PONDERING THE ECONOMY AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED FROM HERE

Check out this motorhome! Odel and I pass it each day when we take our walk up Tombstone Canyon, through the heart of Old Bisbee. My guess is that it is owned by the local coffeehouse, the Bisbee Coffee Company, but we haven't seen anyone around it to ask. The artwork depicts scenes from Bisbee's past and present, and travel related themes, with logos from several Bisbee businesses along the bottom. Double click on the photo for a closer look - it is really impressive in person.

Bisbee is a good place to be sitting through the overwhelming news of the "imminent collapse of the financial system as we know it". There aren't a lot of expensive new cars lining the streets of Bisbee, and "well-used, casual" and even "inventive" clothing seems to be norm here. Some homes have For Sale signs, but the neighborhoods don't seem particularly troubled by the bursting of the real estate bubble. You don't get the feeling that Bisbee's citizens support an unsustainable consumer lifestyle by maxing out credit cards.

For several years I have wondered how an economy that relies on ever-growing consumer spending could be sustainable. I wondered what would happen to our economy when the real estate bubble burst and home equity could no longer fund annual increases in purchases of "stuff".

Though I have many thoughts on "patriotism", conservation of resources, financial management (and mis-management), greed, globalism, national security, personal freedom, corruption of government officials, and our dangerous current administration, I am unable to articulate them clearly. Imagine my surprise the other night when I heard someone articulate them for me!

After Friday night's presidential candidates' debate, I was flipping discontently through the channels when I found that Bill Moyers' Journal was about to begin. Bill Moyers' is a personal hero, and time spent watching his show is always time well spent. On Friday night, I found the show riveting.

If you would like to hear a remarkable, non-partisan, discussion of the challenges we face now, and how we arrived here, scroll down to the link below to view the video or read the transcript of Bill Moyer's interview with Andrew Bacevich, discussing his recent book, The Limits of Power.

Here is Bill Moyer's introduction to the conversation:

"...we are going to hear some truth-telling from a man who says our country's in deep trouble and needs a renewed commitment to critical thinking, honest words, and hard choices.

"In this slim volume on THE LIMITS OF POWER, Andrew J. Bacevich goes to the root causes of our discontent and to our broken and foundering politics. That many people agree with this unsentimental diagnosis was apparent when we first aired this interview a few weeks ago, your emails poured in to pbs.org. In a matter of hours his book had become a best-seller.

"Now, with chaos in Washington and the markets, it seems a good time to give this soldier, scholar, and patriot another hearing. He has found an audience across the political spectrum, whether writing for THE NATION or THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE magazines, lecturing to college classes or testifying before Congress. "

Click here to read or listen to Bill Moyer's interview with Andrew Bacevich.