{"article":{"id":34317,"heading":"Fear of a spiral into Depression as job losses mount","author":"Brent Herbert","created":"2003-03-09 10:54:50","modified":"2013-11-10 23:48:58","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:48:58","article":"

The United States economy shed another 308,000 jobs in the month of February, bringing the official jobless toll up to eight and half million. (The official jobless rate always underestimates the true unemployment numbers, since it does not count those out of work for a very long time, and those who have simply given up on looking for work). This took place after the millions of jobs shed in the last several years during a ‘recession' which began officially, in the spring of 2001. The measure of consumer confidence dropped to about 79 per cent, and the retailing sector has been heavily hit in the recent rounds of job cuts, and this after a dismal Christmas retailing season, where sales were generated through deflationary price cuts, generating lower profits for the retailing sector.

During the Ronald Reagan years an experiment was tried on the economy which was nicknamed ‘trickle down economics'. According to the theory the more wealth that was transferred to the extremely rich top percentile, the better everything would get for everyone down at the bottom, the workers and consumers who provide the base for the economy. Reagan instituted the ‘don't tax and then spend' policy of the Republican party, which was supposed to lead to a huge surge in the economy, by cutting taxes for the very rich, who would then ‘trickle down' this money to the base of the economy. (You will notice that it is not called ‘flood down theory' but rather ‘trickle down theory', this being in line with the saying ‘Greed is good' which one then began to hear around the same time, since it is said that human greed is the great engine that drives the American economy, and though people might want to just keep getting richer, they would have a strong motivation to rather trickle down money so as to get even richer over the long haul). Trickle down economics has been thoroughly discredited, in that all that statistics prove that all that happened during the Reagan years was that a massive transfer of wealth took place, and truly the rich just kept getting richer while the base of the economy kept getting poorer.

Reagan also forced through the ‘Free Slave Trade' concept, where jobs would be exported to low wage nations and then cheaply produced goods would be imported and sold for higher profits. It was this slave trade that was responsible for the temporary surge in profits combined with a resulting stock market bubble, that was then referred to as ‘the Reagan miracle'. The end result of the transfer of jobs and the resulting downward pressure on wages and benefits has been described as ‘the great race to the bottom'. Wage cuts, wage freezes, union busting and other accompanying tactics only further eroded the bottom of the market, creating what I call the ‘trickle up economic pain effect' which eventually led even large multinational corporations to do such things as cook the books and try all sorts of trickery to hide the fact that they were no longer showing profits as the hangover from the Reagan years began to severely impact the economy toward the end of the nineties.

According to the mathematical analysis performed by Albert Einstein of all the Great Depressions which hit the economy over the past couple of centuries, gross income inequality combined with the resulting erosion at the base of the market in a market based economy leads to increasingly severe Great Depressions, with the severity of the depression being in direct correlation to the how extreme the income inequality has become in a society. It is impossible for a market based economy to remain stable when jobs and wages are eroded and slashed at the base, with the money supply becoming top heavy and concentrated in the hands of tiny percentage of the population. Much like a ship with huge weights attached to the top of a tall mast, the economy becomes top heavy, destabilizes and then spirals into destruction with further job cuts further eroding the base of the market, leading to lower sales leading to further downward pressures on prices (‘deflation') leading to reduced profits, and further job cuts, and so on.

Currently Japan is fighting with deflation, the Germany economy has stalled, and the price slashing over the Christmas season in America is the first clear sign of deflationary pressures building in the American economy, with the recent job slashes in the retail sector a second strong indication. The recent huge job cuts is another signal that due to the Free Slave Trade and the trickle down economic theory, America is now on the verge of something far worse than an ordinary ‘recession' (a sort of pot hole in the road) but heading into a deep gulley. Time will tell.

http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2003\/03\/07\/news\/economy\/unemployment\/index.htm<\/a>

It was this spiral that an economist was worried about in the story as it was reported on the CNN site, when he said of the third of a million job cuts in February, and the hard hits being taken by the retail sector in the recent times, \" \"What worries me the most is a slip backward becoming a spiral downward. Jobs are the linchpin of both consumer confidence and consumer spending. We can't sustain many more losses like this without that downward spiral getting started,\" said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services.\"

