If I had to guess, I would say that it is Jimmy Carter's fault somehow.

How could it possibly be possible that the world’s greatest nation, the messiah of liberty and justice for all, has allowed itself to become so fundamentally mired in recession, fear mongering, and near-complete economic breakdown?  The United States is supposed to be the planet's leader, its light, its beacon of Obam- I mean HOPE.  The reality is unfortunately a tad bit less ideal.  There are basic flaws throughout the US system.  Whether these flaws are in legislation, executive power, the drooling majority, golden-parachuted-rat-bastards on wall street, or Unions, they all have one thing in common; they have contributed to the economic meltdown of this country.  There is not one fatal flaw, but rather a terrible symphony of woes which finally brought the giant to its knees.

Screw chronological order, I’ll do it the way I think it ought to be done.  Consider briefly the rate at which the standard of living has increased in this country since even the 1980’s.  Fifth Graders with cell phones, cars for everyone, credit cards at fast food restaurants.  All examples of the comfort and style of the life available to an increasing number of Americans.  This seems like a good thing, and yet it has led to one of the biggest factors contributing to our current recession.  The mental state of Americans is somewhat to blame for the current status of the economy.  Because people expected their own house, their own car, plasma t.v.’s, Verizon FiOs and DirecTV, and all the other amenities that are seemingly indentified with the American Dream, they spent money they didn’t have.  Even with the deadly perception issues, this flaw in our culture could have been averted had the big lenders hadn’t been making loans that everyone involved knew could not and would not be paid.  I mean, a $300,000 loan on $33,000/yr with a wife, two kids, and a dog.  Come on.  Lets sell the debt to China, that’s a great idea!  There is no need to get technical, common sense is all one needs to realize that this is a problem.

Moving on.  Ahh, Labor Unions.  Just a short rant on this SOBs.  How is it that the Labor Unions in most of the industries in the US are stupid enough to kill the goose that lays the golden egg?  UAW, way to go guys!  Keeping your 70k a year is a good thing for you in the short run.  Too bad Honda, Toyota, and Nissan are paying their employees 36 a year and making a better car.  Good luck with your 401k’s now that the company you grilled so hard for extra cash (which you didn’t deserve) is on the brink of a terrible death spiral on the order of Bear Stearns.  Unions are something the world can live without.  If you don’t like what you are getting paid, go get another job.  If you can find one that pays well enough, maybe you should have thought about that before you had a couple of kids and bought a dog and got a loan you won’t pay for a house you don’t need.  If unions were never invented, the world would be a better, and cheaper, place on the whole.

Reagan was a great man.  There is no arguing that point.  He did great things for this country at a time when great things were sorely needed.  Unfortunately, what goes up must come down, and the majority of the negative aspect of supply side economics are now beginning to rear their ugly heads.  I fear we are now seeing the decline and fall of Reaganomics, and although this is a potentially disastrous event, it will more than likely serve as a catalyst for development of new economic ideas and ingenuity in a outdated system.  As much as I respect Reagan’s legacy, I….I think….I think it is time for change.  Ugggh.  But in all seriousness, a new system is what the US needs to climb back to its figurative perch at the top of the metaphorical mountain of the International economy.

Stupidity is the enemy of the people.  Well in this case it is more like ignorance.  People in all classes and sectors of this economy basically assumed everything was going to be fine no matter what stupid stuff we did as a nation.  Not one of the commoners in this country saw this whole thing coming, at least not on the scale at which it came.  The rampant economic ignorance in this country is terrifying.  Even now, when the economy is the people’s biggest worry, the laymen trust the media and their policy makers to do what is best for them.  Unfortunately, money is what makes today’s world go round, not happiness and dandelions.  Besides, the policy makers in this country don’t really seem to understand whats going on.  We have the left pointing fingers at the right, the right pointing fingers at the left.  People blaming it all on President Bush, even after his policies are no longer his.  People blaming it all on Obama, even though Geitner is the real Devil in Disguise.  It seems as if no one knows anything about any of this.  How can we expect to get anything done if we don’t pull together and actually try to fix it?  Throwing Money at the problem will not work.  We are going to have to incur losses in order to right ourselves.  China well probably never be paid, and they need to get used to that.  Isolationism is not the answer, but selective foreign affairs might help. It can be done, but first we as Americans need to collectively get our minds right.  Besides, It was probably Jimmy Carter’s fault somehow. Idiot.