THE WASHINGTON UNION PAPERS: NO. 25

HOW TO BUILD A SELF-SUSTAINING ECONOMY THAT LASTS FOR GENERATIONS

To the People of the United States,

A nation that wishes to endure must build its economy not on the shifting sands of speculation, not on the whims of foreign interests, not on the fleeting highs of unchecked consumerism, but on the solid foundation of self-reliance, production, and enduring prosperity. It must anchor itself not in the illusions of wealth conjured by financial trickery, but in the tangible, in the real, in the industries that sustain a people, in the innovation that does not just disrupt but builds. A nation that survives the trials of time is not one that chases phantom markets, that leans on foreign creditors, that trades away its independence for the sake of a balance sheet. It is one that understands that an economy is not merely a machine for profit—it is the bedrock of a civilization, the engine that fuels a people’s strength, the infrastructure upon which a free and sovereign society is built.

An economy that is built to last is an economy that does not chase the illusion of endless growth at the expense of its workers. It does not treat human beings as expendable, as mere line items in an efficiency equation, as tools to be discarded when automation or outsourcing offer a cheaper alternative. A true economy—one that endures, one that does not crumble under the weight of its own greed—values the worker as much as the entrepreneur, the craftsman as much as the financier, the builder as much as the innovator. It recognizes that progress must be shared to be sustained, that prosperity must be rooted in fairness if it is to be real. It is not an economy that races toward unsustainable expansion, built on artificial bubbles and reckless speculation, but one that grows with intention, with stability, with a vision not just for today, but for the generations that follow.

It is an economy that does not sacrifice long-term stability for short-term gain. It does not place its fate in the hands of those who would gamble with the nation’s future for the sake of quarterly earnings, who see profit not as a tool for reinvestment but as an end unto itself. It does not allow wealth to be siphoned away into the vaults of the few while the foundation of the many crumbles beneath them. It does not accept that success can be measured merely by the rise and fall of the stock market while wages stagnate, while communities wither, while entire industries are hollowed out in the name of temporary cost-cutting.

It understands that true wealth is not found in numbers on a ledger but in the strength of its people, in the security of its industries, in the resilience of its institutions.

An economy that endures is an economy that invests in itself, in its people, in its future—not as a quarterly exercise in profit maximization, but as a generational commitment to national strength. It is an economy that does not see education as a burden, but as an investment in the minds that will shape the future. It is an economy that does not abandon manufacturing, but reinvents it for a new age, ensuring that production remains within its borders, that self-sufficiency is not just an ideal but a reality. It is an economy that does not outsource its security, that does not rely on foreign supply chains for its survival, that does not place the means of its existence into the hands of those who do not share its interests. It is an economy that understands that the future is not something to be waited for—it is something to be built, something to be claimed, something that must be shaped by those who refuse to leave it to chance.

This is the economy we must build—not one ruled by fear of change, but one driven by the bold embrace of possibility. An economy that harnesses the tools of the modern age—not to replace people, but to empower them. An economy that does not resist progress, but guides it, ensuring that automation and artificial intelligence are not used to strip workers of dignity, but to elevate them into new realms of productivity and prosperity. An economy that looks to the frontier—not just of technology, but of space, of renewable energy, of scientific discovery—understanding that the future belongs to those who dare to push the boundaries of what is possible.

The world is changing. The question before us is whether we will be the architects of that change, or whether we will be swept away by it. Will we build an economy that lasts, or will we cling to an economy that is doomed to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions? Will we seize the opportunities before us, or will we stand idle while others take them? The time to decide is now. The time to act is now. The time to build is now. And when history looks back upon this moment, let it say that we were not spectators in the transformation of the world—we were its architects, its builders, its unrelenting champions. Let it say that we did not wait for the future to be written for us—we wrote it ourselves, with our own hands, with our own vision, with the unstoppable force of a people determined to endure.

For too long, we have mistaken movement for progress. We have been told that the health of a nation can be measured by stock market indices, that GDP growth alone defines success, that as long as wealth accumulates somewhere, prosperity will trickle down to the many. But the truth is that wealth built on instability is no wealth at all. A house of cards may rise high, but it is destined to collapse. A self-sustaining economy is not one that is propped up by endless debt, by financial speculation, by the exploitation of workers who are cast aside as soon as their labor is no longer convenient. A self-sustaining economy is one that ensures the means of production remain strong, that the wealth created is not hoarded by a few, but reinvested into the nation itself, that every citizen, from the factory worker to the entrepreneur, from the farmer to the engineer, has a stake in the nation’s success.

