Dumb growth

[bigbadwolf]

From a "credible source" (I hope):

It was a society in stagnation, if not decline. Despite ostensible stability, its people — especially its young people — faced a future bleaker than the dark side of Pluto. For decades, the richest grew even richer, as national debt mounted, middle-class people tried to make ends meet, and upward mobility fell. Government failed to address these problems, and the governed felt increasingly disenfranchised — and partisan. Mass unemployment metastasized from a temporary illness to a chronic condition. One of its major cities decided to erect a permanent tent city, for a permanently excluded, marginalized underclass.

This isn't Tunisia, or Egypt — but America. Yes, in many ways Egypt and America couldn't be more different. But the broad contours are just a little too similar for comfort.
Consider a tweet that made the rounds this weekend. "Youth unemployment: #Yemen 49%, #Palestine 38%, #Morocco 35%, #Egypt 33%, #Tunisia 26%". It sounds staggering. But youth unemployment rates are 20-40% across Europe. And in the USA, estimates range from 20-50% depending on how you count, and when. Egypt's youth unemployment crisis — which many seemed to think on Twitter was merely an Arab problem (oh, those Arabs!) is, in point of fact, a global one.

What we're watching is a massive malfunctioning of the global economy. At the root of the problem: dumb growth. Dumb growth is, in many ways, bogus — rather than reflecting enduring wealth creation, it largely reflects the transfer of wealth: from the poor to the rich, the young to the old, tomorrow to today, and human beings to corporate "people." Dumb growth is growth without prosperity. And it's far from an Egyptian problem.

Meanwhile, from Paul Craig Roberts, ex- assistant secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration and ex- associate editor of the WSJ (who now shows what a commie, liberal, radical, and extremist he really he is, and hence utterly lacking in credibility):

Obama’s new budget is a continuation of Wall Street’s class war against the poor and middle class.

Now the ruling oligarchies have struck again, this time through the federal budget. The U.S. government has a huge military/security budget. It is as large as the budgets of the rest of the world combined. The Pentagon, CIA, and Homeland Security budgets account for the $1.1 trillion federal deficit that the Obama administration forecasts for fiscal year 2012. This massive deficit spending serves only one purpose--the enrichment of the private companies that serve the military/security complex. These companies, along with those on Wall Street, are who elect the U.S. government.

The U.S. has no enemies except those that the U.S. creates by bombing and invading other countries and by overthrowing foreign leaders and installing American puppets in their place.
China does not conduct naval exercises off the California coast, but the U.S. conducts war games in the China Sea off China’s coast. Russia does not mass troops on Europe’s borders, but the U.S. places missiles on Russia’s borders. The U.S. is determined to create as many enemies as possible in order to continue its bleeding of the American population to feed the ravenous military/security complex.

Of all the countries in the world, none need a revolution as bad as the United States, a country ruled by a handful of selfish oligarchs who have more income and wealth than can be spent in a lifetime.

 

[MSFHQ]

Good sources.


I still don't get the point. Less than half this country pay Federal tax. We've extended unemployment up to two years. We have free health care for the poor, young and elderly. We have social security for the retired and disabled. We have food stamps, heating subsidies, low cost state universities, welfare, etc.

How is the USA against the poor? What should the government do exactly? Go to these people and cut them a check?

How does the military budget hurt anyone other than the people who actually pay federal tax? If the money wasn't spent on the military (which create a lot of American jobs) it would simply be returned to the people who pay taxes (aka not the poor).


The rich have earned their money. Punitive action to make things "fair" might feel good for the lower class, but will only hurt them. The day I see the government committing such a crime is the day I stop working and leave this country.

I also cannot see immigrants and educated people from around the world trying to come to this country if wealth is stolen from them if they are successful.


The USA is the land of OPPORTUNITY. Never was it the land of slam dunk wealth.