THE COLLEGE AND CITY MUST WORK TOGETHER

 

 Conflict between college students and “townies” in small college communities has been a fact of life since the beginning of academia.  Ivory towers have always interacted at some level with life on the street.  In my college experience the friction often centered on the bar scene and the local women as the born and bred alpha males sought to defend their territory against preppy intruders.  Unfortunately for both the City of Washington and W&J, what happened on the early morning of October 5^th was much more sinister, with tragic results.

 Two college students returning to their dorms from an off campus bar at 2 a.m.  A gang of opportunistic young men walking the streets and looking for trouble.  This perfect storm resulted in a confrontation, with one of the students sustaining mortal head injuries.

            While it is certainly not prohibited to be on the streets in the early morning hours, it is not the safest of places and arguably a bad choice for student athletes to make.  This of course does not excuse the criminality of an apparent brutal robbery attempt and homicide.

            I for one hope that this incident does not evolve into a contest of finger pointing or defensive posturing. While common sense and additional anti crime measures are in order, over reaction is not. The College and City have made noticeable progress in recent years on cooperative efforts to improve the community.  As horrible as this incident was, violence should never be a reason for pull back.  Both local government and the College need to double down on positive efforts to work together for the common good.

 

SACRIFICE & COMPROMISE

The two most important words the day after the election will be sacrifice and compromise.  These two principals must quickly mutate from campaign unmentionables to rallying cries to avoid another crisis.  The fiscal cliff will send us reeling into another recession unless the country comes together under its political leadership to make tough choices.  This must be done by a lame duck Congress and the President at the end of the year no matter who takes the oath of office in January.

Our political campaigns, particularly the presidential contest, have become a feel good fantasy based on: 1) positions along strict ideological lines to keep intact each parties’ base (no compromise) and 2) speeches on how each candidate will make us better off than the other guy, to capture independents (no sacrifice).  It is ironic how these two words, which are truly the lifeblood of a democratic republic, are conspicuously absent during the long election season. American voters do not want to be told the truth during campaigns.  They want their selfish addictions fed with “campaign-crack” and refuse to face the inevitable rehab which includes higher taxes and lower benefits.  Interestingly, this is not true in Europe, where even the socialist candidates, who have been winning elections of late, recognized the need to discuss austerity measures to balance budgets and the need for compromise with other political parties.

After the voters have spoken we can all blink, shake off the sound bite hangover, and the fantasy will disappear.  Decision making, similar to four years ago when the world’s economy was falling apart, can again be based on fundamental economic principals and sound political policy.  Conservatives will get a good measure of austerity and deficit reduction.  Liberals will receive progressive tax rates, with those who have more paying their fare share.  The whole shebang will be disguised so that the compromise does not look like either side “gave-in.”  In this way, when the political rutting season begins anew three years from now, each candidate can claim their pockets were picked by the other.

Post election, sacrifice will enter the discussion and become a positive image.  There will be more talk coming from our political leaders about “what we can do for our country” and less about “I built that without your help.”  Instead of the election message that stresses giving up hard earned rewards to help shiftless welfare recipients, sacrifice will be framed in terms of our children, our elders and neighbors.  Giving back will be patriotic again so that the next generation has something solid to build on to keep the dream alive.  Like compromise, sacrifice will be a fleeting thought as the next election cycle approaches.  Hopefully enough will be done in the time allotted to make a difference.

 

 

ELECTION IRONIES

The ironies of this election season appear beyond the pale.  In the first place Romney should be praising the President for his efforts on the economy.

 The financial system and economic healing over the last four years have been most generous and forgiving to wealthy citizens, many of whom are Romney clone Republicans.  These individuals depend on Wall Street and the favorable tax treatment of unearned income for their high maintenance sustenance.  Luckily for them, it was necessary that the first steps to recovery were to save the world’s money centers (banks, insurance companies and investment houses) and Corporate America to avoid a global collapse.  These wealthy individuals who have no job or earned income, like candidate Romney, have increased their wealth exponentially as finance and industry recovered from the recession and the stock market rebounded to new highs.  The “one per centers” who made the simple “buy low-sell high” decision to invest a few million dollars in the Dow or S&P at the 2008 lows have more than doubled their money. 

