Jon Reisman

In June of 1976, I was almost 20 and had just finished my junior year at Colby. I had added economics as a second major along with environmental studies, and had decided to pursue a graduate degree in economics. 

I had started my summer job as a canoeing/tripping counselor at Camp Takajo on Long Lake in Naples, Maine. Jimmy Carter was about to secure the Democratic presidential nomination to challenge incumbent, but unelected, Gerald Ford, the GOP House Minority leader who replaced disgraced Spiro Agnew as Nixon’s vice president, then became president when Nixon resigned over Watergate. 

Ford was unsuccessfully challenged by former California governor and eventual 1980 nominee Ronald Reagan. Two other soon-to-be-familiar names graced the final ballot — vice-presidential nominees Walter Mondale and Bob Dole.

The 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to 18, was passed in 1971. It was my first presidential election vote. Showing the optimism, lack of wisdom, and gullibility common in many young adults, I supported Jimmy Carter (I’ll never lie to you).

Carter brokered the Camp David Accords between Menachem Begin’s Israel and Yassir Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization but butchered the economy with rising inflation and unemployment, while being paralyzed by the Iranian revolution and 400-plus days of Persian hostage terrorism. 

The hostage crisis gave rise to Ted Koppel’s nightly “America held hostage” broadcast. Middle East conundrums haven’t really changed that much over the last 50 years. But before the

Carter/Iranian disaster to come, the nation celebrated the bicentennial, and it was a remarkably non-partisan and unifying spectacle. That experience is unlikely to be repeated in 2026 with our semiquincentennial, as much as our polarized and divided nation could use it. 

Takajo put on “1776” that summer. Several of my senior camper/canoeist charges had lead roles as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The camp director called me to his office in late June and dispatched me to Augusta to procure a fireworks permit. I put on the camp fireworks show on July 4 and managed not to damage my hearing or incinerate anything.

The summer of 1976 was not an easy one for America, but there was optimism, patriotism, and relative unity. Those are not the words I would use to describe the American polity in our 250th birthday year — rather the opposite, actually. 

We are divided and polarized, with a significant portion of the electorate decidedly unhappy with the messy consequences of capitalism and freedom. Unfortunately, from my point of view, the critics are blissfully and willfully ignorant of the freedom and soul-killing consequences of socialism, whatever misbegotten variant they settle upon. 

If a plurality of my leftist neighbors vote for Graham Platner, Shenna Bellows, and other “Democratic Socialists,” the resultant disaster will be collectively on the voters of Maine who let it happen, whether through common delusion or willful brainwashing. My only solace is that I don’t expect to live to witness it. 

Conservative economists who refuse to shut up and toe the leftist line will be amongst the first to be imprisoned and executed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the left reinstates public hangings. Now, there’s something to spice up our semiquincentennial.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at jreisman@maine.edu.