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A Democrat, admits we have nothing to show for the stimulus
25 Aug 2010 14:41 - 25 Aug 2010 15:13 #10
by AspenValley
My suggestion is that Americans face reality.
Our economy has been running on a phony fiat currency credit bubble for at least 30 years. We kidded ourselves that things like "trickle down" economics was handed down by Moses on tablets when in fact, except for the richest 5% or less of Americans, the last 30 years have been a net loss to American families in terms of security and real wages.
We actually sat around and cheered while good jobs went overseas and congratulated ourselves that we could prosper by becoming a "knowledge-based" workforce. Even as we denigrated knowlege, made it fashionable and somehow patriotic to be an ignorant know-nothing.
We got fat and lazy and intellectually stuperous gulping down Cheese Doodles in front of the TV.
We bought into the idea that everyone could and should have a McMansion that also doubled as a handy-dandy cash advance machine.
We ignored the fact that we are running out of raw materials and especially, cheap oil, which was the fuel for our ride up the economic scale and is going to bring us screeching down the very same slide to becoming a second, or even third-rate country.
We got into wars that were designed to distract or possibly temporarily forestall this reality and over-reached so badly that we are beholden to such a breathtaking sum every single minute just to keep the military monster breathing that there is no way we could ever get control of it again.
We've allowed ourselves to be distracted by laughably simple tactics into idiotic and vitriolic "culture wars" set up by our masters to keep us blind to the real enemy. We've been conditioned like Pavlov's dogs to howl and scratch and bite when the targets they've created for us are paraded in front of us on TV or the internet. We've been trained, in fact, to attack and resent our peers in the middle class who happen to have voted for "the other guy" and especially, especially, we've been trained to hate and fear those below us on the totem pole and to project all our anxieties and resentments onto people who have even less than we do. (By the way, I don't exempt any side of the aisle from this last....those on the right have been conditioned to look down on and fear "Welfare Queens", "Illegal Aliens", "Libruls", "Terrorists" and those on the left have been trained to look down on and fear "Fundies", "Gun Nuts", "Red Necks", and "White Trash". )
You want my advice? Everybody go watch The Matrix. Then decide which pill you're going to take, the red one or the blue one. You can either choose to see through the crap or take what seems to be the more comfortable route by remaining in illusion. Whichever one you choose, remember you can't go back. And I think we're getting pretty close to a time that even remaining in comfortable illusion isn't going to keep you safe. The cracks in the matrix are really starting to show. What do you think happens when it all falls to pieces?
Meanwhile, go read anything by Joe Bageant. But don't blame me when your worldview changes forever.
Replied by AspenValley on topic A Democrat, admits we have nothing to show for the stimulus
The Viking wrote:
AspenValley wrote:
SS109 wrote: I have to disagree with Bennet. While a lot of the stimulus spending was wasted, if we hadn't extended unemployment benefits, bailed out Wall Street and the domestic auto makers, we would have had another great depression.
No one in business was willing to invest or spend and they still are leery, so the Feds had to step up to the plate. Of course, this effect won't last. People will only start buying stuff again if they get tax credits or similar.
I agree, while the stimulus didn't work as well as hoped, the alternative was pretty gnarly. I just wonder what we are supposed to do next. The economy is not really improving and the reasons don't have much to do at this point with partisan programs or policies. We may see that Great Depression Two yet, and I'm not sure there is a heck of a lot anyone can do to prevent it.
Oh well, I guess we can all froth at the mouth about Mosques at Ground Zero or whether Obama is really a Muslim about to impose Sharia instead of worrying about anything REALLY scary.
I think you are right that we are headed for another recession and maybe depression. And deflation is on the way which some experts are saying the market may go down under 5000. So much for anyone with retirement accounts in 401K's and IRA's. Unemployment is rising again. Forclusures are going up fast. The highest in history. Existing home sales yesterday showed a 27% drop and the lowest in 15 years. The new housing sales came out today and showed the lowest in history. The market keeps going down. People don't have money to hire and they are to scared to spend money now. And the healthcare bill hasn't even hit yet which is going to cost us hundreds of billions and raise our taxes and raise our healthcare bills. So since there is no way that we can keep borrowing a trillion dollars every year, what suggestions do you have?
My suggestion is that Americans face reality.
Our economy has been running on a phony fiat currency credit bubble for at least 30 years. We kidded ourselves that things like "trickle down" economics was handed down by Moses on tablets when in fact, except for the richest 5% or less of Americans, the last 30 years have been a net loss to American families in terms of security and real wages.
We actually sat around and cheered while good jobs went overseas and congratulated ourselves that we could prosper by becoming a "knowledge-based" workforce. Even as we denigrated knowlege, made it fashionable and somehow patriotic to be an ignorant know-nothing.
We got fat and lazy and intellectually stuperous gulping down Cheese Doodles in front of the TV.
We bought into the idea that everyone could and should have a McMansion that also doubled as a handy-dandy cash advance machine.
We ignored the fact that we are running out of raw materials and especially, cheap oil, which was the fuel for our ride up the economic scale and is going to bring us screeching down the very same slide to becoming a second, or even third-rate country.
We got into wars that were designed to distract or possibly temporarily forestall this reality and over-reached so badly that we are beholden to such a breathtaking sum every single minute just to keep the military monster breathing that there is no way we could ever get control of it again.
We've allowed ourselves to be distracted by laughably simple tactics into idiotic and vitriolic "culture wars" set up by our masters to keep us blind to the real enemy. We've been conditioned like Pavlov's dogs to howl and scratch and bite when the targets they've created for us are paraded in front of us on TV or the internet. We've been trained, in fact, to attack and resent our peers in the middle class who happen to have voted for "the other guy" and especially, especially, we've been trained to hate and fear those below us on the totem pole and to project all our anxieties and resentments onto people who have even less than we do. (By the way, I don't exempt any side of the aisle from this last....those on the right have been conditioned to look down on and fear "Welfare Queens", "Illegal Aliens", "Libruls", "Terrorists" and those on the left have been trained to look down on and fear "Fundies", "Gun Nuts", "Red Necks", and "White Trash". )
You want my advice? Everybody go watch The Matrix. Then decide which pill you're going to take, the red one or the blue one. You can either choose to see through the crap or take what seems to be the more comfortable route by remaining in illusion. Whichever one you choose, remember you can't go back. And I think we're getting pretty close to a time that even remaining in comfortable illusion isn't going to keep you safe. The cracks in the matrix are really starting to show. What do you think happens when it all falls to pieces?
Meanwhile, go read anything by Joe Bageant. But don't blame me when your worldview changes forever.
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