The old saw about the Chinese ideogram for “crisis” combining the symbols for “danger” and “opportunity” applies today. The financial and political meltdown has created an opening in America for really new thinking and solutions. The (probably) ascendant Democrats will ignore this at their peril, and the nation’s.

The challenge for government after the disastrous ideology and incompetence of the last few decades is inventing today’s “Better”. We need regulation, but we don’t just need to reinstall the regulations designed for the last century. We need programs to build social capital and overcome poverty, but we don’t just need the Great Society or New Deal to come back.

FDR’s solutions in the 1930’s were brilliant, but they reflected the social, political and economic realities of the time. Belief in big government solving everything is as delusional as belief in the market solving everything. We need to encourage, and be, builders.

(sidebar: I’ve been reading the Warren Buffett biography and Beattie’s description of a builder investor fits him perfectly. For the rest of us, things like index mutual funds make builder investing understandable and affordable.)