When the Bailouts Fail: Can Generation Soft-Bottom Handle the Economic Hard Landing?
Posted: Wednesday, March 04, 2009
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
From what we expect of our government and of our marketplace, it seems we Americans consistently prefer to plan our lives around three concepts: convenience, insurance, and deliverance. Our convenience attitude has little patience for anything that takes time or hassle. Our insurance mindset seeks to avoid or minimize damage and loss of any kind. And our preference for deliverance seeks early bailouts from pain and suffering. Let me explain. The other day I was driving on Frederica Street, which is the main street in our city. Near Owensboro High School there was a sign that read, "Rough Road Ahead". So I adjusted my driving and started watching out for the rough road. As I approached the public library, I noticed a shallow square cut into the pavement. The cut was about an inch deep, one that vehicles' tires easily rolled into and out of with not so much as a very mild tremor.
Indeed it was. There was not another sight of rough road anywhere.
Then it hit me: "If this is what these people call a rough road, God help us! Our society may not be prepared to handle truly rough times like the ones this depressive economy is handing out."
Elsewhere in the world, a rough road is usually unpaved, littered with gravel, browned out by dust, filled with potholes, decked with ditches, caved with muddy areas, where a vehicle gets stuck, and the passengers get out to push the vehicle out of the ditch or mud. An inch-deep cut on an otherwise smooth, paved road is a far cry from what most people in the world would describe as a rough road.
The "rough road" sign also got me thinking about how we raise children in today's America. Let's contrast infant care in America with that in less developed parts of the world.
Deep in the backside of Liberia, a mother rips her old lappa (large piece of cloth) into smaller strips to create diapers for her baby. Every time the baby needs a diaper, Mom takes one strip of cloth to cover the child's bottom. Once Baby can sit by herself, Mom sometimes lets her sit without diapers the child's bare bottom against the solid ground with toppings of dust. Learning to walk, the toddler suffers numerous hard landings on her bare buttocks, with no soft diapers to absorb some of the shock.
By contrast, on the shelf of a giant Wal-Mart store, an American mom grabs a bag or box of pampers for her baby. When this baby turns toddler, Mom will pad his soft bottom with pull-ups. When Baby falls on his butt, he'll be sheltered from the shock, as layers of pamper absorb the rigors of the bump to his buttocks.
This American kid will grow up lay claim to battery-powered toys, remote-controlled trucks, and Play Station, video and computer games as his birthright. He may complain that $5 is too little for lunch or for a trip with his friends to Star Bucks. Even when we have home-cooked meals, my little American boy makes strange faces to twist my arm for a few bucks for a sack of McDonald's or Taco Bell.
Outside of the home, this soft one will be told that comfort must be his lot and suffering a total stranger he must do everything to bypass, outrun or overtake as a slow car in traffic. In school, my son will be taught that the purpose of education is to shield him from financial hardship, rather than as a tool to help him find practical solutions to life's hard problems.
When my kid becomes a teenager and part of his youth group at church, his preacher will further pamper him and his church friends with a theology of escape from pain and suffering. Their preacher, assisted by Sunday School teachers, will spoon-feed them the doctrine of The Rapture of the Church: "Before the Tribulation Period hits the earth, we who are true believers won't be here. We, as the Church, will be raptured from the earth by the Lord, and flown away. Only those Left Behind will have to see the suffering and pain of the Great Tribulation. Halleluyah! Aren't you glad you won't be here to put up with the Anti-Christ and all the suffering he will cause?"
By the way, I also have a teenage daughter. And to firm up my daughter's escape theology, she has read the entire Left Behind collection, the children version, and I'm so proud my daughter has got a hold of 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4. Yes!
It seems every advice targeted at this contemporary generation has been designed to promote a no-pain adventure. Again, the key words that navigate their lives have been convenience, insurance, deliverance.
Boy, have I bought into this fantasy life interestingly known as "the American dream"! Yes, I'm with it all the way. I require my son to wear his helmet before he leaves the house on his bicycle. My state government has passed laws to make sure my children and I wear our seat belts when riding in vehicles. We need to buy home insurance, health insurance, and car insurance. Who wants to bear the full cost of any damages and losses that may come from an accident, disease, sickness, earthquake, wildfire, tsunami, volcano, tornado or hurricane? When we buy a TV set, we are offered a warranty plan. We must live the insured life. Only problem is, real life offers no such insurance or warranty!
