The large number of the homeless had less to do with the economy directly than with Reagan's huge cuts to the states in health care and other critical programs. An unknown number of the homeless were patients "dumped" by health care facilities, federal and state. There were estimates that 250,000 of the homeless were veterans and another 250,000 were children.
When the mainstream media reported all the above, there was no media frenzy and following outcry, just a vague understanding that the economy must be really bad if all those "people" had lost their homes.
Thus, "It's the economy, Stupid," became the famous battle cry in Bill Clinton's campaign, which helped boot out George Herbert Walker Bush, who had just won the Gulf War but was as much the victim of Reaganomics as anyone.
The Reagan economic policy was never really scrutinized, but became the prelude to George W. Bush's policy, which called for massive deregulation, tax cuts and fast-track free trade, for starters. Outsourcing and trade inequities were a "stealth" policy. The Bush administration has never considered the outsourcing of jobs and manufacturing and a gigantic trade deficit as real threats to our economy.
"Where are we going?"
I wish I knew. I do think something BIG is imminent. The best I can do is suggest some solutions to the problems outlined above and offer both old and new ideas and approaches for a better future:
We should immediately end the Iraq Debacle and use a few months' savings on the war to revive the economy.
It would benefit the nation and all participants to have a program of universal public service: perhaps two years after high school on Public Works projects restoring national infrastructure. We need to revitalize public education without a crippling bureaucracy. Privatization in education is antithetical to creating a strong nation.
It is imperative that we grow a diversified economy based on manufacturing and export, not debt and consumption. One reason we can't "Buy American" is that America doesn't make many products anymore. We have to end outsourcing and tax breaks for companies that practice it.
We have to encourage entrepreneurship with incentives and subsidies for small business. We can return to the concept of employees as a company's most valuable resource and re-establish real employee ownership and profit sharing. These changes would restore America's pride in our people, products and our place in the world.
We need to re-establish family and/or tribal agriculture, trading and manufacturing. We have to find practical ways to de-urbanize and diversify the population. This would help localize industry, reduce the size and increase the autonomy of communities. It would introduce a "coop" economy at the local level.
It is time to abandon our present role as World Police and reduce our military presence all over the world, strategic bases excepted. We should increase the size and reconstitute the National Guard and Reserves. We might establish a Veteran's Land Board at the national level and implement a "Service for Citizenship" program for immigrants to earn their right to citizenship through military or other national service.
Thus ends this short history of American economics with emphasis on where we've been, where we are and where we may be going. The future is unknown, but this is a certainty:
If we want an America we can still recognize after the present economic crash, an America where we can thrive, not just survive, big changes are necessary and time is of the essence. _____________________
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