Time For Our Money Men To Look In The Mirror

In 2004, at the peak of the Florida real estate run up, a woman I know quit her management job with the local convention bureau to become a real estate agent. She was tired of watching others pick bushels of juicy low-hanging fruit while she endured politics and long hours to make a mere middle class wage. Two years later, still working in real estate but in a much diminished market, she added a job as a retail clerk. As they say, timing is everything.

Now, as our economy collapses, those in power scurry to find an explanation that excludes their own greed, and we learn the real culprits are teachers and unions. Amazing. Who would have thought it? It wasn’t the market manipulators after all. You know who I mean, the ones who perpetrated one easy-money scam after another? Here’s a partial list of scams that you can to if you’d like: the tech bubble, the stock bubble, smoke and mirrors financial derivatives, multi-level marketing, the real estate bubble, media and sports billionaires, elimination of basic industries to be replaced by ... just trust us -- and all of that coupled with the replacement of worker benefits with easy access to credit, a pat on the back and assurances it will all be OK.

Still, turning a blind eye to all of this, columnist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times traces the national tailspin back to the 1970s when the high school graduation rate began to stagnate, and concludes the cause is strict certification standards and tenure for teachers -- both concepts championed by teacher unions. I’m still trying to figure why so many think hiring uncertified teachers is a great idea. In fact, getting rid of the uncertified was one of the most agreeable actions taken by radical reformer Michelle Rhee, the Washington D.C. public schools chancellor. Apparently, for some on the right, any idea the teachers support is a bad idea.

Getting back to the 1970s, if we’re simply going to match trends with dates and pretend to see causation, that was also the time when our basic industries began to move offshore and our traditional work ethic began to unravel. I’ve never been a big supporter of the protestant work ethic claim that wealth is a sign of God’s favor, but I admire the part that says productive work should make you feel good about yourself. In the new American paradigm hard work that doesn’t produce big bucks makes you feel like a fool. Is it any wonder top graduates of top colleges opt to make easy millions on Wall Street rather than a mere 100 grand to start in engineering or scientific research? Or, to take it further down the food chain, why kids dropped out of high school to peddle drugs or master other criminal pursuits?

Scripture -- both the Old and New Testaments -- warn against a world view that places the highest value on generating personal wealth. I always took this to mean that a life focused on accumulating wealth would crowd out spiritual possibilities. Now I’m beginning to think Jesus and the ancient Hebrew writers knew more about economics than they let on.

So here we are in the middle of this mess, with employment numbers tumbling along with 401k balances, and we turn for answers to the very people who first betrayed us by creating wealth for themselves instead of the nation. Reminds me of the way we turn to the military establishment for answers on war and peace. Is it any surprise when they say “make war?” It’s equally no surprise when the money men say “give us some taxpayer cash and we’ll fix it for you.” Trouble is, they’re not fixing it; they’re just making themselves richer -- and already asking for more.

Meanwhile, most of our church leaders stand around with eyes cast down, scuffling their feet on the ground, saying, “well geez, they’re the experts,” all the time hoping they’ll get their little piece of the action.