One of the benefits, when you are a child of privilege growing up in or near the center of civilization, the capital of the world, is that you receive opportunities to experience the extraordinary.
For example, in addition to having two attentive parents, when you're a child of the fortunate you also have an uncle who, along with doting on his own three kids, doted on you like you were his kid. An uncle who worked in one of those banks in the city. A cigar-smoking, good-natured executive who just happened to personally know anyone-and-everyone who worked in The House That Ruth Built.
And suddenly, there you are as a third-grade student, two hours before they open the gates, and four hours before game time, sitting in your uncle's season-ticket, mezzanine box seats. Bathed in warm, spring morning sunshine, you squint your eyes under your baseball cap so you can see your heroes taking batting practice on the emerald-green field, with the art-deco frieze overhead and the sound of your idol's bat hitting the ball echoing through The House, the way Gehrig's poignant voice did generations ago during his farewell.
And just to your right, a few rows away, there's a man in a suit and tie, seated alone. His hair has turned silver, as if on cue from some motion picture director. He sits quietly in his private box, slowly sipping his coffee as he stares out on to the field, perhaps contemplating past glories, or perhaps, Marilyn. No one comes up to him. No one even thinks about it. And you don't either, obeying your dad's instruction. Mere mortals do not approach supermortals. It is the man your dad told you about dozens of times, if not a hundred times. Grace personified. Heaven's example of athleticism before the fall. The Yankee Clipper.
**
One of the pluses of President-elect Barack Obama is that he's been in circles and known people who were privileged enough to experience the above, and people who could not experience the above.
Obama grew up in a kind of a hodge-podge environment; he knew kids who received the opportunity to attend high-end and exclusive events, and also knew kids who lived across the railroad tracks who didn't get that chance. He's experienced the best that America has to offer, and those other times, when, he freely admits, he didn't have to hold his hand in front of his face to find out he was black.
Obama enters office under, arguably, the worst economic conditions for any president since the Great Depression, and certainly since the 1981-1982 recession. His top priority is -- and must be -- getting the U.S. economy back on a sustainable growth track, and his proposed $700-850 billion fiscal stimulus package is a good first step.
However, simultaneously, he must also implement policies that ensure that more citizens participate in and benefit fully from the U.S. economy, and he knows why. Every time the good life has encompassed more Americans, the U.S. economy has grown by leaps and bounds, and corporate earnings have soared. The task ahead is enormous, and he'll need the help of Congress. He has to combine two influences (Democrats and Republicans) and craft a creative, innovative, constructive solution. Not easy, but you have to like Obama's chances; it's pretty much an extension of what he's been doing his whole life.
--
Financial Editor Joseph Lazzaro is based in New York.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-17-2009 @ 11:16PM
Dora said...
The greatest big Hollywood production and play:
Destroy the Economy of American in hopes that it would help Obama get elected. He's been elected Hollywood. Now what??? What are you going to do to fix the damage you've created????? Is this great big Hollywood production being set up so Obama comes out looking like the Super Hero of America in two years???? Even though Americans will lose a lot of their money, homes, and jobs....they'll be quite entertained by the story: Obama the Rodeo Clown. That ought to take their minds off their misery.. Hooray for Hollywood
1-18-2009 @ 3:36AM
x said...
Whiners with no contribution of ideas for positive change are rife in this Red vs. Blue society and one of the most anti-American groups imaginable. Spawned by the media talking heads and sleazy politicians it has made creative dialog impossible. Those who come prepared are talked over by those with no clue as if cluelessness were an American family value.
Unfortunately, many in our populace are totally clueless as to the complexity of the problems facing us, yes US. Everyone in this country lived far too high during the good times built on phony credit and bankrupt policies for regulation....all in the name of "free enterprise" of course.
When control was advocated by the likes of Nouriel Roubini they were dismissed as snivellers and anti-American by those in command and no heed was paid. Now we pay the price for a population who listened to the loudmouths of the media, puppet politicians and the robber barrons in banks rather than those of intellect and foresight.
Obama has a daunting task ahead to convince a lazy American population that the reality is that it didn't get screwed up overnight and it won't be fixed by sunup. Add to that the task of neutralizing the boneheads on both sides of the aisle who are only interested in grandstanding and naysaying to further the divisive politicization of Congress and this country. Dem and Rep name calling is just tribalism at it's ugly worst.
I'm thinking that disbanding both political parties is in our best interest in order to re-form this country into The United States again instead of the Red vs Blue travesty that has so badly savaged the people of this great nation, economically and morally.
1-18-2009 @ 2:51PM
steve bourg said...
Wow Lazzaro! What a hilariously stupid article. You really stretched it, to tie your "privileged" experiences as a 3rd-grader to Obama. Utterly fatuous how you did it: "Obama has been in circles and known people like that privileged 3rd-grader (you) AND people who could not have experienced the above (going to Yankee Stadium before the official gates open).
Then you get to the meat of your thesis: This economic crisis is certainly worse than Reagan's '81-'82, and arguably worse than FDR's '33 inheritance. Well, which is it? That doesn't make sense. And which inheritor enacted changes that worked better? Obama (and you) are going with a new New Deal......let's call it, FDR on steroids. Evidently you think it's a great first step. Lazzaro, where did you get this optimism? Aren't we in a bind already, with our overgrown govt that's been growing since the early 1930s and has reached mammoth proportions? You and Obama/Pelosi/Reid would like to see it grow even more, as a way to help our Capitalism regain its vibrancy? God help us, with so many ppl believing as the four of you do. We are sunk, with these "new" ideas to improve our vibrancy.