Go Spend Money
Another Orange Alert. Such terror warnings no
longer have a great impact on me—nor, I
suspect, on many Americans. This is the fourth time
the nation has been at this "High" level of
terrorism risk since 9/11/01, and so far (knock on
wood) the threat hasn't materialized. Meanwhile,
the media have flooded our senses with 24/7 wartime
images from Iraq and nonstop coverage of the
continuing waves of homicide bombings and other
terrorist acts overseas. It's not complacence that
has set in, but rather overload. It's hard to get
scared by someone saying "Boo!" when others
constantly shout into both your ears at the top of
their lungs.
But all false alarms and military victories
aside, it seems like we're continuing to lose the
War on Terror. We've rounded up terrorists
worldwide in droves, and have sent many more to
Allah. We've overthrown a terrorist-supporting
regime in Iraq. But the U.S. economy continues to
slither along face-down, like a hemorrhaging man
close to death trying to crawl to a telephone to
call an ambulance. Terrorists murdered more than
3,000 people on September 11 and caused untold
millions of dollars worth of material destruction.
But the long-lasting effects of that bloody day
have inflicted even more damage on our country. The
9/11 attacks sent an already woozy economy to the
mat, and the referee is about to finish the
count.
It's too easy to blame the economic problems of
our country solely on 9/11, just as it'd be naive
to say the dot-com bubble burst was the only cause.
But like many Americans who have wiped out their
savings to make it through the recession, the
country has spent billions as a direct result of
the terror attacks. Military strikes, law
enforcement operations, the creation of a whole new
Homeland Security department... that's some serious
spending in hard financial times.
And it seems like every time the economy raises
its head, it gets kicked in the face again. The
SARS crisis in Asia has had an effect on the major
airlines rivaling that of the post-9/11 meltdown.
The stock market limps along like a drunk
schizophrenic with no sense of direction. Now, on
the brink of a national holiday, the government
declares another Orange Alert, likely causing many
Americans to tone down or cancel some or all of
their holiday plans.
This is just the kind of thing our economy
doesn't need. Times are hard, but unless we
all start—and keep—spending money, the
economy isn't going to get any better. If you feel
even the slightest twinge of nervousness about this
Orange Alert, shrug it off. Go buy an extra case of
beer or package of steaks for your holiday cookout.
Fill up your gas tank and take a long drive out
into the country this weekend. If you've got the
time off, hop on a plane and go visit relatives or
long-lost friends. It may seem foolish to spend
money on non-essential things in the current state
of economic affairs, but if we all keep our purse
strings tight, then the economy's purse strings
won't loosen anytime soon. What better way to
memorialize our fallen on Memorial Day Weekend than
combating the enemies of our country with our
greatest weapon: our wallets.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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