How The Rich Campaigned for, Lobbied and Stole Economic Recovery

It is no secret that today on the Internet, Television and Radio you will hear news of the Great Economic Recovery! While it is certainly true that the traditional indicators of economic health have shown positive signs of life, it is also true that the American Elite (the American equivalent of Russian Oligarchs) have gamed the system to make the economy look healthy, while screwing the average American in the rectal cavity. 

By now most of you have already heard of the economic recovery that has lasted the past three years. Most mainstream media and financial analysts point to unemployment figures, corporate profits, and wall street indexes to unequivocally prove that the American Economy is on a path to recovery in a big way. However, these very same analysts will not point to how the majority of American People are living today as opposed to six years ago.

The average middle class American today (wage per capita less than $60,000) will find their adjusted-for-inflation annual wages down by 5%, as opposed to six years ago. Compare that with the upper class (wage per capita more than $150,000) and the upper crust (wage per capita more than $500,000), whose adjusted-for-inflation annual wages are up by 10% and 25%, respectively. You can see the unfair disparity in these figures. 

You may ask yourself - how come the economy seems like it is healthy?

The answer is simple - it is a combination of the Federal Reserve pouring in money into the markets without any rational limits, the Unemployment Index not showing the full picture and the Corporate landscape using creative means to make a profit while preventing the benefits of those profits to reach common Americans. 

It is clear as day that since the financial crash of 2008, the Federal Reserve has been printing money to mask the deflation that should have taken place in order to stabilize the unhealthy explosion in asset values which occurred due to Bank Deregulation and the Housing Asset Bubble. And, to a certain extent, the Federal Reserve has been successful in psychologically bypassing the panic and collapse associated with the deflation of the Great Depression of 1929. 

However, just like Herbert Hoover's administration in the post-crash years, Barak Obama's administration has stepped into the same trap of trying to stimulate the economy from the top down. In Hoover's time it was called "Trickle-Down Economics", in Obama's time it is called "Bailout" and "Stimulus Package". History teaches us that it doesn't teach us anything. Just like in the 20th century, in the 21st century the Corporations kept the money made as a result of Government assistance, while the average American has seen their savings shrivel and their paycheck devalue with time. 

With respect to the Unemployment Index, all it shows is how many Americans are getting a paycheck. While it is true that there are many more people employed today as opposed to four years ago, it is also true that the vast majority of recent employment opportunities are either part-time, contract, full-time positions with lower salaries, or full-time positions with multiple role responsibilities. As such, a large majority of American population that is a part of the "employed" figures according to the index is in fact "underemployed", if not completely overworked. 

Corporate profits are up! The American stocks are soaring in value. But the vast majority of this growth is due to creative tactics, not an increase in productivity. The Corporations are using the free liquidity pouring in from the Federal Reserve to restructure their debt (refinance) and make their balance sheets look healthier. They are also cutting their biggest expense - the employees. Whether it is through laying off older more expensive employees in favor of fresh from college graduates, reducing employee benefits, or "consolidating" their workforce by having fewer employees do more - it leads to the appearance of profits. If that wasn't enough, the profits the companies are getting, they're not using to grow the business and hire more people - the corporations know there isn't a growth in the actual demand. Instead, they increase the value of their stock by putting all of those profits to buy back their own stock, which leaves the remaining shares more valuable - making it look like the company is growing, when in fact it is not.

So the Corporate Landscape, which was too big to fail, is thriving! However, the ordinary people who make these corporations work are losing. They are losing in wages, benefits, personal time, rising cost of goods, and oh by the way having their tax dollars sponsor the bailouts of the very companies that are now fleecing them.

The true problem is that we, as a people, have lost faith in our Democracy. Through our apathy, we have turned it into a De Facto Polyarchy! Get off your lazy ass and write a page, just a page, to your local representatives and senators. Make sure that your voice is heard! Make phone calls to those same representatives and senators. Get your community to know the facts and get them voting. This should be our Outbreak - an Outbreak of Consciousness.