Now this dangerous situation with the economy does also impact on any analysis of warfare and the current political climate in the United States of America as it slips and slides towards of a form of extreme right wing fascism and the establishment of a ‘fuhrer state'. During the last Great Depression in the thirties a tiny elite had gained massive wealth and had capsized the economy in the process, leading to the surge of the left onto the political scene. Right wing extremism surged around the world, leading to dictatorships and fascism and then to aggressive wars to exploit the resources in other countries as these right wing dictatorships looked for relief from their economic woes, without of course, doing goodness but rather by doing evil, so as to protect that status quo. The same imperialist impulses are rapidly developing in America as once again the economy is under dangerous threat due to the extreme social inequality that has developed in the country since the Reagan Revolution (as it was called) and also due to the great race to the bottom, the erosion of jobs and wages, which leads directly to the massive hangover after the temporary binge of Free Slave Trading. Greed is not good, and neither is any other kind of sinful wickedness, and sooner or later, when the grapes of wrath have ripened on the vines, any country of nation that practices sinful ways finds themselves working those wine vats of wrath, and bottling copious amounts of that deleterious and unwanted wine. Yes, the great wheel of history is a cruel and ruthless bitch in that way, to be sure, and so now, given how hard it is to fix the damage, and the great forces of reaction that will resist any real, meaningful change, it now appears that the United States is about to embark on a Nazi like era of aggressive wars, wars for cheap oil and other exploitable resources in just one more sinful attempt to make some greedy gain and put off the day of reckoning...

What this means, is that you can obey the draft, should that become required at some future time, as the situation escalates and American hubris and arrogance and extreme violence do not prove to be quite the grand and majestic things some delusional types like to desperately force themselves to believe that they are...Yes, you can send your kids off to die to protect the status quo, being sinful to save oneself from past sinful conduct, so adding sin onto sin, and while you are at it you can be overwhelmed by the most powerful delusions, convincing yourself that evil can triumph and sin can bring in a harvest of the grapes of blessings, if you are just evil and violent and sinful enough. Just one more sin should do it...

For those not interested in wickedness, mass murder of children, oppression, the crushing of civil rights, the rise of fascism and extremism, and every other sort of wicked reactionary sinfulness, there are good alternatives. Foremost, the cure must address the illness, and should the country slide into depression, the solution is not fascist imperialism, robbery, and warfare, nor is it appropriate for you to ‘die for you country' in some far off land, but rather redistribution of wealth is the solution. Furthermore an appropriate ‘economic stimulus plan' would once again not consist of sinful destruction and blowing things up and bombing (thus destroying even more of the base of the economy in the process) but rather in a novel concept, not being sinful or greedy but rather taking all your wickedness money, almost a trillion dollars a year spent on killing tools every year, and spending it all on a great Marshall Plan for the planet, doing something decent for the billion who go without even one square meal everyday. You cannot have social inequality without having social inequality, after all, and when you look at a country like Columbia, for example, a very tiny elite of feudal landlords are the ‘rightful owners' of three quarters of the land and wealth in the country and many millions live in utter squalor, while the country is convulsed by violence and rebellion, and soon enough, given that Washington pays for oppression in nations around the world, soon enough Americans don't feel very safe, even at home. If you want to be safe, you must stop sinning, and those who practice wickedness must drink the wine that is produced at harvest time.

Woe to the nation that turns justice into poison, and which thrusts righteousness and peace to the ground, who hate the one who brings charges against the sinful wrongdoers, and despise those who speak nothing but the truth. Woe to the nation that oppresses the poor, grinding them down, extorting from them and leaving them even more wretched and miserable than before. Therefore, although people have built mighty mansions built out of marble and hewn stone, they shall not live in them. Though they own massive vineyards, they shall not drink the wine from them, for monstrous and many are their sins, those bullies who attack and slaughter the innocent, hold entire nations hostage, who corrupt justice in the courts and push the poor and destitute out of the way. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice on the planet. Then it may be that good times and favor may yet be shown to this planet.

