I do wonder how long people will put up with austerity. what percentage of the people have to become unemployed before something drastic happens. could events in Greece (which seems to be the most hard-hit) set off a series of conflagrations the same way that events in Tunisia set off the Arab Spring last year? it seems like things here in the US have quieted down quite a bit from the Occupy movements of last year. still, if one country like Greece reaches a breaking point, could it set things off in the rest of the West? I think that what most people resent the most is that the very people that caused this crisis (the banks and financial institutions) are the ones getting bailed out and earning record profits, while the rest of us are told we are lazy and to tighten our belts. they say that the economic crisis in Greece and Italy and Spain show that you cannot keep the kind of social programs going indefinitely - that it will catch up with you sooner or later. oh, but banks and corporations who spend millions on buying politicians can still earn record profits even in a recession?? but the rest of us have to tighten our belts. something doesn't add up here...
I doubt that Germany, UK. or the US are anywhere close to Greece's level. Even Spain is decent considering that they don't have the massive debt that Greece has/had. The problem with Greece and Italy, which has been known for years, is that they lack effective and consistent tax collection. Yeah, we have our problems here in the US, but largely we pay our taxes or often do something else legally (let us stick to the majority of the population). This, I believe, is the root of the problem over their trimming of social welfare programs. At the same time, I hope Congress looks at Greece, Italy, and even the UK which all show that austerity causes problems, first. Stimulus does not, but since the programs are funded by the government and not run by the government, it is, in effect, trickle down. To give you an example, I was talking to somebody who works for a bank in NYC financial. This bank has an entire floor (25+ people) in one area. Reduced that to 2 people, then transferred one of them to another area. There is now 1 person who runs an entire floor, and does the work for an entire floor. Yet profits are rolling in.
'Lobbyists' are nothing more than advertising agencies with a target audience so small that each consumer can be individually corrupted.
yeah, I agree with your last two paragraphs, so I will focus on the first. since the whole Occupy movement has cooled off in the US and the West in general, it seems much less likely that much will happen in the US. yet if you look at how the Arab Spring unfolded, when Tunisia flared up, who would have thought that Mubarak, and Mumar would fall, and Syria would be embroiled in a civil war. when there is so much pent up frustration and resentment, something very small and seemingly insignificant can create its own momentum. perhaps it won't reach the US, but I think it could definitely topple some governments in Europe. I don't mean topple them the way a dictatorship is toppled, but in a milder way, a popular uprising that would force the government out of power, and force some significant reforms instituted by populist candidates, rather than the traditional politicians and technocrats. I can honestly see something like this happening.
the revolving door between private industry and the very top levels of executive agencies is also a big contributor to the problem. the executive agencies are not being lead by career bureaucrats and technocrats, but rather people from private industry who spend a few years in Government, establish relationships that will later help grease the skids of whatever programs or bills they try to pass, and then move on. but they bring the mentality of private industry into the Government and lead the agency in accordance with those principles.
How the hell do you remember all these threads you start? I thought you were smoking weed when you when on these stream-of-consciousnesses posts.
sometimes I have to search for them and go way back in the archives. no weed. sometimes I just get carried away in my own stream of consciousness and don't realize I'm actually typing my thoughts in a post on P&CE.
nothing really new here, but it's still kind of disheartening when you see it all laid out like this... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miche...as_b_6558656.html?utm_hp_ref=denver&ir=Denver