Amid this bad news, however, never forget that our country has faced far worse travails in the past. In the 20th century alone, we dealt with two great wars (one of which we initially appeared to be losing); a dozen or so panics and recessions; virulent inflation that led to a 21.5 prime rate in 1980; and the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment ranged between 15 percent and 25 percent for many years. America has had no shortage of challenges.
Without fail, however, we’ve overcome them. In the face of those obstacles ”“ and many others ”“ the real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s, while the Dow Jones Industrials rose from 66 to 11,497. Compare the record of this period with the dozens of centuries during which humans secured only tiny gains, if any, in how they lived. Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead.
It really is worth the time–read it all (22 page pdf).
Update: “Buffett Accepts Blame and Faults Others” is the title of the New York Times article on this here.
I have been trying to remember the person who made the following statement; perhaps in different words. “I agree that Democracy is such a bad form of government but the others are so much more terrible!!” Would somebody out there please help!!
I think that was Churchill, Harvey, though I remember a slightly different wording.
My problem with Buffett, is that he seems insincere. This is the man who aligns himself with George Soros, in betting against our currency, actually encourages other countries to play dirty to undermine the value of the dollar, and our economy. He can talk a good game, and at times seems to care, but he doesn’t really.. I no longer trust him.
It’s all just a gambit to increase his profit, words alone mean nothing, actions count more than words. Buffett’s actions are that his bottom line means more than the lives of human beings. He’s sided with Bill Gates, he’s demanded that we displace our citizens in the workplace, to drive down wages, we are all just mere cogs in the wheel that grinds out an increasing profit margin to him. Sure he’s lost some money, but he’s also gained money by profiting when our economy slides further down that slippery slope.
For Harvey:
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
–WINSTON CHURCHILL, speech, House of Commons, November 11, 1947.
recorded in—[i]Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963[/i], ed. Robert Rhodes James, vol. 7, p. 7566 (1974).
On another occasion, when Winston Churchill was notified that he had lost his re-election bid after the War ended, he remarked “They have a perfect right to kick me out. That is democracy”.
When he was offered the Order of the Garter a short time later, he asked “Why should I accept the Order of the Garter, when the British people have just given me the Order of the Boot?”
Found at the website [url=http://wais.stanford.edu/Democracy/democracy_DemocracyAndChurchill(090503).html]Democracy and Churchill[/url] compiled by Ronald Hilton.
I admire Warren Buffett, drives the old car tpo work every day, carries his lunch in a paper bag, and all the other great stories that go along with the man. But, in the final analysis, he is Bfundamentally different than i am, in should lose 5 or 6 BILLION dollars in a year, he still has a billion or so left, and last time I checked, a guy can make it pretty easily on that. I don’t have that luxury – – if i lose 80% of what I have, the other 20% is pretty paltry. So, Warren’s trust in the inherent greatness of the American economy grows out of a different perspective than a lot of us, I think.
17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:17-18