Monday, September 28, 2009

The Current U.S.: a Can Do Nation, or a Can't Do Nation?

The Financial Post had an article last Friday titled "The Call on America Inc., a Can't do Nation".

The author describes a young man he saw in Waikiki carrying a sign "Homeless. Please help.". He sported thousands of dollars worth of tattoos, smoked a cigarette and chatted on his cell. The authors wonders what this might represent in the larger picture, what might be the connection between this young man and the United States of America. He goes on:

"...that well-fed tattooee could still be America right now: Living the life, bumming along, confident that the handouts will keep coming, that the smokes will be there for the smoking, that the cellphone calls will keep coming from homeless friends."

"You've likely already guessed that I believe the United States is not a buy-and-hold proposition for the long haul, that a combination of political folly, financial recklessness, foreign adventurism and general carelessness have put the country too far into the hole for it to climb out and back to the form of, say, the 1990s."

"The last time United States faced such a task, it took the Second World War to lift it out of a seemingly endless economic morass, to galvanize the country and set the stage for the great post-war expansion that helped define the 20th century as America's".

We sure hope these wars will not happen and will not be needed again.

I disagree with the author on the long term. No, the U.S is a great nation with huge resources and great people. Yes, it is in a huge deep and scary hole. However, it can and should be able to have a great future. If only the big bankers were controlling it for short term profit? Certainly one of its biggest problems.

It is not over!

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