merry christmas

christmas in nyc

no to bailout

So if you’re American then you’ve most likely heard of the current economic recession, if not then you need to climb from that ditch you’ve been in for the last two years. Recently though, it seems as if the nation’s economy has been using our government money for a crutch. Numerous industries have spent decades wasting money and tricking the public into spending money on their products. Gas guzzling cars, new expensive houses, banks giving credit to people that they know can’t afford it these industries had been warned by economists of their reckless actions years ago. Yet we sit here in 2008 with worldwide banks that are based in America receiving hundreds of billions of taxpayer money, taxpayer money that has yet achieved what it was supposed to. What’s even more shocking is the fact that only a few weeks before Christmas, congress is debating on giving the American Automobile Industry its own bailout. I have one question, if these packages are called bailouts, then why are American banks still in the same trouble they were in before we gave them billions?

I am totally against the automakers getting any type of bailout. They’re holding job losses over the American population like McCarthy held Communism over us during the red scare, or Bush held the threat of terrorism over us while he started an illegal and expensive war. The fact is, the auto industry is going to lose jobs anyway, and it’s the natural cycle of economics. People are being constantly fazed out of manufacturing jobs. During the 70’s and 80’s the auto industry could care less about the American jobs as they replaced car builders with modern robots and moved plants to eastern nations with cheaper raw materials and cheaper real estate.

Don’t think for one second that the auto industry is trying to ask for money in order to save us. Putting money into the Big 3 corporations won’t help us; look at the price of gas right now. It’s the lowest it’s been in 5 years at $1.75 a gallon on the roadway stations. Yet the CEO’s of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler still claim high gas prices as to being a deterrent of the American people buying cars. Actually it’s the volatile market and consumer distrust within the retail market that’s stopping customers from financing the cars that can cost nearly $30,000 for a 2009 model of most cars.

They also claim research into alternative fuels has been draining money. The only way this would be true is if the companies recently decided to invest massive amounts of income into this research. That is exactly what they did, waiting for the US oil demand to reach its peak with gas reaching nearly $6 a gallon in parts of the country until they decided to look for other sources of energy. Unfortunately the world has been warned about peak oil since the 70’s and yet few corporations decided to heed the warning. Now that China and India are becoming developed nations, even superpowers their demand for oil has increased and put strain on worldwide demand.

The truth is Americans are stubborn. We’re worried about a future of auto industry that can hold its own weight. We support globalization throughout the world; we push free trade on undeveloped nations and force them to accept our western lifestyle but complain about outsourcing and are afraid of foreign international corporations from investing in America. Don’t believe the scare tactics; yes 3million jobs are in the American auto industry. Yes a complete failure of this market would be bad for the nation’s economy and may even cause a huge ripple effect across other industries. Although this may seem like horrible news, there are many other foreign auto companies willing to invest in the American market. All you have to remember is that even with the current recession America is still the largest car consumer in the world. So a complete failure of the Big 3 is highly unlikely, and even so Toyota and Honda have stated that they would open up manufacturing plants within the nation (Japanese cars have become far more popular in America because they conserve gas and cost less than American models, because the foreign car market pays attention to consumer trends). But one again we’re afraid of foreign companies infringing on our American life.

And my last point, to all you republicans that support this bill because it’ll “save American jobs”. What is the biggest thing you people are afraid of? You know, socialism. Well Webster defines Socialism as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods”

Now let’s think about that. So our government is funding to keep up banks AND the auto industry? So we’re nearly controlling the administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. That sounds like socialism to me. So in one hand you denounce socialism and universal healthcare that would support the poor, but in the other you don’t mind the government helping massive conglomerates to give money and support the rich?

Sure we’re in the biggest economic downturn since World War 2, but America has been built upon free trade and allowing the economy to settle itself it’s called the business cycle. The first interest and investments the government should make are in its taxpayer’s lives. One major solution to the Great Depression was the New Deal, a series of massive public works projects and economic reforms throughout the nation that helped lower the unemployment rate and spur economic activity. China recently committed 500 billion US$ to improve its own infrastructure and increase employment in the rural far reaches of the nation while sparking domestic economic activity. We’re too busy figuring out how to help the rich people that don’t deserve help we’ve ignored the people that are losing jobs and money on a daily basis. This nation was built upon the hard work of the outcasts and the poor, not the money that it makes.