George Bailey

Facebook news: As you know, my Facebook account was “permanently” deleted, and I was banned for life for reasons never explained. So I sued them. There have been conversations this week about restoring my account, which could resolve the matter. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In keeping with my observation about the rich fitting through the eye of a needle, I thought I’d bring “It’s a Wonderful Life” up to modern times. IAWL is my favorite movie of all time. Admittedly, it’s not as deep as Citizen Kane or The Godfather (I and II, but never, ever III), but it is so applicable to life eighty-seven years after its debut that it holds a special place in my heart because of the principles that we can apply to our lives.

George Bailey ended up foregoing the jet-setting life of his dreams to be the one to contest Mr. Potter’s ambition to control the populace of Bedford Falls. Potter believed that the slovenly poor needed his benevolence because they were unable to manage their own lives. I’ll let you assign modern political policy if you want, but George Bailey wasn’t the savior of Bedford Falls; he was just a conduit for people in their “pursuit of happiness.” Hard work and a fair shot were what the people needed, then and now, and George gave them that fair shot.

I’m a Republican, but just barely these days, partly because the GOP seems to believe in the hard work part but not the fair shot part. It takes a populace uprising to get through the enlarged cranial cavities of Republicans sometimes. Remember when you had to lose your phone number in order to change telephone providers? Too many Republicans were “free market” and supported that policy until the populace complained enough the FCC allowed consumers to own their telephone numbers. Why did phone companies ever think they owned numbers? Now, despite claims it would devastate the cell phone market, porting your number is as easy as pie.

George Bailey’s home loan business was a simple model. Not government backed, but obviously regulated since Mr. Carter, the bank examiner, was insistent on working so hard on Christmas Eve. Bailey Bros. Building and Loan made loans that Potter’s bank would never make, but still solid loans for good, hard-working people.

We used to have those, kiddos; it was called the “savings and loan.” We abolished S&Ls in the late 80s and early 90s because U.S. fiscal policy was a mess. The Fed Rate went to 12%, and S&Ls had issued government-backed savings accounts at 9%. Instead of covering that deficiency, we blamed S&Ls and allowed banks to take over that line of business. What could go wrong? When was the last time you heard of a bank making and holding a home loan? Mr. Potter’s vision of bankers controlling the minions’ money is now our national policy. 

Homeownership in the U.S. is roughly 65%. Our friends in Romania? 96%. China? 90%. Russia? 87%. Sudan? 87%! How is that possible? Bad fiscal policy, mainly. A lobbyist-dominated Congress beholden to banks’ largess and a Congress that keeps us focused on whatever shiny ball distracts us from fiscal policy because, friends, we are too dumb or focus-deprived to understand fiscal policy. And as Mr. Potter opined, we are that stupid.

A&W wanted to compete with McDonald’s “quarter pounder,” so they came out with a one-third pound burger that tasted better and was cheaper. It bombed because, the story goes, the masses didn’t want a smaller burger, and a 1/3 pounder isn’t as big as a ¼ pounder.

I don’t know what has failed us more. Congress, the Presidency, the media, the education system, the Federal Reserve, and probably others you can name are all in the playoffs to determine the biggest failure of the American people. Yet the ideals of IAWL ring true even today. We support each other. We come together in a crisis. We celebrate when good people do well. Our society has lots of issues, but while we work on those, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’n’roll, politics, or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com to view prior columns.

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