Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 14 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

750,000 Americans Take 50% Drop in Social Security

By       (Page 2 of 2 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   4 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Jim Freeman
Become a Fan
  (2 fans)

America had become the world’s profligate uncle, (adjective) r ecklessly wasteful; unrestrained by convention or morality

Uncle Sam was buying like a drunken sailor buys drinks and he wasn’t shoving any cash across the bar, he kept reaching for over-limit credit cards. Four or five trillion ‘on the cuff’ in a country that used to make stuff and didn’t any more. Four or five trillion by an administration that claimed to be fiscally conservative. Conserve, (adjective) keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction; use cautiously and frugally

Profligacy is like that. Recklessness and money woes tend to encourage one another. Bush is a reformed drunk. Did he fall off the wagon while on the country's business, or what?

The prudent man (and America used to be prudent) earns money, puts some away, invests in equipment, builds a better mousetrap and spends years working his way up through Chevrolets and Buicks until he ventures into a Cadillac.

Even then, he tends not to be smug about it.

That portion of the world that believed in us has shrunk like a cheap sweater. To a large extent, the Soviet Union kept us honest, but they’re not there any more and we’re intoxicated with money these days—other people’s money. Personal debt in America is out of control, with too many carrying four or five maxed-out credit cards.

Our profligate uncle raised profligate kids and the financial world isn’t answering the phone as often as they once did. An American dollar worth half what it was six years ago.

Everything in America worth half what it was six years ago.

Not true? Explain Chrysler selling for $7 billion? Show me how Ford and GM came to find themselves on the ropes? Tell me why our airlines are bankrupt and our bridges falling into the Mississippi, while we’re unable to rebuild a city hit by a frigging hurricane? How does it happen our schools are gone to hell, prisons full to bursting, 50 million without health insurance. We have a sinking middle class, a wall to keep Mexicans out and you think the world’s judgment of us is not true?

The last to recognize a society in shambles is the society itself—Americans in America.

It may be that the first to know are Americans outside America—they’ve seen their native currency through desperately clear eyes. And, to paraphrase the commentary about Maine as a bellwether state,

“as the currency goes, so goes the nation.”

_________________________________________________________
Media comment;

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Jim Freeman Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Jim Freeman's op-ed pieces and commentaries have appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, International Herald-Tribune, CNN, The New York Review, The Jon Stewart Daily Show and a number of magazines. His thirteen published books are (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Liar's Poker at the Federal Reserve--"Can't anybody here play this game?"

Eric Holder Exposes A Nation of Law, Going Lawless

The Master Liquidity Enhancement Con (duit)

Dressing Up Space Defense in Dominatrix Clothing

WASHINGTON POST DEAD-WRONG IN CHILD PORNO EDITORIAL

ARRIVAL TIME, 2010; A VIABLE THIRD-PARTY OPTION

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend