Don't Scapegoat President Obama for the Failure of Our Sick, Addictive, Economy

Let's face it, no matter what the latest ups and downs we read in the news, the economy is still sick. And predictably President Obama's approval ratings are dropping. When he was elected most of the world felt hopeful that Mr. Obama could make a difference and turn things around within the country and with our relationships around the world. Democrats were looking forward to major changes in health reform and an end to the dysfunctional economic policies of the Bush years. Republicans were worried that Obama would change America in a way not to their liking. All felt he was destined to have a major impact on our lives.

I think he has and he will. It's great to have a man who is charismatic, intelligent, thoughtful, willing to work with disparate groups, and a man who seeks reconciliation rather than conflict. But I'm afraid the nature of the problems we face are not going to be solved by even the most intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated President. If we recognize that we can hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst, and resist the temptation to make the President the scapegoat for our unfilled expectations, we will be able to take responsibility for creating the kind of country and world we truly want and need.

For those a bit rusty on their biblical history, in Leviticus, the scapegoat is loaded own with the sins to which the ancient Israelites have confessed and then banished into the wilderness. The word "scapegoat" has come to mean a person, often innocent, who is blamed and punished for the sins, crimes, or sufferings of others, generally as a way of distracting attention from the real causes.

Most of us have been "scapegoated" in our lives and it's not very comfortable. It order to prevent this from happening to President Obama (or anyone else) we have to get a clearer picture of the nature of our economic ills and what the true causes of failure might be.

So why are both the U.S. economy and the larger global economy ailing? Those in positions of power, i.e. the mainstream media, world leaders, and America's chief economists, Treasury Secretary Geithner and Feberal Reserve Chairman Bernanke) offer near unanimity in their opinion: Those recent troubles are temporary and are primarily due to a combination of bad real estate loans and poor regulation of financial derivatives.

As a health-care practitioner, I know how important it is to have the correct diagnosis of an illness if treatment is to be most effective. If this conventional diagnosis is correct, then the treatment of our economic malady might logically include heavy doses of bailout money for beleaguered financial institutions, mortgage lenders, and car companies. Plus better regulation of derivatives and futures markets. And finally, stimulus programs to jumpstart consumer spending.

But Richard Heinberg, a fellow at the Post Carbon Institute, and a man I have learned to respect greatly over the years (not the least because he usually turns out to be right), has a different take on what ails us. "I am suggesting an Alternative Diagnosis," says Heinberg. "This explanation for the economic crisis is not for the faint of heart because, if correct, it implies that the patient is far sicker than even the most pessimistic economists are telling us. But if it is correct, then by ignoring it we risk even greater peril."

When James Howard Kunstler wrote The Long Emergency in 2005, he said that the greatest danger this society faced would be its inclination to gear up a campaign to sustain the unsustainable at all costs -- rather than face the need to make new arrangements for daily life. This seems to be what is happening at the top levels of power.