From the Mind of Meegs

This economic crisis has been weird. It's been weird for a lot of reasons. First of all, I have a relatively recession-proof job. And, in fact, I was one of the lucky ones who landed a new job despite the journey through the crapper that we're taking. And, since I was already employed, I technically didn't even need that new job. I haven't decided if I should feel guilty about that or not.

So in reality, my financial state right now is better than it's ever been. In one sense, I feel part of what's going on in that it's perhaps the fundamental force shaping our current cultural consciousness. But in another sense, I just feel shut out of the whole issue.

Another way in which this is weird is that it has made it impossible for me decide whether the American soul is more or less up for sale than it was a year ago. So something happens like our new Secretary of State saying that human rights violations in China are a real shame, but that we can't trouble ourselves with that right now because China has become a major economic power and really, our nation just needs money right now. And then I realize that, like most merchandise currently moldering on store shelves, the American soul is not only up for sale, but it has been marked down drastically.

But then something happens like our new President making a prime time speech calling this a "day of reckoning" for the way we mortgaged our future in favor of a present that was stocked with so many toys that we just didn't need. And then I start to realize that maybe at least a few people see the signs of deeper malaise in our current crisis. As horrible as things might seem right now, maybe they get that these are just the symptoms of an even more dangerous syndrome.

The problem with the scenario that Sec. of State Clinton proposes is that we are in this position because we made all our better moral senses subservient to our desire for money. And what is she doing now? Exactly: subjecting all our better moral senses to the lure of money. So the solution to our current crisis is to continue to take the same actions that got us into this crisis to begin with? Something about that seems bass-ackwards to me. I know I'm sounding insufferably moralistic at this point, especially given my confession that I haven't personally felt the economic pinch.

So that's another way in which this crisis is weird for me. It's weird because it causes me to write a post that is either my clarion call for greater moral leadership, or a confession that I'm the last person who should be talking about this. Either I'm making a good point, or I'm making a point that refutes itself.