Agreed my previous post sucked, poorly written, I grant you that, but there is still a content of ideas worth considering.
The point I was trying to make, and this is just my opinion, is that despite predictions of better educated folks than I, the collapse of the US economy was allowed to happen by the US government at the time, by allowing ponzi schemes of "low rate" mortgages and lax rules in stock market trading, etc.
And it pisses me off that the US government at that time, and previously no doubt, in their role social regulators, did nothing to prevent the economic collapse because they were busy whacking the dicks of their cronies, and were too beholden to those who paid them to take these positions to stop it. This pisses me off just as much as the religious extremists over seas (but not only those, that fundamental stuff pisses me off no matter it's location or ideological foundation), the small factions that demand "our belief, our tradition, is the only belief of value" and they will kill for it. These cultures still believe that women are theirs to possess.
It saddens me that on all sides, in all strata of the economy there are psychological types willing to mass murder and manipulate theft, sometimes quit horrifically and sometimes quite creatively. It frightens me that these are often the ones to take as much power and as many resources as they can to further their own "wealth generation." And the corporate model is in it's core sociopathic -- the corporations do not give back to their community in any real way, instead the bulk of that money goes to their individual hedge funds, bank accounts and lives of excess.
As for you fat fast food hypothesis, I'm pretty sure too much veggies will not make you fat, so no, not ANYTHING. Personal responsibility factors in this too, but I stand by my assertion that if fresh food isn't made available locally, in every neighborhood, the hungry human will eat what is closest. And all bodies are different, such that your slimness does nothing to provide proof to your supposition. People get addicted to all kinds of shit, fast food being but one of them.
The poorly written link I made between Katrina and last year's economic collapse, that began in the US and then spread globally, seems to be because of policies that we made and alerted by those governing at that time, and the prediction of of the eventual outcome ignored by that administration. We're talking about Bush's FEMA and policy making, let's get that straight, .as his administration did much toward altering regulations and laws for his cohort's benefit primarily at the inevitable expense of not just the next administration's budget (what happened to Clinton's surplus?) but more importantly every person living not just in the US but around the world too; we are all effected by the Bush administration's negligence; and let's not forget, governments are bought and sold in the back rooms of corporation's all the time.
The greed of the US economy is not new, it's human greed and it shows up wherever we are, let's not forget the US's industry/corporations that played both sides of every major war since WWI, for profit and the hording of resources and power.
And when Katria hit, I was into my first week of a two year re-entry into hell, lying in a hosptial bed, with a monthly income of $1200.00 and I donated $20.00 to Katrina relief. So bite me, charity is harder given by those with less, and that right there makes it more valuable and shows more generosity and willingness to sacrifice a bit so others can have their needs met than a billionaire who gives a $100,00.00 check.
You write:
"Lastly, are the auto bailouts the result of government corruption or a necessary move to hold up the national economy? You seem to argue both."
The need for bail outs are as a result of corruption and greed -- and short sightedness as there are already too many cars on this planet. AND, yes AND, to keep your economy from nose diving into economic anarchy. Bush administration on the prior, and the newly elected administration for the latter. It sucks, but those bailouts are doing more for the US' safely than Bush's law breaking ever did.
It's the "generation of wealth that I have a problem with. Do we really need to generate wealth? Is it really wealth generation through things such as hedge funds, leveraged mortgages and stock market buy and sell, or is it merely manipulation of numbers to benefit those who got to the watering hole first, and figured out how to over power others for what resources, real and imaginary, are found there, aka hording? Is such manipulation really necessary? Yes, if you want to be wealthy, I suppose they are. The wealthy 1% are the ones who benefit most from this from these practices (Madoff and those few aside -- and let's be clear the few being held accountable are rare and many more are getting off with their golden parachutes), where there's no product or service created to address a need experienced even by the majority of the population and yet money is being made hand over fist.
I don't think it's those who make and sell items and provide skilled services that are needed and who are fairly rewarded for that effort in terms of income that is at issue. Nor do I think it's a bad thing to get investors to help a business succeed, but some where shortly after on this line of economic growth things become out of balance very sharply.
I think it's those who invest, not only but including that 1%, for the sake of generating wealth for the sole purpose of making money out of money. Those those who's main motivation is profit and "how much money can I get for me?" even though the money they make takes away real needs and services for those who cannot make money with money, cuz they don't have any.
I think it's the manipulation of the "American Dream" idea, which is, after all, just a dream that is realizable and yet oddly rarely attainable by in large numbers. Your life is a dream realized for your grand parents and parents, and that's not the dream I'm talking about -- I'm talking about the dream that doesn't end, for those who must have more and more at the expense of those who do not even have their basic needs met those who will kill and steal to get what they want.
