Third-World America

There is a lot of talk about economic recession, and economists talk about "business cycles" or boom-and-bust cycles which naturally occur as the market self-corrects, talk about markets "bottoming out," etc.

The current situation in America is different however, because of globalism.  Instead of a more-or-less isolated capitalist system in America, the capitalist system has become increasingly more of a global system.  (This is why inspiring nationalism and patriotism these days by any right wing entity is obviously only manipulative, as major corporate players have long since become trans-national.)

Globalism isn't a "business cycle" nor a recession for Americans--it's a genie that's not going back in the bottle. American workers are now forced to compete with the rest of the third world for jobs, which, left to market forces alone, can only continue to erode the living standards of most Americans, a segment who used be an isolated beneficiary of a more isolated capitalist American economy.

I think this makes American economic problems all the more difficult to solve, even for less market-oriented liberal or left-leaning entities in government.  Capitalism's race-to-the-bottom features, such as corporations moving to states or areas that offer them the best deal in terms of tax breaks, or the best benefits in terms of lower compensation for workers for example (outsourcing), will be a tough nut to crack as American government cannot legislate for competing countries who may wish to offer corporations a better deal of, for example, sweat shops or child labor.

America's economic situation increasingly resembles that of the third world in terms of the investor classes continually and astronomically increasing their wealth, while people who must work to earn a living, nothing more than a capitalist labor pool of mere market commodities are, barring any serious interference with the strictures of capitalism globally, destined to continue to see their living standards fall.

What if...

Straying a tad from economics, I often go back to the 911 tragedy and wonder how things would have turned out if it was handled differently.  At the time of the event the entire world was sympathetic--the whole world was with us--even the French were reportedly saying things like, "today, I am an American."

I'm sure this is not what the perpetrators expected nor wanted.  But instead of building on the international good will and sympathy and capitalizing on the event in positive ways, our leadership gave the terrorists everything they could have ever dreamed of, and more.  

I remember when the tsunami struck in southeast asia, and how, in the middle of the war, the American military, especially naval, was sent in to assist.  I remember thinking, this is how it should be.  This is what would win the hearts and minds of people all around the globe.  This is what would cause people on every level throughout the world to stick up for America, and Americans.   Terrorists would have very little place to hide, much less thrive.

But unfortunately our conservative Republican followers and media could apparently only fathom an animalistic fight-or-flight mentality, and of course with them, the only option was to fight, to apply force to the situation.  Terrorism not being an easy target, this meant unleashing the greatest power they understood: the American military, which of course, necessitated targets, and Iraq was the most viable.  And Republican leadership capitalized on that opportunity rather than on one that would make the world a better place for the long term--whether they recognized that or not is irrelevant, as their own well-deserved (to them) power was and is, ideologically, their unwavering mindset and motivation.

The authoritarianism-in-sheeps-clothing ideology shed a lot of its wool over the next few years, playing directly into the hands of Al-Qaeda's wildest dreams, eroding long-cherished American values like habeas corpus, the geneva conventions, not attacking another country unprovoked, not planting news stories, not spying on it's own citizenry, etc., basically becoming more more like Sadaam Hussein than America, and using identical behavior rationalizations, generally speaking, a might-makes-right, ends-justifies-the-means mentality, the same that pervades the entirety of American conservative ideology, as well as third-world dictatorships.  

It's hard to imagine what would have happened if Al Gore had been made president in 2000, whether 911 would have been prevented via proactive leadership, but if not, how he and a more liberal political influence would have responded.  I like to think he'd have been far less disposed to use America's sentiments for political gain, and would have rather, in a continuation of more Clintonesque policy, recognized and acted on the fact that for success in the long-term, America must lead, not dominate.  We should rise above the rest of the world and be the shining beacon, not become just like some of the worst and getting caught up in endless escalation, which has only served to elevate the status of Al-Qaeda and terrorism itself.  

At one time in my life I was very glad to have had Nazi germany, World War II, and Vietnam behind us, having faith in American freedom and the healthy marketplace of ideas and education, faithful that this country was educated on such history such that it could never repeat itself.  It's a bit of a nightmare to have been proven so wrong.

From Acts 4 and 5 (NIV)

This should speak for itself:

32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

36Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.

3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."

5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

 7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"  "Yes," she said, "that is the price."

 9Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."

10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Honesty

As Christians we are taxed utterly with honesty.  As such, we are therefore taxed with understanding the value of objectivity and logic--so we can navigate our world and the ideas we encounter as realistically and as accurately as possible, so as to best avoid being mislead, misleading ourselves, or misleading others. Objectivity and logic are inextricable from the value of honesty, as well as are justice and fairness.  Logic and objectivity will be this blog's primary tools toward providing an honest basis for the ideas presented.  

As Proverbs 11:1 tells us, "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight." (NIV)