A few days ago I was perusing through my myriad of news organizations when I came across a headline that looked something like, "Bush says economy is 'basically fine'".
Now, I haven't been an ardent Bush hater or anything like that. I supported the Afghanistan and then, more hesitantly, Iraq efforts. After I saw the devastation our country was going through, I, like any good hipster of my generation half-heartedly protested the war. However, unlike my hipster counterparts (and maybe showing some of my conservative roots here) genuinely believed the intelligence had been misleading,and that Bush himself was not misleading. I questioned and doubted him, but never despised him.
However, as I have observed, first from Canada and now from the US, the lack of concern and action he has taken concerning our ailing economy has been nothing more than abhorrent. Watching family and friends suffer as well as seeing the entire United States reel under the influence of very poor economic choices was hard enough. On top of that, to have the leader of this country say that nothing is wrong is unbelievable and on the level of the most inept administrations in our world today. Admittedly, I don't know who caused this crisis. It would be naive to say that it was only this administration, only the banks, only the Clinton administration, only the credit organizations, only the American people. We're all to blame in some way or another. Instead of pointing fingers or covering it up by throwing money at us, maybe we need to rethink some of our cultural habits (e.g. the $30 I spent on books yesterday) and investment concepts (trading stocks as if they were baseball cards).
More importantly, as this election comes forward, we need to reflect on the kind of leader who will align himself with the American people. I have no stake in either candidate, but I want one who will not be as naive as our country's current incarnation of the French Queen, Marie Antoinette, who, not aware of the dire suffering of her own people lacking bread, simply said, "Let them eat cake."
Comments (1)
this kind of reason and even-headedness makes me really respect you all the more : )