Why the Terrorists Will Never Win

So the recession's over.

Or maybe we never really had a recession. Either way, the economy that began losing steam long before the September 11th attacks is on the mend.

But hold on. Remember those dire predictions of economic collapse immediately after 9/11? The collapse of one industry after another was predicted — airlines, tourism, insurance, entertainment. And then there was Enron. You name it, we were on the verge of another Great Depression.

What happened? Too bad economic forecasters aren't forced to eat their words. And it's also too bad that they don't know enough about what makes this country work to realize that even if one of these industries had collapsed, it wouldn't have brought down our economy or our nation.

Our servants inside the Beltway aren't any better, believing that they can turn an ailing economy around just by spending a lot of our money on a costly economic stimulus plan. Making their overpaid efforts even more of a joke is that the useless $40 billion "bail out" was passed after hardworking Americans turned the economy around without any government "help."

The American people understand in their gut what egghead economists and self-centered politicians never will: the foundation of our economy is built on more solid stuff than corporate boardrooms or economic "bail outs." America is far more than any one business, or one industry or one community.

That's why the terrorists will never win.

America is not a chain that will fall apart if you pull out one or more of its links. We're a million little chains. These chains are our communities, each one committed to the same core values of free governance and fair commerce. It's these parts that make the center strong, not the other way around.

If terrorists nuked New York, L.A., Chicago, Miami and Dallas tomorrow, we'd take a horrendous hit. But we'd survive. Our Republic and our economy will survive precisely because we are a republic. We are a nation of communities, the blend of which cements the center. Politicians and corporate executives may think that they're at the center of our economy. But the core of our economy, the core of our nation, is now as it always has been: the people.