Finger pointing has characterized much of the past few weeks – for some, the current mortgage crisis is evidence of bad business practices, others believe that the crisis makes evident the need for more regulations, and still others blame credit agencies for extending lines of credit to those who could not afford them. Change. Reform. Change. Reform. It is a shame I can’t convert my ‘95 Wagon into a hybrid that recycles those two words into alternative energy.
In 1901, a short, stout bespectacled man became President – Theodore Roosevelt. He overcame child-hood asthma through a rigorous workout regimen, and he continued that vigorous ethic of hard work throughout his entire life. He fought unethical business practices, while supporting the fundamentals he felt should guide a free market: honesty, sanity, and self restraint. He welcomed the fourth estate, journalism, to pursue its duty in rooting out evil in all facets of society, but lashed against the use of journalism to foster a class war.
In 1906, President Roosevelt delivered a speech that reminded journalists of their duty, and he purported great principles still applicable today. He discouraged using human desire and materialism to drive a wedge between classes and encouraged individuals to expose the evils in all classes of society. “If, on the other hand, it (journalism) turns into a mere crusade of appetite against appetite, of a contest between the brutal greed of the “have nots” and the brutal greed of the “haves,” then it
has no significance for good, but only for evil. If it seeks to establish a line of cleavage, not along the line which divides good men from bad, but along that other line, running at right angles thereto, which divides those who are well off from those who are less well off, then it will be fraught with immeasurable harm to the body politic. We can no more and no less afford to condone evil in the man of capital than evil in the man of no capital.”
Within those lines Roosevelt attacked an evil ethic as old as time, and the politics that played off of that ethic: discontent due to material wants beyond our needs should not drive our actions. And how is this pertinent today? Roosevelt continued his speech to state that there is little good in a mere spasm of reform, for “its violent emotionalism leads to exhaustion.” Rather, he cites that action should be marked by growth according to honesty, sanity and self restraint. I decry the actions of a CEO who
wrongly purports his/her company to be in the black, misleading investors and the public. But I decry that action the same as the act of a man living in Section 8 housing who hangs a flat screen TV from the living room wall, prolonging his dependence upon honorable government aid. I denounce the actions of mortgage companies extending loans to persons not financially able to make the payments. But I denounce the actions of persons seeking mortgages or breaking them while frivolously spending money, unable to separate want from need.
The word change is not a firestorm
which rolls through society, purging it of its ills. Rather, change is illustrative of sacrifice, of actions that have confronted those evil ethics, and sacrificed for a greater good. Change does not begin with rhetoric, it is entrenched in one’s actions. It is not explained in words, but in the actions that define an individual’s character, whether a community organizer or mayor of a small town, school teacher or stay-at-home mom. Change stems from actions taken and stances upheld. The candidate I plan to vote for in the upcoming election is not someone who I agree with entirely. But he’s left a trail of change – actions taken and stances upheld – that impacted both parties. And more importantly, he has
displayed sacrifice throughout his career, and he would do well to discuss that more. He represents the tail end of a generation that gave so much in lives lost, but also gained in lessons learned. Of earning according to your talents and abilities, and spending it only on what you need. Of graciously taking charity, but yearning to one day give back what you have received. Of not being content to vote present during the bullfights of life, but rather being ready to jump into the arena.
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