An economy that lasts for generations is an economy that understands the balance between innovation and preservation. It is an economy that embraces technology while ensuring that human dignity is not lost in the process. It is an economy that welcomes growth but does not allow it to consume the very foundation upon which it stands. America must invest in its own industries, in its own workers, in its own ability to produce what it needs. It must ensure that its infrastructure does not crumble, that its supply chains do not depend on foreign adversaries, that its educational system prepares future generations not only to participate in the economy but to lead it. It must ensure that progress does not come at the cost of sovereignty, that economic power remains in the hands of the people, not in the grip of monopolies, not in the vaults of foreign creditors, not in the hands of those who see the economy as a game to be played rather than a nation to be built.

We cannot build an economy for the future without first addressing the failures of the present. We must end the cycle of boom and bust that has defined our financial system for too long. We must break free from the addiction to deficit spending that mortgages our children’s future for the sake of political expediency. We must confront the reality that an economy that thrives on inequality, on the unchecked dominance of corporations, on the erosion of the middle class, is not an economy that can sustain itself. A house divided cannot stand, and an economy that pits the wealthy against the worker, the urban center against the rural town, the financier against the producer, is an economy already on the path to collapse.

A self-sustaining economy is not just about jobs and wages—it is about governance, about the way we structure our society, about the values we choose to uphold. It requires a government that is functional, that does not lurch from crisis to crisis, that does not shut down because of political gamesmanship. It requires a Congress that is accountable to the people, that does not enrich itself while leaving the nation to struggle, that cannot refuse to pass a budget and still collect a paycheck. It requires a system that serves the nation rather than one that serves its own survival.

A self-sustaining economy requires governance that does not serve the interests of two parties alone but serves the interests of the people. It demands a political system that is not locked in endless gridlock, that does not allow partisan feuds to halt progress, that does not allow the same entrenched forces to dictate the course of the nation while silencing the will of the people. It demands a revival of civic engagement, a renewal of national service, an education system that does not merely prepare workers but prepares citizens. For an economy to last for generations, democracy itself must be strengthened, not weakened. It must be reinforced with the will of an informed, engaged, and active citizenry, not left to the mercy of those who see governance as a career rather than a duty.

Let it be known that when America stood at the crossroads of economic decline and renewal, we did not choose complacency. We did not cling to the failed promises of a system that had sold our future for the sake of quarterly profits. We did not resign ourselves to a world where our industries were hollowed out, where our workers were discarded, where our prosperity was dictated by forces beyond our borders. We did not bow to the illusion that wealth built on speculation could sustain a nation, that prosperity concentrated in the hands of the few could ever be mistaken for true economic strength. We rejected the decay of stagnation, the paralysis of hesitation, the slow suffocation of a nation that had been convinced it could no longer stand on its own. We chose to fight, to rebuild, to reclaim what had been lost—not as an act of nostalgia, but as a declaration of renewal.

Let it be written that we did not allow the fate of our economy to be dictated by foreign powers, by corporate monopolies, by financial speculation that served no one but the few. Let it be recorded that we broke the cycle of dependency, that we shattered the illusion that America’s strength could be outsourced, that we refused to accept a future where the means of our survival were controlled by those who did not share our interests. We reclaimed the industries that had been gutted, we revived the spirit of innovation that had been left to wither, we restored the principle that a nation’s economy must first and foremost serve its people—not its hedge funds, not its political elites, not the unchecked greed of those who would strip the nation bare and leave nothing behind but empty factories and forgotten towns.

Let it be remembered that we chose to build, to restore, to create an economy that does not merely serve the present but ensures prosperity for generations to come. That we understood wealth is not measured in stock prices but in the strength of our industries, in the security of our supply chains, in the resilience of our people. That we refused to be a nation that survived on borrowed time, on borrowed capital, on borrowed ambition. That we embraced the modern age not with fear, but with purpose, harnessing technology not to replace workers but to empower them, using innovation not to dismantle industries but to revolutionize them. That we did not fear progress, but ensured it served the many rather than the privileged few.

