Kyle Berg

Maybe I shouldn’t be amazed, but I am. Perhaps disgustedly dumbfounded would be more proper phrasing. Since I’ve gotten back to the United States, I marvel at how desperately the media tries to paint our economic situation as dire. One would guess we spent our days wringing our hands, looking for soup lines, and wandering the streets in search of employment. My guess is that most people of the world would kill to live through whatever economic “hardship” we’re experiencing. I again find myself wishing to God we demanded more economic education in our schools.

Sure, food prices are rising rapidly. But this is happening all over the world and has a lot to do with asinine ethanol policies and barriers to free trade. Sure, gas is expensive and I think more about whether or not I really need to run out to the mall or if I should save the gallon of gas. But again, this is happening all over the world as other countries grow, produce, and use more energy. For perspective, adjust the dollar for inflation and compare prices to the gas lines of the late 1970s, and we’re still paying roughly the same, but without the lines. Again, some of the suffering could be alleviated by better energy policy and allowing ourselves to increase our production capacity. We’re finding a way to adapt and the lack of change in our behavior indicates it. My friend from Switzerland said he couldn’t afford the luxury of a car and paying over $6/gal over there. Until I see no more solo drivers, streets full of bicycles, and we carpool to church and restaurants rather than just meeting there, you won’t convince me it’s as bad as the media says. And then there’s the “mortgage crisis.” You would think no one owned a home and that people were being tossed to the streets by the millions. In reality, it is a market correction that needed to take place and affected something like 2-4% of home owners. Finally we have the big R-word, recession. Economists forecast something like a 20-30% chance we will hit a recession later. That means there’s a better chance we won’t. Yet if you were to go down the street and ask people if we are in a recession right now, I’d bet the majority would say yes.

There is no reason for doom and gloom. We live in the United States of America, the country many people dream of one day entering. We wake up every day with opportunity and freedom. I cannot even begin to imagine some of my Argentine friends’ reactions if they were able to live like us for a few days. If they then heard us complaining and fretting about the future, they would think us the most ungrateful group of people they had ever seen. Many of our troubles are self-inflicted, and this ought to inspire us to correct our mistakes and, for God’s sake, lower taxes, not despair. I for one, will not let the media dictate my life and steal my happiness and optimism.