I'm not surprised by our fiscal situation, nor I do not think others are either.  The time has come to consider what we can do for ourselves, rather than go about asking what government can do for us. 

We often think of government as an entity separate from ourselves with the means to solve so many of our problems, but the reality is we fund the government and must eventually pay for all the services we demand.  Furthermore, government (often-but not always) has the uncanny ability to solve our problems at twice the cost and half the efficiency of private enterprise. Still, private enterprise is no panacea either--our paragons of private enterprise have clearly demonstrated their own shortcomings just recently.  So who do we trust? What should we do?

Perhaps the best solution is for us to privatize our own problems as much as possible.  The issues and solutions will be different for each person, but the basic premise is the same.  Take responsibility for your own situation, and rely on your own measures to see you through these times. 

1.  If unemployed, keep looking, or create your own employment (that's what I've done). 

2. If your living expenses are too great, cut back.  It may be painful at first, but it is bearable; you'll be surprised.  Do it now on your own terms, or do it later on someone else's (your creditors, government & etc)...

3. Satisfy your needs by your own industry.  If you have a yard, plant a victory garden.  Mend old clothes.  Reuse what can be.  Recycle...and so on.

4.  Network to find solutions you might not have considered for your problems.

5. Barter.  Everyone is good at something, or can contribute something to the common good.  Offer to babysit for someone who needs to work. Or, if you need childcare, ask a trusted relative or neighbor and see if you can exchange something besides money for it.  Perhaps they need transportation, or some groceries, or handiwork, or expertise, and so on. 

Before we turn to government to satisfy our needs, we should turn to ourselves and our neighbors first, after all, it's us and our neighbors that are paying for those needs anyway, so the more we can reduce the role of the middleman (government) in providing the solution, the less we have to pay.

MP

Dear Mr Merlo,

In your column you mention, "We are a free people, yet each day we see our freedoms eroded by well-meaning do-gooders intent on sabotaging our basic rights gifted to us under the Constitution."

I respectfully take exception to that statement, on the grounds the Constitution does not give us our rights.  Instead, our rights are Natural Rights (i.e. God given), possessed by right of birth, and the Constitution's purpose is to clarify those rights for the benefit of the legislature--that they will not infringe upon them.

And to the advocates of "gun control" I humbly remind that the lesson of history bears out, corrupt governments are far more deadly to people than street criminals.  I'd rather live in this society and accept its risks with gun-toting dealers and gangsters, than hazard living in an unarmed society where the government lords its power over a hapless populace.

MP