Jenkins: New era of sacrifice bears down on the U.S.
Saturday, October 18, 2008 11:31 PM PDT
By Don Jenkins
Daily News copy editor
Printable version
E-mail this articleNo one gets elected by inviting voters to wear hair shirts. So in their second debate, Barack Obama and John McCain wisely sidestepped a 78-year-old woman’s question about asking citizens to sacrifice for the common good.
“Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women,” said “Fiorra of Chicago,” via the Internet and moderator Tom Brokaw.
What sacrifices, Fiorra wanted to know, would Obama or McCain ask “every American to make ... to get (us) out of the economic morass that we’re now in?”
In response, Obama talked about doubling the size of the Peace Corps and “incentives” to purchase fuel-efficient, American-made cars.
Traveling overseas or taking advantage of a government subsidy to buy a new vehicle do not sound like sacrifices to me.
Neither does McCain’s promise to “eliminate earmarks” and enact a spending freeze “except for defense, Veterans Affairs and some other vital programs.”
“There are some programs that we may have to eliminate,” McCain said. Which ones? “Those that aren’t working.”
The answers promised no pain, no sacrifice. They were smart answers.
It’s incorrect to say that no president has asked Americans to sacrifice since WWII. It would be correct to say that that president was ignored, even ridiculed.
On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter asked Americans to live more austerely for the sake of their country. “Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption,” he said in a nationally televised address.
Carter warned that the United States was too dependent on foreign oil for its standard of living. He equated consuming less oil with patriotism.
Carter sought authority to impose “mandatory conservation” and even ration gasoline, if need be. He asked Americans to carpool, take public transportation, obey the speed limit, lower thermostats and “take no unnecessary trips.”
Shared sacrifice, Carter said, would “rekindle our sense of unity ... give our nation and all of us individually a new sense of purpose.”
“I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy,” he said.
The speech could have been Carter’s blood-sweat-and tears moment. Instead it was maligned as his “malaise” speech — another case of Carter being a killjoy, like when he showed early in his presidency that he was serious about balancing the budget.
Carter’s loss to Ronald Reagan can’t be blamed on the speech. His approval rating already was low. And the Iranian hostage crisis the following year reinforced Carter’s image as an ineffectual leader.
Whatever Carter’s shortcomings, the malaise speech was a prescient warning about the consequences of the country’s gluttony for foreign oil and its overconsumption.
World War II pushed sacrifices on Americans, whether they liked it or not. Nearly every able-bodied young man (and many in middle-age) was drafted or volunteered for military service. Men and women on the home front built ships, planes and tanks and saved their wages because manufacturers were making armaments, not consumer goods.
When the war ended, Americans started spending and never stopped. The Federal Reserve estimates the average household is now burdened by more than $8,000 in credit card debt alone.
The bills are coming due. The next president may not need to ask for sacrifice.
Originally published Oct. 19, 2008.
Other recent Don Jenkins columns:
Jenkins: Illustrious, industrious past and a bailout in our future (Sept. 29)
Jenkins: Getting the facts is hard, crucial work (Sept. 14)Jenkins: Party lines aren't drawn in the sand (Aug. 24)
Jenkins: Our leaders can teach us how to get out of jams (Aug. 3)
Jenkins: Gameshow approach would give all voters an equal say on president (July 9)
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