Understanding the current economic crisis isn’t all that difficult, really. Maybe looking at the upcoming sugar fest called Halloween is a timely example.
Babies have a built in social and protective devise call mommy and a backup called daddy. Social context will develop from parents and siblings for the first five years or so. Babies careen along for months going from bottles to finger foods until they collide with Halloween. Grandma and Grandpa and mom and dad start looking at costumes when the stores put them out, sometime in August, then October 31 rolls around and the little tykes are dressed up, a bag shoved into their hand and pulled around from house to house, being prompted to say “trick or treat and thank you”. Sometimes the darlings make it all night with out getting shy or scared and sometimes they don’t. So ends the first year.
The next Halloween comes along and the toddler, now two or three, can’t wait. There are parties at Pre School and then the big day arrives. After two or three hours of collecting loot, they happily dump the stuff onto the floor to sort it out and ooh and ahh over what will probably last them for months.
Year after year this goes on and is joined by Easter candy and Valentine’s Day until every year is one sugar buzz after another.
Currently we are seeing the financial system gag on the addiction to profit that characterizes Wall Street and Main Street. The Feds are now trying to rein in the crisis, but they are not equipped to react fast enough in these uncharted waters to stem the tide of fear and outright panic gripping most of the world.
When an athlete lets hero worship and praise effect their self perception usually they become someone that’s tolerated instead of someone to be emulated. So too, Wall Street has let the total worship of the bottom line blind itself to the excesses and self absorption most corporations exhibit to keep their financial ratings high and the executive pay obscene.
This fixation with wealth, both corporate and personal, is nothing new and I figure that only a monk, away from the world since 1950, could have avoided the onslaught of advertising urging all of us to be early adopters and conspicuous consumers.
Few, if any, of us are eager or even ready to take our medicine. All of us have become addicted to self indulgence in a world filled with easy choices and easy morality. We can turn our back to sweat shops in India or China making tennis shoes and toys for pennies but how can we ignore the abusive working conditions so many young workers endure there to pad corporate profit?
I would urge consideration of the idea that corporations should reflect sane personal values, instead of what seems to me to be worship at the hundred foot tall idol of profit. I believe we now should explore the concept of when enough is enough. Do we really think that if we don’t pay our executives excessive compensation they will move to China? Let’s think about the human cost of what is happening now and how many people have been thrown under the bus because it pumped up the bottom line.
I don’t favor every person being able to retire with two homes, one on a lake, cars, boats and disposable income comparable to what they made while working. I feel the same way about everyone living to reach one hundred. Some people will live modestly and others will have more. Some will die at 60 and others will live to 90. Some people struggle to make $20,000 while others are worth 50 billion. I don’t recommend a redistribution of wealth, but instead a different financial model that reflects common sense.
Let’s get back to caring about our workers and making a fair profit. Let’s get employers out of the health care game and government out of property tax. Let’s all of us pay our fair share of what it takes to build and staff first rate schools and give everyone an opportunity to get a quality education. Let’s tax people’s income to pay for the goods and services, including basic medical care, so that everyone contributes, including corporations, and we don’t perpetuate the disadvantaged class of people we have now.
And while we at it, let’s make our leaders truly accountable. We are both a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy in America. For a rich article that defines a republic, use the following link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_republic. Republicanism speaks about the separation of powers in the branches of government and the protection of individual rights and liberties, guaranteed by our constitution. Democracy, on the other hand, was never actually mentioned in the constitution. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system. The American form has evolved over the years until most people think of democracy and republic as interchangeable terms. Please see the article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEMOCRACY for a through discussion.
Do the people of America really have control over their elected representatives? If the majority rules, why don’t we have more say in how America operates and certainly how Washington and Springfield operates. Why do we elect people and then abdicate our authority over them? Why do most who are elected become addicted to the power of office and start their re-election campaign the day after they are sworn in to office? What possible sane explanation can there be in someone serving 30 years or more in congress, except addiction to power?
We have many things to be proud of in America. There are many worthwhile efforts to make America a better country. There are good, moral people who care and work tirelessly to help those who most need help. Perhaps we only need to retake control over our companies and our government to start the long process back to sanity. As long as stock funds and hedge funds exist, we will not have any control over corporate America. To the extent we are passive to what our elected representatives do; we will have a minority deciding the fate of the majority based on the influence of special interests.
America will always embrace different ideas and there will always be discourse between opposing views. What we need is the patience to hear all viewpoints and the civility to engage in public discussion without rancor. We need to object to volume over substance and persistence over reality.
America is a great country that could be better with effort and commitment. Perhaps a little self sacrifice and personal accountability are in order.
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