Averting a Diaster --Is that a Good thing

Jon Meacham is an author of biographies such as a recent effort of Andrew Jackson. It was a wonderful book about our seventh President.

He also is the editor of Newsweek magazine and I look forward to his essay each week. Last week he wrote about how President Obama seems to have kept America's economy from falling into an even bigger sinkhole than it did in the last two years.

He then wonders if long term this is a good thing. As he says it is wrong to wish for more people to lose their jobs, homes, etc. Certainly as one who has lost his job I do not wish that on anybody.

However he points out that great changes only happen under great duress. We, as Americans, are so complacent and of course there are so many money interests to manipulate opinion short of a catastrophe we cannot act.

Look what the simple idea of health care reform to bring us up to speed with the rest of the world brings about.

Meacham's point is that at some point change has to happen. Unemployment at 20 percent. God forbid. Two summers ago gas got up to $4.25 a gallon. My friend who commuted to work in a truck that burned more gas than a fleet of volkswagons made the decision to buy another car for his commute. This car with the payment still was cheaper than what he was spending on gas for his truck.

If gas had stayed higher more folks would have made that decision. Perhaps working from home would become more of an option for some. Perhaps suburbs would become less attractive.

What we do know is that behaviors do change when forced to. But not until. Our economy crashed. People are attempting to save more and spend less. This is a good thing.

And to get government policy changed their must be a demand. What happened in the last few years was not enough to cause the changes we need.

It makes one fear what it will take