The biggest threat to America today is that people have become disheartened

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

by Peggy Noonan

The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of U.S. 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.

It is a story in two parts. The first: "They do not think they can make it better."

I talked this week with a guy from Big Pharma, which we used to call "the drug companies" until we decided that didn't sound menacing enough. He is middle-aged, works in a significant position, and our conversation turned to the last great recession, in the late mid- to late 1970s and early '80s. We talked about how, in terms of numbers, that recession was in some ways worse than the one we're experiencing now. Interest rates were over 20%, and inflation and unemployment hit double digits. America was in what might be called a functional depression, yet there was still a prevalent feeling of hope.

Here's why. Everyone thought they could figure a way through. We knew we could find a path through the mess. In 1982 there were people saying, "If only we get rid of this guy Reagan, we can make it better!" Others said, "If we follow Reagan, he'll squeeze out inflation and lower taxes and we'll be America again, we'll be acting like Americans again." Everyone had a path through.

Now they don't. The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in how the country works on the ground, can't figure a way out. Have you heard, "If only we follow Obama and the Democrats, it will all get better"? Or, "If only we follow the Republicans, they'll make it all work again"? I bet you haven't, or not much.

This is historic. This is something new in modern political history, and I'm not sure we're fully noticing it. Americans are starting to think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.

Part of the reason is that the problems—debt, spending, war—seem too big. But a larger part is that our government, from the White House through Congress and so many state and local governments, seems to be demonstrating every day that they cannot make things better. They are not offering a new path, they are only offering old paths—spend more, regulate more, tax more in an attempt to make us more healthy locally and nationally. And in the long term everyone—well, not those in government, but most everyone else—seems to know that won't work.

And so the disheartenedness of the leadership class, of those in business, of those who have something. Last week the New York Post carried a report that 1.5 million people had left high-tax New York state between 2000 and 2008, more than a million of them from even higher-tax New York City. They took their tax dollars with them—in 2006 alone more than $4 billion.

You know what New York, both state and city, will do to make up for the lost money. They'll raise taxes.

I talked with an executive last week with what we still call "the insurance companies" and will no doubt soon be calling Big Insura. He was thoughtful, reflective about the big picture. He talked about all the new proposed regulations on the industry. Rep. Barney Frank had just said on some cable show that the Democrats of the White House and Congress "are trying on every front to increase the role of government in the regulatory area." The executive said of Washington: "They don't understand that people can just stop, get out. I have friends and colleagues who've said to me 'I'm done.'" He spoke of his own increasing tax burden and said, "They don't understand that if they start to tax me so that I'm paying 60%, 55%, I'll stop."

He felt government doesn't understand that business in America is run by people, by human beings. Mr. Frank must believe America is populated by high-achieving robots who will obey whatever command he and his friends issue. But of course they're human, and they can become disheartened. They can pack it in, go elsewhere, quit what used to be called the rat race and might as well be called that again since the government seems to think they're all rats.

And here is the second part of the story. While Americans feel increasingly disheartened, their leaders evince a mindless . . . one almost calls it optimism, but it is not that.

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.

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

Edited November 2, 2009 by w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r

[AlHayatZween 2]

Americans are starting to think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.

i can relate to this...

but at the same time, systemic changes need to made... i don't see them (gov, congress, business) making them. they are tapdancing...

[Niels Bohr 72]

The biggest threat is everyone trying to politically correct.

[AlHayatZween 2]

The biggest threat is that no one cares (or will admit) that America is dumbing down its kids.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I agree. Low expectations for kids is bad. Give the kid a challenge.

The biggest threat is that no one cares (or will admit) that America is dumbing down its kids.

[Heracles 417]

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.

This is the best part and spot on. The average American teen is a doe-eyed fool. Sorry but it's true. I wouldn't hire the average teen to mow my lawn. Then again, how many teens would do it anyway? Their moronic parents have taught them that they are better than that. The chicken has come home to roost and they will suffer.

I did recently notice an article in Sydney's paper discussing the ACLU suing a school district for suspending girls who posted provocative photos of themselves on facebook. As per usual, he ALCU thinks they are doing America a favor yet in reality just screwing it up even more. After all, the article was actually mocking the organization and it got me thinking. Who made the ACLU commander and chief (the gatekeeper) of America? What gives them the right to influence states, counties and cities around the country? Furthermore, push their ideology. Where a school board that was elected by their constituents is not allowed to make any decisions that clash with the ALCU's ideology. That's not a democracy, that's mob rules.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

As per usual, he ALCU thinks they are doing America a favor yet in reality just screwing it up even more. After all, the article was actually mocking the organization and it got me thinking. Who made the ACLU commander and chief (the gatekeeper) of America? What gives them the right to influence states, counties and cities around the country? Furthermore, push their ideology. Where a school board that was elected by their constituents is not allowed to make any decisions that clash with the ALCU's ideology. That's not a democracy, that's mob rules.

The ACLU can't "make" a school board do anything. The ACLU can only sue. It's the courts that can "make" them do something.

[웃 910]

The biggest threat to America today is Fox News.

[Heracles 417]

The ACLU can't "make" a school board do anything. The ACLU can only sue. It's the courts that can "make" them do something.

