How did this happen, easy Bush and the Republicans came into office in a recession after the dot com crash and were just starting to recover when 9/11 hammered another blow to the economy. Rather then face the music and change direction, the Republicans decided to get on a war footing, pump money into the system and just take the oil. Think about what $10 billion dollars in war spending a week does to keep the economy afloat. Add billions in tax breaks to create investment/speculation and the market loves it, prices rise, interest rates drop, all of the excitement of a run at the crap table. But it’s played out its string. Its over. Snake eyes.
The great depression took three years to hit bottom, this time it may take less. It won’t be pretty; most people don’t have the ability to produce a subsistence living on their own in this country as the mostly rural population did in 1929.
The question is, will government pursue the failed policies of the past, presidential candidates are already talking bigger armies, more weapons. Hell it worked for Rome, oh yea that didn’t work out very well did it. The other option is to pursue a future of the common good, sustainable living and restoring balance with our fragile planet. The whole planet is dependent on our choice.
In Steven Spielberg’s movie AI (Artificial Intelligence) the basic question was do humans love themselves enough to insure their own survival? Unfortunately, in the movie the answer was no. Hopefully we can do better. Don’t forget, politics decides policy, policy determines who our economy serves, the priorities of government and our fate. A change in habits is in order. It is coming whether we like it or not and will be a time of great social and economic dislocation. It holds the potential for the worst and the best characteristics of man to surface and will determine our mutual fate.
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