Margin Call

It has been stated often that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. As we watch the financial crisis unfold before our eyes, it is not hard to recognize the great level of government failure in this mess. Deregulation and lack of oversight by the government; turning a blind eye and greed by Wall Street; and neglect by the American citizens are just a few of the guilty parties. But with all that stated, ask yourself why should the American people have to pick up the check for such thievery? Is our future debt and lack of economic stability truly so unimportant that we should just hand them over in a bailout caused by irresponsibility?

It is beyond apparent that our government and its representatives have sold out the American people for private interests and profit a long time ago. Lobbying in Congress is at an all time high and campaign financing gets results. Citizens’ votes and welfare are a side-note to our broken democracy and system. We are merely here to pick up the check for their conquests and agendas. In April when you pay your taxes, ask yourself who and what you are contributing too. Your money is certainly not going to support the tenets our nation was once founded or based upon. On Election Day this November which lobby group will represent you? These questions point to the reality of our political system in practice.

At the heart of this economic crisis is the belief that the American economy and people will only thrive as a result of Wall Street having success and improvement. This is a great misconception. We are in the midst of the greatest separation of wealth in our nation since the time of robber barons and monopolies at the turn of the 20th Century, yet now, the American people are on the short end of the stick.

For the first time since the Great Depression, the current generation will work more, earn less and be worse off than the generation before them. But if you ask any government official or businessman they will tell you our nation is in its greatest prosperity ever. Perhaps it is because those are the two earning and controlling all the wealth, while the Average Joe is losing out.

It is also noteworthy to mention the fact that American corporations have had their tax rates lowered by significant amounts since 1950 and the amount of tax breaks have increased tremendously. Wall Street was at one time the back-bone of the American economy and on the citizens' side due to government regulation and normal tax rates free of government loopholes and handouts. Nowadays Wall Street is merely a figurehead of corporate profit and agendas which do not represent the best welfare of the US citizenry, even as they like to pretend just the opposite.

Our citizens are the wheels driving the economy, yet see no direct rewards for their contributions; instead we are told that a rising tide lifts all boats. That may have a nice ring to it; yet in practice it does not float and is a sunken idea. We have become a nation dependent on foreigners for goods. We export our factories and jobs for the benefit of corporate profits and expansion. If you have a look at the top US corporations, they represent insurance, weaponry, energy and banking industries. Is this really what we want to become – an economy based on war profiteers, price gougers, greed and corruption? I would hope not, but in reality it is closer to the truth than not.

Many economists and government officials will tell you that the good health of the US economy is the vital for the American people, but at what costs? Wall Street does not represent Main Street America. In practice, our economy is based entirely on massive amounts of debt and a credit system so easily penetrated by greed, the American people can never find a fair equilibrium without being swindled.

The corporate owned media, the government and people who invest or work for Wall Street want to sell the people an empty dream, the lie that if Wall Street is ok, so will be our future. In reality, our government is in bed with the business sector. They help dictate policy in their own fields and for their own benefit; they also lobby for their own interests rather than the welfare of the citizens. It cannot be said enough that we as citizens are merely here to pick up the bill.

This current bailout is merely a transfer of public, taxpayer money to private sectors as a result of greed and gluttony. We will not benefit from this transaction and there is not even a guarantee it will fix any of our problems, as regulation and oversight have not been worked in. It is just another typical example of our society throwing money at a problem in the hopes it will get fixed. Trying to remedy the effect of a problem never stops its cause.

As the days pass and you see Wall Street taking a nose dive, please recognize that this is part of the process. When you base a system on massive debt and unregulated credit, while allowing greedy businesses to rule the roost, you already have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. It is merely a house of cards. When the stage is set with economic gadgets so out of whack, the house will surely crumble. This is what we are seeing. It is history repeating itself from the Great Depression. We may not have the identical situation with such vast unemployment, but the generic factors are present (government deregulation, lack of oversight, over-speculation and greed). The rest may be soon to follow, but even if we have dodged a bullet and do not quite reach the depths FDR faced, our future economic standing has still been seriously altered, something that cannot be ignored and which future generations will have to deal with.

When someone so harshly criticizes free market capitalism and Wall Street in such a manner, the rebuttal is of socialist or communist stereotypes to follow. Ask yourself an honest question, though: Why is the well being of large corporations the basis for our welfare as citizens? Life insurance costs, social security, credit lending businesses and banks could all be monitored with fair oversight and law, yet we willingly choose to allow privatization and deregulation to rule the roost. We forfeit our own welfare and status in the foolish belief that these sacrifices will guide us towards success and prosperity in our own lives. Let me repeat: We allow private, for profit companies whose sole purpose is to exploit consumers for their own growth, dictate our well being. Is there any shock we see the results that we do? The American people may bleed red, white and blue, but the companies and government who decide policy only see green.

We have placed our security and future in the hands of private interests and now are so tied to them that people feel as if anything but their success will result in the economic demise of the citizenry. This is not free market economics or capitalism at work. Instead, we have become an Oligarchy.

The average citizen is not an investor, or at least not one of any major consequence, and thus does not gain much of anything if Wall Street is booming. Yet when Wall Street is doing terribly (at its own cause), the citizens feel the wrath. High gas prices from unnecessary wars, high interest rates from lending scams, and our future debt and possible taxes being raised due to bailouts from corporate greed and government failures are what we receive. One of the more recent trends has also been the tinkering of economic tools by the Federal Reserve which decrease the dollar's worth in the market place. This causes goods and services to cost more in the long term for the public. These are not the actions or deeds of people who have the American citizens' future in mind.

Adam Smith once said,

“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers”.

Each day as you watch Wall Street panic and tumble, please recognize the only reason it matters is because we have willingly placed our future in their hands, while these very same hands just reach for our checkbook. The margin call is always on the horizon when you have already bankrupted your future.