Some More Questions About Bail Outs

The President says that only the government has the patience and the long term vision to purchase these troubled assets and hold them until they mature and increase in value.

I agree. I don't usually agree with the President. But in this case, I agree.

Doesn't that tell us something about the Corporations that dominate Wall Street and Main Street?

Doesn't that mean that the Corporate focus on short term profits and short term maneuvers makes them incapable of safeguarding long term assets (like our homes, families, and national infrastructure)?

Doesn't that mean that governments rightful position should be long term, since "the market" is dominated by short term vision and action?

Wouldn't that lend some balance and stability to our country and our economy?

Doesn't that mean that in this interconnected world that we all live in, that there is no such thing as a purely private economic transaction?

Don't we have to weigh our own private concerns and the concerns of our neighbors and the health of the bigger systems our actions are a part of when making decisions?

Are we ready as a society to learn the lessons of the last 30 years?

Isn't it becoming undeniable that pure "free market capitalism" is not sufficient to address the long term needs and health of our nation and our world?

Are we ready to admit that the organizing principles of large corporations are antithetical to principles of democracy?

Are we ready to seriously discuss how we want to govern ourselves in light of what we have (or should have) learned over the last 30 years?

How about this?

Why doesn't Congress set up an independent review board to purchase undervalued assets and get the markets moving again?

They could start with a fund of several hundred billion dollars and ask for more in the near future if needed. Why does it have to be 700 billion or nothing?

This current administration has lost the right to manage this endeavor, so it should go to an independent board with lots of review and reporting mandates.

The next administration and the next congress need to staff our regulatory agencies with people who actually believe in the ability of government to work for the good of the people and start enforcing the rules we already have. Then new regulations should be imposed, not as a burden on individuals and small companies, but as a check on the short-sighted exuberance of mega corporations and very rich individuals who can unbalance our entire economy and ecosystems with their "private" business actions.

And the media needs to start asking these kinds of questions and expecting answers.

The keys to solving these problems are contained within the problems themselves.

The clues and the knowledge are available to us.

Human beings are capable of transcending selfish and violent modes of behavior, and expressing honest empathy and compassion for others.

We are all interconnected and interdependent whether we want to admit it or not.

We caused or allowed these problems.

We can solve them carefully and creatively.

But not if we keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different result.