Dec 24, 2008

It’s The Love of Money Stupid That is Causing America’s Problems

I do not believe, as one writer wrote, that the love of money is the root of all evil. Why? Evil was here long before money showed its ugly face. However, with regard to America's current woes, the real problem happens to be American values, which are mostly based upon the acquisition of wealth (and the problem of the emerging global economy).

Americans have had it good for a long time, and as a result Americans are not only spoiled but they have an expectation and a sense of entitlement that is second to none in the world. Americans are waiting for things to return to normal. But what ought to be the norm today, will differ greatly from tomorrow's norms, and from those of the so-called normal past.

I have noticed more and more that it is not only the corporate elite, nor is it America’s so-called gentry that are greedy. Greed is rampant in America, and it crosses every social economic line. Can poor people be greedy? The answer is yes. In America, even our poor people are greedy.

Poor Americans hoard as much as the rich, and America’s poor focus upon the acquisition as much as America’s wealthy elite does. Is it any wonder then that America’s poor would prefer that the basic ingredients of capitalism to stay in place, at least long enough until they get there share of the fading American golden pot.

In Proverbs 30 and 8 it is written, keep deception and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with that which is my portion. Poverty can be as destructive as an overabundance of wealth can be.

On the other hand, Godliness with contentment can be of great gain. America’s problem will never be resolved, in deference to interim short-term fixes. No, not only all of us are willing to accept the fact that we got up in the illusion, the American monetary illusion that we can someday be rich will things change.

Americans are depressed and despondent this year, and it is not because of crime. Americans are depressed given their love of money!

Merry Christmas
Rev. C. Solomon

Dec 4, 2008

Will The United States Require An Automobile Industry in the Future?

Americans are purchasing bicycles, and at the same time the Chinese people are more and more purchasing automobiles.

I am not an apologist for the Bushtanista Party, however, as bad and as poorly run as the Bush Administration was and still is, the fact of the matter is that they are not solely responsible for all of America's current ills; they had some help.

Three comments coming from members of the administration's inner circle by and large describe what was wrong with the flawed Bush Administration. They should explain why the nation is, in part, in the fix that it is in today. Those comments were as follows:

1). President Bush's comments about his base. He made it clear that in deference to what any other American had to say, that he cared solely, about the opinions of his base, and his base alone. The opinions of the American people and its allies didn't carry very much weight with America's ideological President.

2). Vice President Cheney's comments with respect to the American people: I do not care what the American people think!

3). Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's comments about some of America's allies: Oh, that's just old Europe talking!

However, are these three Neanderthals that I also affectionately refer to as Larry, Curly and Moe, responsible all by themselves for America's crises? Some Republicans and crossover Democrats are trying to scapegoat and place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Bushtanista Administration. Others I give more credit, at least they are being loyal to the end and willing to go down with the ship that continues to sink.

The fact of the matter is that the Bush triumvirate represented the thinking of a whole lot of Americans. The latter groups represents the embodiment of a venal position that has often been held by an closed group of Americans on both the right and the left. Their objectives has always been to ensure that a certain group of Americans would always retain an advantage over other nations of the world and the majority of the American people. And all of them together determined that they alone knew what was right, and that anyone who did not go alone with their nefarious thoughts, plans and schemes were simply anti-patriotic.

As bad as they were, and no one should forget it, the fact of the matter is that the world has been changing for some time and the historical have not nations are catching up. Given the rise of formerly 3rd world nations (economically) that is, and their newly emerging economies, not to mention the nuanced power shifts that have taken place that filled a former void, the world today has undergone a dramatic change right in front of our American eyes.

Aside from the arrogance of those trumpeters who marched to the beat of the Bush drums, a lot of what we are witnessing now in the global as well as the American economy has more to do with factors other than Bush and the Bushtanistas.

With the rise of the new economic powerhouses, the world has undergone a dramatic economic power shift. The America that once enjoyed a disproportionate share of the world's goods and services is no more. And short of destructive military intervention in nations like China, which some in the Bush party would have endorsed, America's former dominance in the world's economy will continue to diminish. .

The American economy has been forced to adjust to a new world-wide global economy that by and large honed its tactics and skill from none other than the Americans. I was struck the other day by the number of Americans of late who are purchasing bicycles and using them as a major form of transportation in the west. This stood out for me given the number of people in China who are purchasing automobiles. A reversal is already taking places in parts of America, given the complete shift in certain industries from American factories to factories elsewhere in the world.

As President Bill Clinton once warned the American people, many Americans who previously held manufacturing jobs that went overseas, he said, those jobs are not coming back. Who is driving the cars, buying upscale appliances, real estate and enjoying a middle class existence, for one it is the Chinese? America is the recipient of an adjustment. And what nation whose citizens who were formerly employed in a burgeoning labor industry are more and more being laid-off, downsized and repositioned, it is the workers in the United States of America.

So, as incompetent, arrogant, elitists as the Bush Administration was, some of what is taking place is inevitable. It was only a matter of time. Who has a realistic solution to the real problem that America will not retain a disproportionate share of the world's wealth, goods and services in the future? Whoever it is, that person has not articulated it. No one has stood up to say to 300 million Americans that times have changed, and in fact there will be more layoffs in the future, even if the President or President-elect were to save all of the finance, automobile and other industries so that they can sell their products overseas. The former founder of Coca Cola admitted that the only profits being made by the Coca Cola organization are being made overseas.

America is in trouble, everyone knows it, but the right people aren't saying it. At least they are not saying it aloud! More and more Americans will be purchasing bicycles instead of cars, I predict, in the days to come. And, it won't be because of their desire to get some exercise!

And by the way, greedy and America first Americans share a major part of the blame for America's current catastrophe. I believe that what is happening in a larger sense represents comeuppance, America is reaping what it has sown!

Peace & Love
Rev. C. Solomon