I long ago gave up reading the local newspaper and switched to the NY Times online. Some of my Republican friends find this publication “liberal” although I have to say that I often times find it like a real newspaper should be – actually reporting news. That isn’t to say that parts of it might not be considered “liberal,” but certainly some parts would fall into the category of “conservative.” But to me, much of it is what I expect from a “news”paper. I really enjoy the op-ed page, there are some very interesting columnists there (In fact, when I first had the urge to write, I foolishly sent in some op-eds – not realizing that 6th grade school teachers from the “left coast” wouldn’t be too appealing to their readership). One of the columnists who I have had a tendency to shy away from – due to wondering where in the #*@% he’s coming from – is Thomas Friedman. But I have to say that he wrote (I believe it was yesterday) one of the more interesting columns I’ve read for some time – it coincided with a lot of what I’ve been thinking about in trying to get a handle on the economic crisis as I watch all the “experts” searching for the bottom of our economic meltdown.

Friedman pointed out – and I think he got the idea from someone else – that maybe what is happening is what he called “The Great Disruption.” His point was that maybe we are at a point in time where both the Stock Market and Mother Nature are saying “enough already” – or words to that effect – in unison. Well, I’ve been thinking along those lines, but I have to say that I don’t give the “Market” that much credit. I’m not willing to put a place where high paid executives gamble with other people’s money – in fact I’m beginning to look at Wall Street as the world’s largest gambling casino, on the same plane as our planet. In my opinion it’s Mother Nature that is saying “enough already.” The stock market is just one more part of the machine that is out of whack – I suppose using Friedman’s thinking (or at least how I would conceive it) the Market could be considered the axle on which the wheel turns – therefore its demise is emblematic of the larger society’s demise. Businesses are going belly up all around me – not just “small businesses” but some of the more prominent businesses that have seemed to be invincible. It is becoming clear that nothing is invincible.

Part of Friedman’s point was that we have been in an economy that is measured by year over year growth with this mindset that it will go on forever. A good number of people have understood that the lifestyle of many Americans was not sustainable – and it appears to me that the ones at the “top” – that is the people who have the most income – are going to be the last ones to understand what is happening. In my mind, this is because they will be able to go on almost as if nothing is wrong because of their “reservoir” of resources – but, depending on the severity of the downturn, their time could be coming. Of course, they would have to be almost blind to fail seeing what is happening to those around them – I have several friends who have lost their jobs and have no prospects in sight. And keep in mind that my peer group is the pre-retirement group in their 50’s and early 60’s – many who have lost their retirement savings and are getting quite anxious about what lies ahead. Getting back to Friedman’s point – it seems quite evident that the entire direction of this nation is shifting – out of necessity. For all those “Global Warming deniers” out there – if Friedman (and me to a certain extent) are correct – there is going to be a huge shift in our economy – WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT!

Some of these companies that the government is trying to bailout – maybe they are a thing of the past no matter what the government does – but if they are going to survive it will be in an entirely different form. The Republicans continue to complain about President Obama – many of them calling him a “socialist” or worst – as he appears to “get it” and is attempting to change the course of this nation in an attempt to mitigate the disaster that is lying ahead. And while I am sick of listening to Republicans, I can see the importance of getting beyond the partisan bickering in Washington – one of Obama’s main goals – if we are to respond effectively to the challenges that lie ahead. In fact, I’ve said on this site several times in the past that I believe maybe it’s time for a new “opposition” party – to counterbalance the Democrats. At the rate they’re going the Republicans are going to appeal to a smaller and smaller minority of American voters as the evidence mounts regarding the changes we all have to make in the future. It is greed that has fueled the crisis we are in and greed has no place in the solution. Maybe the “Green” party is looming as the next major political force in this nation as we try to bring the earth that we depend on back to health (and us along with it).

Until our national attention is redirected to a “Green” economy – and companies, whether new ones or old ones that retool, get focused along those lines I believe that Wall Street may continue to slide. I mean when companies like AIG and CitiCorp – two businesses that are “too big to fail” are trading at less than a dollar a share – despite the commitment of the government to “save” them – well, that’s a REALLY BAD SIGN regarding the health of this nation’s economy. Stop with the talk that this is just another recession and it should “turn around” sometime in “the third quarter.” The other day I listened to a snipit of the John Stewart show – Comedy Central’s version of the news – and it was recordings of “advice” given in the last year by a number of the “experts” (like Jim Cramer and Rick Santelli) on CNBC – the cable channel dedicated to Wall Street and the economy. If these guys weren’t so pathetic it would have been a lot funnier – but their advice has been somewhat akin to someone at the race track telling you to bet on the number four horse because he took a dump during the post parade (if you’ve never been to the horse races – that would be laughable). These guys have been making predictions that probably cost you your life savings if you listened to them. Business as usual on Wall Street is OVER! They can blame Obama for all of this all they want – BUT WHAT THEY REALLY NEED TO DO IS GO LOOK IN A MIRROR TO FIND THE “CULPRIT.”

Just like General Motors MUST RETOOL in order to survive (and I firmly believe we need to close our ears to the Republicans who want GM to declare bankruptcy) our nation must RETOOL in order to maintain its leadership position in the world. And I believe the world needs the US to show leadership more than any time in the past 75 years. Tonight I won’t get into the importance of prosecuting those who got us here any more than to say it’s part of the requirement of showing leadership – we will hold our own accountable first – in order to claim credibility when dealing with others (and the reality is that it’s probably a bit harsh to say “they got us here” – it’s probably more accurate to say they have accelerated the process – this was inevitable). Saving the planet is certainly a multinational challenge. If we are going to lead in this area, the time to kick things into “high gear” is NOW! And I agree with Friedman that it is none other than “Mother Nature” who is demanding this change.

If we continue to look to Wall Street for solutions and ignore the realities in the world around us – this “Great Disruption” could last for a decade or longer. There are billions in this world already suffering from shortages of food and WATER. Are we going to wait until the crisis is actually killing our citizens before we deal with it? I’ve heard experts say that within 10 years water will be a much bigger issue in America than oil. Are we going to ignore these experts and listen to the ones on Wall Street who have proven their fallibility? We live in a society where the average Major League baseball player earns over one and a half million dollars per year and the average teacher earns that in a career. Are we going to continue to misplace our priorities in this manner? We take for granted the food supply while we continue to deplete the land that grows the food and the aquifers that supply the crops with water. 30 years ago Jimmy Carter put CAFE standards on the auto industry which respected that oil is a finite resource – and we willingly voted in politicians who derided him as they reversed his policies. Carter was ridiculed for putting solar panels on the White House in an attempt to set an example for the rest of the nation that we needed to conserve energy – Ronald Reagan had them removed shortly after replacing Carter as President. Hillary Clinton was roundly criticized for attempting to institute a national health care policy in the early 1990’s which was critically needed then and is desperately needed now. There are examples after examples of people who have tried to change the fundamental direction of this nation in the past 30 years – usually meeting with resistance from the “establishment” that is embedded in Wall Street. As I’m writing this tonight, the Republican party is positioning itself as the “Party of No.” Many of them have said they feel we’d be better off with more of GW Bush’s policies than those proposed by Barack Obama. I can only guess where Thomas Friedman would come in on this, but I can tell you that I believe it’s time for them to get out of the way. Forget Obama’s campaign slogans. Both Wall Street and Mother Nature are telling us IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE!