Hard Times

"Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many years
while we all sup sorrow with the poor
there's a song that will linger forever in our ears
oh, hard times come again no more"
- "Hard Times"


Panic. Recession. Depression.

The bust cycle has always been part of our economic landscape. Once again, 'business as usual' may be temporarily obsolete, but damage control is in full swing and changes - pervasive and permanent - are on the way. We are the economic engine of the world; too much and too many depend on that fact.

My perspective on this mess is that we, as a capitalistic society, are faced with one of the consequences of our free market "can do" ethos. Subprime lending and its derivatives whipped up an instant-wealth frenzy that completely subrogated common sense and rational interest in long-term security. Gordon Gecko took command: To hell with the consequences, there's money to be made. Greed is good.

But where would we be without the zealous pursuit of wealth? Perhaps not in the driver's seat of the world's money machine. Maybe not even spanning the shores of our own continent. Jefferson estimated it would take 100 generations to organize and settle the territory gained in the Louisiana Purchase. It was essentially done in five - including Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.

Git ' er done.

It was a messy and at times bloody process. History clearly shows that the exploitation of opportunity by one group can mean the end of opportunity for another, and it's the difference between "can do" and "should do" that carries the highest price. That's the real lesson here, despite all the petty political bickering. In this country the economic bulldog will always be hungry; perhaps someday we'll figure out how to feed it something besides each other.