Ninety Years Later

With the election over, we are now left with a certain feeling that I can only describe as emptiness—gone are the cool graphics and techno-maps of red and blue, not to mention the nightly parsing of each of the four candidates’ days. All of the sudden, there is no distraction from the plain truth: the global economy is feeling a world of hurt.

Proof of the damage was seen yesterday in the action of General Motors. Analysts at both Deutsche Bank and Barclays set a downbeat tone when they cut their target prices and investment ratings on the stock-Barclays is anticipating that the company will trade at a buck, while the more dour Deutsche Bank thinks that GM is heading out of business quickly due to the fact the company is burning over $2 billion month. The two reports drove down the price of the US automaker 23% to $3.36, after hitting a 62-year low of $3.02 in the trading session.

Did you catch that? We are talking 1946—the year that “It’s a Wonderful Life” lost the Academy Award to “The Best Years of our Lives”. I know that you may be thinking that life just doesn’t seem so wonderful right now. Well, don’t tell that to anyone who actually lived through the year 1946 and the ten or fifteen years that preceded it. While we obsess about the gyrations of the stock market and the problems in the economy, which are of course serious and significant, I fear that we may forget about an important milestone: today is Veteran’s Day.

World War I, known as “The Great War” or “War to End all Wars,” officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles in France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice (a temporary cessation of hostilities) between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of the war. As a result, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The purpose of Veterans Day was to set aside a day to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Ninety years later, as the United States fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, today is a reminder that we owe our soldiers a debt of gratitude. And so for just a moment today, please take the time to put aside your concerns about your 401(k) account or the value of your house and send a blessing to our servicemen and women who are currently serving and who have served our country so honorably.