Can Voters Save Us in 2012?

The parents or grand parent’s generation who lived through the depression, WW2, and the cold war were committed to saving and investing. Their children became spenders and borrowers.

The 2000’s mentality set us back 200 years. The U.S. used to lead the world in manufacturing and innovation. Starting in the 1980’s, we became a financial nation where we built an economy on spending. We became unraveled. We bought consumer electronics, cars, and houses that we often couldn’t afford.

While developing nations have been saving 30% of their income because they have no safety nets, we were going into debt and now cannot afford our safety nets. The developing nations have the manufacturing and don’t spend while we have lost the manufacturing and have no savings.

We could get back to saving and investing, but we are plagued with unemployment and under employment.  In the next few years leading to the 2012 elections, we are going to hear debates on whether government can and should try to solve our problems.

The voters have little influence on decisions other than to vote in the person or party that seems to voice the direction we want to travel. But have we decided for ourselves what that direction should be?

Thomas L Friedman  wrote “The World is Flat” has also authored “That Used to Be Us”. He says we had five pillars of strength since the days of Hamilton which included education, innovation, infrastructure, production incentives, and fiscal responsibility. He says in the 2000′s we lost ground on all five.

Democrats are pushing for the short term solution of jobs which means more government spending and Republicans are pushing for long term stability of reducing government spending.

We are charting the path we will follow for the next ten to twenty years. We not only need to escape our short term crisis, but not dig a bigger hole for the long term. We need intelligent debate among the populace. We can’t just look at job creation, but need to analyze our fundamental values of responsibility for our own health, savings, investments, and contribution.

We should put everything on the table and have some bold solutions on how everyone contributes,  compromises, and creates a new beginning.  We need to end the Republicans for the rich and Democrats for the rest mentality and grid lock that produces destructive compromises.