From American Dream to Corporate Lie

Before we start, I want to make it clear to everyone - I no longer consider the American Government and the American Corporate landscape two separate entities. They have been melded together and when I refer in this article to "Corporate", I refer to both as one.

Ahhh, the American Dream. It began as a reflection of our forefathers' desire to give every citizen an equal opportunity to succeed, to get ahead in life. The desire to move up, achieve a greater social and economic status are all the trademarks of the New World, as no other modern society before the United States of America has provided such an opportunity. This premise of wealth and prosperity through hard work and dedication proves elusive to most. Yet through most of American history, it has yielded some of the most productive working and middle classes in the world. This concept has given the Corporate structures a great advantage in terms of innate motivation and productivity. Furthermore, people are unlikely to rise up and rebel against the Corporate structures, as this very premise makes the people believe that by rising up or rebelling they are risking a lot. While the average American citizen that followed this premise in the past was unlikely to achieve the American Dream, the very pursuit was good enough to earn a decent living - something we Americans often take for granted. 

It is, of course, pure genius from a managerial perspective. You have a productive dedicated workforce and a mental safety net for the Corporate without a whole lot of effort needed from the top. However, since the time of our forefathers, there have been significant changes in economic and societal landscapes.

From a Corporate standpoint, a person can earn money, which means that he or she can be taxed on the money earned. Furthermore, that very same person can be a productive worker for any Corporate structure. Therefore, that person has the potential to provide the Corporate structures with profit twice. As far as the Corporate landscape is concerned, the more ways money can be generated from the same source, the better.

In present day, the American Dream no longer stands as just a premise of a better tomorrow through personal effort, but rather a well-crafted concept of acquisition of goods and status, regardless of means. You've all heard the standard consumerism version - a good education, a house, two kids, two cars. This is the Corporate Lie.

This is just Corporate Propaganda to make you feel like you're doing what you think is an accepted tried and true path to prosperity. In reality, for most people who blindly follow this version of the American Dream, it is a path to financial and personal ruin.

Let's break this down. For every part of the American Lie shown above, I will give you the following - the way the Corporate structures profit from the person and an alternative the person can pursue in order to benefit himself or herself instead of the Corporate structures.

I will start with Education, both emotional and academic. This is the foundation for all successful individuals that I have come across. The Corporate Lie dictates that pursuing a higher education (College or University) can provide you with a big salary, consequently financial stability and is crucial to your career. However, this lie is pushed by the for profit schools, which are in fact corporations themselves. These corporations make money from Student Loans and Government Grants. Grants are often paid for by the American Taxpayer, while Student Loans are an easy way to make money off the student who follows the Corporate Lie. As a result, The School Corporations profit from tuition, the Bank Corporations profit from loan interest, while the American Taxpayer and the Student are paying. What's worse, the same Corporate structures are outsourcing the very professions you are being trained to fulfill. So it is very likely that after leaving a higher education facility with an enormous debt, you may not have a reasonable opportunity to pay it off.

Let's take a step back - a good academic education begins with the right mindset at a young age. That mindset can only be framed through good emotional education from parents. It is only once a person feels good about him or herself and knows how to handle emotions, as well as how to express them, that a kid is able to get the most out of academic education. Next, all the building blocks a person needs for a good academic foundation can be found from first grade through the end of high school. There are classes of both general and specialized nature that any student can take in high school, which are applicable in the workforce. By the time you leave High School, if you have dedicated yourself, you should be ready for the workforce in a general sense. Now a student needs to acquire what is considered "higher education", which I consider to be skills relevant to your profession. Now I am not saying that students should skip college, far from it. In fact certain professions - Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, actually require college. And some fields do not require higher education at all. However for majority of academic fields, a combination of less costly book study with online courses can yield better results than attending a far costlier four year university. In a four year university a student will wind up taking courses that have nothing to do with their given profession, while an online curriculum can be crafted to include just the relevant courses - after all you're paying for it. Also, while you're going through online study and book study, make sure to get an internship in your field of choice - it will teach you to apply academic knowledge to practice. And that is all you need to get the higher education necessary to enter the work force. The rest of what you need in your given profession is on the job training, that's how the vast majority of graduates (including from ivy leagues) get started anyway.

