GOING, GOING, G. . . .

REF:" From Hope to Barely hanging on"by Gary North, www. LouRockwell.com

"The recession that began in December 2007 produced a change in Americans' perception of their economic future. They moved from the tradition of hope to one of just barely hanging on.[emphasis added] I have never seen this before. Only someone born around 1910 can recall anything like it, assuming that he recalls anything at all."

The Hatman and Mrs. Hatman have seen this several times in their careers. like a George Burns bouncing ball; way up and then way down . they were not born in 1910, but long enough to witness the Great Depression and do without hardships of WWII on the homefront.

"By 1932, that euphoria was a thing of the distant past. Unemployment was at 20%. Prices were down at least 25%. Over 6,000 banks had failed. There was no sector of the economy that was flourishing except gold mining, which had the benefit of a price floor set by law. Then things got worse. Another 3,000 banks failed. Prices continued to decline. Unemployment rose. . .By 1932, that euphoria was a thing of the distant past. Unemployment was at 20%. Prices were down at least 25%. Over 6,000 banks had failed. There was no sector of the economy that was flourishing except gold mining, which had the benefit of a price floor set by law. Then things got worse. Another 3,000 banks failed. Prices continued to decline. Unemployment rose. . ..My mother still talks about it. She remembers men in Portland, Oregon, begging for food, willing to do odd jobs just to eat. Those years scarred her. They scarred her generation, who never fully bought into the idea that prosperity is created by personal debt. They did not fully participate in the debt-driven post–World War II boom, which relied on an extension of consumer credit. Credit worked because people saved. The end of the wartime price controls, coupled with the return of the troops to civilian life, extended the opportunities for capital. Money went into new industries. It went into housing, which was revolutionized by new techniques of mass production."

Oh my. the 50's were glorious times--we thought they would ever end.. but the 60's were an awakening . The first of the post war recessions. John Kennedy saying" I want to get this country going again" after the steady hand of Eisenhower. Then the upheaval at Berkley and National Guard firing on the students at Kent State. The boomers were starting to feel their oats.

But,"All of our lives, we have seen economic progress. Television replaced radio as the technology of the future in 1949–53. Energy was cheap. Cars were everywhere. Teenagers had their own used cars, their own records, their own subculture. We stayed in school until we graduated from high school. That was something new. A lot of us went to college – also new."

Education was seen as the ticket to success and middle-class comfort. And it was for a great many young Americans, who in spite of the turbulent times managed to pull themselves up with the GI bill and their own bootstraps to capture part of the American dream. Their incomes and lifestyles exceeded that of their parents.

Somewhere along the way, we lost our direction. Ethics and morality lost out to laws and court decisions. A mans word was his bond, and you could count on him to honor his word if at all humanly possible. Million dollar Deals were struck on merely a handshake. Yes there were laws, contracts and lawyers. but who sued doctors, hospitals and their neighbors?

We went from comparative money stability to inflation, to roaring inflation after the "gold window"was discontinued; yet credit increased along with usurious interest rates and we began using credit cards to buy what we had not the cash to get. Later as real estate kept pace with inflation, second mortgages, house collateralized lines of credit became the norm.

"The American stock market peaked in early 2000. It has taken constant intervention by the Federal Reserve to prop up the economy. It is becoming apparent to people on Main Street that the people on Wall Street have been able to survive only because of bailouts. The idea that the economy is in a recovery phase is accompanied by assurances from most economists and most Congressmen that the economy would slide back into depression were it not for the courageous intervention of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System.

This has been the argument of every textbook in U.S. history regarding the New Deal. "Roosevelt saved capitalism from itself!" But here we are, almost eight decades removed from Roosevelt's famous first inaugural, in which he excoriated bankers. This inaugural address is one of only three that the textbooks cite, along with Lincoln's second and Kennedy's famous "Ask not." Here was the rhetoric of class warfare. Here was imagery of Jesus driving out the moneychangers.

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men."

It is said that the American century has been one of wars. Actually it has been

the distinguishing feature of the USA since it's inception with the Revolutionary War. Americans apparently just don't feel like they are Americans unless blood is spilled somewhere, preferably not in our homeland. WWI was "a war to end all wars" that didn't live up to its' billling. Then WWII against the Japs and Hun who

wanted to take over the whole world. Korea a war that President Truman called

a "Police Action". Vietnam to stop the "march of communism", Iraq I and II, "Aggression", and "Weapons of mass destruction" and the beat goes on and on.

We, who are now the 'Old folks' have seen more war than peace; particularly if you throw in the Cold War against the Soviets, the war against inflation, the war on drugs and the war on terrorism.

So, what we have known is going, going, almost all gone. Is it time for a real change?

With Love and Kindness,

THE HATMAN