September 29th,
2008
How long does something
need to go on before the only choice is to give in to the criticisms
and doomsaying?
We've seen the credit crunch
drastically affect the States in all shapes, sizes and forms. Yet the
Americans are known to ignore sound advice in favour of their trumpet-blarring
and flag-waving mentality. It happened with the Iraqi invasion, and
it's happened with their economy.
America is known for its
heavy capitalist "free market" and "freedom" regime
for its citizens. This means anyone who is capable has right to entreprise
and earn money as they deem fit. This also means that they can apply
for loans for practically everything and give a small portion for collateral
in return, to help cushion the risk on behalf of the lenders.
But if someone is coming
to you for a $400,000+ loan with virtually no way to pay if off, something's
eventually going to give. Being so proud to have the chance to experience
the so-called "American Dream" has left people and institutions
pretty much close to bankruptcy, from poor choices and insight.
People who approach this
from the outside saying "it's not going to work!" usually
have reason for saying so. But it's whether those on the inside open
the windows and take heed to the voices of warning feeding them sound
advice. Just like the previous Anecdote, one cannot fully understand
the impact of their activities unless they step outside of the box and
look at what they've done.
The credit crunch is the
result of poor decision making and an ignorance to the consequences
of such actions. Now the entire country is paying for its stupid mistakes.
But it's not only just on
a political scale where this happens. Oh no, it applies to virtually
every other aspect in our lives. The most prominent after politics,
is corporate and/or financial.
We see corporations feasting
on successes hoping to strive for that extra dollar, stretching their
resources beyond their capacity. And for what? And for what price? The
country itself is close to bankruptcy - a supposed, and unprecedented,
$700B (US) "bailout" of the sloppy financial sector will offer
some relief, albeit temporal.
It's bad enough the economy
is showing signs of poor financial arrangements, which led to poor financial
judgements, but now the people are decrying this bailout as a betrayal
of the American People (as they will now be on the hook for the reverberations
of this bailout for generations to come).
Bailing out these financial
institutions clearly shows that the capitalist system is more important
than the stability of the citizens. It also highlights how we let careless
leaders run these institutions without any trace of accountability for
their reckless spending. Just last week, for example, the former CEO
of one of the big banks went home with over $100M in severance pay and
bonus. One hundred million dollars. For destroying a bank. Perhaps we
all need to go out there and wreck an institution or two and come out
with a big payout.
Forget robbing
banks! These CEOs are establishing a great image on how to really make
it big in the world without having to do so much as lift a finger.
This reckless behaviour
shows that there is no one listening to the warning signs, but there
isn't much of a choice either way. The entire nation's ten trillion
dollar debt grows by the second with no short-term reprieve in sight.
Whoever is at the helm come
January '09 has one of the hugest jobs on their plate in recent American
history.
But hopefully those looking
in from the outside will learn a thing or two from this disaster and
kindly not bring it back to their own steads.
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