A lot is happening in the tumultuous realm of global economics. The
"Great Recession has caused tectonic shifts internationally, with outcomes
that will dramatically change the lives of millions of people in the U.S. and
beyond. And while Obama is acknowledging this fact with repeated
references to "a new world
order, he isn't explaining how this adversely affects
working-class Americans. The truth would be far too "controversial.
The first unmentionable fact is the inevitable, long-term decline of the
dollar, a phenomenon that can now be considered government policy. The
business magazine Forbes comments:
"The Treasury
Department would never admit this, but for the time being it's in
the country's interest to keep its currency low because it stimulates exports
for the economy's manufacturing base and lowers the value of the debt that the
Treasury is piling up. (October
5, 2009)
These policies are essentially economic attacks on foreign corporations and
governments, and U.S.
workers.
A cheaper dollar also antagonizes foreign corporations in another way. U.S.
corporations benefit from dollar deflation because it lowers the price of their
goods/exports on the global marketplace. But foreign competitors can play
this game too, and the result would be economic warfare.
Most importantly, a cheaper dollar lowers the living standards of U.S.
workers, since the price of foreign goods will become inflated.
With a catastrophic U.S.
debt, inflation will continue for years to come. Obama's silence on the
issue equals a premeditated plan to pursue the above objectives. Workers
will thus be forced into demanding wage increases that match this new
inflation.
Another big secret Obama is keeping from workers is also U.S.
debt related (keep in mind much of U.S debt is the result of fighting foreign
wars and bailing out banks). Under Obama these policies will continue;
"sacrifices are going to be made in other areas. Obama has already
talked at length in favor of "reforming entitlement programs,
without mentioning loudly that these include Social Security, Medicare, and other much
needed social programs. The Democrats' priorities are perverse; money for
war and banks, but not for those who really need it.
Obama's secrets were partially revealed at the recent G-20 summit. There,
Obama pushed a plan that aimed "to reform the global architecture to meet the
needs of the 21st century.
Part of the plan said that "G-20 members with sustained, significant external
deficits [the U.S.]
pledge to undertake policies to support private savings and undertake fiscal
consolidation while maintaining open markets and strengthening export sectors.
In plain English this means that the U.S.
will reduce its debt by slashing domestic consumption and increasing
exports. Reducing "domestic consumption is another often-used codeword
for lowering the standard of living of U.S.
workers through lower wages and the elimination of "entitlement
programs. Once workers' wages have been reduced low enough, U.S.
corporations will be able to export more on the global marketplace, the other
key to Obama's G-20 plan.
These plans are not mere schemes for conspiracy theorists; they're already
being implemented. Massive unemployment has a direct, negative impact on
workers' wages. The
Democrats know this and are using it as a tool to enforce the
pro-corporate G -20 policy. What else explains the deafening quiet from Obama
around unemployment " already a social catastrophe ruining the lives of
millions of people?
Another way the G-20 plan is already being enforced is by the restriction of
credit for workers and small businesses. A recent Wall Street Journal article was titled,
"The ˜Democratization of Credit' Is Over -- Now
It's Payback Time." (October
10, 2009) The "democratization of credit simply
means that workers and low-income people had access to credit if they needed
it. No more. Credit that was once used to cover end-of-the-month
expenses and emergencies will once again be a privilege of the highly paid and
wealthy.
Workers must understand that the current effects of the Great Recession are to
become the new rules of the "reformed U.S.
economy. The living standards of the past are to stay in the past.
Before, U.S.
workers took out enormous amounts of debt to maintain their standard of living,
since wages and benefits were steadily shrinking. The hope was that the
economy would improve, and better times would return. The reality is far
different.
The U.S.
economy is losing its place of total dominance in world affairs. And
instead of the U.S.
government reacting to this by adding social programs, they are taking them
away. Government money will continue to bail out banks when needed while
funding trillion-dollar wars.
Once the reality of the above situation can no longer be denied, and U.S.
workers recognize these policies as a corporate and government attack on their
collective standard of living, they can begin to act. Workers without unions
will fight to organize them. Those organized workers will push their unions to
fight back by building united coalitions -- representing the majority of
working people -- to organize massive demonstrations, protests, and strikes to
demand a recovery plan to benefit the working-class and unemployed. The
conditions that led to the large U.S.
workers' struggles of the 1930s and 40s are reappearing, and workers will act
accordingly.
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