Because many of the comments I've heard regarding the recent events in Washington that led to the downgrade in our credit are about the American character and how American politics suffer by it, I will add this thought because from my perspective, this has been developing for years. There are economic impacts, but I think the theories of economics will not yield a means to change the problems of character.
So FWIW:
Americans are a deeply religious people and that is a strength in our character that has been used to weaken us. When the neocons and Rupert Murdoch and his sheik partner and other media moguls who obtained ownership over too many of our media began to accelerate the fusion of religion and state, we allowed a disease to creep into our national character that our founding fathers warned us about: separation of church and state is critical to our way of life. It is critical to our system of governance because freedom of worship must be coupled to freedom from worship. Otherwise our ability to rationally do the business of the government erodes.
Religion is not bad. It has the problem of being a very potent way to declare classes of us and them, then force people to be in one of those classes through true social networks which represent access to economy. When religion becomes the tool of choice of those who divide us for their own agendas, we are almost helpless to prevent it. It is a known hit point in our governance and our culture, and it has been exploited to the hilt.
The result is a sort of neurosis in good times. In bad times when we are antagonized and reactive, it can become a psychosis. The events in Washington are at that transition point. So now it is a matter of how many of us are still rational and ready to assert ourselves in the face of these mavens of mad but determined men.
We must not let love of God be coupled to fear for our future. This is easily understood as failing to trust God. And it is the means by which we are deceived.