Home ownership is the most advertised part of the Corporate Lie. We have heard all the monikers - it is the first step to raising a family, it is an investment. First of all, you can raise a family in an apartment, a condo or a log cabin, if you are so inclined. Last time I checked, human reproduction in America does not coincide with owning a home. Second, a home is not an investment, far from it. A house is a depreciating asset that in most cases loses value over time and is susceptible all kinds of risks beyond your control. The "investment" myth came about the inflating home prices during the latter end of the 20th century and the first few years of the 21st. However, if you track people's salaries with respect to home values, you will see that the home by itself serves as a preservation of capital at best and a total loss of equity at its worst. A home is a dwelling that the Corporate landscape loves for a multitude of reasons, here are some:
1) Banks Collect Interest - With a 3.75% rate on a 30 year mortgage, you will wind up paying an additional 50% of the value of your home in interest over the life of your loan.

2) Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) - These bonds represent future earnings from home loans.
3) Insurance Premiums - You are required by the lending bank to pay for home insurance, which increases over time.

4) Property Taxes - Local townships love the taxes collected from home owners and constantly increase them.

5) Home Improvement Stores - Where you will spend money to make the home fit your style.

6) Furniture Stores - Where you will get a bed, couches, chairs, and tables.

And don't forget the implied repair costs associated with home ownership - a leaky roof, torn siding, burst pipe, termites, carpenter ants, mold, heating/ac problems, etc. These are all things you would likely not be responsible for, had you been living in an apartment or a condo. When you add up the difference in costs of living in a house versus apartment/condo, and add that difference to cost of the home, you can consider yourself lucky if you get half that money back when you are ready to sell your "investment".

The only way that a house becomes profitable for the consumer is if you are renting it out to tenants or its land becomes suddenly valuable due to a natural resource discovery or proximity to a desirable site.

My advice is to go for an apartment or a condo, and you will be pleasantly surprised by how much more money you can save. With the condo, make sure to only buy it when you have the money to pay for it outright - you don't want to pay the interest on the loan, trust me. You will have far fewer headaches and more money in your pocket.

Next up are the children. The Corporate structures do not see your kids as pride and joy, they see them as dollar signs and future consumers/taxpayers. With the kids, you have to pay for baby formula, diapers, clothes, medicine, daycare, etc. Yet some adults in this country are not prepared to be parents at all, neither emotionally nor financially. Life is not a lock-step approach where you hit a milestone and move on to the next one - it is a path specific to the person you are (as well as your partner) that is unique in every sense. And you should only have kids when you're absolutely ready to be responsible, in every sense of the word, for bringing another life into this world. Introducing a child into this world by parent(s) who are unable to provide the right environment for that child, is downright criminal in my opinion.

Cars, the Corporate Lie emphasizes status symbols above all else. And much like the house, a car is a status symbol. Even more so, it is also a depreciating asset that will need to be replaced at least a couple of times in your lifetime. In most cases it requires a loan, where the banks make money on interest. It provides business for the Auto Repair shops, Auto Body Shops, Oil Change facilities, Auto Parts stores, Insurance Companies, etc. Unlike the house, you do need a form a transportation. And for most people who live outside large cities where Mass Transit can be a viable substitute, a car is a necessity. However, heed my advice and don't treat it as a status symbol - get something that meets your needs for transportation while taking the least out of your wallet, nothing more. A Bentley is not going to get you to work any faster than a KIA during a traffic jam in the morning.

Don't live the Corporate Lie, live your own version of the American Dream that is based on personal fulfillment and true happiness that is not tied to anything you can buy.