You can count on Paradox to turn each and every weekend into a downer here.
How did George W. Bush cause this to happen over in Europe?
"The European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages. Families that once enjoyed Europe’s vaunted quality of life are pinching pennies to buy necessities, and cutting back on extras like movies and vacations abroad.
Potentially more disturbing — especially to the political and social order — are the millions across the continent grappling with the realization that they may have lives worse, not better, than their parents.
“I have this feeling that there is a wall in front of us,” said Axel Marceau, a 41-year-old schoolteacher living outside of Frankfurt. “We’re just not going to get any further.”
His concerns are well-founded. A study by the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin found that the broad middle of the German work force, defined as workers making from 70 to 150 percent of the median income, shrunk to 54 percent of the population last year, from 62 percent in 2000."
...
"Spain generated thousands of jobs by pumping up the housing market, but has undergone a joblessness jump since the turmoil in real estate markets while wages have been consumed by inflation.
“When I started working at 23, I earned almost the same wage that I earn now,” said María Salgado, a 37-year-old director of television documentaries living in Madrid. Fourteen years ago, her monthly salary of about 1,200 euros ($1,873), bankrolled a full social life.
No longer. “The well-to-do middle class has become the tight middle class,” she said. “I’m surprised we haven’t started a revolution.”
Instead, Ms. Salgado cut her fish purchases to once a week, switched to supermarket brands and away from health-food stores, and halved her visits to the psychotherapist. She spends some weekends with her children, Violeta, 9, and Juan, 4, at her ex-husband’s parents’ home in the countryside — a stressful arrangement, but one that enables her to avoid expensive weekends in Madrid."
This NYTimes article reads just like anything Paradox has written here. And shock of shocks, there's no President Bush over there to cause it. Wow, what a revelation.
Posted by peter at May 3, 2008 09:18 AMI must disagree with the above post. bush is at least partially responsible for what is happening in Europe. How so? The USA has been a major economic power all over the world for many years. bush's economic policies that favor more money for big businesses and the rich violate an obvious principle of elementary economics. Many not-rich people with some money spend more than a few rich people with a lot of money. Second, thtrickle down fantasy doesn't work. As the ruralNC woman said, "Ain't none of it trickled down here." Elementary business management will tell you that companies don't hire people because they have the money. They hire people when they have more customers buying things. If they have more money but not more customers, they pocket it and take a vacation.
Add outsourcing to that and you get unemployed Americans. Which means fewer customers. Which means more unemployment.
So the American economy is tanking. Maybe bush will return from Fantasyland and see this, but I wouldn't count on it. This is dragging down the world economy, not just Europe's. Some countries are able to cope with it. Try to buy a barrel of oil. Some of the oil producers won't take dollars. You will have to pay in Euros.
It over-simplifies things to say that bush is solely responsible for the situation. But if you were to pick one man who is most responsible, there is only one candidate: g. w. bush.
No doubt about it Bush is a walking disaster but being the worse president? That depends on who you ask. Thanks to technology and legislation more voices are heard than ever before. I suspect, based on demographics and population size there were larger numbers of dissatisfied citizens in the past than there are now.
Women, blacks,the poor,and a host of minorities, just take a look at Chinese American history, and you'll see that of the 200 + years of U.S. history less than a hundred of those years included their political voice. To think they felt ambivalent or indifferent about it at the time would be... well that's another topic. The point is Bush sucks but he's not the worst, he is arrogant and willfully ignorant. Peter's post reinforces my idea that Bush, beginning with those who voted for him and ending with the policies he has put in place, is more like a symptom than a cause. Trampling rights of others? Old news as American as apple pie. We just see and hear more about it in real time.
Posted by Mec at May 3, 2008 11:20 AMBeg to differ, the EU has just as big and economy as the US. Our balance of trade with them is in their favor. And their problems predate Bush's presidency. Amazing that Spain had a similar housing market runup and is encountering a similar decline...with socialist doing the deciding. Also amusing with Labour doing the deciding in England that their petro cost has risen 20% recently.
Why have these two diverse countries run into some of the same problems we have? All of the EU are running into similar problems as we are encountering. Republicans or Bush hasn't been the problem creating the wrong direction numbers...the world economy has. People across our world have very much the same opinion as has been expressed in opinion polls here...nothing more or less. Change in leadership will not change the numbers, unless we're talking about a friend verses a foe.
Posted by peter at May 3, 2008 12:36 PMI did say "partially responsible", not "entirely responsible".
Posted by jwrjr at May 3, 2008 01:20 PMAre you rural NC? I've got people in Mount Airy area, Greensboro, and Wilmington.
