I recently watched the new Netflix documentary that tells the story of the US Hockey Team and its journey to the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid; “Miracle: The Boys of the ’80s”. I can vividly remember watching this play out on live television- a group of purely amateur American college kids who were given virtually no chance of winning any medal defeating the best “professional” hockey players in the world including the Russians, who were touted as unbeatable by everyone. I’ll never forget the feeling of pride and joy that I felt as a result of this amazing victory. Loud chants of “USA USA USA” were heard in the Arena and for months afterwards in the streets, in bars and in homes all across the country. But this feeling of American euphoria was very different from what was happening in the country at that time. My wife and I had nine month old twins and we had just purchased our first home with a mortgage interest of prime plus five percent and the prime rate was sixteen percent. We were paying over twenty percent interest on our mortgage depending on how the prime rate fluctuated. Many small businesses also had variable rate commercial loans that were tied to prime and the high interest expense strangled their profitability and cash flow. Consequently, business failures were common. High interest rates were far from the only problem. The country was mired in a recession with unemployment approximately seven and a half percent and inflation approaching thirteen percent. A national gas shortage caused long lines at the pumps and major disruptions across the country and the Cold War was at its peak. Demonstrations were taking place in all regions of America some where the American Flag was burned, not by terrorists in some far flung country, but by Americans right here on their own soil. There was an overwhelming feeling of despair and dread and nobody seemed to know what to do to right the ship that was clearly out of control and headed in the wrong direction. This was a very scary time for us especially with two young mouths to feed and futures to worry about. Can you imagine what it would be like in America today if the prime rate was sixteen percent, inflation was thirteen percent and unemployment was seven and a half percent with the twenty four / seven news outlets and social media machines constantly pouring gas on the fire.

We are blessed to live in the best county in the world and to have as our form of government a beautiful if flawed democracy. We the people control our own destiny by picking our leaders and in November 1980, this system elected Ronald Reagan President of the United States. Reagan was a democrat turned moderate republican, a former actor and Governor of California. He came into the job with no special skills or expertise but he did have tremendous leadership ability and charisma. He also did not have a huge ego to feed, axes to grind, a need for constant personal glory or a desire to use the Presidency to accumulate personal wealth. He was a great communicator and he told the American public and the world that he did not have all the answers but that he would work hard to solve the myriad of complex problems that we were experiencing. What he did next is the most important thing for us to focus on right now. He found the most experienced, talented and qualified leaders, put them in place and let them do their jobs without political influence or pressure. He was interested solving these problems for the benefit of all Americans not just those who were members of his party. Reagan was reelected in 1984 and over the course of his two terms America came out of the tailspin stronger than ever which created the basis for the economic boom that we experienced in the nineties and the end of the Cold War.

It’s now forty six years later and I feel the same overwhelming sense of despair and dread that I felt in 1980. Our ship is clearly out of control and way off course again. Our precious freedom and democratic way of life is under attack from within. The basic tenets that were the foundation of the creation of the American way of life; truth, charity, hope, love and compassion have been replaced by our national leadership with lies, selfishness, terror, hate and greed and our fragile democracy seems to be unraveling as a result. Power, which should be a tool for good has been transformed into a weapon to threaten and control. This nation is incredibly resilient having found ways to survive the horrors of many wars, the great depression, terrorist attacks and a worldwide pandemic and I believe that the threat we are facing now is just as dangerous and frightening. We are way better than this- we must find a way to ignore the extremes on both sides and come together to again focus on what’s best for the majority of Americans before it’s too late. Like in 1980, we can do it at the ballot box if we are truthful and thoughtful.

Thomas P. Benson is a Jamestown resident.