Now that the West’s banks are bailed out, the cupboard is bare and the politicians are running for cover. The consequences for the rest of us are horrendous. Now the real trouble starts.

Following the financial system’s cardiac arrest – and cash transfusion – the crisis begins in the arena where we live and work. Employers will accelerate their lay-offs, as credit becomes more expensive and consumers cut back on their spending.

But there will be no bail-outs for the corporations that make things that people want to buy. The value adding organisations will be overlooked as Governments begin to plead poverty, and turn a blind eye as the dole queues lengthen.

Where are the Macho Men…

When the going was good, the politicians aped their celluloid heroes by displaying their prowess for making “tough” decisions. Whatever happened to that species of statesman, just when the world needs them?

In America, George Bush’s presidency is not lame – it died at the microphone, as the president pleaded for Congress to back his futile $700bn bail-out.

In Britain, the bruiser politician, Gordon Brown, has handed over responsibility for policy-making to a “national economic council”. The man who wouldn’t let go of domestic policy during his 10 years in the Treasury has passed the buck. This is the control freak who denied Tony Blair, the then prime minister, advanced knowledge of what was going into a budget.

For those glorious 10 years, Brown kept repeating the two concepts that displayed the image he had of himself: tough, and prudent.

The tough guy is now hiding behind 19 nonentities, on whom he can place the blame when the country elects a new government in 2010. And as for prudence – Brown has been one of the most reckless stewards of the nation’s finances in modern history. He has squandered an incalculable figure leaving the beleaguered taxpayer to foot the bill.

…when we need leadership?

We didn’t need leaders in the good times. With the global economy now in tatters it is not the time for faint hearts – it’s time for tough guys who know what they are doing. Not the wimps who stalk the corridors of power playing politics and putting self-gain ahead of the country’s future.

Yet, that is what we have: people who have escaped into a dream world of denial.
None of them have a clue about what really caused the money markets to crash around us. This means we are now exposed to the cruel decade that lies ahead. The Ship of State is wrecked, leaving us all up the creek without a paddle.

Paradoxically does this not present a wonderful opportunity for the rest of us to take a grip of our destinies? If we work out the causes, identify the cures, and organise our collective energies – can’t we invoke the democratic will in favour of the substantive changes that are needed to prevent this ever happening again? I don’t feel that this act of selflessness is out of the question if anything actually the British people are beginning the search for a cause to fight for.

If we don’t the outcome will be simple. The wimps who talk “tough” will continue to flourish at the expense of the rest of us. And when we eventually look back – reflecting that we should have acted – we will only have ourselves to blame.

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