That’s Right Nate

As I was driving through a questionable neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago last night, it occurred to me that my expensive truck was out of place amid the urban squalor.    As I saw old people scurrying down the street in tattered Fall jackets, it occurred to me that I probably spend more on gas in a week then some of these people earn.   It’s very sad to drive down city streets and see the very people who should be building up our economy thrown away on the city streets with no job and no prospects.   Has the system failed them?  I think not.   They have failed the system and for that, they owe those of us who are capitalists a big apology.

If this country is to make it out of the economic morass that the Obama administration has put us in, we need everybody.  When America struggled through the Great Depression, there was a veritable army of plucky youngsters selling apples and newspapers.  When was the last time that you had somebody come up to you and try to sell you an apple?  Has America really lost that kind of spirit and desire to better it’s lot in life?   My dad had it.   He started out from humble upper middle class beginnings and built a multi-million dollar business that he could be proud to leave to me.  I have dreams of my daughter someday marrying a man who I could leave my business to and I continue to steward it for just such an eventuality.

The poor are lazy and ruining our economy just when we need them most.   Maybe, it’s the result of well meaning liberals who have coddled the poor.   Maybe they just weren’t fortunate enough to have a John Peele to teach them the value of a buck.   One thing’s for sure, until they stop lounging around and start taking the initiative, we are doomed to a jobless recovery.  If I was poor right now, I’d probably collect wood and build furniture that I could sell.  I’m sure if people put their mind to it, they could come up with some great ideas too.   Rich and poor we’re all in this together–that’s what America is all about.

Say what you will about this Obama Recession, but if there is a silver lining it is that families have started to remember that what’s really important in life are the simple things.  Inspired by the example of George W. Bush who seemed to enjoy nothing more than clearing brush at his ranch despite being the most powerful man in the world, these modern day Daniel Boone’s have taken to the great frontier.

I can’t help, but envy these people and their modern day pioneer spirit that proves you don’t have to be in a rural area to get in touch with America–any city park will do.  In their tents, sometimes whole families get away from the rat race, the plasma televisions, Facebook, and all those other distractions of modern life.  They may not have jobs or even homes, but these people have something even greater and that’s a little lady that we call America.  I hope that those people who put down Bush as a President will remember the inspiration he has been for all these people who have followed his lead back to nature.

Tom Brokaw penned the term “the greatest generation” to refer to those Americans who grew up in the Great Depression and went on to fight in World War II, as well as those who made their contributions on the home front.  These were pretty impressive people right?  Not according to the Democrats.   President  Obama said that another Great Depression such as the on that produced the Greatest Generation would be a “national catastrophe”.  This irresponsible fear mongering is designed to get Americans so scared of a Great Depression that they would be more concerned with finding food, clothing, and shelter than with the size of their government.

Fortunately, Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) has emerged as a voice of reason in the congress.  Decrying the Democratic fear mongering that looks at inactivity as a bad thing, Kyl has called Obama out for “casually throwing out some careless language.”  Words like unemployment, homelessness, starvation, and poverty panic people and take their minds off the good things that are going on in the country right now.  Ask yourself, what these things have in common (Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Jazz, Superman, The Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby).   Give up?   They’re all part of the culture of The Great Depression.  “If it’s true that adversity and hardship can bring out creativity,” said Miles Orvell, professor of English and American studies at Temple University, “then the Great Depression was one of the great creative periods of our time.”

So before you Democrats decide to panic everybody by bringing up how much trouble they will have buying their next meal, maybe you ought to remind them just how much of our American character was forged out of this time.  We need the American people to remember, Depressions can be fun.  The most important thing is reducing the size of government–food, medical care, stuff like that has a way of taking care of itself.

The sky is falling talk continues all over the media since the bailout plan stalled yesterday.  I laugh when I see some thirty-something reporter in a lather over the “upcoming depression”.  These newscasters have no memory of the last depression so they’re naturally anti-depression.

If I’ve learned one thing from movies like Cinderella Man, Seabiscuit, and Annie its that our plucky can do spirit will see us through any financial crisis as long as we reach down deep inside ourselves for that something only we have.  That’s the way some washed up jockey can ride a broken down race horse to glory or an orphan down on her luck can charm high society with only her smile and her adorable dog Sandy.

Americans who fear the depression only fear it because they don’t know the thrill of travelling this country by box car or travelling the backroads with just a hobo pack.  Hardworking people will be out of work, sure, but a warm filling cup of soup is only as far as the nearest bread line.  I’m hoping that radio drama may make a come back.

John McCain qualified his statement about balancing the budget yesterday by saying that it won’t be his first term, but his second term where the budget will be balanced.  You have to admire his guts in campaigning for the 2012 election before completing the 2008 one.  Ask yourself, who do you trust to live on a fixed income more than an 80 year old?  As a child of the Great Depression McCain is uniquely qualified to run the White House in a frugal manner.   If he says its going to take until he’s an Octagenerian to balance the budget, I’m all for giving him the extra 4 years.