"The House is on Fire" says Nation blog

by smkovalinsky | October 13, 2009 at 02:12 pm

242 views | 42 Recommendations | 24 comments

From the liberal perspective of Nation blogger Katrina Vanden Heuvel - a well respected journalist and author, by the way - the crisis of our Nation is nothing less than a dire emergency, requiring extreme action.

To the right wing fiscal conservative squawking, it is pointed out the FDR did not leave the nation in debt for long, although his critics in the '30s and '40s claimed he had saddled us for eons.

It is now clear: our economy is shrinking, unemployment and underemployment are on the rise at nearly 20 percent, and a tsunami of foreclosures continues unabated--what we have on our hands is nothing less than a national emergency.
That's why it's so critical that good thinkers and progressive activists are on top of this, paying attention to the human costs of this Great Recession.

"I consider President Obama to be in the situation of having inherited a burning apartment building," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), testifying before Congress. "He proceeded to gather all the available fire trucks and douse the fires in half the floors."

Mishel went on to describe the need now for a strengthened safety net, more fiscal relief to state and local governments to avoid further layoffs, a public service jobs program to benefit local communities, a job creation tax credit for every new hire, and greater spending on infrastructure.

Quicker than the deficit hawks can say "What about the debt?"--consider these smart words from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "When one out of six Americans is unemployed or underemployed, this is no time to worry about the debt," he writes. Reich describes how critics once said future generations would be paying for FDR's debt due to Depression and World War II spending. But when the economy recovered and people were working and paying taxes again in the 1950s, "FDR debt had shrunk to almost nothing."

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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 15:22 on October 13th, 2009

Perhaps Katrina Vanden Heuvel should have also considered and explained what impact the cranked up World War II economy had on the recovery.

Rory Cripps

at 15:30 on October 13th, 2009

ACP: HA! Thanks for that one! One thing about the military/industrial complex--it boosts the economy! LOL!

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 15:44 on October 13th, 2009

That is an affirmative Rory. It.s amazing what rolled off those factory floors to resupply the Allies. When the war ended Europe had to be rebuild. The real estate market took off, oh my God then there were the baby boomers.

Rory Cripps

at 15:32 on October 13th, 2009

SMK: It sounds like we're living in depression times! Don't tell anyone though--we wouldn't want to create a panic!

Hugh Askew

at 15:36 on October 13th, 2009

So, will Obama start WWIII to get us going again?

israeli.agent

at 15:50 on October 13th, 2009

Well, imagine the alternative is a civil war , which one any President would prefer?

.Agent.

AGK

at 15:50 on October 13th, 2009

If you use, as I do, the saeculum method of historical analysis, then it is obvious that there will be a war, a global war, which will put Obama indeed in an FDR position. I think global depression and war, perhaps not total, but vast, is at the very door. It has been brewing for some time, and the die is cast now.

Hugh Askew

at 16:04 on October 13th, 2009

AGK, your analyse doesn't differ much from mine. I'm not educated enough to use the saeculum method, but a little commons sense works pretty good, too.

caj1

at 16:07 on October 13th, 2009

But Obama just won the Peace Prize! Won't that help stave off war? Hoping so...

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 16:14 on October 13th, 2009

Susan, are you saying all the efforts to create a more civil engagement with your adversaries will have been for naught? Less than a week ago we were talking about the high expectations we had for a more positive outcome in global affairs.

Tell us more of your saeculum method of historical analysis.

In their book Generations, William Strauss and Neil Howe introduce a fascinating theory that interprets U.S. history in terms of a repeating series of four basic types of generations.1The Fourth Turning, they propose that history moves in long cycles, each four generations long, which they call the saeculum, after the ancient Etruscan cycle of similar length.2 The saeculum contains four periods, called turnings, each of which is associated with the birth dates for a particular type of generation.

Rory Cripps

at 18:11 on October 13th, 2009

ACP: "To every season, turn, turn, turn . . . . ."

I'm gonna watch Forest Gump tonight!