And yet people thrust aside all thought of the evil day, and thus they hasten the reign of violence and wickedness on earth, and they do not grieve over the ruin of the planet. And so, time and time again they are abandoned to their terrible fate, as violence reduces to the great houses to rubble and the small houses are shattered. ‘Have we not won power through our own great strength,' they boast. Listen then, to this, you who grind the faces of the poor, buying the weak for a piece of silver and the selling the poor for the price of a pair of cheap sandals. Will not the earth quake on account of this? Will not everyone who lives upon it be brought to grief and mourning? The whole earth will surge and seethe like the River Nile, and subside like the River of Egypt. The earth will be plunged into strife and darkness, and feasts will become times of mourning, and everyone will be dressed in mourners clothes, for it will be a very bitter day. The pillars are struck and the whole porch is shaken, and the roof comes crashing down on the heads of the people. Woe to the nation that practices godless sinfulness, the nation that can never practice simple decency, common justice, or righteousness, peace and truth. Woe to that wicked place when the time to harvest comes around, and the grapes of wrath hang heavily on the vines.

.A related page :

The Great Depression. George Bush vs Einstein on economic policy

According to the mathematician, Albert Einstein, the policies of George Bush are likely to result in another Great Depression. To quote a recurring quip, 'I know George Bush, and let me tell you, George Bush is no Albert Einstein.'

