Conservative and Liberal labels must go, we need new labels. It's not just that they are used to confuse the situation. They truly don't clarify anything or add anymore. I'm sorry to sound like Tony Blair of long ago, but we need new labels for new ideas and new ways of thinking.
Clearly the response to the gulf crisis, nevermind its prevention, is a failure of Conservative and Liberal alike. A mess of this proportion requires resources that only the federal government can wield, but expertise that only local governments and people have. What we are seeing is a worst of both worlds mess instead of true cooperation to do the best people possibly can with an awful situation.
Local governments need to be "allowed" to act on their own, to take care of their local marshes or coastline as best they can. "Allowed" here means both authorizing it, or at least not barring it or requiring permissions that slow things down, and also funding it.
The money may theoretically or eventually come from BP, but local and state governments across the country are already broke and laying off thousands. How are they supposed to pony up millions they don't have in states and communities that have had their entire economy -- both the fishing and tourism half AND the oil industry half -- destroyed after a 2 year recession that already emptied their coffers?
If they were New York City they might be able to go to the bond markets or someone to borrow money for an initiative to save the city, based on their extreme track record of comebacks from near death experiences. But, even they have not been able to do that without federal assistance.
Is it Conservative to say that local communities should be allowed the autonomy to protect themselves? Is it Liberal to say that the Feds should put up the money for the effort and take charge of recovering that money from BP?
But to be a Conservative I'd have to oppose Health Care and Abortion and to be a Liberal I'd have to be against any more stimulus spending or growth of government spending, even if we as a society need to get some stuff done?
Forget it. Our generation has been called post-idiological. But we really need a new ideology. Maybe it's pragmatism. Maybe we can make up a new name eventually. For now I'll call it Americanism: I grew up with stories of America as a can-do nation landing a man on the moon, winning World War II and rebuilding Europe with the Marshall Plan. We can do it. With or without a particular leader or politician, with or without a particular company. If anyone says we can't, call that what it is: unacceptable.
It's good to realize the mistakes of the American government in managing its finances, especially during the Middle East wars. It’s never good to get involved in conflicts that lead to wars. And learning this the hard way paves the way for peace and prosperity to reign.
Posted by: Antonio Pastor | March 15, 2012 at 02:48 PM