For decades, Americans have raised a generation of Liberals who believe Government should take care of us by providing Welfare or Social Security. "Government is the only one that can do something about this recession", the Liberals say. Americans have also nurtured a generation of Conservatives who stick their faith in the Free Market machine of Wall Street. "The market will correct itself; government just needs to get out of the way," the Conservatives plead. Together both groups believe that between Omniscient Washington and Omnipotent Wall Street, the system will work its magic to always adjust our taxes, Social Security, 401K, 403B, IRA, Roth IRA, mutual funds, or other benefits and bonuses in the black just when its our time to retire, just when we need our money the most.
Whether we put our faith in the government or the market, it is the same mindset of always finding a way to cheat pain, trying to zero in on life that fits a MapQuest result, with driving directions starting at Address A and ending at Address B, where we'll hopefully pack our lives waiting for Retirement, our haven on the beach, or for believers, waiting for The Rapture to dodge that tribulation we don't deserve.
Is this insured, secured, "fly away" group of people really prepared to deal with the painful rigors of what now looks everything like an Economic Tribulation? Our government is chasing its tail, trying to bail out Wall Street and Main Street, everyone and everything in sight, to the tune of trillions of dollars. Of course, our train of convenience, insurance, and deliverance must be kept on track, because pain cannot be our thing. Suffe ring is the ring worn by "the third world".
Could this recession, caused by a total moral collapse in Government and on Wall Street, serve as a timely gift wrapped in thorns for Generation Pampers? I dare to think so. As all the government's bailout attempts fail, the American people, including even the soft-bottom generation, will learn the rules of toughness. All those episodes of the TV reality show, "Survival", will finally connect with real life in America. And the nation will be populated by a new breed of rock-solid citizens who are ready for anything life throws at them, a people who no longer trust neither Washington nor Wall Street to bail them out. Unless that is the case, what hope can there be for the longterm survival of a strong America as we know it?
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)I really enjoyed your article. Made me read Thessalonians Chapter 4 again. Your friend in Christ, Linda DHi there, Linda. I appreciate your reading the article and leaving comment. Thanks much. ~mogama~
Mogama, this is your best article yet. My wife and I have lived in Africa so we know exactly what you are talking about!Thanks, Aaron, for reading the article and for your kind comment. ~mogama~
This is a great article. The founding Fathers said that the American experiment wouldn't work without God fearing individuals and that is proving to be very true. The moral breakdown has left people grabbing as much as they can get or on the other side judging people for figuring out how to get more turning in a circle and a government who wants to give everyone everything jsut to get more powr or votes and put the bill on the backs of future generations who don't yet have a voice for us to even ask them if it's ok. I have a feeling they would say no. This is your best article and one of the best Searchwarp articles I've ever read.You are exactly correct: we are in this mess primarily because morals have broken down especially in Washington and on Wall Street. Thanks for reading and for your comment. ~mogama~
Goo job Mogama. Well spoken mass of truth.I like your phrase "mass of truth". Thanks for taking time to read and comment. ~mogama~
Mogama,Truly, truly, an excellent article. Everything you said is right on. I have been saying the same for years. Today, the big question is always, "What's in it for me?" When are we going to stop being the 'me' generation and look at what it has brought us?Thank you for a very well-written article that tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth!NancyPS. Your words about the raising of infants in other countries made me smile. Gosh, we have coddled our children to the nth degree!Strangely, Nancy, our politicians really believe we need more pampering as the solution to our economic problems!
As for raising infants in the tough spots of the world, it is a wonder that some of us don't have literal callous buttocks! Thanks for reading and commenting. ~mogama~
Mogama, as usual, I always find your articles well researched, well thought out, and astonishingly true. I believe that kids are truly 'overly pampered" nowadays. They need the discipline that most of us had in our upbringing. That have to much, to soon. They have nothing to look forward to and I for one would love to see the schools take back the discipline, and putting the morning prayer back into the schools. I enjoyed this article, and wanted to put my two cents in about the youth of today......Great read......your pal, and friend in pen.......Gary
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