Ben Stein How Not to Ruin Your Life

Here is some good news and some bad news. I'll give you the bad news first.

I was on a panel of smart, pleasant men and women last week, discussing the economy and, in particular, how it is affecting people selling vehicles with tires and wheels. I told the audience that the Federal Reserve, which has unlimited power to print money, had a program called the Term Asset Backed Lending Facility (TALF) that would help dealers restock their showrooms. I said I knew it hadn't started yet but I thought it would start soon.

A gentleman on the panel -- an intelligent, articulate, honest young man -- said that, as a Fed employee himself, he knew the Fed was straining every nerve to get the TALF started. He said they are pulling people off their trucks who used to work on delivering cash to banks. That's how hard they are working.

Friends and Internet neighbors, I felt like weeping. As I said to this man, "I know this isn't your fault. But the Fed has an unlimited budget. They could hire some of the tens of thousands of young bankers recently laid off on Wall Street to get this program started. It needs to be started YESTERDAY! Why aren't they getting professional bankers instead of people who work in trucking to do this?"

It's Called 'Government' for a Reason

The man pleasantly said that legislators were always criticizing the Fed's budget and so they had to be careful where they spent their money. This is an entity that has genuinely unlimited money. And people selling cars, trucks, and trailers are bleeding without that TALF facility -- and some will die.

Anyhow, as I listened to that man, I thought, "Hey, why am I surprised? It's called ‘the government' for a reason. It has its own pace and its own ideas of what's right and wrong.'"

Now that's the bad news.

You have been -- you are now -- bombarded every day with TV shows, radio news, and newspapers telling you of this government support plan and that government support plan and how they are going to rescue you. To which I can only say, when you hear the word ‘government,' in your mind, substitute the words ‘Department of Motor Vehicles.' When was the last time they rescued you? When was the last time they bailed you out of anything at all?

Look, I worked for the government for many years. The men and women I worked with were some of the finest people on this earth. But there are only a few of them and a lot of us. They have their hands full. Yes, they can help you by mailing you a check. They can help you by cutting your taxes, and I hope they do. They can "bail out" specific industries for a while, such as we just saw with Detroit.

They definitely help you by fighting for your freedom.

But to expect that ‘government' is a fairy godmother who will rescue you from your problems over any long period is just fantasy. Here's the good news: This country will be rescued by each of us doing what we can do in our own individual sphere of action as government works in its sphere of action. There are roughly 142 million men and women in the labor force. Their ingenuity, flexibility, energy, and confidence will make more difference than anything government does on an individual basis -- which is not to take away a thing from the effects of good policy.

In the free society, we rescue ourselves. I think in particular of a young man who graduated from Williams College in 1935. It was hard times, with almost 20 percent unemployment, as we now know.

The young man had no money and few connections. But he didn't know what he didn't have, and he didn't know how deep the Depression was. So he just went out, got a teaching job in Iowa, used the money to work and study at The University of Chicago, found a wife, and started a career that took him to fame and prosperity. He didn't count on anyone else to do it for him. He was a Phi Beta Kappa from a great college, but he didn't hesitate to wash dishes for a meal and a quarter.

That man was my father.

I think of Herbert Hoover, who graduated from mining engineering school in the late 1880s. Just as he was entering the labor force in 1893, a huge Depression hit. But he didn't know about it because there were few statistics, so he headed out West, started a mining enterprise, and became a millionaire.

Put Down the Paper and Get to Work

If you spend the day reading about how bad things are, you will never get out of bed. If you put down the paper and get to work, and then work twice as hard and twice as smart as you used to, and maybe take less pay right up front, you will get ahead.

Here is a lesson from my father: In every economic era, there is always a shortage of talented, creative, well-educated workers. Be one of those workers.

I think of my pal Barron Thomas, a talented salesman of airplanes and related items and services. Since the recession hit in earnest in the fall, I hardly get to talk to him. Why? Because he works all the time. He makes the deals the other guys are too lazy or short-sighted to make. If you absolutely, positively want it to be sold, if you want to buy at the best price, you go to Barron Thomas. The flight world knows it, and he gets sales. Plus, he doesn't get depressed, because he's working too hard to get depressed. He gets that endorphin rush, that glorious feeling of self-esteem one gets from working hard and being exhausted at the end of a successful day.

My point isn't to plug Barron. He's got a huge reputation already. My point is to tell you that the hard-working people will still get work. They will have money to spend. They will spend it, and eventually it will pull us out of this darned recession.

Earn Your Success

I think of Henry Luce, who started ‘Fortune' magazine when the Great Depression was well under way, or Bill Benton, who started one of the most successful ad agencies of all time, Benton & Bowles, during the Depression. They didn't expect a bailout. They expected to earn their success -- and they did.

Imagination, hard work, and persistence can conquer any phase of the business cycle. Imitate Mr. Thomas, Mr.Bowles, and Mr. Luce. Let other people get depressed by the headlines. Let other people wait around for Mr. Obama to rescue them. You go out and go to work, using every resource of energy and imagination you have. The DMV is not going to bail you out. By and large, and with a few exceptions, you have to bail yourself out.

Get to work.