The last couple have been a bit poorly focused as I try to find a way to present a more positive view of what's happening in the world. This time, I'm only giving myself fifteen minutes to write and including a link to something that explains why I feel pretty good about the future over all.
First, the bad news: times are hard. Jobs, and their accompanying sense of identity and security, are vanishing at an alarming rate. Money invested by people who decided not to join the spending binge, instead trying to do the right thing and defer gratification, is gone. People's hopes of sending kids to school have been dashed. Early retirement is no longer an option for anyone. A comfortable retirement of independent living will likely be denied those who, after a life of physical work and responsible spending, cannot work and must rely on their children, relatives or charity. Today's more prosperous adults have to put off their own dreams to support their extended families. All this comes in a time when taxes must rise, government services must be curtailed and the buying power of the world's reserve currency is uncertain.
Gloomy enough for you? Now for the good news. Our problem is that we have far too much capacity to produce the good things in life, and we just don't know what to do with it all. Our farms are still incredibly productive and it is well nigh impossible to starve in the United States, and in more places abroad. New companies are still opening to continue the process of creative destruction. Today's crisis is one of confidence, an overcorrection following an excess in the other direction. Creativity and adaptability are hallmarks of the human condition, and that hasn't changed. And no model in history has harnessed that to improve the human condition better than that of the United States, so much so that we've pretty successfully exported it.
We need to rethink prosperity a bit, but that's not the end of the world. The grand strategy remains the same.
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