Looking For John Doe

I happened to catch the Capra classic "Meet John Doe" on TCM the other night and it got me to thinking about the strong parallels between what triggered the Great American Depression and the situation our government has allowed to develop today. What follows is decidedly Populist in view -- this is deliberate and I make no apologies. It's a view that's been overlooked and ignored for far too long.

It's obvious now that the economics of day-to-day existence have been seriously damaged for the ordinary citizens of not just the United States but but of other countries by unregulated globalization and lifting of limits on what a bank can do with its deposits. An awful lot of the root cause involves complex multi-national transactions on a scale too big for ordinary folk to feel anything but overwhelmed, disempowered and robbed. Credit is drying up. But what that really means is the money's out there, but those that have it don't trust you enough loan you any.

Creditworthiness is just another word for trustworthiness, and therein lies the rub -- today the little guy owns the burden of proof; he must prove he is not untrustworthy and to that end must allow outrageous intrusions into his private affairs by secretive operated-for-profit "reporting" companies, and suffer the unfair use of the results in virtual silence. At the same time those operating behind the shield of incorporation freely pursue any greedy, predatory behavior that may result in profit without ever proving that they aren't untrustworthy themselves. And when they go too far and lose their shirts the consequences are minimal because the little guy also owns the burden of payback.

We all know this is wrong in our hearts. We of the middle class and below spend years teaching our children to be responsible and live our work lives suffering the consequences of ownership and accountability. This is why Congress's refusal to rubber-stamp the "bailout the rich" plan was so cathartic. For a couple of days it looked like the big guys were finally going to get a big dose of our blue-collar working-for-a-living ethics. Yes we know that's not really going to happen, but the hope was sparked, and that little flame is hard to extinguish.

I'm fully aware that this is a purely emotional perspective, but I think because so many have lost so much of what they thought they had earned fair and square and have come so close to the coal mine days of subsistence wages, company stores and death in poverty that emotion will be a dominant force in the years ahead. This brings me back to Capra's "Meet John Doe", and the restorative power of neighborly behavior that's the the heart of the story. I believe the next 10 years will see a re-valuing of Main Street and a renewed understanding that the local communities are where actual business happens and where real wealth is created. Hell, we may even see Wall Street return to supporting Main Street instead of consuming it, selling off its assets and crying "look! New wealth!" to disguise the cannibalism.

Of course it's true we may not, but like I said the hope has been sparked, and it's a tough little flame to extinguish.

Peace,
Robert