There is no question that the wealthy who do not work for a living and contribute nothing to the economy, except to buy goods and services, are much better off than they were four years ago.  And yet, these same individuals who should be thankful to the President and his policies are working the hardest to remove him.  Is it any wonder that Mr. Romney does not want to disclose his tax returns.  Not only were his taxes low because of tax loop holes including capital gains and dividend rates, he made a fortune as his “blind trust” advisors plowed his investment capital into stocks and bonds with the rising market.  I can only hope a debate question will be presented as:  “Mr. Romney, are you better off than you were four years ago and is it fair to ask you to share some of these gains with less fortunate Americans?  A second debate Question: “How has the trickledown effect of your families’ purchase of a new home with garage elevators helped the average American?”

The next irony, which is beyond my understanding, is the large percentage of white middle class citizens who insist on identifying with the Republican Party.  There is nothing Republican about being unemployed, having a family member in need of social services, having a child who is being denied a good education, not being able to obtain a low interest mortgage from a bank, or being compelled to face retirement with less social security or Medicare.

More specifically, how can any member of the middle class support a candidate who spent his earlier life’s work firing people? Who now disavows 47% of the electorate as lazy and shiftless?  No middle class in the world, outside our own white Republican voters, wants the kind of austerity measures being pushed by the Romney ticket.  This misplaced and cruel austerity policy has not worked to fix either deficits or unemployment in any other western economy. 

The last four years were necessary to build a foundation for the economy and it enriched the Romneys of America. It seems obvious that the next four years must be dedicated to bringing back the middle class, with policies that do not include austerity, except for reasonable tax increases for the wealthy.

Lastly, is the irony of foreign policy. The neocon mantra of the Bush II presidency was to strike first and hard against dictators in the oil patch to bring democracy to the masses. (Using nuclear weapons as a smoke screen and the locking in of oil reserves as a not so hidden motive) For better or worse, Bush II opened Pandora’s Box in Iraq.  Now that the Arab Spring is accomplishing this same goal from the bottom up, the Romney campaign is attacking the President for not supporting dictators and not taking steps to slow down the democratization process.

          Democracy is a messy business.  The model for Muslim countries is not that of a western democratic republic and is bound to include large majorities not aligned with our interests.  The Republican response has turned 180 degrees from attacking sovereign countries and creating democratically elected regimes to shutting off financial aid for Muslim governments elected by their citizens. This plan will guarantee the growth of anti western terror and give the neo cons someone new to attack.

Top tier Republicans are wealthier than ever, continue to scam the middle class, and are preparing for a new round of saber rattling.  The Republican scheme is to aggressively adopt the opposite of whatever policy the President presents. Maybe there is no irony at all and things remain the same.

 

THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY LEADS THE WORLD

 

If the economy is the fundamental issue in the presidential campaign, Obama has a critical ace in the hole which has not yet been played.  All of the negative campaign ads and Republican convention rhetoric about what is wrong with the economy belies an important fact that is impossible to deny.  The United States economy is healthier and doing better than anywhere else in the World.

This fact tends to be buried in the “economist speak” and technical indicators which the average voter and sound bite media would prefer not to investigate.  Those who would take the time would discover that the most recent Purchasing Management Index (PMI), maintained by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) (among other studies) clearly shows our country outperforming every other developed economy in the world. (China fell to a nine month low; Germany is in contraction, the U.S. expanded)  Expect to hear this message at the Democratic convention and in the presidential debates.

Coming out of the worst economic disaster since the great depression, Obama’s policies, despite a dysfunctional Neanderthal Congress have left us in the sweet spot.  His unwillingness to succumb to the global austerity wave (championed by the Republicans and presently destroying Europe) and a wise Fed have permitted a monetary and fiscal policy that has kept us out of a double dip recession.  If necessary,   Bernanke will provide additional stimulus in the coming months and the governments and wealthy of the world will buy more treasuries at zero interest, to insure our economy stays on top of the industrialized world.