Posted by peter at May 3, 2008 01:42 PMParadox is right about Americans' diminished ability to work a functioning democracy.
I believe the Bush-Cheney folks have fast-forwarded this process, which has been creeping along for decades. The cost of supporting a far-flung military deployment, across the face of the Earth, is a very steep and dangerous cost. Our children may inherit a country of constant indoctrination from corporate media markets, that aims to sustain a military state, and already begun to accept public schools which are in decline and may become permanently inferior. We could lose the battle to maintain an informed, thinking electorate, and our democracy along with it.
I'm worried because I see (in my capacity as a substitute teacher) so many students who have been lost in our stressed public schools. The situation could grow worse. Everywhere you find military recruitment literature on campus,--for comsuption by the permanent underclass--which our public policy makers are complicit in maintaining. In this degraded system, which pays a military dividend, we are left with an abundant supply of cannon fodder.
Higher education is being increasingly reserved for the children of the rich; and those on the cusp, the middle class kids, have to work harder, for longer hours, than we ever did. This is not an accident. This is the policy, the underlying process, the agenda.
It's the military, stupid...the oil, stupid...the Empire, stupid. And stupid we will be when that is the sum total of what we have.
And here's something to dismiss the silly argument that people in Europe have it as bad as we do:
Europeans have a functioning health care system, and don't live as tens of millions of Americans do, with no coverage at all. The stress here in this country of not being able to head off health problems with preventative measures or early intervention, must contribute to worsening outcomes (such as infant mortality), and as a result, reflects of our poor standing compared to other countries.
For anyone who still has any doubts about the trend of the economy (and society), and the reasons for it,--I suggest you read Chalmers Johnson's latest article:Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke.
Before we try to break down and analyze this gargantuan [military budget], there is one important caveat. Figures on defense spending are notoriously unreliable. The numbers released by the Congressional Reference Service and the Congressional Budget Office do not agree with each other. Robert Higgs, senior fellow for political economy at the Independent Institute, says: "A well founded rule of thumb is to take the Pentagon's (always well publicized) basic budget total and double it." Even a cursory reading of newspaper articles about the Department of Defense will turn up major differences in statistics about its expenses. Some 30-40% of the defense budget is "black," meaning that these sections contain hidden expenditures for classified projects. There is no possible way to know what they include or whether their total amounts are accurate. [...]
But there is much more. In an attempt to disguise the true size of the U.S. military empire, the government has long hidden major military-related expenditures in departments other than Defense. For example, $23.4bn for the Department of Energy goes toward developing and maintaining nuclear warheads; and $25.3bn in the Department of State budget is spent on foreign military assistance (primarily for Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,.. [and so on]...Another $1.3bn outside the official Department of Defense budget is now needed for recruitment and re-enlistment incentives...up from a mere $174m in 2003...at least $75.7bn [Dept. of Veterans Affairs]...Another $46bn goes to the Department of Homeland Security. Missing from this compilation is $1.9bn to the Department of Justice for the paramilitary activities of the FBI; $38.5bn to the Department of the Treasury for the Military Retirement Fund; $7.6bn for the military-related activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and well over $200bn in interest for past debt-financed defense outlays. This brings U.S. spending for its military establishment during the current fiscal year, conservatively calculated, to at least $1.1 trillion.
Such expenditures are not only morally obscene, they are fiscally unsustainable. Many neo-conservatives and poorly informed patriotic Americans believe that, even though our defense budget is huge, we can afford it because we are the ruchest country on Earth. That statement is no longer true. The world's richest political entity, according to the CIA's World Factbook, is the European Union. The E.U.'s 2006 GDP was estimated to be slightly larger than that of the U.S. Moreover, China's 2006 GDP was only slightly smaller than that of the U.S., and Japan was the world's fourth richest nation.Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 01:43 PM
"The United States is the world’s eldest Democracy at approximately 240 years..."
Actually, Icland is the world's oldest democracy. (Check on it using that Google-thingy: it is really very, very easy.)
I will refrain from correcting the rest of this article.
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 02:35 PMwe got mr idiot worst of all time because of un american fascist assholes and apologists like pants pissin petie and the bagle boy who are constant reminders of the pathetic fucking morons who elected and continue to excuse and support the worst of all time...shooter and the chimp...
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 03:10 PM"...pathetic fucking morons..."
Actually, headxray, Iceland is the worlds oldest democracy. Did you not know this?
P.S. "oldest," not "eldest."
