Polls find that citizens are optimistic that Barack Obama can return America to prosperity. Obama says "Yes, we can." Morning Sentinel editors preach optimism: "Give the rescue time to work." Let us hope that is not what is called "hysterical optimism."

Pollyannas presume that that which we are experiencing economically is nothing more than another Depression. "Depressions come and go," runs the mantra. "This too will pass."

And that, far too many believe, is history. But it isn't.

All civilizations of history have fallen. Arnold Toynbee devoted many years to a close examination of more than 20 of the "great" civilizations. He found that they all committed suicide. They all overdosed.

Today, even the most uninformed man on the street hears the cosmic symphony as it once again rehearses the Dies Irae. It seems to be our time; today is the denouement. Even Harvard and the New York Times are in deep trouble.

Obama makes a grave error to suggest that he can end the tsunami. He will pay a heavy price if he presents himself as an economic savior, a demigod on stilts, as Einstein put it.

By the way, are the concept of bailout and the practice of creating vast oceans of liquidity compatible?

Victor Lister

Athens