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Jimmy Carter’s Crisis of Confidence Speech Revisited In the wake of President Carter entering hospice care, a former Reaganite reflects on President Carter’s most enduring speech.
It was July 1979. We were in the midst of an energy crisis that threatened to undo any of the progress we had made to combat stagflation. The previous two decades had wrought immense societal upheaval – from the numerous political assassinations, to Vietnam, to Watergate. Our confidence, as a nation, was shaken. And Jimmy Carter had the nerve to say something about it.
I was 20 then.
With the 1980 election looming, I was more susceptible to Reagan’s inspirational platitudes than Jimmy Carter’s quiet wisdom. But I am 64 now, and I look back at the last fifty years with (hopefully) a bit more perspective and a lot more experience. What did we do well? What could we have done differently? When I was young, it was easy to look for shortcuts, instead of looking for thoughtful answers and painful solutions. As any student body president no doubt proves, it is easier to promise quick results in a democracy in order to win elections. But this raises questions. What is necessary to continue to improve our nation? Where are we falling short? What more can we do to form a more perfect union?
Carter gave his speech on July 15, 1979. I would have been between school years as an economics major at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I was filled with ambition. I was eager to make my way in the world. Contrasting a Carter message grounded in pragmatism with Ronald Reagan’s campaign speeches, I was captivated by Reagan’s charisma. I loved his unbridled optimism and grandfatherly way. He made me feel safe and proud to be an American. But he was a gifted actor. He was giving speeches influenced by a conservative ideology and an unwavering belief in an unrestrained capitalism. Carter had been politically hamstrung by the fact that he could not bring the hostages home from Iran, by the aforementioned energy crisis, stagflation, and recession. Perhaps I favored flair over substance.
But in order to solve complex problems, I now realize, one must explore complex solutions. As the shocking news of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week taught us, we cannot, as a blanket rule, deregulate our way to economic prosperity without grave risks. Carter tried to tie deregulating the price of petrolium to increased taxes on Big Oil. Those taxes never materialized and none of his Energy Security Act would see the end of the Reagan Administration.
In 1981, The New York Times summed up the Reagan Administration’s rationale for complete deregulation as such, “The Administration's aim is to curb oil use through the higher prices that will result from decontrol, to stimulate domestic production and to raise additional money for the Treasury from higher corporate income and the 'windfall profits' tax," which considering the deficit ballooned from $74 billion in 1980 to $221 billion in 1990, and tax revenue as percentage of GDP decreased over the course of the Reagan years, I would say that this aim was optimistic at best, and disingenuous at worst. “In addition, the order abolishes the mechanism that required the industry in times of shortage to allocate products according to historic regional consumption patterns.” Yes, the market prevailed, but to this day we have not gotten our fiscal house in order and our debt has continued to expand. .
As the Reagan (and later Bush II) years taught us, an unregulated market is prone to manipulation. If there are fewer rules to the game, those with knowledge of the rules will use loopholes to their advantage. Yes, we have seen pieces of the economic pie grow, but economic prosperity during these periods has largely been reserved for those already most fortunate, and income inequality breeds domestic discontent.
Carter spoke of the “growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation…” The unity that was lost is the unity of purpose that translates to a sense of sacrifice, a sense of dedication, and a sense of duty – the same sense of duty Kennedy quoted in his Inaugural almost 20 years prior.
I don’t think a sense of optimism, a sense of inspiration, is a bad thing. But I have found, in the intervening 40 years, that an unrestrained sense of individualism, one that takes Mill too literally or ignores the harm principle and willfully misunderstands the difficulties of collective self-governance, lacks the nuance required to effectively govern.
I don’t think we have to look any further than to our second President and one of the founding fathers, John Adams. Adams believed, for instance, that virtue was an inner commitment and voluntary obedience to moral principles. He believed that this virtue was essential for preserving liberty and maintaining a free constitution. He wrote that specific moral virtues, such as charity, justice, courage, temperance, reverence, prudence, and honesty, were of critical importance to safeguard our democracy.
If we look back at the last fifty years, we have done well at preserving freedom, but to what end? Freedom from tyranny is a wonderful thing, but,we should ask ourselves ,what do we do with our individual freedom? If we act selfishly, we all fall. In order to safeguard our freedom, we must act responsibly and virtuously.
Rather than continuing to complain about the failure of our institutions and ping-ponging back and forth between looking for the government or big business to solve all of our most pressing challenges, we would be wise to focus on our individual virtue, and from there we will necessarily have more virtuous businesses and government. CATCH UP ON RECENT EPISODES https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-56-rana-foroohar-author-journalist-financial/id1338978270?i=1000598454113 Rana Foroohar, author, business columnist, associate editor at the Financial Times, and global economic analyst with CNN discusses her most recent book, Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World. Jim and Rana's conversation covers the current financial situation, crypto, the era of globalization and a growing movement toward economic localization. A fascinating episode you won't want to miss. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-55-vanessa-bennett-host-of-cheaper-than/id1338978270?i=1000595034265 Jim sits down with Vanessa Bennett – author, holistic psychotherapist, facilitator, and podcast host – as the two discuss mental health in the digital age. The pair discuss her recently published the book It’s Not Me, It’s You, about breaking the blame cycle and strengthening relationships, how Vanessa built her business from the ground up, the positive sides of media, spirituality, and where she thinks the puck is going.