Thomas Friedman wrote That Used to Be Us back in 2011. It a somewhat scathing condemnation about the many issues in our country, Friendman lays out a case for how to fix the issue. Partnering with Michael Mandelbaum, the author was determined to write an honest account of what had gone wrong in the country. As stated on the website, “As we were writing this book,” Friedman and Mandelbaum explain, “we found that when we shared the title with people, they would often nod ruefully and ask: ‘But does it have a happy ending?’ Our answer is that we can write a happy ending, but it is up to the country—to all of us—to determine whether it is fiction or nonfiction. We need to study harder, save more, spend less, invest wisely, and get back to the formula that made us successful as a country in every previous historical turn. What we need is not novel or foreign, but values, priorities, and practices embedded in our history and culture, applied time and again to propel us forward as a country. That is all part of our past. That used to be us and can be again—if we will it.”
However, I believe that the reason we have lost our way is also the solution—we have abandoned our Judeo-Christian roots, as I wrote last week.
Friedman correctly says that to make our way out of this looming disaster, we must have a willingness to sacrifice. He is correct, but why would a people accept a concept like sacrifice when the value system that sustains such a practice or belief has been undermined by the previous 6 decades of attack on our history?
Christianity and the inherent values with it were one of the major cornerstones of the American colonization experience…regardless of what you were told in the 6th grade. There are other cornerstones, of course; I teach my students that there are four: Christianity, Capitalism, Risk, Rebellion. As with any building, lose the cornerstones and the entire structure is doomed. In one sense, all 4 have been attacked with perhaps Rebellion still somewhat “alive and well” in our day. But for the past 50-60 years, there has been a clear and insistent attack on Christianity, to try to maneuver it to a place to where it no longer matters (at best) or is simply untrue. For those who doubt this history, merely go back and remember the many different groups of Christians who came over to create a new world of freedom and Christian expression: Pilgrims, the Puritans, Georgians trying to establish a system of grace, Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania. All of these colonists were people seeking liberty or a fresh start or a form of isolation from other groups.
We have betrayed ourselves through rejecting Christianity and falling in love rather with consumerism. We have replaced the real “American Dream” of personal liberty, the ability to own my own future through going where I wish, owning my own house and working at my own personal skill, with the twisted version of today of personal wealth, having whatever I want whenever I want it.
To do that, we have succumbed to the lie of credit. In doing so, we have spent 40-50 years sending false signals to the industries of the country. We have purchased far more than we could ever really afford, refusing to sacrifice at all by waiting till the amount was saved. In doing so, sick and unreal salaries have become the norm among the rich elite, with each new contract being promoted as inevitable, normal and some signal that our country’s economic health is good. To sustain those salaries, we send the message to consumers that they must buy more.
To do that, we’ve allowed American businesses to create a setting of planned obsolesce and we have agreed by quickly buying the next new shiny toy like some Pavlovian dog. Christianity teaches us to have restraint, to accept simplicity as the best path and clearly that sacrifice is a part of the path to living well.
Movie Theaters and sporting stadiums should be empty all over our country, but they aren’t. $40-60 for a family of 4 to see a movie; $10-40 more for food; sporting events are typically much higher, starting around $200 and skyrocketing to about $500 for a family of four. No family making the national average of $40-60k can honestly afford that on a regular basis. Yet, as we just saw during “Black Friday” and will undoubtably hear about during the release of the holiday blockbusters, the malls and the theaters were full to capacity.
Of course Christianity is not some mere panacea. Nor is it opposed to purchasing things or going to the movies. I often ask you to purchase my books, or point you to good books like Friedman’s work. Yet, at the core, as Friedman postulates, our future depends on coming to grips with the loss of our values. If we continue to teach children that success is ownership of excess, that the American Dream can only occur if one makes $10,000 or more a month….well, we are indeed doomed.
Can we be saved? Well, if the actions of our current leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, are the evidence, then no we will not be saved. Democrats must understand that we must spend less…even if means that a lot of programs, contracts and entitlements must be severed. It’s sort of like getting a pay cut at work, yet not reducing your cable bill, eliminating the spa membership or foregoing that vacation. Republicans must understand that we must ask the most wealthy to contribute more. Yes, they already pay a lot based on percentage of our total tax bill…I get that…but when they are pulling in over $10,000 to $20,000 A MONTH, they can certainly may more. It’s sort of like, once you get that pay cut, realizing that you must get a second job (or maybe demand your teen child get a job and contribute their wages as well to the family income).
The story doesn’t have to end poorly, fiscal cliff or not. Read again Friedman’s words–“We need to study harder, save more, spend less, invest wisely, and get back to the formula that made us successful as a country in every previous historical turn. What we need is not novel or foreign, but values, priorities, and practices embedded in our history….”
Now, go pursue those ancient values.