I’m so tired of journalists comparing this recession to WWII-era economics and bullshitting about the “recovery.” The recovery from the great depression was largely in part because of the boom in manufacturing jobs here in the US.
In today’s era of neo-liberal free trade policies, big business has the ability to exploit 3rd world (or …in most cases, Chinese) labor for manufacturing jobs, so we sure as shit can’t count on that. Add to that the fact that technology has made many jobs obsolete, and we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.
If the multi-national corporate paradigm of “profit above all else” does not radically shift, they will continue to exploit 3rd world labor in favor of creating jobs here in the U.S., and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots will continue to grow. In laymans terms: the middle class will get wiped out. Completely.
You wonder why I started attending anti-globalization rallies and demonstrations more than 5 years ago? You wonder why the WTO/G8/G20/IMF-World Bank summits have been such a hotbed of radical activism since the passing of NAFTA January 1, 1994? You wonder why things are getting so bad as you cash your unemployment check at Wal-Mart without a shred of guilt or understanding that you are contributing to the demise of this once great nation?
Look at the unemployment rate and talk to me about the “recovery”. Cruise through any american suburb and look at all the “for sale” signs. Look at the dive bars filled with unemployed tradesmen. Look at the furloughed county, state and federal workers. Look at the general attitude of the people around you, look at the fear on the face of the single mother filing an extension at the unemployment office and tell me, honestly, that you believe that things are getting better.
Measuring the “recovery” by the GDP or the gains posted on Wall Street by big business is just moronic. The well-being of a country should not be determined by monetary value, especially not in a country that rewards sociopathic management practices as “good business”. It doesn’t take an economist or even a social psychologist to see that we as a nation are frightened, skeptical, and distrustful of these pundits on corporate news programs, of the damage-control pseudo-optimism spewing out of the White House, of the big companies promising to create jobs if they can just have a few more billion taxpayer dollars.
Tighten up your belts people, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
