American economy in crises - a long time coming
When a country and its society import more than they export for over a quarter of a century, it is bound to erod the economy to its primate state.
We have only ourselves to blame, what goods and products are we exporting, what goods and services are produced in the USA, the answer is very little by comparison.
In the past 50 years as our population has increased, technology advanced, we have become a nation that consumes enormous amounts of resources, we shop for competitive prices. Corporate America is constantly looking to increase the bottom line.
Most of the goods for and by Americans and its companies are produced overseas and in the past decade with the advancement of telecommunications, many of the services sector are also imported.
The increased costs of energy over the past 10 years, has affected the economy to unimaginable comprehension.
This economic activity has eroded our economy to its core. It seems that the situation is getting worse every year. American debts are increasing beyond our wildest dreams, endangering the future economic vitality of our future generation.
I hope it is not too late for our society to recognize the graveness of our economic predicament and its resolve to take appropriate action to stem the tide of our economic downturn.
Americans are a nation of great technology and knowhow. We must utilize that technology and our resources to find new means to regain our economic independence.
We must face and implement fiscal responsibility, both by the government and the population with its infrastructure of corporate America.
It is no longer an option, it is a must if we as a nation want to survive and retain our way of life and economic vitality.
Inflation, recession and financial crises are here. Let us take the bull by the horn, initiate immediate actions to minimize and hopefully reverse our economic crises.
Jay Draiman, Northridge, CA.
PS
The US economy has enormous momentum. Metaphorically speaking, if someone turned off the locomotive that drives the US economy, the economy would go on for miles before anyone would likely notice something was wrong. But something has been wrong for many years. Is there really hope for the future? Maybe. But the terrible truth is that no one really knows. But if there is hope, we're already on the wrong track. And that has to change..
As wealth is increasingly absorbed into the hands of relatively few individuals and corporate CEOs, their influence over America’s governmental system is expanding rapidly, thanks to Congress and the Supreme Court. Through campaign contributions and lobbying activities, this powerful group often influences the outcome of key legislation, such as the watering down of the regulation of Wall Street and efforts to contain costs in the recently passed health-care legislation. The 15 percent tax rate paid by hedge fund managers has been on the books for years, but efforts to repeal this special provision always fall a few votes short in the Senate because of the obstructionist maneuvers of a few key Democrat and Republican members.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court’s inane Citizens United decision has also opened the floodgates to even greater big-money control of elections. Now corporations and individuals can inject unlimited dollars into campaigns and usually do so anonymously. Not surprisingly, funds are being poured into the current election campaign at unprecedented levels.
Trust democracy?
ReplyDeleteComment about those who trust democracy enough to offer themselves up to its abuses in every election cycle. His comment lauded those who put themselves on the line for the opportunity to serve the public. I found much to agree with in what he said, and a good deal to differ with as well.
While those who trust democracy in offering themselves for public service are to be praised, not everyone running for office trusts democracy to that extent, and many display a decided distrust of democracy. They are easy enough to pick out.
A candidate's trust in democracy is measurable by the way that their campaign is conducted. When they are running their campaign on a shoestring without professional campaign staff, it tells you that their level of trust is high, both in democracy and democratic principles and in their confidence in their own ideas. Often the value of their ideas can be measured by the number of volunteers who are willing to offer their own time and effort to see that those ideas get a hearing in governance.
This is not to say that a well-funded campaign cannot evince a trust in democracy, but the idealist's campaign nearly always does.
Conversely, there are candidates whose level of distrust in democracy is clearly evident. The symptoms of that condition are as easily picked out, because in spite of the candidate's efforts, they are almost impossible to conceal from anyone who is looking for them.
Those symptoms include inordinate amounts of cash, to be used in an effort to buy the election. In this election cycle, the first since the Supreme Court edict regarding the Citizens United case, we have hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions being funneled through money laundering operations such as American Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The sources of these funds are jealously guarded from public disclosure, but you can bet your bottom billion that the candidates receiving those funds know exactly where they came from. The candidate being in the dark about those facts would defeat the object of the exercise, which is to buy a candidate and make sure that he stays bought. If he didn't know who his new owner was, he might cast an errant vote, and that's not what he was purchased for in the first place.