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 03:22 PMBagley,
"eldest" and "oldest" are synonyms. Also what's the point of harping on a trivial error like the eldest/oldest democracy, Iceland? Oh yeah (lest we forget), you obsessively use trivia, distractions and decoys, to move the thread off topic, which makes you...wait for it...a troll.
Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 04:06 PM" Also what's the point of harping on a trivial error like the eldest/oldest democracy, Iceland?"
Well, if the author cannot determine a fundamental fact, is it not the case that the rest of the author's "fundamental facts" are questionable?
Also, as to...
"'eldest' and 'oldest' are synonyms."
It is a matter of usage: "eldest" is normally used in reference to lineage whereas "oldest" is normally used in reference to age regardless of lineage. (A small thing, granted, but given the error in identifying the "oldest" of democracies, I thought to make the point....)
"...to move the thread off topic...."
Given the author's predilection for hyperbole, this thread was off topic when the "submit button" was clicked.
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 04:14 PMChalmers Johnson is a former CIA analyst and a gifted writer; and his article is not hyperbole.
Bagley, you're doing what you always do: sniping with adjectives and insults. you very rarely speak on the level of the argument itself. You didn't really speak to paradox's argument or my argument, or to Johnson's argument. Johnson is an academic and would be the first to thank you for pointing out a factual error.
I have reason to question your motives, after long observation of your tactics.
Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 04:25 PMChalmers Johnson thinks that the United States is the oldest democracy?
Wow. Just wow!
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 04:32 PMyou know bagle boy unlike you I don't use insults...it's a simple fact: you, your pet chimp, and 99% of criminal party supporters (since you don't get it, I'll spell it out: republicans=criminals)are fucking idiots and morons...its simply a matter of correct labels.....
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 04:33 PMBagley, you continue on the path of the inane. "Waiter, could we have a table closer to the logos of the argument?"
Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 04:41 PM"... I don't use insults..."
"...pet chimp..."
"... republicans=criminals..."
"... fucking idiots and morons..."
Well, this simple post of yours explains [your] disconnect.
Shorter Bagley: Iceland, Iceland, Iceland. I'm smarter than Chalmers Johnson.
Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 04:50 PMso tell us how it feels bagle to be responsible for destoying American democracy? To install fascist criminals as our leaders even though they were not legally elected? How is it being a complete loser and asshole? Only an asshole would support and apologize for the criminals responsible for dismantling our democracy......got any intelligent comments for a change? Or just more of the same self serving demented bullshit that passes for logic, wit or thought in your so called brain...
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 04:53 PMwell bagle boy, you are correct about one thing: calling the fascist asshole in the white house a chimp, IS an insult to chimps the world over..........
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 04:57 PM"Shorter Bagley: Iceland, Iceland, Iceland. I'm smarter than Chalmers Johnson."
Relax, Copeland, you Lefties have never let facts get in the way of your "reality."
Oh, oh.
Headxray is responding to his own posts. Scary. (But at least he is not out in public.)
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 05:01 PMand thats the best of your pathetic excuse for wit, eh bagle? relax bagle you fascists have never let facts get in the way of your "reality."
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 05:07 PMHeadxray,
Yawn!
Oh, I am sorry: what was that you posted?
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 05:14 PMThe pioneer in analyzing what has been lost as a result of military Keynesianism was the late Seymour Melman (1917-2004), a professor of industrial engineering at Columbia University. His 1970 book, Pentagon Capitalism: The Political Economy of War, was a prescient analysis of the unintended consequences of the U.S. preoccupation with its armed forces and their weaponry since the onset of the cold war. Melman wrote: "From 1946 to 1969, the United States government spent over $1,000bn on the military, more than half of this under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations--the period during which the [Pentagon-dominated] state management was established as a formal institution. This sum of staggering size (try to visualize a billion of something) does not express the cost of the military establishment to the nation as a whole. The true cost is measured by what has been foregone, by the accumulated deterioration in many facets of life, by the inability to alleviate human wretchedness of long duration."
The fact that we did not modernize or replace our capital assets is one of the main reasons why, by the turn of the 21st century, our manufacturing base had all but evaporated. Machine tools, an industry on which Melman was an authority, are a particularly important symptom. In November 1968, a five-year inventory disclosed "that 64% of the metalworking machine tools used in U.S. industry were 10 years old or older. The age of this industrial equipment (drills, lathes, etc.) marks the United States machine tool stock as the oldest among all major industrial nations, and it marks the continuation of a deterioration process that began with the end of the second world war. This deterioration at the base of the industrial system certifies to the continuous debilitating and depleting effect that the military use of capital and research and development talent has had on American industry."
