Why the Big Lie About the Job Crisis?

[marmar]

from HuffPost:




Les Leopold
Author, "The Looting of America"

Posted: September 3, 2010 08:36 AM

Why the Big Lie About the Job Crisis?


The August unemployment numbers are ugly, yet again. Nearly 30 million Americans are still jobless or forced into part-time jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics official unemployment rate is 9.6%. It's broader and more telling jobless rate (U6) of 16.7% confirms that we're stuck in our own version of the Great Depression. We'll need more than 22 million new jobs to bring us back to full-employment. Happy Labor Day.

To get out of this quagmire we'll have to face up to two fundamental facts:

1. We really are in the midst of a horrific jobs crisis. All the happy talk about the economy being on the road to recovery is just plain old denial. We'll never find jobs for all the people who desperately need them until we recognize that this employment crisis poses a clear and present danger to our republic. Modern capitalist societies require full employment. When we don't have it for long periods of time, chaos ensues. What's missing in Washington is a sense of urgency. Denial is dangerous -- and an insult to the unemployed.

2. We must face up to the real causes of this mess. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans are succumbing to a wrong-headed narrative that has been pushed into our heads:

"We Americans sank ourselves in debt. We consumed more than we produced. We bought homes we couldn't afford and used them as ATMs. Of course Wall Street did its part by offering us mortgages they knew we couldn't really afford. The government also contributed mightily by pushing Fannie and Freddie, the giant housing agencies, to underwrite "politically correct" loans to low-income residents who shouldn't have been buying homes at all. In short, we all are to blame."

From a flawed narrative always comes a flawed policy prescription:

"The era of excess is over. We need to cut back on spending and borrowing. We need to reduce government debt by raising the Social Security retirement age and cutting social programs We've got to streamline our public sector by laying off public employees and cutting back their lavish pensions. And all workers will have to adjust to an era of intense foreign competition: We've got to reduce our wage and benefit demands if our companies are going to compete globally. We have to live within our means."

In short, we gorged ourselves until the economy crashed. Now we've got to tighten our belts and accept less to get it going again. It's simple and logical and.....dead wrong. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/why-the-big-lie-about-the_b_704610.html

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. The corporate controlled media must control the message,

and the population's actions. It's the only way to continue to keep the fleecing going without widespread revolt.

[Supersedeas]

2. note: the big advertising never stops

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. And

it is far too effective. The passive transformation to a fascist state is beyond disconcerting.

[Merlot]

4. This is the truth:

"For starters, "we" didn't create this mess. Wall Street did, with the help of politicians who pushed through financial deregulation and an increasingly regressive tax structure that put outrageous sums of money in the hands of a few. Freed from regulations and flooded with money, Wall Street bankers went crazy. And before long, our economy crashed."

Why did people use their homes as atms? could it be stagnant wages? rising health care costs? rising education costs? In the large scheme of things, do you think the large screen teevee that everyone loves to point out really makes a difference? Like if these people just hadn't bought one to many "things" they'd be ok? No, not at all. My feeling is that most people realized they were never going to win, so in effect just stopped caring.

[LiberalEsto]

5. Don't forget the Pentagon

Think of the billions that were squandered in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.

I buy most of our clothes at garage sales. We've downsized to one car. We don't ever go out, except to an occasional church potluck supper. How the hell can anyone think people like me helped create this economic mess?

I blame Wall Street, the bloated Pentagon, and the Bushit Misadministration.

[Merlot]

6. I downsized years ago...around the dot com bubble time

and never upsized. So at least I was ready for this one. Nothing left to downsize...