Yes, the ALCU uses the closed doors of courtrooms to get their way. ####### like them suing a school district is why such nonsense is not acceptable in parliamentary countries. We the people get to call the shots, not the courts. Certainly not some disingenuous organization that is abusing the courts to promote their agenda.

At the end of the day, who is winning international recognition for this approach? Certainly not the ACLU. The reality is that the ACLU and US legal system is the butt of jokes abroad. For good reason too might I add.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Booyah!

[AlHayatZween 2]

I agree. Low expectations for kids is bad. Give the kid a challenge.

The biggest threat is that no one cares (or will admit) that America is dumbing down its kids.

Yes, but it is even worse than i had previously thought.

Now i am learning firsthand about grade inflation in colleges...

Edited November 2, 2009 by AlHayatZween

[DeadPoolX 9]

The biggest threat to Americans are Americans themselves. Nations rarely fall due to outside interference. Often a country's decline is primarily the result of internal issues.

The U.S. doesn't have to fear foreign a military or even terrorists. The real problem is our own people. We need to stop hurting ourselves and actually think like a nation, instead of the "I'm the only one that matters" mindset.

[Niels Bohr 72]

In Engineering, many schools employ foreign Ph.Ds holder. Now, the problem is that their English is poor. I remembered there was a class called Random Signals where we have to use probabilities to analyze noise in signal waveforms. That class if taught by a foreign PH.D holder, and the book is weak at explaining things, it is almost the toughest subject encounter in the School of Engineering. Random Signals are taught to Electrical Engineering majors, but, other majors may take them as an elective. I took this class. It's not just a simple statistics class. Topics covered deterministic signals, non-deterministic signals, Gaussian Distribution (easy depending on how you look at it), correlation (triple integration), etc...Learning how to compute the numbers is easy. Learning how to interpret engineering word problems into computing numbers is a different story.

But, through experience I know in many science and engineering majors, it can't be help no matter where you're from that sometimes grade inflation is a must.

I agree. Low expectations for kids is bad. Give the kid a challenge.

The biggest threat is that no one cares (or will admit) that America is dumbing down its kids.

Yes, but it is even worse than i had previously thought.

Now i am learning firsthand about grade inflation in colleges...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The ACLU can't "make" a school board do anything. The ACLU can only sue. It's the courts that can "make" them do something.

Yes, the ALCU uses the closed doors of courtrooms to get their way. ####### like them suing a school district is why such nonsense is not acceptable in parliamentary countries. We the people get to call the shots, not the courts. Certainly not some disingenuous organization that is abusing the courts to promote their agenda.

Actually, this is the way the system works - it's called checks and balances. The people ought to have a recourse against the government if the government infringes on their rights. What you are suggesting is that it would be better to have a government elected by the people that then governs with absolute authority regardless of the Constitution (whether state or federal) and that such government can then not be challenged in the courts simply based on the fact that it was democratically elected. Excellent! I'm thinking that we have a historic example where such approach has massively failed to protect individual freedom and democracy.

And by the way, organizations like the ACLU taking on government at all levels do exist in parliamentary countries. The courts in Germany, for example, are engaged by interest groups protecting civil rights all the time and are known to have put the executive and legislative branches of government in it's place many times. It's what the separation of powers is all about. A democracy can't function without it.

[SMR 368]

The ACLU can't "make" a school board do anything. The ACLU can only sue. It's the courts that can "make" them do something.

Yes, the ALCU uses the closed doors of courtrooms to get their way. ####### like them suing a school district is why such nonsense is not acceptable in parliamentary countries. We the people get to call the shots, not the courts. Certainly not some disingenuous organization that is abusing the courts to promote their agenda.

Actually, this is the way the system works - it's called checks and balances. The people ought to have a recourse against the government if the government infringes on their rights. What you are suggesting is that it would be better to have a government elected by the people that then governs with absolute authority regardless of the Constitution (whether state or federal) and that such government can then not be challenged in the courts simply based on the fact that it was democratically elected. Excellent! I'm thinking that we have a historic example where such approach has massively failed to protect individual freedom and democracy.

And by the way, organizations like the ACLU taking on government at all levels do exist in parliamentary countries. The courts in Germany, for example, are engaged by interest groups protecting civil rights all the time and are known to have put the executive and legislative branches of government in it's place many times. It's what the separation of powers is all about. A democracy can't function without it.

I agree the people should have a recourse. The problem isn't the ACLU or the legal system per-say but rather the lawyers in the system and the money involved. The reason the ACLU has so much sway is that even winning a legal battle is prohibitively costly, time-consuming, and difficult. The ACLU threatens to sue and schools, etc. bend simply because they can't afford a legal defense even if they were sure they could win.

If someone sues you, they can make it take years if they want. There will be discovery, trials, recesses, more trials, etc. When you consider that, most organizations are willing to make concessions in arbitration and just bend in order to get it over in a timely manner with minimal cost. This is how the ACLU and it's lawyers work. They have deep pockets and threaten a long, costly, demanding trial if organizations and businesses don't give into their demands.

We need a system where someone can redress real wrongs. However, that system should be prompt, simple enough that you don't need a team of lawyers just to have a chance, and allow someone to defend themselves without bankruptcy. In America, that system is a long ways away.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of U.S. debt,

Much as I like Peggy Noonan, I have to disagree with her opening statement. The biggest threat to America is Congress. When the populace has to do with less, the Government should not be demanding more.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Lone Ranger