It's easier for most of us to worry about big things like the economy, the war in Iraq and dishonesty in politics than about our own problems. There's nothing we can do about the big things and worrying about them makes us feel responsible. I do a lot of big-time worrying about important things just to take my mind off my problems.

For instance, I worry about our democracy. A successful democracy depends on people knowing what's good for them so they can vote for the right people. Not many of us know what's good for us. Some days, I feel as though I don't know anything about anything. I read the newspaper and try to decide who the good politicians leading us are, but too often the ones I thought were good end up disappointing me. I think of politicians as responsible citizens who got where they are doing good things. However, it's hard to read the newspaper or watch television news broadcasts and maintain a high regard for our elected leaders.

I can't even decide whether Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice are great Americans helping President Bush make the right decisions, or whether they're inept executives and the source of our diminishing reputation in the world.

Rep. John Murtha fooled me. I didn't know a lot about him but he seemed like an able and honest politician. It turns out Murtha is the biggest wheeler-dealer in Congress. Everyone who knows him says it makes less difference to Murtha whether something is right or wrong, good or bad, ethical or un-, than whether it's a smart deal for him and his political friends. I'm left with one less politician I can admire and a shaken confidence in my own ability to choose the right people. There must be some selfless politicians doing the right thing but every time I think I've found one, something happens that turns me against them

As an American, I'm not any happier with American business people than I am with politicians. Neither do I know enough about American businessmen to make valid criticisms of them.

Businesses in America are selling stuff better than they're making it, I'm convinced of that. They spent a total of $280 billion on advertising last year. That would come to about $933 for each American man, woman and child. I think we'd all prefer to do without advertising and take the $933 in cash. The automobile industry alone spent $15 billion on advertising. General Motors spent $3 billion to sell 4 million cars and trucks. That comes to approximately $750 for advertising on each vehicle they sold.

I don't know what's wrong with American industry but something's as wrong as it is with our politics. For almost 100 years, our automobile makers in Detroit have been a source of pride for all of us because our roads were crowded with Fords, Chevrolets, Dodges and Buicks. Those familiar American brands are being run off the road now. They started being edged out years ago when the German Volkswagen bug moved in. Now, the Japanese have shoved aside not only Volkswagen but Ford and General Motors with Toyotas, Nissans and Hondas.

I'm not even sure that our farmers are doing things right, either. The fruit farmers in Florida are complaining that business is poor because people aren't eating their oranges. I go to the store to buy oranges and end up with oranges grown in Spain. I don't know where the Florida oranges are but presumably they're more expensive than those from Spain, so stores don't feature them.

Merchandising, in itself, is not an industry that can support a nation's economy. Advertising and salesmanship are distant seconds in importance to growing or manufacturing something. If you don't have a good product, all the clever advertising in the world can't help. The word "clever" is often used in a derogatory sense, and our best advertising is clever. It fools us into thinking one product is better than another with no real evidence.

I'm aware that I'm on shaky ground with a column like this because it is advertising that pays for what I write for newspapers and for television.

Andy Rooney's column is distributed by Tribune Media Services.