Let it be clear that this was not just an economic revival—it was a redefinition of what America could be. A nation that does not simply react to crisis, but anticipates and overcomes it. A nation that does not merely participate in the global economy, but leads it. A nation that does not wait for others to determine its fate, but writes its own future, with its own hands, with its own vision, with an unbreakable resolve that no foreign competitor, no corporate giant, no political gridlock could ever extinguish.

And when history looks back upon this moment, let it say that America did not falter. That we did not surrender to the forces of decline. That we built an economy that was not a fleeting boom, not a momentary surge, not another house of cards waiting to collapse—but an unshakable foundation for the generations that followed. That we laid the groundwork for an era of sustained prosperity, of shared wealth, of unyielding national strength. That when the time came to choose between retreat and resurgence, we did not hesitate—we built, we forged, and we made America, once again, the master of its own destiny.

The time has come to do more than talk about economic renewal. The time has come to act—not just in policy, but in principle, in the very structure of our governance. For an economy that lasts is an economy that is governed with wisdom, with accountability, with a recognition that without good governance, without functional institutions, without a system that ensures fairness, no economy can stand the test of time.

And so, the next step in our mission begins: to rebuild not just our economy, but our government itself. A government that has been left to rot under the weight of its own dysfunction, crippled by corruption, hijacked by partisanship, held hostage by the very people elected to serve. A government that has ceased to be a steward of the people and has instead become a fortress for the powerful, where special interests dictate the laws, where lobbyists write the policies, where those meant to govern spend more time posturing for the next election than solving the crises of today. This is not governance—it is a betrayal. It is a system designed to perpetuate itself, to feed its own survival while the nation it was built to serve is left to crumble beneath it. And it must end.

We will not renew our economy while the machinery of our government is rusted through with corruption. We will not build a self-sustaining future while our leaders serve only their own ambitions. No economic revival will last in a system where Congress can shut down the government as a political stunt, where budgets are held hostage for partisan gain, where those who fail to lead still collect a paycheck while the people they claim to represent suffer the consequences. Without governance that serves the people, no economy—no matter how strong—will endure. Without reform, without accountability, without a government that places the nation before its own survival, the cycle of instability will continue, and no prosperity will last.

This is the crossroads. This is the moment where we decide not just what kind of economy we want, but what kind of country we will be. Will we continue to allow a government that serves itself, that enriches its own, that protects the few while the many struggle? Or will we seize this moment to shatter the old order, to strip the power from those who have abused it, to restore a system that works for the people—not for the politicians, not for the corporations, not for the wealthy donors, but for the American citizen?

Let this be the moment we chose to fix not only our economy but our system of governance itself. Let it be written that we did not accept a future ruled by dysfunction, that we did not allow the rot of corruption to spread unchecked, that we did not sit idle while democracy was reduced to an auction house for the highest bidder. Let history record that we were not passive observers in the decline of our nation but active participants in its renewal. That we demanded accountability. That we ripped the roots of corruption from the halls of power. That we ended government shutdowns as a tool of manipulation. That we held Congress accountable—no budget, no pay. That we did not allow the two-party system to strangle democracy, to suffocate progress, to hold the future hostage to an endless cycle of division and decay.

Let it say that we built something lasting, something just, something worthy of the generations to come. A government not of stagnation, but of action. A government not of obstruction, but of vision. A government that does not simply serve the interests of the powerful, but serves the cause of the people. And let it begin now, not tomorrow, not in some distant future, but today.

The time has come to govern with purpose. The time has come to tear down the walls of partisanship and rebuild a government that is unshackled from its dysfunction, that is freed from its own self-preservation, that is returned to the hands of those it was meant to serve. The time has come to forge a new system—not out of rhetoric, not out of empty promises, but out of the unwavering will of a people who refuse to be ruled by the failures of the past.

This is not the end of the fight—this is the beginning. The fight to build an America that is not just strong, but fair. Not just prosperous, but just. Not just powerful, but worthy of the ideals upon which it was founded. And when history looks back upon this moment, let it say that we did not falter, that we did not waver, that we did not allow ourselves to be governed by those who sought only to maintain their own power. Let it say that we rose, that we reformed, that we built not just a new economy, but a new America. One that endures. One that thrives. One that belongs to the people—not just in name, but in truth. And let it begin now.