A curious period for us. A period which is creating the next group of leaders.
Most historians speak of how the times create the man. Or woman. So to speak. They mean that events create an environment for leaders who are needed to step forth and be recognized.
The Thirties in Britain prepared the way for Churchill. His opponents ridiculed him. They banished him. Did not allow him to be part of the government. Still, as war clouds gathered, he spoke. He prepared himself. When war broke out and the Brits feared they might be defeated they all knew who should lead them. They turned to the man they had ridiculed. The times had built the platform upon which Churchill eventually stood.
Our difficult times are doing the same. Or so I believe, in my optimism. They are setting the stage for a leader who will lead us from this morass.
The morass is a sick economy. The morass is millions idle who should be working. It is the feeling that none of our current leaders have the courage to truly tackle our problems. It is the feeling that our leaders want to tinker with this, adjust that. While the bloody ship is listing thirty degrees.
The morass is that our current leaders have run out of ideas. They threw their best ideas – and tons of your money – at the economic problems. And that had no more effect than a few eggs splattered against the wall.
They screwed up. Chose the wrong medicines. And now they cannot bring themselves to choose the right medicines. Because they would be embarrassed to admit they were wrong, and the other guys were right.
The medicine our economy needs, our society needs, is evident. It is that we need to reduce the role of government. It is that we need to return more power and money and freedom to our people.
Our government – and people who work in it – feel omnipotent. Those who support big government feel it can heal all wounds, spur all growth, create jobs, stem the rising tides, quell climate change. Government cannot do these things. People can accomplish many of them. People who are free.
Examples?  People believe only government can deliver the mail. This belief has led to a postal service that bleeds money. In many countries government has ceded this power to the people.  They privatized their postal services. Removed government from them. And the privatized services do what government cannot do. They get the mail delivered and they make a profit doing it.
Some believe only government can give them checks in their retirement. Social Security must be run by government. Other countries have proven this to be an absurdity. Their private systems put our government system to shame.
Some believe only government-run schools can deliver education. Our remaining private schools prove this is false. Foreign school systems prove our system is weak and inefficient.
Government has grown too big. Too intrusive. Too restricting. Too ponderous. It contributed directly to our housing meltdown. (Although it blamed the banks. New books spell out how guilty government was in causing the meltdown.)
The anemic economy. The poor recovery. The countless millions out of work. They all are creating an atmosphere, a platform, for a leader who will declare the emperor has no clothes. Perhaps not in the campaign, but in the White House, he or she will get serious about transferring a lot of government’s powers back to the people. In the form of sensible taxes. In the form of fewer regulations. In the form of government getting the hell out of our hair.
The times they are a changin’. And they are creating the portal through which new leaders will emerge.  
From Tom ... as in Morgan.                  

For more columns and for Tom’s radio shows and new TV shows (and to write to Tom): tomasinmorgan.com.