There is also the ultimate in cynical distrust of democracy that is demonstrated by efforts to manipulate the electorate in casting its votes. These are mostly techniques to reduce turnout for the opponent by voter caging, leading to illegitimate challenges to individual voters at the polls, or, as we see happening in Nevada this year, cynical campaign commercials featuring appeals to the opponent's supporters to stay home on Election Day.
Other ways to depress turnout require confederates in control of the voting apparatus so that the allotment of facilities to conduct the election can be skewed to reduce availability of those facilities in selected areas to make voting more difficult and increased in those areas that the fraudulent candidate sees as more solidly in his favor.
Then there is good old-fashioned election fraud. In this age, the intention to engage in election fraud is frequently telegraphed by the dishonest candidate's admonishments against, or intention to oppose, voter fraud, a crime that is astonishingly rare, but played up by those who wish to deceive the electorate
The methods for election fraud are many, but in this day the most common is the manipulation of data streams from those eminently hack able electronic voting machines, especially those without a paper trail to provide a check on the electronic results. Of course, election fraud has always been with us, sometimes elevated to an art form as in the electoral depredations of Tammany Hall.
It's what inspired Josef Stalin to say, "It's not the people who vote that counts, and it’s who counts the votes." We may safely conclude from this that Josef Stalin didn't have much trust in democracy.
Draiman
Energy Saving Suggestions
ReplyDeleteLighting
. Natural light should be used whenever possible; avoid turning on overhead lights when they are not needed.
. Consider using task lighting (desk lamps) when possible; reducing the need for overhead lighting in the room.
. If you are going to be away more than 5 minutes, turn your lights off, even if they are fluorescent. The startup cost of fluorescent lighting is minimal compared to leaving the lights on for 5 minutes or longer.
. Turn off unneeded and unnecessary lighting, especially in unused offices, conference rooms, restrooms, copy rooms, break rooms, storage rooms, and internal spaces not in frequent/constant use (backrooms).
. When rooms or buildings are unoccupied, lights not needed for safety and security purposes should be turned off.
Computers, Monitors & Printers
. The power management features of computers and monitors should be activated so that when a computer is left unused, the machine powers down to "sleep" mode.
. Computers that are not accessed remotely should be turned off at the end of the business day and on weekends unless otherwise directed.
. If appropriate, use laptop computers -- they consume 90% less energy than standard desktop computers.
. Do not print out copies of emails or other documents unless necessary.
. Use duplex printing and copying when available.
Other equipment
. Copiers that do not automatically turn off after a period of inactivity should be turned off at night and during the weekend.
. Turn off all unused electrical appliances such as printers, copiers, coffee makers, and fans when not in use. When possible, plug electronics into a power strip that can be turned off at night to avoid phantom loads.
. Maintain refrigerators and freezers in optimal working order by keeping coils clean and doors properly sealed.
Special Considerations for the Heating Season
. The temperature in occupied rooms should be maintained at 68 - 70 degrees.
. Windows should be firmly closed and locked to prevent air seepage. Doors should be closed when rooms are not in use.
. Do not permit the use of portable electric space heaters.
. Blinds and curtains should be opened during the day to allow sunlight in for solar heat gain. In the evenings, close blinds, drapes, and curtains to reduce thermal heat loss.
. Dress appropriately for the season; wear layers of clothing during the winter months.
Special Considerations for the Cooling Season
• The temperature in occupied rooms should be maintained at 76 degrees.
. Outside doors and windows should be kept closed when cooling equipment is in use.
. Wear appropriate light clothing.
. Blinds and curtains should be closed at certain times of the day to prevent direct sunlight from entering the space during the cooling season.
. At night when temperature drops bellow 70 degrees, open windows and utilize outdoor cool air instead of Air Conditioning. This will also reduce indoor pollution.
General Recommendations for the Work Environment
. Be aware of the scheduled hours of building operations and plan work accordingly;
do not expect buildings to have fully operational HVAC systems during evenings and weekends when there is minimal occupant use.
. Wear clothing appropriate to the seasons.
. Keep all doors and windows in air conditioned spaces closed whenever possible.
. Be sure to place the faucet lever on sinks in the cold position when using small amounts of water; placing the lever in the hot position uses energy to heat the water even though it never reaches the faucet.
. Water leaks, dripping faucets and fixtures that do not shut off should be reported to your building proprietor.