For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Politics and Democracy page and our Organic Transitions page.

Sometimes, it’s useful to state the obvious. Here’s a fact, for example, that we all know to be true: America’s economy is enormous. It’s worth saying that out loud and repeating it to ourselves and others, because today’s Powers That Be (economic, political, and media) are wrongly forcing a regime of austerity on our nation. They’re insisting that we hoi polloi must downsize our middle-class dreams, claiming that America no longer has the wherewithal to do big things.

Their narrow and pessimistic prescription for our future is not only at odds with the American spirit, but also at odds with the facts. The wealth of this nation is naturally huge and expansive–thanks to such fundamentals as the sheer size and diversity of our land, the breadth and depth of our natural resources, and especially the can-do attitude of our enterprising and hardworking people. Far from shrinking down, we have the economic strength today to be spreading the middle class and advancing the historic, egalitarian ideals that were planted at America’s founding.

In natural terms, our economy is a giant sequoia. Unfortunately, our present corporate and governmental leadership can’t seem to grasp one of the basic laws of nature: You can’t keep a mighty tree alive (much less have it thrive) by only spritzing the fine leaves at the tippy-top. The fate of the whole tree depends on nurturing the grassroots.