The Coming Fall and Eventual Rebirth of America

American Thinker ^ | November 27,2012 | Frank Ryan

[Hojczyk]

The hope that many of us had that the nightmare of the Obama presidency would end faded into the night on November 6th. In reality though, "hope" was not very much of a plan.

In the experiences that I have had assisting companies and organizations avoid bankruptcy, there is a very predictable pattern that organizations face when they are dealing with serious financial problems.

The pattern involves economic growth and prosperity followed by overspending. From overspending and excess comes a period of denial that anything must change to solve the problem. From denial comes failure. If the failure is accepted and dealt with growth is restored and the cycle begins again. If failure is not accepted, the organization will cease to exist.

The sheer disappointment and almost melancholy reactions to the Obama reelection made me realize that the American people are no different in their reactions than the employees and managers of the companies that I am attempting to save.

In any plan to resurrect an economy, as Mitt Romney proposed in his five point plan, a majority of people must first come to grips with the reality of the difficulties that they face. While the difficulties may have been obvious to those of us who describe ourselves as fiscal conservatives, the election results convinced me that the American people have not yet reached that same conclusion.

We are a creative and vibrant people who believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Those three magical ingredients will fuel our rebirth. It is sad, though, that we need a rebirth when death was avoidable.

[doc1019]

Rebirth of America

The greatness that was America, once lost, will never recover.

[SpaceBar]

We are a creative and vibrant people who believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Statistically speaking, no we aren't. That ship sailed.

[Flycatcher]

We are a creative and vibrant people who believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Those three magical ingredients will fuel our rebirth.

The author forgot the 4th magical ingredient: We're nearly 17 trillion in debt and we accumulate another $125 billion per month.

And the electorate is happy with that.

Sorry. Even magic can't pull a rabbit out of this hat.

[INVAR]

Exactly. To quote Adams: “a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever. When the People once surrender their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it…”

The history of every Republic-turned mobocracy is...... they commit suicide.

This people fired a loaded gun into our collective heads in November 2008. We’re already brain-dead - the body is just taking it’s time to follow in a slow death.

[GeronL]

This guy is far too optimistic.

“Rebirth” might very well be 6 different countries, some commies and some free....

[jcwky]

Jeremiah 7:16
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jeremiah 11:13-14
For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. 14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

[dragonblustar]

We are a creative and vibrant people who believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Statistically speaking, no we aren't. That ship sailed.

Exactly. Most people won't work hard unless they are forced into it. America has chosen communism right now because they are over fed, distracted and lazy to the core.

[umgud]

Why do so many think that after a collapse, we can rebuild and come out stronger? After any collapse, we will still have the same cast of characters with their hands out. We’ll still have dem pols pandering to them. We’ll still have unions and lobbying groups buying the pols.

[Graewoulf]

Thanks for this thread.

______________

” - - - For us, Gov. Romney was a great candidate but at the wrong time. - - - “

Guess you have a low threshold of what a “great” candidate is, Frank Ryan.

For a quick (only 3-part) REALITY check, hold off on the Koolaid from DeNile and read the following:

1.) Romney took the summer off from aggressive campaigning in a year when most voters had made up their minds as who to vote for by July 4 th;
2.) Voters had already started early voting before Romney had finished his Second Debate;
3.) Romney gave the election to Benghazi-Coward Obama by refusing to attack Obama when Debate Moderator Bob Schieffer delivered THE Benghazi question to Romney.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/11/the_coming_fall_and_eventual_rebirth_of_america.html#ixzz2DUEfEBqH

[mnehring]

We shouldn’t expect or hope a ‘fall’ will bring about a rebirth we will like. It is very rare in human history that a collapse, on any scale, of any society or civilization, brings about more freedom or positive result.

At the best case scenarios, collapses further centralize power, such as what we saw in the great depression.

In the worst case scenarios, collapses allow despots to emerge and take complete totalitarian control, such as Weimar Germany or Russia’s massive depression after the Russo-Japan war that triggered the Russian Revolution then the Bolshevik Revolution.

Not as common in the modern world except for places like some former Russian provinces shortly after the fall of the USSR, you will see many small civil wars and cities or even blocks being controlled by gangs and warlords. (think the Slavic states)

On the other hand, one could look to the fall of the USSR and places like the Czech Republic and Poland, but they had something going for them we didn’t have, the US support. What external support will we have, be it moral or physical support? Canada, Japan, India?

[ansel12]

Romney has never been a great candidate, after 20 years no one even knows for sure what his real political beliefs are.

The election is over, and none of us can name a greater political chameleon, than Mitt Romney.

Hardly anyone here at this political site, which discusses abortion daily, can tell us what his last public position on abortion was, yet very few will be surprised to learn that it probably wasn’t what they thought it was.

[smoothsailing]

The author, Marine Col. Frank Ryan, is a fine man. It’s too bad we here in Pennsylvania didn’t send him to Congress in 2010 when we had the chance.

http://www.frankryan.org/

[nathanbedford]

I have posted many times during the election campaign but publicly withdrew the observation to the effect that Romney was not litigating the implications of America going bankrupt soon on the assumption that his polling data was properly guiding him. We now know he was blundering about as much as we were. We conservatives assumed that message, the American understood we were going bankrupt, because that is what we believe and it is, frankly, human nature to expect others to see the world the way we do. They simply do not.