The United States is somewhat insulated from the most recent economic slowdown by its size and unlike the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is not as tied to exports.  Germany’s economy is slowing down due to the euro crisis.   The slow but steady unwinding of our broken housing bubble has taken the necessary time to heal and is coming back to health.  Lastly, despite the Republican rants of over regulation and unfriendly business practices, our country is still considered by the international community as the best place in the world for investment and doing business.

Unfortunately, the middle class and working poor have gained little in economic standing over the past five years.   Voters should listen to the experts to learn why this is the case, which has little to do with Obama or Fed policy.   Many economists have referred to the “new normal” following the recession of 2008.  This structural rewiring of the economic landscape includes higher unemployment, lower inflation and wage growth, lower housing values, lower investment rates for retirement accounts and the need for restructuring of entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security.  The factors making up the new normal cannot be switched on or off by an election or new political party in the White House.  No single act or politician caused the new normal.  It is simply a worldwide fact of economic life following a disastrous recession.  Because of Obama’s well conceived policies, the United States is doing better than any other country to avoid the worst consequences of the new normal.  Better to crest the wave of the new normal with adept programs and stimulus than to wipe out and be one of the austerity competitors strewn across the beach.

 My view is that the Administration that has kept our economy on top of the industrialized world throughout the storm deserves the opportunity to fix the boat over the next four years as its policies begin to show tangible results.  Those who look to history will discover that Republicans have never been invested in or successful at providing the leadership necessary for such economic challenges.  Conservatives will simply throw the new normal into the same garbage bin with climate change, Darwinism and the Rise of China and claim it does not exist.

 

 

APOCALYPSE NOW

Apocalypse Now

Apocalyptic themes seem to dominate our popular culture.  I am referring to that body of work that is concerned with the end of civilization due to an existential catastrophe.  Any subject that threatens humankind is fair game for the next movie, summer best seller, video game or television series.   Large meteors hurtling toward earth, nuclear winter, anti matter, alien attacks, virus contagions and invasion by intelligent apes, robots, zombies or vampires have all entered the apocalypse genre in recent years.  But why are we so fascinated with these doomsday scenarios of death and redemption?

 

My view is that because we have no idea how we got here or what our purpose is, our ultimate demise gets all the attention.  It is interesting that all popular apocalypse stories (yes, I am a fan) can be broken into four component parts.  First there is the genesis of the problem, external or manmade; second, zero hour when all hell breaks loose; third, the immediate aftermath/ struggle; and finally redemption with hope for a brave new world.

 

One type of scenario is framed with a socialist worldview.  Formally hostile governments are able to avert disaster by calling on global cooperation.  Decisions are made for the greater good to blow up asteroids or defeat aliens.  The plot ends with global sharing and equality for all.

 

The more likely story line follows an individualistic, libertarian point of view.  Governments and organized science cause the problem.  Our powerful institutions can do nothing right following zero hour.  Urban folk are the first to bite the dust.  The survivalists in the woods become the heroes, living off the land and learning to adapt.  They admire the immediate aftermath with less pollution, more wildlife and little noise.  After the struggle is resolved there are fewer, happier people and no one pays taxes.

 

The truth is that apart from popular fiction, apocalyptic events have profoundly shaped our past and may well determine our future.  Most scientists believe that the impact of an asteroid or comet bombardment 65 million years ago lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs and the eclipse of mammals.  The last ice age permitted migration of humans out of Asia into North America.  The black plague hastened the end of feudalism in Europe. Of more recent vintage, the Spanish flu epidemic directly lead to advances in the biological sciences.

 

Religion and myth were certainly responsible for the earliest apocalyptic literature.  Many tribal cultures including the formulators of the Old Testament saw calamitous events as the wrath of God “thinning the herd” following unacceptable behavior. Early myths across the populated world chronicled a great flood as purifying the earth so that a better world could follow.  (This ancient thought was sadly still in play after the recent destruction of New Orleans following hurricane Katrina)

 

The Book of Revelation continued the apocalyptic tradition in the New Testament.  The Roman landscape was not a healthy or pleasant place for a Christian in 100 A.D.  Better to hasten the end of the world with a final conflagration between good and evil and move on to a better place.  Over the past 2000 years many self proclaimed prophets have predicted the end of days, only to have the sun come up the next morning.

