Commentary by Kevin Hassett
April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Occasionally, an artist emerges who is, like Bob Dylan in the 1960s, perfect for the times. Last week, the unlikely artist of these times emerged: Susan Boyle.
Boyle, the frumpy, unemployed 47-year-old church lady from the tiny Scottish village of Blackburn, lives alone with her cat and grew up singing in the church choir. She decided to enter a talent contest to honor the memory of her dead mother, who always encouraged her to pursue her singing talent.
Mom was right. After wowing judges on the U.K. television show “Britain’s Got Talent” with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” Boyle became a sensation of historic proportions.
As of Friday, the most popular YouTube video of her performance had been viewed almost 20 million times, and Boyle spent the week hopping from morning show to morning show. Her reception was especially warm in the U.S. She announced that she is about to appear on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show, and reports of recording deals are already circulating.
There is a fairy-tale beauty to this story. A selfless woman devotes herself to caring for her elderly mother, then succeeds beyond her wildest dreams when she no longer is needed at her mother’s side. That alone would have generated a good amount of attention in any day.
For Americans, Boyle is so much bigger than that for two reasons: She gives us hope and reminds us of our roots.
With unemployment skyrocketing and the airwaves filled with the pessimism and doomsaying of the Krugmans and the Roubinis, the world is wall-to-wall with down-on-their-luck individuals who each day must decide whether to hang it up and stop looking for a new job, or to persevere, stay hopeful and keep on trying.
Indelibly Optimistic
In the past, the unemployed may have clung to their fundamental belief in the free-market system and the knowledge that all prior recessions have eventually ended. Indelible optimism has been a striking American characteristic since our founding. It’s hard to say where that optimism and belief in the virtue of hard work came from; somewhat persuasively, Alexis de Tocqueville connected them to our Puritan heritage.
Regardless of the source, this long-run optimism has served the country well and has been in itself a natural governor of downturns. Faith in free markets has been a kind of safety net for our economy.
As legendary economist Dave Cass and his colleague Karl Shell taught us with their pioneering work on business cycles, beliefs can be self-fulfilling. If citizens believe that the economic system is sound and will right itself, their actions can produce that outcome. If everyone believes that the system is irretrievably damaged, the system will fail.
Core Beliefs
This economic crisis has been so harmful to the American spirit because it has challenged the core beliefs that have sustained us for centuries. Countless commentators now assert that faith in free markets is misplaced, capitalism is dead, and the destruction is irreparable unless we hand over the keys to big government. If we accept that, then we are headed for the abyss.
Which is why hope seems at an all-time low, and why the Boyle story resonates so much with Americans.
The odds of a 47-year-old suddenly leaping to stardom are so low that any sensible friend would have told Boyle to give up her dream. But she didn’t, even though her actions couldn’t be supported rationally.
It is an understatement to say that it worked out for her.
So maybe, the public must be thinking, the 47-year-old unemployed construction worker in South Florida should keep plugging away too. With an eye on our Puritan heritage, seeing Boyle receive earthly rewards after a life of saintly service is a very powerful tonic. Perhaps she is great because she is good.
As with this recession, it is hard to say exactly how the Boyle story will end. But Americans’ response to Boyle should strengthen the hope that the so-called green shoots of this recovery will take root.
For a people that respond with such intensity to Boyle’s story must still possess the sentiments that have, since before de Tocqueville’s time, been the source of our greatness.
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