http:\/\/www.awitness.org\/journal\/great_depression.html<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Dismal sales at Christmas time were propped up by deflationary price cuts, and now the retail sector is among the hardest hit as one third of a million jobs are slashed in February. Not coincidentally, the same rise of the Extreme Right Wing is taking place as was seen during the depression of the 30s, with the same drive to seek relief in aggressive wars of conquest...","numcomment":3,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/03\/34317.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":34318,"heading":"the main victims","article":" The death toll of the secret war being waged silently against the poor of the world will reach close to 40 million while the world is kept distracted by the Iraq war and the poorest nations on earth maintain their interest payments on their paltry loans in the midst of one of the most devastating famines of modern times. The country of Eritrea is about to disappear from the map of the world as 70 per cent of the population is at risk, and food is about to run out, and none is on the way. This famine has been developing for over a year now, so there was plenty of warning and these human beings could have been saved for even two per cent of the estimated 50 billion dollars in bribe money the Americans are paying to buy votes in the United Nations for their little war...\r\n\r\n\r\nBeautiful Lyrics from Sarah McLachlan's Solace CD\r\n\r\nBack Door Man\r\n\r\nYou open your eyes, look around\r\nYou feel the earth it wanders out\r\nOut, from under your feet - the ground\r\nis not firm but soft and weak - like skin\r\nunder the touch, cannot stop to falter\r\nNow, the damage is done, the certainties gone\r\nthe spirits altered\r\n\r\nand now the angry morning\r\ngives the early signs of warning\r\nYou must face alone the plans you made\r\ndecisions they will try to break\r\n\r\nOur hands are tied on the table\r\nMaybe you can try at the back door man\r\nWhile the helpless line up on the doorsteps\r\nAnd its all they can do to try to get through\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nShelter\r\n\r\nThey're crowded into the smallest spaces\r\nWhile outside all of nature cries\r\nIt's known to be cruel and unfair\r\nBut there is no place to hide\r\n\r\nOh, I've seen a part of people that I never\r\nreally wanted to share\r\nOh I've seen a part of people that I never\r\nknew was there\r\n\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\n\r\nI can't sleep, I'm haunted by their faces\r\nThe sadness in their eyes\r\nIt hurts so much to see them helpless\r\nIt makes me want to cry\r\nBut still there is so much left unanswered\r\nFor so many innocent lives\r\nThey've closed the doors and are letting nobody in\r\nAnd only the strong will survive\r\n\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\n\r\nI've seen the anger and I've seen all the dreams\r\nI've watched as their existence is torn apart at the seams\r\nAnd though I may seem helpless\r\nI will do all that I can do\r\n\r\nOh, I've seen a part of people that I never\r\nreally wanted to share\r\nOh I've seen a part of people that I never\r\nknew was there\r\n\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\nShelter - give them shelter from the coming storm\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSarah McLachlan's Eden Song\r\n\r\nMother teach me to walk again\r\nMilk and Honey so intoxicating\r\n\r\nInto the fire\r\nI'm reunited\r\ninto the fire\r\nI am the spark\r\nInto the fire\r\nI yearn for comfort\r\n\r\nOpen the doors that lead on into Eden\r\nNo more cheap disguise\r\nFollow the signs marked back to the beginning\r\nNo more compromise\r\nI will stare into the sun until its light doesn't blind me\r\nI will walk into the fire until its heat doesn't burn me\r\nAnd I will feed the fire\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Campaign to Impeach George W. Bush\r\nhttp:\/\/www.awitness.org\/journal\/impeach_george_bush.html","author":"bh","parent_id":34317,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2003-03-09 11:51:44","modified":"2005-08-15 01:15:01","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/03\/famine_human_face.jpgqqztgg.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2003\/03\/famine_human_face.jpgqqztgg.jpg"}},{"id":34319,"heading":"more sarah","article":"more beautiful lyrics from Sarah's Solace CD (just another Saturday morning listening to Sarah...)\r\n\r\nBlack\r\n\r\nAs the walls are closing in\r\nAnd the colors fade to black\r\nand my eyes are falling fast and deep into me\r\nand I follow tracks that lead me down\r\nand I never follow what's right\r\nand they wonder sometimes when they see all the\r\nsadness and pain the truth brings to light\r\n\r\nCause I can't see no reason\r\nwhat is blind cannot see\r\ncause I want what is pleasing\r\nAll I take should be free\r\nWhat I rob from the innocent ones\r\nWhat I'd steal from the womb\r\n\r\nIf I cried me a river of all my confessions\r\nwould I drown in my shallow regret\r\n\r\nAs the walls are closing in\r\nand the colors fade to black\r\nand the night is falling ast and deep into the sea\r\nand in the darkness all that I can see\r\nthe frightened and the weak\r\nare forced to cling to mistakes they no nothing of\r\nat mercy are the meek\r\nIf I cried me a river of all my confessions\r\nwould I drown in my shallow regret\r\n\r\nDrawn to the Rhythm\r\n\r\nWhen we wore a heart of stone, we wondered to the sea\r\nHoping to find some comfort there, yearning to feel free\r\nand we were mezmerized by the lull of the night and the smells\r\nthat filled the air\r\nand we layed us down on sandy ground, it was cold but\r\nwe didn't care\r\n\r\nwe were drawn to the rhythm, drawn into the rhythm of the sea\r\nwe were drawn to the rhythm, drawn into the rhythm of the sea\r\n\r\nwe fell asleep and began to dream\r\nwhen something broke the night\r\nmemories stirred inside of us\r\nthe struggle and the fight\r\nand we could feel the heat of a thousand voices\r\ntelling us which way to go\r\nand we cried out is their no escape, from the words that plague us so\r\n\r\nin the still and the silent dawn\r\nanother day is born\r\nwashed up by the tireless waves\r\nbody bent and torn\r\nwhen you wake in the face of the blinding sun\r\nand you search only to find\r\nthat heaven is a stranger place than the one you left behind\r\n\r\nwe were drawn to the rhythm, drawn into the rhythm of the sea\r\nwe were drawn to the rhythm, drawn into the rhythm of the sea\r\n\r\n","author":"bh","parent_id":34317,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-09 12:13:28","modified":"2003-03-09 12:13:28","fileurl":""},{"id":34321,"heading":"beautiful poetry from Isaiah","article":"Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, \r\nto turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! \r\nWhat will you do on the day of punishment, in the storm which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? \r\nNothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this YAHWEH's anger is not turned away and YAHWEH's hand is stretched out still. \r\n\r\nTherefore strong peoples will glorify thee; cities of ruthless nations will fear thee. \r\nFor thou hast been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the blast of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, \r\nlike heat in a dry place. Thou dost subdue the noise of the aliens; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. \r\n\r\nAnd now, go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness for ever. \r\nFor they are a rebellious people, lying children who will not hear the instruction of YAHWEH; \r\nwho say to the seers, "See not"; and to the prophets, "Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, \r\nleave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel." \r\nTherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on them; \r\ntherefore this sin shall be to you like a break in a high wall, cracked and bulging, and about to collapse, whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant; \r\nand its breaking is like that of a potter\u2019s vessel which is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." \r\n\r\nThe fool will no more be called noble, nor the knave said to be honorable. \r\nFor the fool speaks folly, and his mind plots iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning YAHWEH, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink. \r\nThe knaveries of the knave are evil; he devises wicked devices to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right. \r\nBut the one who is noble devises noble things, and by noble things they stand. \r\nRise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. \r\nIn little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the fruit harvest will not come. \r\nTremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. \r\nBeat upon your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, \r\nfor the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers; yea, for all the joyous houses in the joyful city. \r\nFor the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; \r\nuntil the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. \r\n","author":"bh","parent_id":34317,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-09 12:48:45","modified":"2013-11-10 23:48:58","fileurl":""}]}