Giving Thanks: We will climb the mountains ahead

“There must be a beginning again, and perhaps, he said, it will come out of this depression. He was right about it. There was a beginning again. It did grow out of the heartbreak of the depression years.”

Ralph McGill, describing 
a conversation with Franklin D. Roosevelt in “The South and the Southerner.”

Thanksgiving’s now but a memory, save for the calories that will weigh in on our waistlines in coming days. Now begins a season of taking stock as another year wends toward its close.

It might seem that blessings and bounty are in much shorter supply this year as the winds of a great recession continue to shriek across our land.

It’s nearly impossible not to know just how tough times are these days. You can see it in vacant storefronts large and small. It’s apparent in the empty subdivisions that have inadvertently added to our region’s green space as plans to replace surveyor’s stakes with new homes were put on hold. Many of us know at least one of the nearly half-million Georgians who’re unemployed.

It’s a fail-safe bet that our struggle out of this deep recession will be painful and slow.

But a recovery will happen. It must, and it will.

Atlanta, Georgia and the nation will renew, rebuild and restore abundance to our land. To wager otherwise is to bet against the spirit, grit and tenacity that built America.

We will recover. Georgia and its capital can lead the way if we set our minds, backs and hands to the work before us.

Our resolve to do so will come easily if we look back to whence we came and how far we’ve come. The Civil War’s flames could not incinerate our spirit. From charred ruins arose a new Atlanta, and a new South.

Atlanta could not have seen the rebirth it did if a collective vision had not ridden alongside those who came back and set to work. That vision remains one of our greatest strengths. We dream large, and can muster the resources and support to turn ideas into reality and prosperity. And extraordinary vision, coupled with smarts, hard work and a willingness to share sacrifice will all be needed to undo the effects of this recession. We’re up to the task.

If our metro area were to craft a balance sheet of assets and liabilities, it would show many strengths upon which we can build.

Despite the “R” word, the Atlanta region retains its allure for people and companies. The same holds true for Georgia.

The proof is not hard to find, and helps explain why more than 4 million people still toil in Georgia, double-digit unemployment notwithstanding.

Last summer, NCR Corp. traded Ohio’s harsh winters for a climate where people can eat outdoors in late November. That will bring 1,250 jobs to Gwinnett County. NCR is nowhere near alone. Companies large and small continue to move to Georgia. We must find ways to step up that pace.

Once here, newcomers find that moving people and goods across the globe is easy. Yes, we must act decisively soon to solve Atlanta’s traffic gridlock, but it’s equally true that we benefit from living at a transportation nexus. Consider Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Its far-reaching flights open the world to us, and vice versa.

An international flow of goods and services is nothing new for Atlanta, or Georgia. Workers at our state’s ports know that. Atlantans see that in this area’s polyglot blend of races and nationalities. Diversity’s derided in some circles, but Atlanta’s global mix draws the world’s experiences and best practices into our midst. Who can deny that our economic bottom line’s benefited from such richness?

The same holds true for Georgia’s world-class research universities and colleges. They’re magnets for the world’s brightest minds who can help re-energize our economy. We must better meld that academic power with the private sector. Doing so will put Georgians back to work.

Yes, our assets are formidable. So are our liabilities. But they are not insurmountable.

Most striking among the recession-wrought headaches is a jobless rate that’s ensnared a tenth of our labor force. We must redouble regional and state efforts to help create jobs — especially those of the well-paying kind that the Metro Atlanta Chamber has set its sights on enticing into the area.

That Georgia can do this is evidenced by Kia Motors’ decision to build a new factory in West Point. If Detroit’s best years may lie behind it, new plants like Kia’s represent the best of the future.

Adding jobs will require the best thinking Georgia can muster, given that our state’s battling a billion-dollar budget gap. We can’t cut a way to prosperity; neither can we spend our way there.

Now is the time for state officials and legislators to sincerely caucus with businesspeople and others to quickly plot the best and true way forward. And we must rein in petty partisan gamesmanship if we’re at all serious about working our way out of the current crisis.

We must now set to work, as Georgia did after both the Civil War and the Great Depression. We in the South know how to build for tomorrow; we’ve had no other choice. We can do it again.

Andre Jackson, 
for the Editorial Board.

In coming weeks and months, we will look at major issues Atlanta must address in order to move forward as the economy recovers. Look for the designation “Atlanta Forward,” which will identify these discussions.