Pacific Views

Bush's America

This week George W. Bush's ratings have had a bounce based on the capture of Saddam and the news that the economy is getting better. On the Iraqi front, I think that eventually, the troubles there will show that capturing Saddam was just one more of the Phyrric Victories we've had ever since Bush decided to go to war on Iraq. Bush's support for the neocons aspirations of empire are crumbling under the twentieth century reality that nationalist aspirations have overcome empirial dreams. Just because we've moved into the 21st century doesn't make this sentiment any less powerful.

On the economic front, Wall Street and investors are happy because they see signs that the sick economy is finally getting back on its feet. Force-fed massive antibiotics consisting of tax cuts and direct subsidies to Bushite industries, there are signs that the economy is coming back, especially for the investor class who are once more pouring money back into the stock market. So what if the economy is only generating 80,000 jobs a month? The fact that there are net job gains must mean things are getting better.

Yet, is it distinctly unsettling to see reports that after several months of "uptick" in the economy, the numbers of hungry and homeless have increased. In New York City they have exceeded all previous years since the 1970s when accurate numbers were kept. Bob Herbert reports that in the city alone, of the some 39,000 homeless applying for shelters are included almost 17,000 children.

As Kevin Drum said, people in this country have always had a more conservative bent and thus inclined to believe that people were responsible for their own economic conditions. Under a conservative perspective, people make their own beds. And because we are the land of opportunity where anyone can become a millionaire, anyone who has problems must be slacking.

Yet joblessness during the Great Depression was so extensive and the numbers of people (whether deserving or not) on the dole or even worse, wandering the roads looking for "opportunity" became too big to ignore or to blame. During the Great Depression, Americans finally realized that it wasn't the people that were failing, it was the system. And that led to a couple of realizations: anyone could be left without a job (including oneself!) no matter how good or how hardworking one was, and the government was an arm of the people and it could weigh in on the side of the less fortunate as a part of a shared, community response that could raise the floor for all Americans.

Our time has not yet realized this -- but the trendlines are such that it is likely that soon, people will question the conventional wisdom. Then it will no longer be so easy to believe that only the fortunate few should be afforded health care or a decent paying job, or the ability to retire after reaching a certain age. And once again it will be seen that it is not the fault of the individual, but also the fault of the group (government, society) that allows so many to fall between the cracks.

Please consider giving something extra to the food bank or homeless shelter in your neighborhood. Those of us lucky enough to have jobs and a stable place to live are not necessarily better or more deserving than those that do not.

Posted by Mary at December 19, 2003 09:38 AM | TrackBack