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The Bush Administration has two ways to deal with bad economic news. One is to adjust the numbers to eliminate the bad news -- Sen. Bob Kerry's charge that the Agriculture Department grossly inflated farm income is only the most recent example. The other is to proclaim that the red ink we see is really black, as with the presidential press secretary's convoluted explanation that a rise in unemployment claims is actually good news.
Despite these heroic efforts by the Bush Ministry of Information, many Americans continue to believe that the voo-doo economy is in deep doo-doo.
And so we hunker down. We don't buy new houses, cars or
appliances. We go to the library rather than the book
store, to garage sales rather than the furniture store. We
shop for bargains when we shop at all, and otherwise we
scrounge or make do with what we have. Even the cultural
elite announces the era of cheap chic.
Thrift may be a traditional American virtue, but it destroys the modern economy which evolved after World War II, wherein you had a steady job at a good wage with an established firm, and could count on increased pay every year. Given that security, why not go into debt and buy lots of interesting new stuff, thereby providing jobs for auto-plant workers, appliance salesmen, carpenters, insurance agents, repo men, etc.?
But nobody has that kind of sinecure any more. Large, established companies -- Pan Am, LTV, Eastern Airlines -- go bankrupt. Even IBM, public schools and the military lay people off these days.
It's almost amusing to see interviews with unemployed white-collar Californians who once believed that their college degrees would somehow shield them from the vicissitudes of American life.
Now they, too, see that the future's uncertain and
the end is always near.
As long as we believe that
foreclosure can be imminent after the slightest misstep,
the modern economy of continuous consumption will be in
trouble.
How do we solve this problem?
The prudent course would require a painful adjustment to a sustainable economy based on traditional values like thrift and hard work.
Unfortunately, even though the Bush folks often praise
traditional values,
to them thrift means saving your
money so that Neil can borrow it and not pay it back.
Hard work? The people who do the hardest work in this country are migrant farm laborers, and they get paid the least. Those who make the most are not those who work, but those who play -- baseball, football, basketball, etc.
So what's the other option for improving the economy? Well, if we all believe that we have secure jobs and that we'll do even better in the future, we'll act accordingly. The greatest binge known to history can continue until we're gone and our grandchildren can figure out how to pay the bills.
That's what Bush has been trying to do. Trust him, he says. Times are good and getting better, he insists.
Our educational system has its critics, myself included, but it must be better than people think. If American education were truly wretched, Bush would stand much higher in the polls because a majority of Americans would be stupid enough to believe his rosy assurances.
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