Doing Whatever It Takes

IN THE LATE NINETEEN TWENTIES, after an economic boom fueled by post war prosperity, the fruits of prosperity had disproportionately accumulated in the hands of the wealthy elite, leaving millions of people without sufficient purchasing power to maintain a high enough level of economic demand to motivate suppliers to supply, resulting in over supply, a precipitous decline in productivity, with consequent contraction of business, waves of worker layoffs, mass unemployment, and depression. Conservative Republican president Herbert Hoover failed to grasp these underlying causes, and insisted the economy would correct itself, that the free market would regain balance and productivity naturally, and urged people to provide for the needs of the needy by contributing to charity. That was the best he could do in a situation which required much more. The nation responded by electing Roosevelt, whose New Deal program of massive government intervention in the economy saved capitalism from itself, and has remained ever wince. We now take government involvement in the economy for granted. When World War Two erupted, conservative Americans were isolationist, but Roosevelt understood that American involvement in the war was unavoidable, vital to a successful outcome for civilization. After tricking the Japanese into attacking pearl harbor, he led a massive wartime mobilization of the American economy and people, turning the wealthiest nation in the world into a military juggernaut whose participation in the war made the difference. This included the "Manhattan project", in which billions of dollars and thousands of people, mainly scientists, were organized into an efficient machine-like force for the purpose of successfully building an atomic bomb before America's enemies did so. The successful conclusion of the war once again brought economic prosperity to the United States, and technological progress made it apparent that any task could be accomplished, given the political will and organized resources necessary to achieve the goal. Diseases were conquered, medical advances came at a prodigious rate, and advances in transportation means and industrial techniques revolutionized and modernized the American lifestyle. President Kennedy challenged the nation to land men on the moon, and once again national resources were organized and focused on a seemingly prodigious task, and once again the task was accomplished. All along the way conservative mindsets were skeptical, and yet, every obstacle was conquered, just as all obstacles had been conquered before by progressive mindsets and determined, concerted cooperative effort. We have thus far failed to eliminate war, poverty, and disease, but only because of our lack of determination to do so. There is an even greater threat now, and a greater task awaits solution. The threat is, of course, climate change, which, we are reliably told, is far worse than we had thought, and will become severe beyond our ability to reverse within little more than a decade, unless drastic action is taken immediately. The scientists are quite correct, as they always are in the long run, despite missteps along the way. Science always, sooner or later, gets to the truth, and it has gotten to the truth regarding climate change. Once again we are faced with the necessity of mobilizing a vast cooperative effort to conquer a common danger, just like we did in solving the great depression, World War Two, and the space race to the moon, This time, the future existence of the human race, and all other forms of life, is at stake. Conservative thinking is once again putting up roadblocks. We the people of planet Earth have not yet decided whether our will to survive is sufficient to the task, but there are indications that the will to win is building the necessary momentum, and, because of this, there still may be hope.