Time to Say Goodbye

No Small Government Conservatives in a Foxhole

I think we all know that there are going to be many changes in our society and work lives due to the coronavirus. Some seem obvious like more people regularly working from home, most people continuing to use online delivery for a lot of household items and maybe online education and telemedicine will become more mainstream. These will all have large impacts on the economy and depending on your job, some good and some bad.  Also on our personal lives - hello frugality, savings accounts and family dinners. There are certain to be some unexpected changes as well.

There is a famous saying in the military that there are no atheists in a foxhole, meaning that when one’s life is on the line even the most devout non-believers suddenly become believers. I wonder if a version of that will occur in our regard to the government after this mess. Perhaps we will find that there are no small government conservatives in a pandemic foxhole.

Was anyone else shocked, amazed and perhaps appalled at how fast things collapsed after the onset of the virus? In a little over a month some 30 million Americans are unemployed. How can that be?! Didn’t any of the companies have several months’ worth of expenses per the most basic advice? On the other hand, most Americans themselves don’t have any kind of saving to that extent either with most living paycheck to paycheck by necessity (assuming you include large cell phone and cable bills and eating out necessities.) So, one of the lessons that big slaps upside the head like this pandemic tell us is that modern life and certainly the modern economy is an awfully fragile – one might say flimsy - thing with just a cascade of bad outcomes. Thank God for big government, right?!

Unlike most of our modern democratic country counter parts, we Americans are famous for our distrust of big gub’mint. Instilled in us by Founding Fathers, all of whom were the wealthy elite of the day, we have proudly carried forward that tradition for some 233 years with the only exceptions being . . . well, every time trouble comes our way. During wars, recessions, hurricanes, floods and generally bad times the good Uncle Sam is there to bail us out. And that’s okay, that’s how governments are supposed to work. As long as there have been governments there has been an expectation that the government would help the people and the people would support the government. (Well, mostly.) Nothing has changed – except the people. I should say, except how people make a living.

When our constitution was written the country was 90 percent farm and rural, today it’s 20% rural and 80% urban – as is most of the world. And that brings me to why our economy and, to a certain extent, our society is so fragile. Also, why big government shouldn’t be a surprise. 

Most of us work for “the man.” In a nutshell, we can train and go to school but in the end “the man” is responsible for providing jobs. It worked pretty well for a long time but something has broken down in the system the last 30 or 40 years; a lot of the jobs aren’t that great and the middle class is being downsized.

So here we are, a raging pandemic wiping out jobs, in many cases the jobs that weren’t the highest paying (although suddenly most valuable, as anyone who goes to the grocery store or has food delivered would vouch for.) And there is no one except the government that can step in to help our friends and neighbors. I mean a big, burly government, one that we hate every other day of the year. One that constantly intrudes in our lives telling us what to do, how fast we can drive, how much we can pollute, who we can’t discriminate against. You know, BIG government. Sadly, and I do mean sadly, we can’t have it both ways. There is much to dislike about our government: the hypocrisy of our so-called political leaders, the intrusion into our lives and the corruption that money has caused. It stinks. But when we need several trillion (borrowed) dollars to save our economy’s bacon there is only one place to go: the government. Like so many things in life, it means you can’t have your cake and eat it too – you have to take the bad with the good

On the other hand, that doesn't mean we can’t do anything about the “bad.” As far as I know we still have the right to vote. Maybe it’s time to pay attention and start demanding more from our government. Not in money or favors. Not for political parties and partisanship. Not for special interest groups. We need to demand more leadership and commitment to doing what’s right it for the average American, like you and me. We are not powerless unless you just give up!

In the meantime, friends, keep your heads down in that foxhole - from both virus and the government - and stay safe.

This too shall pass.