Believe It or Not?

This past week I sat in on a graduate seminar on the early American Frontier.  It was an edifying and enriching experience.  It did, however, bring a concern to light.  As we discussed Peter Silver's Our Savage Neighbor, looking at the colonists' pamphlets concerning Indian raids, there seemed to be one prevailing idea among the students: these pamphlets were the manipulative workings of rich white European colonists who desired to stir up the common settlers to war.  (There also appeared to be clear parallels drawn to the Bush administration's handling of Iraq).  

I guess the most peculiar thing to me was that never once was it considered that the pamphlet writers were genuinely afraid for their lives and well-being.  I completely understand the notion that these men could have just been arousing mob support for their agenda.  That seems quite reasonable in the situation.  My complaint is that the students never considered the thought that these men might truly believe the words coming from their pen.

Throughout history, we confront many scenes where the motives of the actors are questionable.  Yet, in many of these instances, we are rendered incapable of understanding the people if we will not take them at their word.  The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay make no sense unless we concede that they really believed what they preached and wrote.  For that matter, we cannot rightly interpret the Constitution of the United States unless we believe that those fine men were generally lead by a desire to see the foundling nation prosper.

In the negative, we perform this task without thinking.  We have no problem acknowledging that the Nazis believed their terrible doctrines; that is why they trampled over innocent human life as they did.  But when it comes to American struggle for good, there seems to be a biased cloud of suspicion surrounding our forefathers.

Perhaps I'll be disregarded as a triumphalist or American exceptionalist, but I don't mind.  In the words of FDR, I only request that you "judge me by my enemies".

Shelby Steele's "Bound Man"

Today I'd like to make a quick plug for a phenomenal book and author.

Shelby Steele is a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He has written several books on the issue of civil rights and race relations. Yet, unlike our familiar friends Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton, this African American writer has a fresh take on the issues.

His newest work, A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama and Why He Can't Win, is an intriguing book worth the Saturday afternoon it will take you to read it. It is not a partisan attack on the Obama campaign, but rather an analysis of Sen. Barrack Obama's place in the continuing development of racial equality in America.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Steele's argument and level-headed review of our current state is a much needed commentary in response to "race baiting" which has characterized much of the DNC's efforts this year.

Steele is author of two other books, The Content of Our Character and White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era, both worth your consideration.

Popping Bubbles

For the past several weeks, the U.S. has gone through a series of "Black" Mondays, each weeks' market opening looking more bleak than the lasts'.  With the failure of Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual, the U.S. economy seems to be vanishing right before our eyes, like some twisted game of whack-a-mole.  Yet, the economy might not be as "depressed" as it might seem.

John McCain was criticized recently for the comment that the fundamentals of our economy are "sound".  This media and liberal blitz on the Arizona senator is actually an insult to the "middle class" that the Democrats say they fight for.  The "fundamentals of our economy" are us: the working class of America!  We are the ones who pay the bills and pay the merchandise and produce the goods and services.  When McCain made that statement he was expressing his confidence in the American people; a confidence which the Democrats apparently find ludicrous.

The economy in the U.S., to a large degree, depends on you and me.  This makes sense when you remember that much of the crisis of the Great Depression was public panic and bank rushes.  The most important thing for us to do right now is to remain calm and work at being wise with our money.  The market is not collapsing.  In fact, what is truly happening is that we are seeing the actualization of the economy: the bubbles are popping.

In the process of dealing out mortgages to people who could not afford the house they were buying, banks and investors inflated the housing market.  Homes and real estate were valued at much higher than they were actually worth because more people were given the money to buy them.  As these prices rose, we left the realm of fiscal reality.  The situation was not helped by the incessant slashing of interest rates by the Fed, discouraging savings and encouraging buying... when we still couldn't afford it.  

So what has happened?  The bubbles are popping; the market is returning to its true size and companies which hoped a ride on the runaway credit line are paying the price or biting the dust.  

Do we really need a $700 billion bailout then?  In my opinion, absolutely NOT.  The last thing we need is the government trying to fix our problems; they do a fine enough job creating and then complicating them.  And, as this bailout talk has shown us, the U.S. government has only one source of income: the American people (actually, they have another source: China.  That's right.  They are pretty adept at selling us into the debt of the great [communist] Peoples' Republic.)

I say that we leave these bad mortgages alone.  We would be foolish to buy them; its a terrible investment.  Instead, let's insure mortgages much like the FDIC does banks.  Things are going to be a little shaky for a while as the markets settle down to normal, but we will recover.  Let's not forget that the market was up on Friday, without any government intervention.

Americans must be more responsible and we MUST payoff our debt to China, a debt which is the greatest security threat in the U.S. today.

American Barometer

Welcome everyone to "Don't Need A Weatherman".  

This will be a blog devoted to the analysis of political, economic, and social developments of the US.  I will try and keep it as up to date and enjoyable as possible.  Your response and thoughts are welcomed, in fact encouraged, whether you agree or dissent.

Thanks for your attention and enjoy!