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Economics 001 for the Intellectually Deficient (ID)
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Disclaimer:
Bob Pritts is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Wilson County News or wilsoncountynews.com. |
November 17, 2008 | 3 comments
Yes, ID is perhaps the latest disease that has stricken half the people in our nation. In psychoanalysis it is “that part of the psyche that is regarded as the reservoir of the libido. It is dominated by the pleasure principle and impulsive wishing, and its impulses are controlled through the development of the ego and superego”. Hence, the following short essay.
Driving home last Saturday morning from San Antonio I heard a portion of our President-elect’s Saturday morning radio address to the nation. One statement he made both astounded me and scared the heck out of me at the same time. He said that “we can no longer permit those on Wall Street to do well while those on Main Street are suffering … especially since it came from the newly elected President of the most powerful nation in the world. This is a man who graduated from Harvard with high honors. He must not have ever taken courses in economics or American capitalism. I must believe that his words were actually more political and meant to inspire his ideologically liberal followers who are obliviously ignorant and blinded as to what the economic ‘fix’ truly is. And, that he surely knows the ‘fix’ is not in some type of program for the redistribution of wealth.
We must be totally honest and face the fact that our current economic condition was caused by none other than the politically correct liberal arm of the Federal Government. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was first passed in 1977 during the Carter administration. It was updated over the years, most recently strengthened in the Clinton administration, and put into full effect, by Congress, during the Bush administration. Taking all the political fluff and lies out of it, the ruling breaks down to this … in the name of political correct equality, banks were required to issue mortgage loans to people with less than credit worthy financial collateral. It was inspired by the ridiculous notion that all Americans have the ‘right’ to own a home! There is no such right. However, the financial institutions began issuing mortgages, with no down payments, for $150,000-$350,000 homes to folks who only made $40,000 per year. They knew there would be a reckoning somewhere in the future. But, had they not cooperated, the punishment would have been possible rejection of licenses to operate due to disregarding the mandates demanded by their government regulators without recourse.
So, how did they ‘save’ themselves for the present? They did exactly what capitalistic, free market financial institutions knew how to do best, they invented. They took a socialistic government demand and turned it into a temporary, capitalistic solution for survival. Ditech.com, Country Wide, and many others sprang as places folks could go to receive an almost instant approval for very low interest rates with later adjustments, Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) payments, that would take effect some time in the future … 3-5 years down the road. The government provided their own source to which the banks could sell and guarantee these mortgages ... Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Wall Street investment companies and hedge funds also risked their capital in hopes of future profits. The remainder is history.
How did the remainder of the American people, who weren’t involved in any of this mess, you and I, respond. After our housing prices dropped and the media inundated us with nothing but pessimistic reporting, we turned inward. Amazingly, most of us still had good jobs and our companies were doing rather well, but we stopped buying and decided to instead pay down our credit card debts and save money. We became capitalism’s very worst nightmare. A nation of helpless, self-inflicted victims! We need to honestly answer the following question. Who made me run up my credit card debts beyond my means to pay? The average household credit card debt in the U.S. is over $9,700. And, many of us begged our credit card companies to raise our limits when they were reached. Weren’t we in effect greedy, just the same as those on Wall Street we blame for becoming just too greedy as well? Look in the mirror when you ask the question. No one ‘made’ you charge those Spurs tickets or meals out. You could have just as easily watched the Spurs at home and cooked your own dinner the same day for significantly less money.
Our greatest problem in this country right now is our continuing lack of consumer confidence, and our withdrawal of ‘normal’ spending in the marketplace. We have turned ourselves from individualistic, survival against all odds people, into dependent, scared people who, more and more every day, desperately want someone else (in this case the government) to jump in and save our sorry butts. It’s this simple folks. If you stop buying the products of your neighbors, they will stop buying yours. In not too long a period of time you will both be unemployed and unable to take care of your family’s needs. If we continue to remain inward, the economic downturn we are in right now will look like the ‘good ole days’ by sometime early next year. Government will be unable to supply you what Mr. Obama has promised since none of us will be paying taxes anymore. Good grief, why can’t the liberals and ultra liberals understand this?
Here’s a challenge for all of us, go out and start living our normal lives, bet on ourselves for a change, and see just how fast those sorry, greedy rich people on Wall Street that we seem to so urgently want to see ruined (or perhaps hung from the highest rafters), turn bullish and re-invest, raising the prices of stocks and in turn your retirement accounts! You have the ball, they dont. If you don’t buy companies’ products they have no reason to invest … and they won’t. They’ll just take their marbles that they have left (and believe me many have lost hundreds of billions of dollars) and go home until you decide to get back in the game. That’s what’s happening today. Obama and his worshippers are always touting redistribution of wealth as something we all deserve. Well, it goes both ways you know!. The wealthy are already ‘redistributing’ their wealth as we speak … they are withdrawing billions of risk money from our markets. How do you like the redistribution so far?
Now I’m certain my liberal critics will come back with all kinds of reasons why they are so downtrodden and miserable, and that it’s folks like you and I who have caused this, but it’s mostly because they’re suffering from ID. So please forgive them, they know not what they say. |
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