Take the blinders off, there's no sunshine here in South Florida

Stephen Goldstein | Columnist

July 20, 2008

Floridians are in a state of denial. Too many people of all ages appear to have mentally left terra firma, assuming that they were ever really with us. How else can anyone explain the self-indulgent antics of everyone from the man on the street to the governor during one of the worst downturns — aka depressions — in our economy?

At a time when nationwide millions of homes are in foreclosure, the stock market is tanking and gas prices are decimating family budgets, legions of Floridians simply had to ante up for the latest iPhone — some waiting in line overnight. It's just another example of daily proof that "there's a sucker born every minute" and that no one ever lost money pandering to the lowest instincts of the American public. Businesses pump out a never-ending stream of must-have, upgraded gadgets. Then, consumers pump the economy up by buying them. Then, college students grouse to each other on their cell phones that increases in tuition are breaking their backs. Have they lost their minds? When will they look beyond their noses? Did they ever hear about saving a buck?

At a time when the state budget has been slashed by $6 billion and millions of Floridians have lost essential services and are eking out a living, Gov. Charlie Crist is gallivanting about Europe doing "the people's" business — aka giving "the people" the business. He and the Republican-dominated Legislature took money away from education, health care and everything else. No matter, he's shamelessly spending $255,000 on an 11-day "trade" mission to bag business for the state.

It will take years, if ever, before we see any financial benefit from the guv's trip. What's worse, it will do nothing to repair the fundamental flaws in Florida's economic underpinnings, which have been destroyed during nine years of Republican rule in Tallahassee and eight years in Washington, D.C.

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So, let's call the guv's jaunt what it is: a summer's traipse on the international scene with his now joined-at-the-hip hip fiancée, designed to enhance his chances of becoming McCain's choice for veep. According to one published report, a professional photographer, paid for by you and me, must accompany the guv, his gal and a group of tag-alongs. For sure, he'll be told to catch some smooches by the guv-in-love for the national press!

Meanwhile, back on terra firma, reality prevails for the vast majority of average Floridians — and it ain't sweetness and light. In a major, recent article in Time, Michael Grunwald asks, "Is Florida the Sunset State?" He had to ask? Anyone with half a brain has seen that we've been on the skids for years.

Florida's self-deluders continue to make hay while the sun shines because they'll tell you that our current doldrums aren't the first time we've weathered the ups and downs of the business cycle. Complacently, they point out that boom-and-bust is status quo for our economy. Smugly, they say that we've always risen to a new level of "the best" after we've come through "the worst."

But our Pollyannas are missing one key point: Times have changed dramatically for us as a state. We have lagged behind other parts of the country for so long in developing critical infrastructure — schools, health care, roads, public transportation, the environment — that it's almost impossible to see how we can make up for our callous indifference, irresponsibility and short-sightedness. We haven't even stayed competitive with other tourist meccas: Sans sunshine and Disney, we're nothing.

So how do we shake ourselves out of delusion and into a brighter day? I believe that Florida has to rebrand itself as the best state in the union in which to live — for everyone. And the first way to do that is to create a statewide system of universal health insurance. From conception to death, every Floridian should have access to a continuum of first-rate, comprehensive medical care, for which they pay on a sliding scale. Watch real estate move and businesses relocate here on that news! The guv doesn't have to travel anywhere in the world to make such a proposal a reality, but it should set every iPhone buzzing — and move us from sunset to sunrise, undeniably.

Stephen L. Goldstein's commentaries appear on alternate Sundays. E-mail him at trendsman@aol.com.