It was recently declared that we are in a recession. Not to get into economics, but the U.S. crossed whatever line there is in the academic world that puts us in a recession. It is worth mentioning, though, that if you were a small business owner in America, you likely have felt that we've been in a recession for some time.
I am not for a moment going to pretend as though I know the specifics of this crisis. Times are tough. Jobs are scarce. And people are frightened. That dollar in your pocket is not doing as much for you today as it did a few years ago. We all see it and feel it. But the resiliency of the American people is quite amazing.
There are things we can blame this on. We can blame it on our use of credit cards. For years, Americans have been spending money they don't have on things they don't need. We can blame it on banks, which for years have been giving out home mortgages to anyone who had a pulse, with no regard for the future. We can blame it on Detroit, where the Big Three automakers have been producing uninspired cars and handing our keys to foreign manufacturers. We can blame it on so many things, but blame does us little good. What we need is a massive undertaking.
There have been moments in American history when we stood up against impossible odds and then went on to win the day. Our first days as a nation were in many ways like the days we are currently in. There they stood, colonists with a dream. They stood up against the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. And they won. We will defeat this crisis in much the same way. We will stand and fight, and we will win the day.
When in great crisis, impossible goals must be set. In 1940, with war on the horizon, President Roosevelt said we would produce 50,000 airplanes per year. America needed them. The fate of the world depended on them. We ended up producing 100,000 airplanes per year, far and above what anyone expected. And we did so because it was necessary. We made the impossible possible.
We will do our part as Americans. We will all do our part to see through this darkness to find the bright light ahead. Perhaps we will go out and spend a little extra money at the mall. Perhaps the next time we are shopping for a new car, we'll take a second look at a Ford, Chrysler or GM product. We can all do a little bit more.
There is so much blame to go around and so much anger. When Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli, the CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler, respectively, flew in to plead for a bailout on private jets, they represented the very worst of this crisis. They were begging for help while doing most everything wrong. Those Black Friday shoppers who waited in the biting cold are the best of this economy. Of course, I mourn with the family of the man killed in New York, but consumerism is good. Wal-Mart, despite popular ideas, is good. People are still spending money at Wal-Mart. As long as people are spending money, this crisis will get better.
We just have to know that our best days are still ahead.
Write to Alex at apcarroll@bsu.edu
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