Dear friends, clients and colleagues,
As the first decade of the 21st Century draws to an end, America is in the midst of an economic recession destined to change our economy, fighting two wars and trying to manage at least two rogue nations (Iran and North Korea) seeking to produce nuclear weapons, while coming to grips with universal health care, global warming and a whole host of other adversities. Our social, political and economic fabric is changing radically.
We, as a nation, are facing many challenges – with a large number of Americans facing the challenge of providing for their family – a circumstance we all thought was part of the past – not the present. And, yet, our country was born in adversity….lest we forget:
A week before Christmas '77 Washington's army took up winter quarters at Valley Forge on the west side of the Schuylkill. Although the General's choice of location was sharply criticized, the site he had selected was central and easily defended. Then came a cruel race with time to get huts erected before the soldiers, barefoot and half naked, froze to death. Hundreds of horses did in fact starve to death, and for the army starvation was a mortal danger. "No meat, no meat!" was the constant wail. Improvements came about after Nathanael Greene assumed the duties of Quartermaster General on March 23rd.
Yet, despite the ever-present fear of mutiny, no real disaffection occurred. As Hessian Major Baurmeister conceded, the army was kept from disintegrating by the "spirit of liberty." Men and officers accepted their tragic plight with a sense of humor and extraordinary forbearance, but it was an ordeal that no army could be expected to undergo for long. Nathanael Greene wrote to General Washington, "God grant we may never be brought to such a wretched condition again." - The Spirit of 'Seventy Six*
From the Revolutionary War and the travails of Valley Forge, a new nation was formed as a contract among men which grew to become a leading nation among the nations of the world. And out of the Great Depression where 25% of Americans were unemployed and another 25% were “underemployed” came the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam, the Chrysler Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, Rockefeller Center, the SEC, FDIC, Ginny Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the 30-year mortgage and Social Security among other significant and revolutionary institutions.
Do not lose heart for we have seen from our past experience that we can, and will, survive this ordeal and we have the opportunity to grow from the experience into better people. It is a tough environment, one which those of us younger than eighty have not experienced first-hand, but we have a collective memory and a strength of spirit to survive – and soon to prosper once again – is unfailing. The question soon will be: What have we created and built as a result of the Great Recession? Will it be Green buildings, less volatile financial markets, alternative energies, universal healthcare, a global spiritual consciousness or all of the above?
My prayer this holiday season is for you and yours to enjoy good health, love, peace and hope – hope for a future without fear for as President Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address: “…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
May God be with you during these times and may you remember that “Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.” **
As always,
Paul L. Jones, 12/7/09
* Excerpt from: http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/VALLEY.HTM** Excerpt from the Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 1933
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