Nothing has been done since 1968 to reverse these trends and it shows today in our massive imports of equipment--from medical machines like proton accelerators for radiological therapy (made primarily in Belgium, Germany, and Japan) to cars and trucks.
Our short tenure as the world's lone superpower has come to an end. As Harvard economics professor Benjamin Friedman has written: "Again and again it has always been the world's leading lending country that has been the premier country in terms of political influence, diplomatic influence and cultural influence. It's no accident that we took over the role from the British at the same time that we took over being the world's leading lending country. Today we are no longer the world's leading lending country. In fact we are now the world's biggest debtor country, and we are continuing to wield influence on the basis of military prowess alone
--Chalmers Johnson, The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke
Posted by Copeland at May 3, 2008 05:57 PMCopeland,
If you enjoyed "The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the U.S. Has Gone Broke" you might want to read "Straw Giant: America's Armed Forces : Triumphs and Failures."
It was published in 1987.
Keep at it, one day you (and your followers) might be right (and it will be the day when you discover that you have been wrong...what a dichotomy).
Regards,
Bagley
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 06:36 PMbagle you never fail to demonstrate the 5th rate of mentality(re:lack of)demonstrated by the fascist brain..still using Mein Kampf as a source of inspiration aren't you?
Posted by headxray at May 3, 2008 07:10 PMHeadxray,
Yawn!
Oh, I am sorry: what was that you posted?
P.S. Good night all. Thanks the TLC for the bandwidth.
Posted by Bagley at May 3, 2008 07:23 PMSee what happens when you respond to traitors who wish to see you harmed?
It doesn't matter if they are right or not with their facts, I for one don't care to hear what they have to say because they have nothing but ill will of the basest sort for Americans and democracy and decency and what is right.
If a neighbor wants to cause you to lose your life savings, who wishes that you die from a preventable disease because you can't afford health insurance, why would you give a fuck what they think about issues of the day?
Wouldn't you just spit in their eye or punch their lights out as soon as hear what they have to say?
Posted by Duckman GR at May 3, 2008 10:47 PM"Just how in the hell did we get here? What are our chances of getting on the right track again?"
If you read Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason", you may conclude that irrationality, anti-intellectualism, media-induced stupidity, and Christian fundamentalism are so deeply ingrained in the American mind that Bush-like leaders may be the norm from here to the end.
Posted by bob h at May 4, 2008 05:04 AMBernanke's low interest rates and illegal backstopping of the whole network of Wall Street financial criminals have allowed a bubble to be created in world commodites, as well as inflation in these vital markets (food, oil, etc) because they are priced in (declining) dollars. Thus we are "exporting" our massive inflation around the globe.
By destroying our dollar we are placing massive pressure on the EU to devalue the Euro by decreasing interest rates in Europe to match our cuts---thus more inflation for them. So we are creating a new worldwide inflation conflagration---Bush's last nail in the coffin.
Europe allowed itself to be talked into the same sort of finanacial "free marketism" as we did in the late 1990s under the Clinton/Repub "globalisers", hence they have also had absurd real estate bubbles----no one claims these Euro-Bubbles are Bush's fault, although OUR housing bubble is his fault because he could have done something about it.
America's perverse miltarism has now destroyed its democracy and this is irreversible---there isn't a single political leader out there pointing out the connections between the decline of democracy and the rise of our military empire. Indeed, all candidates solemnly pledge to "increase" (of all things!) the size of our elephantine, bloated military. So redemption and reform are not on the horizon, and it's too late in any event.
Understanding that the Military and the Empire are destroying us is very complicated and takes intelligence, so this is not something the average person will ever understand, let alone the Pinhead Majority that HAD to re-elect Cheney in 2004.
We now live in a nation that is falling and declining. Like all declining powerful nations, we will thrash around furiously trying to determine who and what destroyed us, foreign and domestic. That's what we'll be doing for the next few decades as our standard of living unravels remorselessly. It will be bad times at Burger Barn, peter.
Our economy is a mirage, nothing but financial shell games and shenanigans, all somke and mirrors, with very little "there" there. As the once mighty dollar tanks into play money, all we have left is what we spent the past 50 years purchasing----our imperial military. So that's what we'll "use", and become the most hated nation since Nazi Germany, the last great aggressive militarist power.
Posted by euzoius at May 4, 2008 07:56 AMThere will always be authoritarian boot-lickers like pants pissing peter. We've seen this play before:
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Herman Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
Posted by Gay Veteran at May 5, 2008 12:38 PM