We're Governed by Callous Children
Folks,
Peggy Noonan over at the WSJ nails it but good.
We're Governed by Callous Children
Peggy Noonan
Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't even notice.
The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all boats for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising, they're bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. No one thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians, forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things swept away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts missed the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.
The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.
...
When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax-health care, cap and trade, etc.-I think: Why aren't they worried about the impact of what they're doing? Why do they think America is so strong it can take endless abuse?
I think I know part of the answer. It is that they've never seen things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don't have the habit of worry. They talk about their "concerns"-they're big on that word. But they're not really concerned. They think America is the goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps. She laid it in grandpa's lap.
They don't feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases-"strongest nation in the world," "indispensable nation," "unipolar power," "highest standard of living"-and are not bright enough, or serious enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.
We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists-they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.
(Follow linked URL for completion of article)
Yup, I think that sums it up real well.
I live in Southern California and had been working up in the LA area - El Segundo, to be exact. Looking around up there I could see the names of the places that made the American aircraft industry what it was: Hawthorne, El Segundo, Burbank, Inglewood, Santa Monica... Now there's but a shadow of greatness there. The aircraft companies which made history back in the 40's through the 60's have all essentially moved out of that area - and out of the entire state of California, in fact. They simply could no longer do business in California and remain in business. The politicians (Democrats, for the most part) just kept jacking up the taxes and piling on the regulations. Those aircraft companies that surivived to become aerospace companies all eventually moved their operations out of the state - or at least the bulk of them out of the state.
San Diego used to be synonymous with Convair which eventually became General Dynamics. That shut down in the early 90's as the last of it moved off to Colorado. The aerospace industry is now essentially non-existent in San Diego. And this, because of the thoughtlessness - the callousness - of the politicians thinking that industry would always cough up an ever increasing share of taxes and such.
This isn't just San Diego, LA or California in general. It's everywhere that the politicians get to stupid and the voters to mindless. It's now happening up in Washington state, of all places, as Boeing is moving its manufacturing away from there. Boeing announced last week that it's opening second 787 assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett. Boeing had already moved its headquarters out of Washington state several years ago. Now they're pulling out their manufacturing from there as well. All this due to the horrendous business climate that the "callous children" there have generated. This, to me and to anyone who knows a bit about aviation history, is a stunning thing. Boeing got its start in Washington state. Boeing and Seattle / Washington have been synonymous for the better part of a century now. For them to move like this? Things must be very, very bad up there for that to happen.
So, we'll see how bad the "callous children" run things in to the ground this time and whether or not enough of us voters decide its time to put a stop to it. I hope so because the damage is mounting.
Madoc
Peggy Noonan over at the WSJ nails it but good.
We're Governed by Callous Children
Peggy Noonan
Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't even notice.
The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all boats for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising, they're bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. No one thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians, forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things swept away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts missed the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.
The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.
...
When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington, spend and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax-health care, cap and trade, etc.-I think: Why aren't they worried about the impact of what they're doing? Why do they think America is so strong it can take endless abuse?
I think I know part of the answer. It is that they've never seen things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don't have the habit of worry. They talk about their "concerns"-they're big on that word. But they're not really concerned. They think America is the goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps. She laid it in grandpa's lap.
They don't feel anxious, because they never had anything to be anxious about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases-"strongest nation in the world," "indispensable nation," "unipolar power," "highest standard of living"-and are not bright enough, or serious enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even fatally.
We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists-they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.
(Follow linked URL for completion of article)
Yup, I think that sums it up real well.
I live in Southern California and had been working up in the LA area - El Segundo, to be exact. Looking around up there I could see the names of the places that made the American aircraft industry what it was: Hawthorne, El Segundo, Burbank, Inglewood, Santa Monica... Now there's but a shadow of greatness there. The aircraft companies which made history back in the 40's through the 60's have all essentially moved out of that area - and out of the entire state of California, in fact. They simply could no longer do business in California and remain in business. The politicians (Democrats, for the most part) just kept jacking up the taxes and piling on the regulations. Those aircraft companies that surivived to become aerospace companies all eventually moved their operations out of the state - or at least the bulk of them out of the state.
San Diego used to be synonymous with Convair which eventually became General Dynamics. That shut down in the early 90's as the last of it moved off to Colorado. The aerospace industry is now essentially non-existent in San Diego. And this, because of the thoughtlessness - the callousness - of the politicians thinking that industry would always cough up an ever increasing share of taxes and such.
This isn't just San Diego, LA or California in general. It's everywhere that the politicians get to stupid and the voters to mindless. It's now happening up in Washington state, of all places, as Boeing is moving its manufacturing away from there. Boeing announced last week that it's opening second 787 assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett. Boeing had already moved its headquarters out of Washington state several years ago. Now they're pulling out their manufacturing from there as well. All this due to the horrendous business climate that the "callous children" there have generated. This, to me and to anyone who knows a bit about aviation history, is a stunning thing. Boeing got its start in Washington state. Boeing and Seattle / Washington have been synonymous for the better part of a century now. For them to move like this? Things must be very, very bad up there for that to happen.
So, we'll see how bad the "callous children" run things in to the ground this time and whether or not enough of us voters decide its time to put a stop to it. I hope so because the damage is mounting.
Madoc