There’s an old song by Merle Haggard that has these lines in the chorus: 

Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell?

Is the best of the free life behind us now, and are the good times really over for good? 

That song has been running through my mind lately. When I was a young man, back in the sixties and seventies, the future seemed unlimited. America had a thriving middle class, with jobs that paid well enough that a father could support a large family on one income. The cost of gasoline was a small part of the family budget, and tuition at a public college was inexpensive.

We watched with pride and amazement as our country put a man on the moon. Our scientists were the best in the world, and our consumer goods were the envy of all other countries. And in Washington, there were enough moderates in both political parties to ensure that bills could get passed that benefited all Americans, not just the wealthiest interest groups.

Not so much anymore. The launch of the last space shuttle has a lot of us wondering how we have fallen so far as to have to depend on Russian rockets now to get our astronauts to the space station. I think it is a symbol of the constant shrinking of our expectations in this country. For years we have watched our once prosperous middle class sink closer to poverty, while the rich get richer. Much, much richer. Our roads are choked with cars, and we cram into planes like sardines, while the Chinese build networks of high speed trains. Medical costs have risen so high that one serious illness can send a family into bankruptcy and poverty. Most couples both have to have full time jobs to get by, while their kids grow up in child care. High paying manufacturing jobs have been exported, and crummy service jobs are the new normal. The notion that one’s children will have it better than we did is all but dead.

Meanwhile, our representatives dither in Washington. With all the huge problems facing us, and another economic crisis looming, Congress spent last week arguing about which light bulbs are best for the American people. This debt ceiling problem is particularly vexing to those of us who consider ourselves pragmatic and moderate. The Democrats don’t seem to be willing to consider any modifications to social programs, even as those programs are in huge financial trouble. Meanwhile, the Republicans have apparently adopted as part of their religious faith the idea that taxes should never be raised for any reason, and loopholes should never be closed. I imagine there has been a lot of shouting at TVs across the nation these past few weeks.

I don’t know what the solution to our malaise is, but I know what I wish. I wish companies felt that it is their patriotic duty to create jobs here instead of overseas, even if they didn’t make quite as much money. I wish rich Americans felt it was their patriotic duty to pay higher taxes, to help out the country that made them rich. I wish we had smarter immigration policies, to encourage brilliant minds from around the world to come here to study, start businesses, invent things, and employ Americans. I wish our educational system was turning out engineers and scientists like Germany’s is. And I wish our electoral process could be improved, so that reasonable, moderate people had a chance to be elected instead of our current crop of fanatical ideologues. 

Until that happens, Merle’s song will just keep rolling around in my head.