As the economic downturn intensifies, it is no longer fashionable to rail against big government. If it were not for the decisive actions of the US federal government, AIG, Citigroup and other financial behemoths would have already been forced into bankruptcy. What should be obvious is the current economic difficulties were spurred by reckless behavior by the private sector in its rapacious search for profit. While Conservatives still decry the actions of government, it is hard to take them seriously when angst-ridden Americans are looking to government for a way out of the current economic mess. The severity of the current economic crisis is forcing everyone to revisit the mantra of the Reagan years that government is the problem. In fact, a strong argument can be made that one of the key causes of the economic crisis has been overly lax regulation of the financial industry. All of a sudden, no one is boasting right now the era of big government is over.
With the advent of the Reagan revolution, Americans were bombarded with anti-government messages that suggested government was hopelessly inefficient and couldn't be relied upon to effectively address the nation's challenges. If we just unleashed the private sector, prosperity would be assured. As the economic crisis worsens, the notion the private sector has all the answers has never looked more absurd.
Many Republicans have argued Obama's stimulus plan is moving the country towards socialism. This argument is transparently preposterous. With the economy cratering, there is an obvious need for the government to spur economic activity. Even if this weren't the case, it is patently absurd for Republicans to decry government's actions to help the middle class, when there seems to be no limit to how much capital the government is willing to inject into irresponsible financial institutions. What Conservatives seem to be against is any government intervention on the behalf of ordinary Americans. This myopic stance may mean a protracted stay in the political wilderness for the GOP.
I think it is important to emphasize the current economic crisis arose from private sector irresponsibility. This shouldn't come as a big surprise. When corporations maneuver to maximize short term profit at the expense of everything, reckless behavior is inevitable. And when government regulation is loosened because of persistent corporate lobbying and massive campaign contributions, the result can be disastrous. As recent developments show, the private sector can make lousy decisions. And when big corporations betray the public trust, it is ordinary Americans who are often left to clean up the mess.
There has always been a revulsion towards socialism in America. I would argue what we have now is worse than European socialism. What we unfortunately have now is the privatization of profit by large corporations while society is burdened by the risk. That this is unfair should be obvious. That Conservatives still have the gall to complain the country is lurching towards socialism should remove any doubt they are not worth listening to.
Comments