street can't find a friend in Washington, besides new scapegoats what is it you need now? I no longer understand the Daily Kos community version of reality but I am getting a message from Occupy Wall Street. It's people, not partisan bullshit but real people and they are not about defending Democrats. I think they are about restoring civic virtue.