Editorial: The Ghallenge ls Upon Us

The last weeks have been a challenge for us all. The scope of the attack and the enormous loss of life, has shook us all to our very core. The final outcome is still developing, but everyone of us has been moved to tears, shock, anger, bewilderment. The leadership shown by the N.Y. firemen and police, the mayor, our politicians and our President shows that in a time of crisis we truly value leadership and need people to step up.

Today, we all need to step up. While the pain will be with us for a long time to come, we face an economic challenge the likes that many of us have never seen. This was the true goal of the perpetrators, and will be a testament to their victory, if we allow it. In my Sept. I I editorial (see p.6),1 wrote that we needed to get back to business as soon as possible. That time is now.

In recent days, I have traveled across the country and witnessed firsf hand how U.S. business is suffering. I have sat on airplanes that more than half empty even after flight consolidation, stayed in hotels with 2OEa occvpancy, eaten in restaurants with five tables filled out of 80. taken cab rides that the driver waited six hours to get, visited a mall that was like a ghost town, and spoken to colleagues who report substantial drops in business.

In recent days, the airline industry announced approximately 100,000 layoffs, Boeing announced 30,000, and a number of other companies reported they will be laying off people. This is the tip of the iceberg. Unless we can get back to normal, the further economic human toll will be staggering. The layoffs will build in each and every community, and no industry or geographic region is immune.

America has come together in the last weeks in a way that takes us back to the true roots of what America is supposed to be. We truly have become a United States of America. In light of the tragedy, many Americans have asked what more they can do. We must understand that all of us are intertwined economically. Any unemployment, any industry contraction impacts us all, by a reduction in spending power in our communities. While I understand we may be concerned about our safety and our jobs, we must return to normal. We need to shop in our local stores and eat out, we need to fly, take a vacation, remodel our houses, buy that piece of furniture or that car we were thinkine about. In other words, we need to get back to doing what makes this country a great place to live and work. It is that spending that ultimately will be fed back into our own businesses.

Last month, as it turns out, I prophetically argued in my editorial for innovation not downsizing. It will be the smart companies that are able to weather the storm ahead, but we can further help ourselves by winning this war on our freedoms. Our attackers think that they can win by fear and intimidation. I for one will not allow it. Please join me.

- Alan Oakes, publisher