Are the American People always to be Placed in the Trick Bag?

Now, I know some of you don't know what a trick bag is but many of you do. You are old enough to know. I first heard of this term growing up in a little city called Gary, Indiana. Most of the people hear hail from the South and many of it's traditions followed. There is a colorful way of speaking when you are a southerner living north of Kentucky. During the 1970s, an even more colorful way of communication blossomed: Jive Talking. I date this activity during the time I was actually cognisant of it. It existed long before then but as a Generation X'er born 1966, I can actually only remember so much about the Baby Boomer Generation.
And I remember people talking about, "being in the trick bag."
It's when you are in a conundrum or an ordeal and there is no quick way out of the situation. Some people call it "getting jammed."
The opposite of being in the trick bag is having solutions to problems.
So which are we, as Americans? Are we in the trick bag or do we have real solutions?