 

Apocalyptic themes also dominate the environmental sciences in the here and now. The four horsemen of this all too real scenario are climate change, famine, state failure, and migration.  None of these topics are sexy enough to have spawned best sellers, video games or television programs.  They have gained no religious credibility because there is no biblical reference to back them up.

 

These real dangers to mankind are open to dispute and slow to unwind.  Scientific prophets talk in terms of decades if not centuries.  Popular apocalypse themes require instant gratification, with a billion casualties in the first episode.  Moreover, the nearly impossible always trumps the highly plausible in both religious and entertainment circles.

 

In the end (no pun intended) we all want to believe that mankind can survive whatever the elements or the bestselling authors or the politicians can throw at us.  Personally, I would feel safer if more attention were focused on what the scientific prophets are telling us.  They may not have a blockbuster movie or the bible to back them up (Al Gore doesn’t count), but there was some awful strange weather this summer and the polar bears look a little thin.

 

The adaptability of the human race should prevail so long as environmental science and common sense are permitted to determine our future. Unless that is, the newest and largest particle accelerator creates a black hole and snuffs us out in a millisecond and the story starts over ….”In the beginning”.

 

 

 

AUGUST NIGHTS

This August is turning into a pleasant surprise. Scrunched between a scorching July and the inevitable back to school rush and football addiction has been glorious weather that makes one want to sleep on the porch.  With Congress in recess, business slow and light traffic as many go on vacation, it may be the best time to literally smell the roses.

Unexpected cool mornings, hot afternoons and pleasant evenings do not seem like normal August fare.  Many days are something to hold on to, particularly when the light is fading and the hot misty air fights a cooling breeze for your attention.  When the skin is still salty from the earlier bright sun but it feels like a sweater might soon be in order.

My only passing thought of the coming election is the raucous blue jays fighting the more conservative (red) cardinals for the limited supply of peanuts provided for their pleasure.  No sign of bipartisanship anywhere.  Only the libertarian squirrels seem interested in stowing away any bounty for the winter.

While the days are growing shorter, the light holds almost to nine.  A double feature with no intermission compared to a December evening.  The pink in the sky seems to linger forever, like it wants to be painted on canvas before the night takes over.

I sometimes feel guilty for accomplishing little and enjoying the slow August pace.  Then I remember that they have been doing the same thing in the Southern Mediterranean for thousands of years.  Maybe all that Washington needs is a central piazza with a fountain that magically appears each August.  Outdoor communal enjoyment before everyone hustles back inside for homework and Monday Night Football.

SOMEBODY ELSE MADE THAT HAPPEN

"If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen," Obama said in July in Roanoke, Va.  Only in America could this statement elicit responses in this Newspaper and elsewhere like:  “We're entrepreneurs. We're risk-takers. We put everything on the line.  This president is looking at small business owners as the next pocket to grab out of."

Small business owners simply have not earned a special seat in our grand experiment of American capitalism in economics or as a constitutional republic in political organization.  These businesses exist because of what came before.  The rest of the world cannot get off the boat fast enough to invest capital in a country where small business and entrepreneurs are given an economic climate and political/ social freedom that exists nowhere else.  This is why many of our first generation entrepreneurs are immigrants.

Try and start a restaurant in India, Russia, an Arab country or Asia.  The hurdles are so enormous including no ownership of land, layers of bureaucracy, bribes and lack of legal systems or regulations that almost all small businesses survive only in the underground economy.  Unless, of course, your cousin is the local elected official or runs the local bank, in which case you are a large business.

Try and start a retail store in a small Africa town.  The roads are none existent to get product in or out.  You will be solely responsible for providing power and communication.  The local social system will view you as a show off, not the back bone of the community.

Take your savings and borrow more to develop a farming operation or mine in the third world.  If you have any success you will be nationalized and persecuted.

Before small business owners begin to view themselves as modern day pioneers and economic martyrs they need to take a history lesson.  The American experience in general and the federal government in particular have enabled small business to flourish.  Regulations against monopolies, subsidies, preferential tax treatment, and protectionist trade policy have all played a part.  Each business owner should be overcome with gratitude that: “Somebody else made that happen.”