The Day of Reckoning’: On the New Normal in America (by David Brooks, Atlantic Magazine, October 2014). On page 41, Brooks writes: “Today’s economy offers much better jobs, in many more places. But the new normal may not be a happy one.” From the article: “One consequence of our new normal is that a child born today will have a lower standard of living than a child born 10 years ago. … What is not reflected in public opinion polls is how bad the country feels. The New York Times/CBS News poll released last week found that the percentage of Americans who think that the country is on the wrong track is 55 percent. When Gallup asked that question in 2008, it was 49 percent. It is hard to recall a period in American history when the country was so unhappy with itself. … This is not how normal things work. … The problem is that you cannot see the new normal from within the normal.” These statements are clearly wrong. The question in the Gallup poll was not whether we are on the “wrong track” but whether the current economic situation is improving or getting worse. The NYT poll was very clear that most people view the country’s economy as being on the right track, even though some of them may not be happy with that statement. You simply cannot generalize from data of this type. My answer to that in a nutshell: people are very bad at remembering the past, but they are very good at remembering how their lives have changed in the present. I think it is possible that as a group, Americans are as satisfied with their lives as they were during the early 1980s, which was a better economy for most. I do not think they are as happy with their lives as they were at the end of the Clinton Administration. And I think the number of people who are satisfied with the status quo is declining. However, I do not think that the economy is nearly as miserable as it was at the depths of the Great Depression in 1932. In a recent post, I asked: How can we get people to focus on the big picture again? To answer that question, we must first identify what “the big picture” is. I like to think of it as something like this: A successful economy, and the quality of life that we want to be able to enjoy, requires a society of well educated, productive people. What we have today is very close to this, but it is not yet what we need. But what we have today is the most important step we have taken so far. The first step was a successful public education system. We will never go back to having a society of illiterate peasants who were unable to perform useful work. But it was not just the level of literacy that we need, but also that most people receive a good high school education, and also some postsecondary education. In a society where people have a good education, most of them will have the skills that they need to be a productive member of society. The second step was the creation of a social safety net in the United States. We have a successful economy, but millions of Americans are unable to find good, useful jobs. We need a social safety net that will allow these people to obtain medical care and unemployment benefits so that they can continue to live their lives, even if their lives are not what they had hoped. The third step was the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. We have a successful economy, but millions of Americans have been denied the ability to live a good life. We need legislation that will give every American the opportunity to live the life that he or she desires, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, economic status, or any other status. The final step is what we are working on right now: providing an infrastructure and a social safety net so that everyone can reach his or her full potential. For most people, that will mean graduating from high school and getting a good college education. For those who are not college bound, it will mean acquiring a trade or some postsecondary education. For most people, that will require some form of vocational training. The question that we are working on right now is one of quality. As of right now, we do not yet have enough jobs for all of those who wish to work. So there is no reason to create more jobs. Rather, we should focus on what we already have, and upgrade them to be more efficient. For example, we need to ensure that every child in the country receives a sound education. The current educational system is not yet sufficient, but it is getting close. So to answer the question in the title of this post, the new normal for most people in the United States is an employment situation that is much better than it used to be, but still unsatisfactory. I think our society is better off today than at any time since the end of World War II. The past few years have been a disappointment, but they do not yet present a tragedy. One more thing: We need a good public debate about education and infrastructure. We should be discussing why our educational system is failing, and what needs to be done to prevent our children from falling further and further behind their foreign competitors. We should be discussing how we can make America more attractive to companies that want to locate here and to individuals who want to come here for a better life. But we don’t have the leaders we need to discuss these things in public. A few weeks ago, a friend and I were watching a video clip of the Republican debate hosted by ABC. Ron Paul was the most recent questioner. When asked what he would do if he were elected president, he stated: “What we’re really talking about is civil disobedience, not breaking laws. We’re really talking about an economic boycott, saying that if you’re a king, you don’t work for us. If you loot our money, we’re going to abolish the Federal Reserve. We’re going to cancel the debt, and we are going to re-pay the people.” That gave me an idea. What would happen if all U.S. officials and business executives were required to wear a sign that said: “IF YOU WORK FOR ME, YOU WILL OBEY ME” We cannot afford to give in to our enemies any longer, because we are all in the same boat together. We may differ on social issues, but there are certain ideas that we must all agree on, including that any country with a higher standard of living than ours is our enemy, and that the United States should be the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. We need a revolution in both foreign policy and economics. We cannot do it as one nation, but we can do it if we work together as a unified nation. It does not matter whether it is an economic boycott, an information or entertainment embargo, or a military blockade. The fact is that other countries do not accept our standards for success and expect us to follow them. This cannot continue. Instead, we need to think big. We need to create a society and a world in which people succeed when they work hard and create value for themselves, for the rest of society, and for the country as a whole. If every individual in the United States succeeds, America succeeds. But what happens if people do not succeed? If they don’t succeed, we have failed. We will have failed our leaders, our businesses, and all those around us who depend on the success of the U.S. economy and our economy’s ability to compete with other countries. Instead of just talking about civil disobedience and economic boycotts, we need to go even further. We need a new economic model that is open to everyone, and will allow everyone to succeed, regardless of income or education level. How can we do this? What we need is a free trade policy that is not in the best interest of the United States, but only for foreigners who come here and use our country as a training ground for the best and the brightest. In this new model, businesses would be free to enter any foreign country and establish plants, hire the best and the brightest, and receive taxpayer-funded subsidies. If this means that a large number of people lose their jobs in America, so be it. The nation and the world will be better off when our workers succeed and find good jobs. That brings us to our third point. A new economic model must be one that recognizes the value of creative individuals. We need to provide these individuals with high quality education at all levels, even high school. We need to provide them with a system of apprentices