Remember all those terrorist-loving liberals that told you not to ship jobs overseas, to buy American goods, and to find domestic energy sources? They were right. That is what will save us. Our economy is not built around lending houses to each other, it’s built around items and services of actual value. If we’re not selling American-made goods and services, we have no money.

And as my friend Chris Penn points out, if we’re borrowing money for things we can’t really afford, we make the problem worse. Our personal economies dictate our national economy and we must live within our means. Believe me, I could’ve qualified for a loan at my old day job, but I knew I couldn’t really afford a house. I didn’t yet (and still don’t) have the value in my own pocket to back up the value of a house.

Of course, I should mention that American musicians sell their American-made wares both at home and abroad via the internet and international touring. You already knew that, though.

The important thing here is to realize that the solution to our problem will not come from some complex economic magic. The problem will be solved when we as consumers start making and buying products of value right here in America.

¹This is not meant to diminish the contributions and financial woes of my friends in other nations. My point is that we as Americans seem to have forgotten that in a capitalist economy, national or global, we have to be selling as much as we’re consuming if the balance sheet is going to even out in the end.