Economy Blog

I have about 5 blogs that I am in the process of writing saved on my computer. This is a blog that I have been anxious to post, but have been so caught up in the new semester that it is incomplete. However, I thought that I would go ahead and post what I have. It follows along well with Obama's Jobs Act, so I figured now was a good time to post it. Lets get America back to greatness! We have a long way to go, but with the most humble, intelligent and hard-working politician on Washington as a leader (Barak Obama), we can get there! We will be proud of our nation again very soon if we put an end to tax cuts for the rich and oil companies and hold corporations responsible. Now lets move forward....

Here's the Blog:

The people of America have been stripped of their voice amidst a time when we so desperately need to speak. Our politicians have ignored our wishes and they have compromised our wellbeing for their own greed and gain. With a dangerous economic recession on the horizon, our leaders have proposed many solutions. However, the people understand that solutions proposed from all political sides have been suggested not to fix our economic situation, but to maximize profits and further push the agendas of the proposer and his or her affiliates. 

Our leaders are obsessed with curing our economic downfall with elaborate schemes, but have they ever discussed what caused the problem? The quickest way to solve a problem is to find out what the sole causation of the problem is.  So why do our leaders ignore the main cause of our economic issues? We are all aware of where we went wrong, but politicians ignore this because they would be forced to take a few steps back. They would be forced to give up their own security and excess to benefit the whole. Fixing the problem isn’t a difficult task, but politicians are making it much more complex by incorporating factors into the equation to protect their own assets, businesses and affiliates.

What is the cause?

Corporations have been allowed to monopolize without penalty and this has caused local businesses to fail. These corporations seek labor outside the U.S. to maximize profit and this causes our factories to shutdown and lay-off workers. Certain companies have become more powerful than our own government and when this happens the CEO’s and business giants buy-out and control our political leaders and the social media.

This is shown through our unequal balance of trade. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer, but we are not even close to being the largest exporter. This is what has changed within the last few decades. We have seen a consolidation of corporate power and a major decline in factory jobs and local business. Many years ago, our politicians and big business owners protected our nation by keeping their money and resources here inside the states. The economy of a nation is much like a delicate ecosystem and it used to be that wealthy company owners were patriots. Companies would make large profits, but the money that the company paid-out went into the U.S. economy. For example: A big business pays an American factory hand for his labor, which in turn, spends the money within our countries walls, but now there is a kink in the system. Today, we are buying large amounts of goods that are made outside of our countries walls and the company’s profits are not being spent back into the country, but rather the profits are being hoarded and what little is paid-out is going into another nations economic system. Next time you take a walk through Walmart, take inventory of the products in each aisle and make note of products made in the U.S. that you find, if any.

Let’s take a look at Apple, a company which has more money than the U.S. government. Apple has cash reserves of $75.876 billion and the United States government has an operating balance of only $73.786 billion. Therefore, Apple has over 2 billion more dollars than our government. The problem is that Apple products are made in China and the majority of the products are sold in the United States. This case confirms what I stated previously, that we buy large amounts of their products and of all their earnings, most of it is hoarded and a small amount is put into China’s economy. A classic example of how our money is not staying inside our own four walls and sustaining our own countries economic system, but rather the corporation has allowed greed to overtake their business ethics.

How do we fix the problem?

Let me begin by saying that our politicians do not currently want to fix the problem, but they are trying instead to mask the problem and by-pass the issue. They are using strategies like cutting government programs, giving stimulus checks or raising the debt ceiling, rather than politicians and CEO’s facing consequences and swallowing their pride. Our politicians are not attacking the real problem and they do not intend to because they are backed and funded by corporations to push certain agendas. 

The only way to come out of this economic recession is to balance trade, whether that means increasing our relations with foreign nations and making business deals or placing expensive tariffs on imports. Plain and simple, we must balance trade. Keep this in mind as politicians come and go with plans to solve our economic issues and also keep this in mind when election time rolls around.

What can we do to get our leaders to balance trade and strengthen our economy? 

Honestly, there’s not many things we can do, at least not alone. The difficult part of this is that we must show strength in numbers because one or just a few people cannot make a difference. Therefore, large numbers of people need to be informed of the problem and large numbers of people need to respond. But how do we inform the masses and devise a plan? There is no platform for someone to speak such truths and our politicians are ignoring the problem. The media (Fox news, CNN, etc.) will not allow an average man the time and resources to speak on this matter. We need to share with others what we know and inform our friends and family. Each individual needs to take responsibility for themselves and not wait for someone else to stand up and do the right thing. We cannot just keep thinking that someone else will come along and fix the problem, we must take initiative ourselves, each individual, to take part in fixing the problem.

How do we show strength in numbers?

We cannot speak their language and money is their language. There will be a cost to the lower and middle class, but the cost is minuscule compared to the statement that would be made. It would mean that we would stop shopping at unethical corporations like Walmart. Sure it may seem inconvenient to go to multiple stores to find the products you need, but I have not shopped at Walmart in years and I save money. I no longer feel the need to shop there because other smaller businesses sell the necessities. Also you are not forced into buying products that you don’t really need at other stores. 

We must also find American made products to replace what we normally buy. This means that we must look on the back of each product and let that dictate the choice of what we buy. Sure it takes a little work on our part, but we need to send a message to manufacturers. Also, do not buy into marketing schemes, which convince us that we have to have each top of the line electronic gadget that comes along. How do you think Apple has made so much money? Here in America we are forced through the media this idea that name brand matters and that you must keep up with each new style and trend. The truth is, once you buy a new product, it is already outdated and this is the scheme of corporate greed. You do not need each new phone with the latest technology. Use the phone to talk, use the internet at home. We are told that we need 24 hour access to facebook, twitter and the social media or that we need internet at the snap of the finger. We don’t, do not believe the lies that these companies feed you. Do not buy a movie for $29 dollars when it first hits the shelf, wait two months and buy it used. We need to send a message that we will not give in to these ridiculous schemes.