WWI Liberty Bonds Poster
Perhaps one way to get ahead of the curve concerning the national economic crisis facing America is to forthwith issue an apology to the children of America, the generation who’s future has been mortgaged to the hilt. We live in an era where some solace is found by people issuing or receiving apologies for historical injustices committed centuries ago, so it is right that Americans today step up to the plate and issue an apology now to their children and grandchildren.
Offering apologies and reparations to the living victims of injustice is appropriate. Victims of the Holocaust, victims of Japanese interment camps, Korean “comfort women”, and victims of the “stolen generations” in Australia are surviving, breathing individuals living with the scars of institutionalized injustice. They are the few who have received an apology while still able to hear, read, or benefit from it; with the exception of Japan which appears to be waiting till all the Korean women have died.
As America faces its worse economic crisis since The Great Depression, and plans to further increase an historical national debt, it should not as a nation leave the apology unspoken for decades. There should be an official resolution from Congress and the President apologizing to the children of America for having carelessly, and negligently spent the wealth of America. The corporations who are benefiting from taxpayer bailouts should officially apologize. The corporate CEOs should officially apologize.
Too many institutions and governments offer apologies for events that took place long ago. Apologies for the sins of a previous generation is debatable, but it appears to be a popular trend. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has apologized to the Irish for his Britain’s role in creating the Potato Famine in the 1840s. In 1993, President Clinton signed a resolution apologizing for the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. Just recently, The Church of England intimated it was sorry for its treatment of Darwin, but has stopped short of apologizing to the naturalist who died in 1882.
The Church of Tukwila in Washington state has issued a formal apology to the Duwamish tribe of Native Americans there; and a Senate resolution, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback from Kansas, would offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States. This apology would follow similar ones issued by the National Council of Churches in America who apologized to Native Americans, and The United Church of Canada which officially apologized to Canada’s native people. Illinois’ state legislature passed a resolution expressing “official regret” for the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith and the expulsion of his followers, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the Catholic Church has been issuing apologies to Galileo who died in 1642, and Jan Hus whom it burned at the stake in 1415.
These apologies, for past sins committed by people long dead against people long dead, only highlight the importance of American political and business leaders apologizing here and now for the injustice being perpetrated against the American public and her children. This crisis of greed and irresponsibility is a failed legacy to leave future generations. The almost one trillion dollars being planned to “clean up” this situation will only stuff into our national attics and closets further debt for America’s children to take care of once the present generation is safely entombed and beyond reach. Before retiring to the grave, before words become meaningless sentiment, there should be an apology and accountability.