It's Time to Get to Work Fixing Our Economic and Political Problems


By Doug Kreeger
AlterNet
December 29, 2009


We must all recognize the terrible consequences of not coming up with real solutions to the issues facing us.


In Monday’s New York Times, Paul Krugman paints an appraisal of the American economy over the last decade. Krugman attempts to coin a term to describe the 2000s as a time of no economic movement. He writes that from an economic point of view, he would "... suggest that we call the decade past the Big Zero. It was a decade in which nothing good happened, and none of the optimistic things we were supposed to believe turned out to be true."

These odd times demand that we start to understand exactly where we are and what course of action is essential to make progress on the morass we find ourselves in. As we talk with people in our communities, we discover that most do not have a clue about what the future holds. I am also convinced that even the so-called experts do not either. That does not limit the speculation and the fingers pointing at everyone and every institution. Everybody is looking for the villains to blame for this mess. I am reminded of a maxim I copied down years ago: The chance of solving a problem declines, the closer one gets to finding out who was the cause of the problem.

As we look to find the answers for our ills, it is time that we stop shooting from the hip, stop simply looking for the people to blame, stop promising "hope.â€