My limited experience with animals has taught me one thing: scare one and you scare them all. Spook one horse and the others run; cause one dog to bark and you'll rouse the whole pack. In many ways, the government knows that people hold this "pack mentality" of fear too. If the powers-that-be are trying not to spook us, the economic crisis could be much worse than we realize.
Job losses and unemployment are mounting. Every day we hear about more job cuts. In 2008 alone 2 million jobs were shed in the United States. That's incredible considering only a decade earlier we enjoyed one of the biggest economic expansions in history! More startling, the market crashed in 2008, so as the economy worsens that number could, could double this year.
The numbers don't tell the whole story either. Government unemployment figures ignore "for-cash" jobs, independent contractors, "illegal" migrant workers or black-market income such as illegal drug activity. These transactions effect our economy too.
Look behind you and add it up, that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach is telling us something.
Back in March 2008, losing 63,000 jobs in February was a big deal -- now we're losing hundreds of thousands a week. In retrospect, that was small potatoes. Similarly, the job losses we're seeing now could seem Utopian in comparison to those to come -- unless Congressional Democrats resist the Republican piss-fit and pass a meaningful stimulus plan. In the most non-panicky way possible, the president has told us of the urgency.
For some though, it's too late. Almost every day, horrified, we witness marriages broken, tent-cities erected by the homeless and murder-suicides. So far, in at least one instance, a family torn apart by financial problems was found dead in California. The husband and father had lost his job, then killed his family and took his own life. The media is speculating that an Ohio family met the same fate, but police refuse to give details. Now the economy is causing bloodshed and a some are pointing fingers at the obstructionist GOP party and their lax "less government" policies.
Well, lax on some things...
What scares a Republican into "socialism"?
The $700 billion Wall Street bailout last year was the apex of executive worry. George W. Bush was told by advisers that things were dire, but nobody told us. They hid it -- afraid to spark panic. But many of us didn't need to be told; we knew something wasn't right. The market crashed slowly for two weeks before that edgy first full week in October. It didn't take a genius to see something was up.
Although they tried to hide it, government officials uncontrollably wore the worry on their faces. Press conferences we're solemn; Bush hurried to the podium like a squirrel darting from a tree to snag a nut, quickly said his scripted jargon and hurried back inside. Questions went unanswered. The administration was so concerned about saving banks and Wall Street, they temporarily abandoned their neoconservative capitalistic views for a more socialistic approach. A failing stock market and the largest bank collapse in history can have that effect.
Was the top about to cave in on the bottom, or was it all just a wealthy money grab before the system did collapse? Saved banks sure seemed uninterested in opening credit lines, instead they opted to try and buy expensive jets.
Meanwhile, the falling middle-class has stopped buying anything but the essentials. People are not only afraid, but they are poor. Sure, some can afford rent or the mortgage, but part-time hours and minuscule pay leave them with nothing to spare.
According to a leading polling organization, consumer confidence dropped 2.3% in January.
Consumers' assessment of overall current conditions remains pessimistic. Those saying business conditions are "bad" increased to 47.9 percent from 45.8 percent, while those saying business conditions are "good" declined to 6.4 percent from 7.7 percent...
This pessimism is coming from every angle: a mix of inflation, high fuel costs last year, cuts in credit and fear of job loss. Contrary to what wealthy business owners want us to believe, poor sales aren't due to people being "stingy" with their money -- they sincerely cannot afford to buy!
The poverty rate is increasing too, no doubt about it. And inflation isn't slowing or reversing either. This report about financial equality is telling:
Census data shows that many people did not share in the "economic recovery" that started in 2001. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from $10.1 trillion in 2001 to almost $14.1 trillion in 2007. Yet the poverty rate rose from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.5 percent in 2006 and 2007.
But tell that to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI). The influential, pro-business right-wing think tank (and neocon petri dish), wants the poverty rate calculation formula "scrapped". They believe "that something is seriously wrong with the way the Official Poverty Rate is calculated." Changing the formula used to calculate poverty would serve just one purpose... to make it appear as though less people are living in poverty.
Changing the poverty rate calculation (and therefore the level to seem more positive) would reduce calls for a higher minimum wage, public outcry for protectionism and everything else greedy corporate cronies loathe. Hence, AEI is in favor of it.
Do these people know something that we don't? Do they expect numbers to get worse; is that why they want the poverty rate formula changed?
At risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut, stranger things have happened!
Conspiracies aside, it's easy to gauge how dire the situation is by watching where the wealthy put their money. The rich are investing to preserve; not to yield gains. These people aren't stupid -- stealthy and sneaky maybe -- but not stupid. They understand that consumer confidence is in a buzzard circle right now and that means less buying. And that means virtually worthless stocks and very little returns.
While we blow a fuse over Rush Limbaugh, quietly America's plutocrats are stashing the cash; then telling us to buy, buy, buy! All the while, they're shifting money into offshore accounts.
As for the deceitful fraudsters, like Arthur Nadel and Marcus Schrenker (do a search on Google, their stories read like Hollywood screenplays), they are threatening suicide; others are moving money and assets around to avoid having them seized.
But in light of all of this, our friends in the media are saying everything is okay. Keep going to the soccer games; can't afford something, whip out the credit card and, by all means, keep buying stocks!
It's okay if the American people run up debt to survive (sometimes just to purchase food), but our government should cut spending and the estate tax to pull us out of this economic outhouse?
We need to open our eyes to the hidden harbingers in this economic crisis; look deeply at the events that have taken place. And not just events like the unprecedented actions of the Fed, the stock market crash of '08 and the reactions of America's wealthy this year and last; but also take note of the near decade that led us here. In time I think we'll look back and say: so many things we didn't know, it's a miracle we survived. That is, of course, if there really are better times ahead.