Could we get some Clarity amidst the Chaos?

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference..." Reinhold Niebuhr's "Serenity Prayer

Despite the fact that this quote has been repeated in AA Meetings across the country, it seems apt these days for all of us (recovering alcoholics, or even recovering credit card debt-compilers), in a world of chaos, confusion and fear. The idea that there are forces and events in this world that we cannot control must be conceded. But there are individual things that we all can change, and for the better. This should give us all hope that better days lie ahead, and that we all can do little things to help make that happen.

But we need to listen to the fears, understand them, and begin to deal with them in such a way that doesn't paralyze our ability to function as an individual or a society. It's a scary prospect these days. There's a lot of insanity out there:

• American Icons of Finance--Citibank, AIG, and Bank of America are on the verge of Nationalization (in other words, the government is going to have to step in and take over the bank, save it, and at some future date, privatize it again...).
• Doomsday pundits--I have a ton of respect for the Nouriel Roubinis, Peter Schiffs and Nasim Talebs of the world. They have been calling for sanity in the economic markets for years, and are now enjoying the spotlight for having seen these events coming. I commend you all. But the time for basking in the glow of your brilliance has come and gone. It's time to start to share your plans for how to help rebuild a saner financial system.
• International Chaos--Eastern Europe is in full-fledged Depression. Western Europe has to bail out the banks that hold their debts as well as bailing themselves out. Latvian leaders have declared their economy "dead". Poland is totally in debt to Switzerland. Russia has had to defend its currency to the brink of bankruptcy. And Asia isn't any better. Taiwan and Korea have had runs on their currencies. Japan's GDP shrank by double digits last quarter. It makes you wonder if ANYONE (other than perhaps CANADA) has skirted the shores of economic disaster.
• US Government TARP, TALF, and Fed Backstops--Debts, Spending, and guarantees in the $7 TRILLION range are scary in and of themselves. The notion of an unfunded liability in Social Security and Medicare in the $40-60 TRILLION range over the next 50 years is just about incomprehensible.
• CPAC--This year's CPAC convention may be the "jump the shark" moment of the Conservative Revolution. And America may finally be waking up to the idea that for too long, we have been following leaders who have been making important national decisions based upon a few economic, foreign policy and social "theories" (the Laffer Curve, Foreign Strength through intimidation, the Government can legislate personal behavior, etc) that are draconian, and in many ways, favor the rich over the fiscally sensible, the strong over the weak, and the majority at the expense of the minority. CPAC has thusfar been a series of speeches that have provided no alternative path, no interesting ideas, and a series of "sideshows" that would make PT Barnum blush. When you have Joe the Plumber, Tucker Carlson and Michele Bachmann making the headline news of the day, and Rush Limbaugh is delivering the keynote speech, it's time to take a serious look at the inner workings of the movement.

It's enough to lead someone TO drink (hence the Serenity Prayer above!). But in the process of deteriorating into oblivion, there have been some positive developments, that should serve us well, should the world rediscover some sanity...

• Credit sensibility--it has been good to see that people are taking this economic free fall as an opportunity to reduce their credit card debt. Building an economy on credit debt is not the same as building it on Credit. That concept has finally sunk in with people.
• Budgets--The idea of looking at individual spending, taking advantage of things like coupons, savings deals, and even cooking at home, rather than eating out. Americans may be figuring out that they can still enjoy themselves, and spend less. What a concept.
• Investing in America--The Government cannot make the economy and financial system work on its own. There are many factors out of their control, set in motion, that need to work their way through the system first. But making key investments in the technologies and sensible decisions on where American's priorities are, is a good start. To that end, the existing budget decisions, while expensive and disconcerting to some, also represent a hope that America can emerge from this crisis stronger, and competitive in the new economy of the 21st Century.

This brings me back to the original quote--that we can't control what is going to happen in the economy, but we can control how we each deal with the situation, and hope that our leaders are making decisions to help us be competitive, as things start to stabilize.

Everyone knows the lines above, but the next three lines of the Serenity Prayer are even more appropriate to the current economic situation:

"Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace..."

These are words for all of us to live by.