(Chart from Clusterstock. H/t: the Daily Dish. Read David Brooks op-ed “The Growth Imperative.”)

Catherine Rampel at the NYT Economix has a post titled “Do You Earn More Than Your Parents Did?” that highlights the chart above, “adapted from a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report.”

We need to know the myths we are living or that are living in us and how they are playing out in our time and place. The latest myth to rise again to the surface is the one being presented by the Tea Party Movement, which describes and advocates for an America that in reality never existed. On this note, checkout Robert B. Pippin‘s book Hollywood Westerns and American Myth: The Importance of Howard Hawks and John Ford for Political Philosophy. Read his blog post at the Washington Post titled “Tea Party as Western movie.” Here is an excerpt from it:

Almost all the great American Western movies are intensely political films within a distinctly American framework. In effect they all adopt in one way or another the mythological fiction that so fascinated political philosophers in the 17th and 18th centuries: the problem of the transition from a state of lawlessness, ruthless self-interest, and terrifying uncertainty, the “state of nature,” to a political order, the rule of law and the surrender of one’s right to decide everything in one’s own case.

They represent to us our own beliefs and passions about our founding; that is, about what was founded, and why the transition from the supremacy of virtues like honor, courage, and self-reliance to the now more important virtues of civility, trustworthiness, and prudence, were, all in all, “worth it.”

Some films are also haunted by the fact that the first founding essentially failed. The great experiment didn’t work; the nation exploded into one of the most deadly civil wars in recorded history, and the constant re-appearance of these ferocious animosities in the conflicts in Westerns can suggest that there is a real and continuing question about whether the “second founding” in the West (the conquest of native American lands) made possible more a lengthy truce than the achievement of, finally, a true union.

We seem to be lacking the boldness to get ourselves out of this economic crisis that is equal to or greater than the boldness that got us into it. Our greed and reckless wasteful spending brought us to a brink of reckoning, but we are lacking the will to take the kinds of risks that will protect the most vulnerable among us and spur investments in our future. In other words, it seems far to late in the game to be cutting services for the poor and unemployed and not providing a helping hand to those caught in the great center of this crisis aptly called the middle class.

Yes we should not be wasting resources on unnecessary wars, more tax cuts for the wealthy, and pursuing luxury over practicality. All of our futures depend on how we treat each other, specifically the most vulnerable among us. Until we see this reality and how what we spend now on behalf of others brings stability to all of our lives and future generations we are tied to a recession without end. On this note read Paul Krugman‘s op-ed “Myths of Austerity.”

The chart above can be found at the Tax Policy Center post by Howard Gleckman titled “The Homebuyers Credit: Is It Better to Laugh or Cry? ” Here is an exceprt:

The Commerce Department reports the new homes market collapsed in May after booming in March and April (chart). Why? Well, in early spring, in response to an intense marketing campaign by the real estate and mortgage industries, tens of thousands of buyers accelerated home purchases to take advantage of this sweet tax give-away (as much as $8,000 for some buyers) before the credit expired on April 30. Then, just as most sentient economists predicted, the market dried up. Actually, it didn’t just dry up. It became the Death Valley of housing.

(H/t: to the Daily Dish.)

The Daily Dish highlights a post by Veronique de Rugy from The American titled “Athens on the Potomac.” Here is an excerpt from it:

What’s more, the chart above shows that when taking into account entitlement and all other obligations, America’s structural deficit as a percentage of our GDP is far bigger than almost any other country’s (more on this here); it is, in fact, worse than Greece’s.

And don’t forget, the United States has a far shorter maturity of government debt than most other countries, meaning that even if it weren’t borrowing extra cash it would have to issue a large chunk of new stuff over very short periods of time. In other words, the United States is like an addict always looking for his next fix.

This large financial need means that our country is spectacularly vulnerable—probably more than others—if the market suddenly decides it doesn’t want U.S. debt. When that happens, we might be no better situated than Greece.

The pervasive sense of entitlement where obsessions with getting our own wants, needs, and desires met are tied to the organizing myth of the American Dream. The individual in this myth is exalted above all else. “My” comfort, the ease in which I gain whoever and whatever I need for “me,” is thought to be a sign of strength. The idea that we can have or be anyone and/or anything stems from this “me” centered cultural/individual dynamic.

After decades of “generation me,” we have raised children who are now becoming adults under a self obsessed belief system and heading into the buzzsaw of the current economic crisis. But, the NYT Sunday Magazine has a must read article by Judith Warner that offers a counter-intuitive perspective on this subject titled “The Why-Worry Generation.” Here is an excerpt:

These emerging adults may be off-putting to a worried 40-something — their sense of entitlement and their lack of humility are somewhat hard to take — but they’re not necessarily maladapted. On the contrary, with their seemingly inexhaustible well of positive self-regard, their refusal to have their horizons be defined by the limitations of our era, they just may bear witness to the precise sort of resilience that all parents, educators and pop psychologists now say they view as proof of a successful upbringing.

It may be that this resilience — this annoying yet admirable ability to stay positive in depressing and frightening times — has nothing to do with the parents. Perhaps it’s a result, as some longtime observers of this generation have suggested, of growing up in an era of almost unremitting ambient anxiety: school years spent in the shadow of Columbine, 9/11 and, lately, widespread parental job losses. Maybe chronic unease has simply raised this generation’s tolerance level for stress, leaving it uniquely well equipped to deal with uncertainty.

Or maybe having a bulked-up ego really does serve as a buffer to adversity. Just like the self-esteem gurus always said that it would.

In many cases she may be right.

(Read the NYT review of this film.)

(The chart above is from an excellent post at FiveThirtyEight titled “Storm Clouds On the Economic Horizon?” H/t: the Daily Dish.)

Here is a video that is worth your time if your are interested in exploring not only the state of our financial institutions but how they relate to self, spiritual, and material purpose and values as well. The goal always is to engage the complexity of the world and systems we live with and in. Check out Stephen Green and his book Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World. He is raises many points in this video I am been trying to address throughout numerous posts.