As I mentioned last week, I used to be a Republican. Having been there and done that, as have so many other fellow Kossacks, I have a good understanding of what has changed.
I used to be totally big-business. I was a firm believer in corporate America. My theory was simple: corporations consist of people working together to deliver a saleable product or service. As such, the people in the corporation have the ability to make or break its performance based on the quality and price of what they sell. If that is true, then it is in corporations' best interests to pay well, provide benefits, and offer a balanced life. It is in their interest to do "the right thing" because, if they don't, either the product will suffer or the employees will simply leave.
Naive, huh?
On top of that, we've witnessed an explosion of materialism in this country and around the world. I don't specifically know when it began as my own recollections are vague and I am relatively young. From my own observations, however, it appears to me that it truly began in the '80's and really took off as technological advances began to render the latest gadgets obsolete within a matter of months.
Back to corporate America. As they began to market their products internationally, they realized that in order to sell their wares, they needed a populace hungry for the merchandise and able to pay for it. And America is only SO big, right? Basic economic principle here: you can't sell a $1500 PC to a guy in India whose annual income is $500. But if you get the guy in India (or China, or wherever) to build the PC and pay him $8000 a year, its a "win-win" (I hate that term). You can still sell your product domestically, and for less money while hyping it as a "must have", and you can talk the guy who makes the product into buying it because now he has the disposable income.
That has created an American culture that screams "I need it, I want it, I gotta have it NOW" while simultaneously crying in their beers about how their jobs are being shipped overseas. Now the American guy who used to have the good union job is working at BargainCity making less than half of what he used to, and remains compelled to buy, buy, buy. And he buys at WalMart where everything's made in India. Who gets the dollars?
So we all knew that already, right?
OK, so here's a personal story:
I'm in the top 5% of women wage earners in the nation, and yet I'm barely middle class. I don't own a home, drive a car that's nearly ten years old, and have less than two months of income saved. I live in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
I have an elementary school aged son who is having some problems with homework and the like. His grades make me worry that he's going to come to fear learning and that his natural sense of curiosity will die on the vine. But because he's several hundred miles away (plane fare), my options in terms of how to help are limited.
So I'm hiring him a tutor. I'm going to double what I pay in child support to ensure that he gets the help he needs. I'm going to forego eating out at lunchtime and not take a vacation this year. BUT...I'm still going to give to my local food bank. I'm still going to contribute to political causes. And I'm still going to buy anything Markos publishes! ;)
My child needs my help, and I can help him. But as I write the check each month, my heart will be in my throat: how many countless other kids in this country are struggling, and how many other countless parents cannot afford to do what I'm going to do?
But it all goes back to the corporate mindset. I could say "screw it" and save up for the trip to X that I've always wanted to take. I could be selfish and put the money in savings. Or I could blow it all on the latest gadget advertised during the Super Bowl this week.
We need to stop buying and start investing. We need to pony up for our childrens' education, for the poor, weak, sick, and defenseless. The world has become America's marketplace. Let our income come from selling elsewhere. We need to pay attention to our neighbors, friends, and families FIRST. Everything else we do just feeds the ravenous corporate beast that doesn't care whether we quit working or not.
DISCLAIMER: Maybe I'm still naive. But this is what I believe, and I'm sticking to it!