Phew, do I feel like the enemy here. I’m a retired accountant, part time stock trader, teacher and a few other handles. I love business, competition and the market structure. Responsibility for our current debt, market structure, income imbalance, and the myriad of other economic issues we face is our own fault. “C” summed it up in one word: GREED. Our latest debacle came on the heels of cheap credit that we readily abused, buying cheap goods from Asia, houses that we could flip and an economic environment that was libertine to say the least. History will show that we allowed it to get out of control. Of course this is a complex situation, people abused trust and responsibility, but the root cause of our problems are our own. When you add to the problems our growing government and the huge influence corporate America has exercised on Washington ( on both parties) it just accelerates and intensifies the problems. Our actions, values, principles, are exercised in a very basic principal: supply and demand and our capability to elect our leaders. When you don’t support a business trend it dies for lack of support. When elected leaders don’t honestly and realistically put your interests over politics and their own gains, dump them. When you insist on term limits, lobbying laws with teeth and an end to crony capitalism in Washington you change the system. It’s not a one time fix, it’s not one party ruling over another, this is a process that will take years. I "preach " this to students and encourage them to look for solutions to our current economic malaise. I never cease to be amazed and encouraged by their ideas, especially when they are devoid of political talking points. Any political talking points. They all know I am a Libertarian and regardless of their political leanings, often take the position of the devil’s advocate just to challenge their thinking. Debate is wonderful and challenging and often fosters new ideas. For the sake of the children I hope we can overcome this bitterness and contention that exists today. I may be beating a hollow drum, but seeing this environment continue can lead to nothing but our further economic and cultural demise. Thanks for letting me share…
Phew, do I feel like the enemy here. I’m a retired accountant, part time stock trader, teacher and a few other handles. I love business, competition and the market structure. Responsibility for our current debt, market structure, income imbalance, and the myriad of other economic issues we face is our own fault. “C” summed it up in one word: GREED. Our latest debacle came on the heels of cheap credit that we readily abused, buying cheap goods from Asia, houses that we could flip and an economic environment that was libertine to say the least. History will show that we allowed it to get out of control. Of course this is a complex situation, people abused trust and responsibility, but the root cause of our problems are our own. When you add to the problems our growing government and the huge influence corporate America has exercised on Washington ( on both parties) it just accelerates and intensifies the problems. Our actions, values, principles, are exercised in a very basic principal: supply and demand and our capability to elect our leaders. When you don’t support a business trend it dies for lack of support. When elected leaders don’t honestly and realistically put your interests over politics and their own gains, dump them. When you insist on term limits, lobbying laws with teeth and an end to crony capitalism in Washington you change the system. It’s not a one time fix, it’s not one party ruling over another, this is a process that will take years. I "preach " this to students and encourage them to look for solutions to our current economic malaise. I never cease to be amazed and encouraged by their ideas, especially when they are devoid of political talking points. Any political talking points. They all know I am a Libertarian and regardless of their political leanings, often take the position of the devil’s advocate just to challenge their thinking. Debate is wonderful and challenging and often fosters new ideas. For the sake of the children I hope we can overcome this bitterness and contention that exists today. I may be beating a hollow drum, but seeing this environment continue can lead to nothing but our further economic and cultural demise. Thanks for letting me share…