Читать книгу Christian Economics - Dale Anthony Pivarunas - Страница 5

The United States is in the midst of a continuing serious economic crisis affecting a very large percentage of the population. 9 million people are unemployed (U6 rate), over 30 million people are under-employed, approximately 9 million people have two jobs, 75% of those employed live from paycheck to paycheck, and 71% of US workers are in debt (of this 71%, over 55% say they are over their heads in debt). Millions of people have had their homes repossessed. Millions of homes are in foreclosure and the trend continues. Over 46 million Americans are living in poverty. Fifty percent of recent graduates cannot find full time employment. There are over 1 million homeless students in the United States living in gas stations, airports, cheap hotels, empty homes, church basements or sleeping at times at the houses of different friends. Food, healthcare, education, housing (especially rents), and transportation (car prices and insurance) continue to rise year after year and at higher rates than wages. The number of pay day loan stores, title loan stores, ‘buy your gold and jewelry’ stores have increased significantly in the last fifteen years indicating the desperate financial state of the millions of people who are forced to do business with these predatory organizations. Student loan debt has increased from $240 billion in 2003 to $1.3 trillion in 2017 with over 40 million individuals burdened with this debt. Students and their parents take out these loans with the expectation that sometime in the future their student will obtain a good paying job with which to pay off the student loans. But, unfortunately, for the majority of these students there are and will be no good paying jobs. A significant percentage of Americans are in a desperate and hopeless financial situation. This is a severe crisis and yet the above issues receive little to no attention by the news media. It is almost like the major news media is trying to hide these issues, but why?

The US national debt is over $21 trillion, continues to increase and virtually nothing is being done to stop and reverse this. The national debt has now exceeded the annual US GDP. It has increased over $17 trillion since 2000 and the interest on the national debt is over $475 billion every year and this figure continues to grow as the national debt grows. US national defense spending is now approximately $1 trillion dollars annually and depending on what new military action that the US engages in can be significantly higher. The United States Federal government spends over $1 trillion more than it receives in revenues every year and the President, his administration and Congress don’t seem to be overly concerned. While they make some claims about the budget deficit and the national debt, they are really not concerned because they do almost nothing about this other than make statements. Government spending is out of control and this out of control spending by the Federal, state, county and local governments have a very serious negative impact on the US economy. And almost nothing is being done to control government spending.

In the last 17 years, the US government has spent $17 trillion more than its revenues. And what was this money spent on? Did the government spend that money on education, healthcare, or infrastructure? Was that $17 trillion dollars spent on the people of the United States, the 99% majority? The people of the United States were handed $17 trillion in additional debt and they have received nothing in return. Had that $17 trillion been used to pay off student debt, improve education, build schools, build hospitals, build roads, fix bridges, build a high-speed rail system, invest in renewable energy, reduce poverty, reduce homelessness, improve mental health, and reduce substance addiction, then the people of the US would at least know how the money was spent and recognize that there were benefits. But what or who did the US government spend $17 trillion on?

While the last fifteen years have been financially crippling for very many people, they have not been for all people. In fact, the last fifteen years have been the worst of times for tens of millions of people and the best of times for a few people. And this applies to corporations. While some corporations have gone bankrupt, some have seen significantly higher profits and some record setting profits. Wealthy individuals and corporations have been able to take advantage of these financial and economic crises to buy properties and businesses and encumber individuals, businesses and state, county and local governments with overwhelming debt. While the net worth of 250 million people and companies have decreased significantly over the last fifteen years, the net worth of a few million people and corporations have increased significantly. The losses of so many have been the gains of so few.

The United States is in a financial crisis with the majority of Americans suffering the effects. And yet, the government does not seem to care. The President, his administration and Congress do not seem to care. The President, his administration and Congress only seem to care about Big Banks, Big Corporations and Big Money. These politicians deceptively campaign with the promise of change and hope for the majority, but once elected these politicians only serve the rich minority. This is a crisis in itself. These crises, the political and economic crises, are so significant that there seems to be little hope for the future. Have pity on those who are between twenty and thirty years of age. Have even greater pity one those who are under twenty years of age. And pity the most, those who have not yet been born. The mistakes of this generation will impact multiple generations to come.

Has this all just happened by chance or has this happened by design? Has the transfer of wealth from the majority to a select minority occurred accidently or intentionally? What are the underlying causes of the current economic and political crises? Who is responsible for these crises? What can be done to fix the broken US economy? And what can be done to fix the broken political system?

The United States has a far greater threat to its security than terrorists or any foreign enemy and that is the imminent danger that the current economic crisis could result in a far more extreme, devastating and lengthy economic catastrophe than the Great Depression which started in 1929 and lasted for over twelve years. And yet, while sixty to seventy percent of the people realize the seriousness of the present situation, the top five percent have no grasp as to the severity of the current economic situation or what needs to be done in order to avoid what could potentially be the worst recession in US history. This is especially true for the members of the Federal government. The President, his administration and Congress seem to be totally incompetent to address and resolve the issues which threaten to wreak economic disaster on the majority of Americans. And that is because they are not impacted by this crisis. The President, his administration, Congress and the Washington-elite have not been personally impacted by the recession. Their lifestyles have not changed. They still live the good life. They go to parties, to the theater, to concerts, to the country club, to their summer homes, and on numerous vacations. They do not experience the difficulties associated with living from pay check to pay check, from not being able to find work, from having to work two jobs, from having bill collectors calling, from not being able to go to the doctor or dentist, from having debt that they may never be able to pay and from having lost hope of ever being able to retire. How can the President, his administration and Congress solve the economic problems facing the country when they do not understand what the problems are or how serious they are? Perhaps, they don’t think that there is a problem? Perhaps, they don’t really care?

There are two underlying causes to the situation that the United States is in; one economic, the other political. The economy of the United States is malfunctioning because it is broken, out of balance and out of control. It is not lethargic and needing stimulation—it is broken. On the political side, the government of the United States is also broken, out of order and out of control. The majority of those who have been elected to represent the people, in fact, do not represent the people nor do they pursue the people’s best interests. Rather, these elected officials use the government to pursue their own selfish interests and benefits as well as the interests and benefits of a very small and select group of people. These two causes are related in that the malfunctioning of the government is one of the main causes of the malfunctioning of the economy.