On a Downhill Grade

It’s been a while since I wrote something and now there’s something on my mind that needs expression.  It concerns the house of cards that we have built in the world.  Not everyone is affected by the structure of our American economic society but most are and it isn't a comforting picture.

The president and one of the major political parties here are engaged in what can only be described as Brinkmanship.  A term coined when it was first recognized as each of the two parties to a standoff is waiting for the other to give in; each having a position of enough power to avoid the other from getting everything it wants.

The amount of debt that this country has is not inordinate for the value of the economy; it is, however, a very large number in sheer size and to default on the payment of interest on it would signal a crack in the walls of the economic fortress America

The value of any currency is relative to the confidence that others have in it.  If I wanted to borrow value from you with money that you think is worthless, you won’t lend it to me.  With currency, that confidence is measured against other currencies and the value of precious metals and other valuable assets that aren’t depleted with use.  Here we’re referring to gold, silver, diamonds, gems, land, art work, and collectibles of various sorts.

So by flirting with the confidence in our economy these two parties are risking the value of our currency and, therefore, the value of the one-third of our country’s population that is living on a fixed income from retirement investments.  This segment of the population is sensitive to inflation, which is a danger when the world loses confidence in the US dollar.

At the same time, the president and his liberal democrats have upped the ante for participation in the economy.  The entry requirements now include health insurance, a cell-phone (preferably a Smartphone), a personal computer, and a car, thus making the argument for an ever escalating minimum wage. 

Entry level jobs are shrinking and those who have them are insisting on higher wages because it simply takes that much more to live in our modern, digital society.  The response of employers is an ever decreasing number of people on the payroll, causing a decrease in the number employed and an increase in the number of people that rely on assistance of one kind or another from government food stamps and Obama phones to dependency on missions and charity.

The appetite for technology is fueled by marketers who make last year’s model obsolete; having it and using it makes one a pariah among his more affluent peers.  The lure of technology is cast in front of an ever younger set of consumers so that children are clamoring for it; and if Jimmy’s mom lets him have one then why can’t I have one too.

 There is no answer/cure for any of this.  As long as the money supply expands and the liberal attitude of “Why not?” is in vogue, the train will accelerate; “When we reach White Oak Mountain, You just watch old 97 roll.” And just like the “Wreck of the Old 97,” we’ll find the government “in the wreckage with his hand on the throttle, Scalded to death by the steam.”