Can the Recession Cause Us to Improve Our Lives?

The US economy is on pace for the longest recession since the 40's. News reports continue to show the bleakness of the economic situation. The US jobless rates hit a 16 year low in December dropping to 7.2 percent; and this rate is even higher on some state-to-state measurements. Some of the biggest companies' in established industries are reporting record layoffs such as Caterpillar, Pfizer, and Microsoft. The National Football League recently announced a 10 percent reduction in its head office work force. The turmoil on Wall Street and the housing collapse are well documented. The Dow Jones Industrial average recently closed at half of its all time high set in the spring of 2007, and the National Association of Realtors just reported the weakest showing in existing housing sales since 1997. Not to mention the well reported mortgage crises that continues to weigh heavily on banks. These turmoils and their impact continue to permeate the lives of Americans.

Ok, so enough with all the gloomy numbers. Except for President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan just passed this month, what else is there for Americans to look forward to? The hope is that the stimulus plan works, even though it is simply an exercise in Keynesian economic theory. So as with any theory being tested, the outcome is yet to be known. Therefore, we should look for something more from the current crisis. Changes in the way we live, use resources and interact with the world are long overdue. For too long, the seeming abundance of resource, energy, capital, and the ease of debt acquisition in America has dampened our will to make bold changes. Now we should have a great opportunity to affect lasting changes in the fabric of American life.

The 2007-2008 meteoric rise in oil prices and its affect on gasoline are examples of how a crisis can affect changes in our approach to everyday life for the better. The high gasoline prices pressed car owners and buyers to the point where the need for efficient vehicles was not just a good idea but a critical necessity in order to afford their daily commutes. At the same time, it compelled drivers to reconsider places of work and home. In some instances, drivers realized that making certain driving trips was altogether unnecessary, thus decreasing the amount of energy used. It is even possible that the high gasoline prices had a health affect on those who decided walking or riding a bicycle was a good.

The recession should prompt further changes in behavioral practices. Lose of income from unemployment, while surely not welcomed, could spur the growth of personal or community vegetable gardening to save money and provide healthy food. This may sound like a drastic measure, but it already appears to be taking place is some areas. Vegetable seed sales are way up, and a popular seeds company expects seeds sales to be up 20 to 30 percent this year. No one expects America to return to an agricultural based economy, but a rise in home gardening can provide not only healthy food, but also family and communal activities that can bring neighborhoods together. There may be esoteric benefits one can think of when considering a return to growing a portion of one's own food, but just remembering the doctor's advice about 5 servings of green leafy vegetables a day should be enough.

The lack of consumer credit in this recession has hit The Big Three auto makers very hard. Their lobbyists and the politician who have supported them have done us all great disservice. Of course the America driver is partly to blame, but the industry has fought better fuel efficiency standards and innovation for electric cars for years. The technology has existed, but the will and forward thinking to develop and bring them to market have not. As long as oil seemed abundant and cheap to the American driver, the auto industry had no problem producing the gas guzzling Suburban, and the flurry of SUVs that hit the market in the 90's. Now that the recession and high oil prices have affected our lives, it is not just time to demand better cars. We should push and welcome a new paradigm in land travel.

Both France and Japan have high speed rail services and many other countries have plans for them. The lower 48 of the United States is one of the largest contiguous land mass under one government (only Russia and China are larger). Why doesn't the US already have high speed rail? Compared to auto transportation and motorways, high speed rail reduces energy consumption and land usage The President's economic stimulus package dedicates $8 billion for high speed rail, so Americans should embrace high speed rail and change the way they view transportation. This will have lasting benefits on the environment.

As Americans weather this economic recession and come to grips with the reasons and behaviors that caused it, undoubtedly they will reflect on many aspects of their lives. This should be a catalyst for the most imported changes that are needed - changes to how we view our lives and existence in the world. We shouldn't hope to return to the previous mores of excess consumption. We have now painfully recognized that every excess has a price. We should also recognize that less can be more when behavioral changes allow us to be more efficient. The mortgage crisis is perfect example. If mortgage lenders lent money to people efficiently (based on a real evaluation of their ability to pay) and people on borrowed what they needed (i.e. what they could realistically afford), more banks and financial institution would be in better shape.

In global terms America has been a barometer for healthy economic development - as America goes so does the world. America should now project itself as an example of how to recover from this global recession, but this is not simply a matter of Obama's stimulus plan working or not. It will also depend on American's personal choices about the future. With knowledge and experience of how this recession started, American's choices should be focused not only on recovery from the economic woes. The choices made by individuals and businesses must be based on long term stable prosperity. The recession should allow us to review many aspects of societal norms such as education, healthcare, retirement planning, infrastructure development and the list goes on.

The world is now watching and hoping that the US stimulus package works. But let us give the world more than hope. With better personal choices, American's can not only lead us out of the global recession, but also lead to changes that will have lasting benefits for the planet.

Sources:

National Association of Realtors
MSNBC.com
Wikipedia - (High-speed rail)
NPR's All Things Considered
USAToday.com