Friday, July 10, 2009

Economic Meltdown 191

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what has happened in our capitalist economy. Robert Scheer, an economic reporter and now editor at Truthdig, has compiled an encapsulated timeline. Now there's no excuse for getting caught up in the corporate media's destructive jingle jangle distraction devices that continue to thwart our economic recovery. So enjoy this concise onloine educational treasure trove-- Economic Meltdown 101.

1 comment:

Inspector Clouseau said...

Here’s a thumbnail of what it takes, in my view, for a society to be prosperous:

1) An inventive / innovative class; people have to want to invent things and processes;

2) Cross-culturalization, where multiple inventors get together and compare their inventions, and newer \ better inventions are created;

3) Seaports or trade route intersections;

4) Business flowing from invention / innovation;

5) Decent Jobs flowing from business, so people can take care of their families with pride;

6) A reasonably decent life flowing from more people having jobs; and

7) Education encouraging the repeat of the process

Either some force in society sets this in motion, governs the process, and maintains it, or it does not. If you leave it to chance, you might be on top for a while but you will be on top indefinitely. But that is a cost of freedom, when you do not direct people what to do with their lives.

My suspicion is that China will be the next world power because they tell more people what to do, and they are more controlling. More free? Of course not. But more planning, organization, consistency, and coordination take place under their model. We in the U.S. use the “herding cats” model, and there are benefits and costs associated with it.

We’ve needed more inventors for years, and few in our country have paid attention to that issue.