The corporate use of madmen and media, society's snake oil sales men, plays on the dream that to have enough you must have more by creating need when their isn't really one, by playing on our hopes that one day we can make millions too! And by medicating our fears that we won't by telling us we'd be one step closer if we had all kinds of shit.
If I knew I could study medicine and have enough to support my family and do my work in peace, which would afford some time to live my life beyond work, I wouldn't mind the profit from my work going to those who do jobs that I would do not have the skills or interest for so that they can have their needs met too and I would expect the excess to go to those who for whatever legitimate reason is unable to contribute via work because of physical or mental limitations. I grant you this is pretty socialist, but this would also mean everyone gets an equal vote, even those whom we do not deem equal to us in intelligence or strength. Every job has it's equal value if it benefits us all and those who cannot work due to uncontrollable limitations need our help perhaps if only becuase by our withholding it we become greedy selfish and destructive.
I think "wealth generation" is bullshit in the extreme, given that as much as we want to deny it, our resources, both personal and material, are finite. No, better to pretend the dream can come true, it can happen to you... I digress..
So who benefits from the main forms of "wealth generation" (investing money to make money and resource hording)? The wealthy. Those who live in gold edged mega mansions on expansive properties while the majority of their fellow citizens are struggling just to have a safe warm home, fresh food and clean water. (I'm talking globally now)
Back to the the "American dream"...
Let's look at it's pursuit through one example of hording: Early 1900's: We have this resource of a mineral called iron it's great! We can build things, make boats and trains but that's a limited markets; coal mines are becoming passe, and besides they are making our dream cities dirty, so how can we make more money from this other mineral? Let's build this product called a car, which we can sell as it gives the "every man" the ability to dominate nature (and humanity) a bit more (while raping it at the same time with our oil drilling and road paving and forest clearing) and we can reap the profits for ourselves first and then to those who will help us maintainable our out of proportion personal wealth by making this an every day need even for those who cannot afford to buy one. And we can look good too by providing jobs that do nothing to satisfy the human need to create and contribute -- because to do that we would have to share our resources and profits, and we can't do that -- we worked for the right to hord these resources and they are ours, and we will pay you just enough to keep you coming back.
Now we have to create a reason for every one to have a car, so let's build places for people to live, called "sub-urbs" (now if sub isn't a clue, ya'll need a better edumacation) which will force even more to get into this now necessary product to get to work. Let's not put in any main streets so that people cannot walk to get their basic needs met or work locally for their own independance in the service of others. And let's use those profits to "hoard" more resources and make more stuff, and with that money we'll take out the mom and pops businesses on small town main street with big box stores that will have eeeverrryyythiing at a falsely deflated prices, and let's hire the really poor around the world at below subsitance wages, cuz, hey, they're desparate, to produce that stuff cheaply making sure that it breaks easily, and let's sell the perception of necessity of cheap stuff so that people will keep thinking that if they don't buy this soon to be landfill crap they will be considered less than and unequal, and they will miss out on some dreamed up opportunity. And while we're at it, let's put in a food department so that we can sell poorly grown food, laden with chemicals -- cuz those poore people is hungry and we can grow more, cheaply, and make money off the food supply too. Let's pay our staff demeaning wages so that they cannot afford to dream, and make sure they will go broke if they get sick from our toxic food, just to keep them on their toes and at our service dependant on our "wealth generating" "skills." In the mean time, the massive profits that we reap will go to our mega mansions, summer homes, our leisure and greed and of course our over indulged children.
Social design, via the corporate structure, missing some details for sure, but close enough to the reality of the greed that inspires the "American Dream."
God forbid the 1% should give up it's ;arger than life way of living so that all can have access to health care, and education, and provide a the same education to all children despite their socioeconmoic status. Instead we should keep everything our daddy's earned (lord knows we couldn't creat our own hord, we could never be that lucky) and those born into poverty will have to ver come obsticals we will never face along with the one's we help to create and perpetuate, just to get a chance of some of our wealth.
I hate to say it but more often than not, as is our human nature, greed for money, power and resources reuqires hording, it means wanting it all, which means taking from other's who then cannot have what their needs met, and this greed will motivate all kinds of behaviour, none of it altruistic.
I think communism failed for the same reason capitalism, greed, power hungry resource hording. And don't for a minute think that US based corporations don't make a "killing" by taking profits from not just communist resources but third world countries too. (though should we not be using democracy to compare communism to?)
Communism is a failure. So is democracy. C'mon social democracy!
I have also noticed that you didn't respond to my final question, so I'll pose it again:
Ok, back to that 1%. Can we at least agree that this is out of proportion?
Or perhaps you've given up the debate to go help someone in need on your day off..?
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