First a caveat: I don’t think today’s mortgage crisis is the cause of our current economic regression. It is, in my opinion, merely a deliberately caused symptom of modern day cheap labor capitalistic theology. But that’s been discussed before on this board, and I’m sure will be again … just not here and now.
In a previous discussion folks were asked to list their top five items regarding what should be done to improve Vermont’s economic condition. In my interpretation of the ensuing posts and replies the general consensus was to work with today’s list of Acronyms such VEDA and others.
I argued that we needed to change our way of thinking about our economy … and today’s Washington Post provides a great story that illustrates (in part) why I feel that way.
Now that the Federal Reserve has pledged billions of dollars to rescue Wall Street bankers from possible default, lawmakers and regulators are turning their attention to helping average citizens — from homeowners in danger of foreclosure to people who want to buy a home.
(Democrats, Bush Square Off Over Housing Relief, Washington Post, 03/20/08)
The short version of this story, and the story of all the proposals regarding this issue, is simple: we’ll buy our way out of our debt hole by making it easier to go further into debt.
I know … it makes absolutely no sense! But that is exactly what has been, is being and will be proposed by big business and big government.
The thinking behind this is extremely simplistic: we need to “grow” the economy. And that is the mantra … “grow” the economy even when this “growth” is really nothing but an upwards transfer of wealth or destroys our only source of food, water, air and shelter (aka the physical environment), wrecks our health or poisons our minds with gobs of useless pandering information.
So here is MY economic question: at what point should we say “Fuck phony growth: let’s get strong!”