Rory Cripps

at 18:04 on October 13th, 2009

SMK: JEEZ! Thanks for the sanguine outlook! LOL! Yeah! Maybe we'd be better off if only "the strong" survived and the world reinvented itself!

AGK

at 16:14 on October 13th, 2009

Actually, the saeculum method is in fact common sense: It is from the Latin, 'cycles' as in 'seasons' as in "if you want to know the future, look to the past. When summer is ending, the air turns cooler, and the leaves begin to fall. Obama arrived in "late summer". Now cooler winds are blowing. Just as they were right at the hour of WW 2. It is inevitable, and will be fulfilled. Common sense, really, and needs no special education. The Peace prize will seem a joke soon, because Obama will not be able to fulfil its promises. ;)

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 16:40 on October 13th, 2009

Thus the school of hard knocks term: History Repeats Itself

israeli.agent

at 17:26 on October 13th, 2009

After loosing a decent patch of hair, I found these gems..!

* To know where people are today, focus on their generation, not their age.
* To know where people will be tomorrow, focus on the life trajectory of their generation.
* To know where a certain age group will be tomorrow, focus on the cohort shift.
* To know where society will be tomorrow, focus on the turning.
* Respect and make use of the past—for history is the great teacher.

Link to the site:-

Generations never stand still. Like individuals, they strive, mature, and transform—always motivated to overcome basic personal and social challenges that they define for themselves early in life. Some generations (like Mae West's) start wild and later on slow down; others (like Gloria Steinem's) start off cautiously and later on speed up. From year to year, a generation's choices are buffeted by fads and events. But in the long run, its life trajectory is invariably governed by its archetype.

.Agent.

caj1

at 16:41 on October 13th, 2009

Honestly, I think that the European heads of state appreciate President Obama, and that they will do what they can to prevent any occurence of a WWIII. The U.S. cannot do what they did in the first two world wars, in my opinion. We want to avoid this at any cost. We have plenty to do in Afghanistan.

AGK

at 16:16 on October 13th, 2009

Howe and Strauss told us in 1997 that we will look back and view the election of 2008 as "the pre-war hour". It is at the very door, and as few knew the Civil War or WW II were coming, so it is with us now.

AGK

at 17:16 on October 13th, 2009

As the great one said, "History does not repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes." There will not be a repeat of WW II, but there will be some war, it is ordained by the times, and will be wholly so. The patterns DO repeat; only the exact details will differ. That is my belief. Obama has war stamped on him. He will be the war president, in a way that W Bush wanted to be, but could not be. That is my belief. When he appeared to be doing badly, way back when many thought Hillary would be the candidate, I told people it MUST be Obama, as he was war-like, and would be needed for what we are poised for. I could be wrong, but i really do not think so.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 18:16 on October 13th, 2009

Susan tell me your definition of war like. Mine is what I see in General McChrystal. The warrior leads from the front, says what he means and means what he says. There are few with that quality, even in the military.

Hugh Askew

at 18:40 on October 13th, 2009

Could use some civilian leaders like that, cowboy, about now would be good.............

Rory Cripps

at 18:08 on October 13th, 2009

SMK: Jesus Christ! Now you're starting to sound like "end times" folk. Have you been watching the 700 club lately? LOL!

nanute

at 13:41 on October 14th, 2009

Rory,

That is classic! I've been saying for a long time, the only reason the fundamentalist christians support Israel is to speed up the process.

AGK

at 18:16 on October 13th, 2009

GGGGrrrrr, >: ( Rory---No, I am coming from a purely historical perspective. No dreams of Amragaddon. Purely secular, academic, political analysis. I think it just is 'time' : The world is due for it. I think Obama will reveal himself to be quite the commander in chief. There will not be an "end of the world", any more than there was one at WW II. But the geography of America will be different, the lines redrawn, with some state secession. Now have a nice evening, Rory! And get yourself a big old Florida snake to cozy up with. ;) Pleasant dreams, all. smk