Chapter 79.3: Mind Boggling Collapse

We are living through an incredible moment. The utter collapse of U.S. financial markets is like something out of a futuristic tale of apocalypse, except it's happening now, in real time, with real damage.

The Bush administration probably will go down as the worst in U.S. history because of the myriad debacles — financial, military, political, legal — that occurred on its watch. To be sure, not everything has been President Bush's fault; too much has happened to blame it all on one person. But then again, not everything was Herbert Hoover's fault either. That doesn't mean we have warm, fuzzy feelings for him or his term in office.

Looking back at Hoover's Wikipedia entry, I'm a little concerned that he was also considered a progressive and a reformer. In this election, we have a purported progressive (Obama) and reformer (McCain) and the election is looking razor thin. (What is it about extremely close elections in this century?)

To a financial know-nothing like myself (just because I can do math doesn't mean I'm up on economic theory), it appears that the rich were trying to get richer on risky investments and when many of those investments failed, they weren't able to make good on their outlay of cash. They were over-extended. Much like the American populace.

Let's face it, this world lives on credit. It's not just in America — all over the world. Hell, I think they extend credit on Antarctica! And if a bank were to say, "I know we gave you a 30-year fixed mortgage, but we need our money now," (which probably isn't legal, so I'm not too worried about it happening to me) there's no way I could pay it without having to borrow money from someone else for less favorable terms. I think that's, in a sense, what has been happening on Wall Street.

This could well be the beginning of our Great Depression. If, as some speculate, we are experiencing the end of the "American empire," then we should probably pay close attention to what's going on. Our next major decisions — like who we choose to be president for the next four years — are exceedingly important for today and for our children tomorrow.

Chapter 59.4: Increasingly Jaded

The more I hear and read about what our current administration is doing -- whether it's the Justice Department problems, the state of the war in Iraq and our inability to quell the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the Katrina response in '05 -- I find myself wondering whether this country will ever recover from the debacle of George W. Bush's presidency. I remember being concerned about the state of the world's affairs during the Reagan era, and I still consider President Reagan the Father of Modern Homelessness, but somehow this period is more frightening.

But what is worse is I haven't seen anyone else step up and demonstrate the capacity to remedy things. I have no faith in Rudy Giuliani or John McCain, I don't believe Barack Obama has the experience to lead our nation yet. And while Hillary Clinton has many of the qualifications, I'm not convinced she can lead us through what may be one of the darkest periods of our nation's history. John Edwards, who I believe has many fine qualities, also is faced with difficult family issues. I know I'd be distracted if, God forbid, something potentially fatal befell my wife.

America may be on the verge of a new series of mediocre presidents who serve one term and are barely remembered for any lasting, positive achievements 20 to 25 years later. And some may be vilified, cast into political perdition like Nixon or Hoover.

The greed of corporate America and the willingness of sycophantic middle class investors to jump on the same bandwagon in the name of seeing their portfolio improve are well on the way to destroying the American Dream. Pensions will evaporate, and several million Baby Boomers will find themselves destitute, clamoring for help from their friends and neighbors, from the government, from the charities they supported when they still had jobs. And it won't be enough.
Having learned of the actions of the current administration -- the phone tapping of American citizens, the blind eye to torture in prisons we control, the disregard for human rights of "enemy combatants" -- and watched the smug attitude toward the middle class and the poor (some of whom may actually have voted for the current administration), I find myself increasingly jaded.

What we need as a nation is a rebirth -- a sense of renewal and freshness, like after a strong spring rain. Instead, it remains cold, wintry, with little hope in sight for a healthy future. Is this the darkness before the dawn?