Zonie63
Posts: 2826
Joined: 4/25/2011
From: The Old Pueblo
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JeffBC
quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
I have no problem with the wealth skew, when it happens from Capitalism (as opposed to Corporatism).
That's an odd sort of aesthetic judgement. I have a problem with wealth skew when it stops the economy which is what is happening. Nobody has any money to buy shit so the economy stops. It isn't rocket science and it doesn't require any sort of ideology to understand.
I don't believe in economic ideologies. I believe in actual facts.
I agree with this completely. I think we should be flexible enough to go with whatever works, not adhere to an ideology just for the sake of adhering to an ideology. That's where we get into trouble, not just when it comes to economic issues, but also foreign policy and other issues facing America. We have a kind of ideological fossilization which has pervaded across the political landscape.
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The easy access of information also doesn't help the small business as the intimate knowledge they tend to be better at providing is easier to find on the internet than it was years ago. And, without the need for that knowledge (or less of a need), the smaller businesses take it on the chops.
To me this is yet more ideology. We are seeing play out in real-time what happens when you abandon "regulation". It isn't working... spectacularly.
Would I love to streamline some particular regulations? Yes I would. But I'd only want to do that AFTER I did an actual study of small business-people and found out if that was ACTUALLY a problem and what the specifics were. Fundamentally, however, it is regulation that prevents (or should be preventing) the excesses of greed that capitalism generates. It is regulations that are supposed to putting the brakes on this wild ride we're all on. But big business has lobbied to loosen regulations across the boards and so they have. The banking crash is an excellent example of the effects of the "let's deregulate" mantra.
Somehow, as a voting public, we must get back to setting big business and big government against each other in some sort of opposing forces system.
And therein seems to lie the major problem: The voting public. In every election I've seen in my lifetime (since I've been old enough to understand the process), I've always been a bit fascinated by how the issues are presented, how they're disseminated to the general public - which leads to countless private conversations among individual citizens. The endless TV/radio commercials, print ads, fawning media endorsements, the shameless pandering, the mudslinging, dirty tricks - and all of this is played out to the American public like a bunch of dazzled spectators at a side show.
And the voting public eats it all up. The politicians and pundits know what works to beguile the voters, putting a lot of sauce and sugar in their rhetoric so that you can hardly detect the bullshit going down.
I also agree with you about deregulation. I think that regulation is within the spirit of the general concept of checks and balances, since you can't trust any single individual, entity, or faction to have that much power. The idea that "power corrupts" doesn't just apply to politicians or the public sector. It applies to any form of power, including that of the private sector.
That's where it gets a bit murky, since private sector power is somewhat harder to nail down and figure out. Many people might talk about the corporations or Wall Street running things and controlling the political processes in this country. Others might point to other more insidious forces operating in the shadows, but it's hard to say whether it's the public sector or the private sector we need to worry about.
I've never put much stock in conspiracy theories, but ultimately, I think that most of them seem to miss the point. If the problem at hand is ideological, then it doesn't really matter what "secret cabal" might be in charge pulling the strings. If the problem isn't ideological, then it would appear that some people aren't abiding by the rules and should be investigated. There might be a slew of amateur investigators out there who come up with all kinds of interesting theories, but nothing that can be reliably verified or proven, so they always end up leaving us up in the clouds.
What is the real truth here? How can the average Joe Citizen find out what's really going on behind the scenes?
Is the "ideology" just a smokescreen, so much bunkum for the masses to cover up the sins of some rogue entity? Or is it just another well-intentioned idea that's gone awry?
As for the voters - sometimes I think that even if they knew the truth, they probably wouldn't know what to do with it. That's the other side of the coin that has led us to where we are now. Optimism is a very strong part of our popular culture, as many of us are often raised to "think positive" and to always "look at the bright side." I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, in and of itself, but it also means that large segments of the population can't really handle anything that seems negative or "bad news."
They don't want to hear any cynicism, pessimism, or anything that might offend or upset anyone. No whining, no sniveling, no complaining - just "Don't Worry, Be Happy." I guess that's what Prozac is for. There's nothing wrong with the world, it's just a chemical imbalance in our brains. 
Because of this, it seems that the general public has to be protected and insulated somehow. As if we're just ignorant, frightened children who "can't handle the truth."
Others might refer to them as "sheeple," but when I think of this on a personal level, it's hard to know who, exactly, the "sheeple" are. I guess I've known more than a few in my lifetime, but I can't say that they're bad people or anything like that. It's not even that the "sheeple" are stupid or that they think that everything is unicorns and lollipops, but they're probably stumped just like everyone else - out of answers and not sure what to do next.
Of course, once the checks start bouncing, our credit is shot, and the goodies start running out, then all these sheltered, insulated "sheeple" are going to turn into packs of feral dogs overnight.
If there's any kind of hidden "dynasty" ruling America from the shadows, then they would undoubtedly fall, too. That's another thing that mystifies me about conspiracy theories, since if there really is some kind of secret cabal running things, then they must be pretty stupid, kind of like the Romanov Dynasty in 1917. They led their own country to ruin and trashed a 300-year dynasty. Kind of like what the powers that be are doing in America today.
In the end, I don't think very many people care who is running things, just as long as they do it right. If they fuck up, then they're out, either at the ballot box or by storming the winter palace. Whatever it takes. Of course, you always take your chances even with that, since the "new boss" may be the same as the "old boss" - or maybe even worse.
I suppose if the American people get desperate enough, they'll go for anything that they think might save them. Once the prozac supplies run out, and when more people out there are cold and hungry, then the illusions holding up the power structure will fade away even more.
Not to worry, though, since they'll find another illusion to latch onto.
Human beings are an uncanny species, and far more complicated than some people think. They may be "sheeple," but unlike sheep, they can be manipulated and molded into just about anything. We're more of a predatory species anyway, but of a variety where we need to have our "prey" pointed out to us - and we catch and consume that prey with reckless abandon.
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RE: What's wrong with the American economy? - 
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- I don't see this phenomena changing-IF anything the "shows" are going to become more elaborate in the future. 
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