People are praying for the economy. The New York Times reported an trend of recession-related religious services since Lehman Brothers failed. This explains how poorly Congressmen understand (and explain) the economy. If my car breaks down, I don’t pray for it to work again. Even if I’m not sure what’s wrong, I don’t pray. I find someone who can fix it. I may throw in an extra prayer for good measure, but I’m looking first to the mechanic.
One of the first ideas of anthropology is that religion forms around the experiences in which people are powerless. Polynesians prayed before venturing out into the open ocean, but not before boating in a safe lagoon. Agrarian societies pray for rain and harvest, but not that they will manage to pick the corn.
Too few people see the economy as a problem for an expert, and even fewer see the solution themselves. The economy is a system, like an engine, not a mysterious force. Yet I’d say 95% or more of people, even informed people, turn to religious reactions, performing rituals to appease economic gods. Republicans cut taxes and deregulate, regardless of circumstances. (In an unspoken platform plank, Republicans also stimulate spending by starting wars and buying arms.) Democrats, in theory, respond to broken economies with infrastructure investments and social safety net programs like welfare.
Both approaches, when a religious reaction rather than reasoned reaction, are like getting a jump start every time you have car trouble, even if it’s a leaky radiator or a frozen oil pan.
Maybe we just need a better diagram of the economy than supply-side and demand-side. Something that doesn’t use calculus, because that might spook the Senators. Just a really good diagram.
I think its safe to say that our current system occurred when we devoted ourselves to ritual deregulation and bloodletting through tax cuts far past the point it could have helped. The underlying problem is the willingness to treat economics like a shamanistic crapshoot.[1] The problem is people don’t even see the economy as a man-made system.
Our power is to vote and to educate. Those we elect need to learn to face a crisis. Instead of falling back to their party holy book, they should at least first call a mechanic.
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