THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
Matter of the Moment
Looking in on America 2: Making Sense of Commonsense
Hank Eso
Wednesday, 8 October, 2008
“The government we now have exhibits many weaknesses….
Now our business is to consider what we, as individuals, can do about it”
~~McGeorge Bundy
Last
night, I instinctively joined the legion who tuned in globally to watch the
second McCain-Obama presidential debate. Like the Palin-Biden debate, this
round drew a healthy global viewership. There was no knockout, not that one was
expected.
Understandably, there are broad stakes across the globe on the outcome of the 4 November elections. There is a nexus between the electoral outcome and the eventual resolution of the present global financial crisis. Whilst it would be up to the Americans to assess how the candidates performed, other onlookers like this observer, who were outside looking in, will have to contend with some yet indecipherable realities, whatever they may be. Nonetheless, some points gleaned from the debate were stark.
A nation is insular or aloof, if its leaders exhibit such tendencies. Hence, it would be a false dichotomy for anyone to discount the nexus between the outcome of the elections and the global fiscal wellbeing. Another stark point is that the world financial sector, after shirking on the private virtue of frugality by indulging in egregious excesses, is now self-correcting, but not without great pains. As Ian Harnett, an international market strategist noted recently, “The market has woken up to the fact that this is a global economic crunch.” Reality check: French President Nicholas Sarkozy has underlined the need for the emerging economies to be given a greater voice in how this crisis is resolved. I wonder where they fit in, considering that; they did not pull the tripwire.
Here is a given. This financial crisis started on Wall Street but the ripple effect has spread like volcanic lava. Reining in the destructive forces will require America’s leadership but concerted global action. Yet one senses that those responsible for this carnage still do not get its enormity. Those who scream “Drill, Baby Drill” are not necessarily those reeling the most from the pains of the fiscal seismic activity on Wall Street. Similarly, we can’t overlook the fact that the present crisis arose primarily from the insensate mindset of “Burn, Baby, Burn”, which was unquestionably, the mantra for those in charge of the financial markets, as long as they were burning OPM -- other people’s money.
God Bless America! I say this with all sincerity and in the full knowledge that America is a blessed country. America is also “God’s own country”, if indeed, there is any such nomenclature. Just like many patriotic Americans, there are legions of non-Americans that pray and wish the best for the United States. (This is not suggesting by any means, that America does not have its detractors and haters.) America is the dream-come-true land and wonderland combined. No wonder many immigrants gravitate to the US, legally or illegally. As a land of immigrants, America is also the quintessential land of opportunity.
Nonetheless, great dichotomies persist in America. They consist of the marginal and the broad. Such differences as we see manifest mostly in an election year. However, just as patriotism binds, adversities also bind. The deleterious consequences of the ongoing global financial crunch are broadly felt, even if its intensity varies from nook to nook and person to person. America, however, is not an island and could hardly pretend to be. That singular truth also pertains to its relationship with the rest of the world. The prevailing dichotomies are real. When I think of Americans and the rest of us –that is the world-- I simply contextualize that relationship in Biblical terms; “For in fact, the body is not one member, but many….. But indeed, there are many members, yet one body.” I see the body as our common humanity.
So what does this mean? The uniqueness of the US is a given. But so too, is the uniqueness of its other global interlocutors, especially when categorized as one.
If the present global financial crisis, which has its epicenter in the US, has one redeeming value, it has proven beyond doubt, our common bond and prevailing inextricable linkages, from the fiscal and political to basic needs as well as the sublime. Read globalization. Indeed, it shows again that “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” Perhaps, the only difference is that when smaller members suffer their plight is ignored or treated with transitory band-aids. Furthermore, this crisis underlines the realities of systemic fiscal relationship often not understood or taken for granted by those outside the realm of policymaking.
Watching the debate last night, one point emerged as certain from the questions asked by the audience, who thankfully were real people. There is a crisis of confidence; America is hurting economically and so is the rest of the world. I waited for Obama or McCain to seize on that famous sound bite and proclaim, “Economy, Stupid!” They did not. Yet, the realities of the unraveling, plummeting, bungee-like and precipitous freefall of the global securities market are palpable. Painfully, no one, not Obama, McCain or George Bush could say when the economy will recoil and begin to recover. At least Bush admitted as much, when he said, “I wish I could snap by fingers and make what happened stop… but that’s not the way it works.” I am still astonished that politicians chose to bail out failed institutions instead of empowering homeowners who were in foreclosure. This is hardly commonsensical. Nobody builds on a sinkhole.
Rhetorically, what should the American voters do? Vote for change and the unknown or vote for change and continuity of the same failed policies that led to the present predicament or what Obama called “the verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years.” As has been said, “False frontiers create flashpoints.” This is true in demography, politics, and peace and security considerations as it is also true in fiscal and economic considerations. The basis of true capitalism and the spirit of democracy lie in allowing market forces to dictate trends and not government intervention, even when such interventions are rescue or bailout measures. In this regard, the Democrats and Republicans who opposed the bailout are right. However, there is a paradox that I find unsettling.
As I listened to McCain call for government intervention, I also remembered Gov. Sarah Palin saying during the debate with Joe Biden, “that government should get out of the way” to allow Americans to run their lives. That “Reaganomics” concept, that touted supply-side policies in the 1980s, is no longer tenable. Moreover, it seems obvious that McCain and Palin contradicted each other by using different playbooks. Lest we forget, the mortgage crisis, which triggered this near global financial implosion, started when supply of homes in the US outstripped demand and yet, avaricious speculators engaged in flipping houses lured those who they knew could not afford the homes into taking out mortgage loans they could not service.
So, what needs to be done? One of the best works I have read about American government and politics is a book by McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, titled, The Strength of Government. Two points made by Bundy in 1968 encapsulates the present dilemma and the way out: “The explosions of our age require stronger government. The government we now have exhibits many weaknesses…. Now our business is to consider what we, as individuals, can do about it.” The nutshell point is that every nation and especially contemporary democracies require strong and purposeful Government to steer and govern them. There comes a time when the people must take back their government by ousting those who bungled or by embarking a sea change politics with the choices, they make.
In deciding who should lead them and the free world, Americans need to set aside their ideological and party persuasion and ask dispassionately, whom, between Obama and McCain can offer a purposeful government capable of getting American and the world out of the present rut. That is the question to ask. The heartfelt and commonsensical answer should influence how America votes next month. Nothing else should.
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.
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Hank Eso is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com
© Hank Eso,
Wednesday 8 October 2008
Email: hankeso@aol.com