Our assumption of the common understanding was reinforced when Romney picked Ryan whose entire approach is based on the belief that an economic crash is inevitable if we do not reform. But somehow Ryan's message at first was channeled into a fight over Medicare and the issue of our economic peril was lost, perhaps because it was simply assumed. But the electorate does not share our set of assumptions about the state of the economy anymore, evidently, that shares our assumptions about social issues like free birth control.

I take issue with the author, though, about his scenario. He tells us that after the crash the pain will bring electorate to reality and they will turn to conservative solutions. I do not believe that for a minute. History tells us that with rare exceptions that the remedy for failed socialism is not reform but more socialism. For every Margaret Thatcher we have a counterreformation which puts socialism back into the British economy. For every Greece we have rioters in the streets in Athens demanding more socialism. For a great recession precipitated is not occasioned by socialist policies generating unsound home mortgages, we have federal programs for more unsound home mortgages. It is impossible to conclude that the socialist programs of Barack Obama which deepened the recession have been regarded by the electorate as reason to reform either him or the system.

We have academia and journalism telling the electorate they should always take the wrong lessons from history, from current events, from foreign affairs, and from economic conditions. I doubt if the next downturn will provide an epiphany to the electorate, most likely it will cause the country to lurch even further left.

Saul Alinsky is smiling.

[nathanbedford]

My apologies for so many proofreading mistakes in my immediate past post. Here is a corrected version:

I have posted many times during the election campaign but publicly withdrew the observation to the effect that Romney was not litigating the implications of America going bankrupt him him him him him him him him him him him on the assumption that his polling data was properly guiding him. We now know he was blundering about as much as we were. We conservatives assumed that message, that the America understood we were going bankrupt, because that is what we believe and it is, frankly, human nature to expect others to see the world the way we do. They simply do not.

Our assumption of the common understanding was reinforced when Romney picked Ryan whose entire approach is based on the belief that an economic crash is inevitable if we do not reform. But somehow Ryan's message at first was channeled into a fight over Medicare and the issue of our economic peril was lost, perhaps because it was simply assumed. But the electorate does not share our set of assumptions about the state of the economy anymore, evidently, than it shares our assumptions about social issues like free birth control.

I take issue with the author, though, about his scenario. He tells us that after the crash the pain will bring electorate to reality and they will turn to conservative solutions. I do not believe that for a minute. History tells us that with rare exceptions that the remedy for failed socialism is not reform but more socialism. For every Margaret Thatcher we have a counterreformation which puts socialism back into the British economy. For every Greece we have rioters in the streets of Athens demanding more socialism. For a great recession precipitated if not occasioned by socialist policies generating unsound home mortgages, we have federal programs for more unsound home mortgages. It is impossible to conclude that the socialist programs of Barack Obama which deepened the recession have been regarded by the electorate as reason to reform either him or the system.

We have academia and journalism telling the electorate they should always take the wrong lessons from history, from current events, from foreign affairs, and from economic conditions. I doubt if the next downturn will provide an epiphany to the electorate, most likely it will cause the country to lurch even further left.

Saul Alinsky is smiling.

[Vince Ferrer]

Rome and Egypt certainly bounced right back.

[Feasor13]

The breakup of the Soviet Union was not all rainbows and unicorns. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over Ngarno-Kharabach and there other unrest in Georgia. Further, there were dictators in the former Central Asian Republics and Belarus. The media swept it all under the rug, just like they tried to do with the breakup of Yugoslavia. Something happened in the early-90’s with Clinton’s election that turned the media into Pravda. The reporting on international affairs is deplorable.

[Springfield Reformer]

Can’t believe the negativity on this thread. No one knows the future but God, and a brighter tomorrow is never more than a miracle away. If God closes the door, no one can open it, but if he opens it, no one can close it. Not Marxists, not Islamists, and not freeloaders. Most of the strength of the left is in illusion, in demoralizing us, getting us to quit, give up, give in to whining and self pity, getting us to forsake our faith in God and his plan for our redemption. Buck up, people. We can take on these giants in the land, if God will help us.

[stanne]

The good Colonel struck a negative chord. Can’t imagine why.

[Revolting cat!]

It’s hard to share the author’s optimism. He mentions several formerly Communist countries. But they each had undergone a revolution, or perhaps evolution since they weren’t violent, from a totally different political and economic system, while the U.S. is ever so slowly sliding into some form of quasi-socialism, and doing so evidently imperceptibly to the half of the voting electorate who voted for the card carrying Communist, and the half of total electorate who didn’t bother to vote at all. And those post-Communist countries are not all doing so well either.

A better, more accurate model of how a decline happens would be, I think, Argentina, once in the top five or six economies on the planet, before the lovely Peron couple showed up and mocked it all up so much that even a military coup couldn’t fix things up. We are becoming Argentina, as one Argentinian predicted on William F. Buckley’s TV show 30 years ago, and was casually dismissed by the ever smarter than thou William F. leaning way back in his chair. Argentina - a country of the poor and the very rich with the forever struggling middle class supporting both. Argentina is still limping along, and so will we.