leftyjace
Well-Known Member
Oh man. Don't get me started on why the 80's - 2000's was so "good". The "foundation" upon which that economic strength was built upon was an illusion comprised of debt instruments.
Oh man. Don't get me started on why the 80's - 2000's was so "good". The "foundation" upon which that economic strength was built upon was an illusion comprised of debt instruments.
candrew
Well-Known Member
At least in the 90's you had prosperity based on innovation (over-speculated of course, but at least it was something tangible).
Agree on the 80's and 2000's though. 2000's will be looked upon by historians as essentially our point of no return
D
Deleted member 365
Guest
What do you mean?
This. We, in our current state, are what we get for coddling the rich when the mentality of the population is built on simple, human concept: Greed.
I'm no economist, but I will say that until we move away from personal Greed as the driver to get people to work, and work harder, we are doomed to end up in the same position we're in now, possibly worse. We need to happy with ourselves, and where we're at. That will naturally get people to be more productive.
Everyone asks why is the Economy stagnant when any talking head worth their salt says it's going to kick off any second now? If you made your fortune sucking the teet of Reaganomics your entire life, and someone finally said "Yeah, this isn't getting us anywhere. Lets change tactics!", how quick would you be to adopt change?
That's why we need another great leader like Reagan: to convince us by saying all the right things to cover the illusions.
Meh. Chicken little is for the commoners.
You can't be serious.
candrew
Well-Known Member
green
Well-Known Member
I don't think what you are saying is correct at all. I don't agree with any of it.
leftyjace
Well-Known Member
This is confusing. You're condemning a social phenomena, not an economic theory, practice, or indicator.
If my earning as much as I do so as to enjoy life in comfort constitutes greed, then I'm greedy, and refuse to apologize for it. This is my life, it's the only one I've got, and ultimately I'm in it completely alone (please, let's not get into theological debate here - I am an agnostic, albeit a hopeful one). I appreciate your Utopian perspective on reasons for being productive, but... we are talking about human beings, after all. The vast majority of us are basically selfish and largely function with mostly selfish motives - just like any other "animal" on this earth, more or less.
Marxian economics is proven to have failed. Capitalism has not. In fact, capitalism is the perfect structure for greed as well as charity to co-exist. That's the top two motivators for trying to be more productive right there.
candrew
Well-Known Member
First of all I think we all need to be honest - the economy had been going downhill since way before 2008. We've basically been in a 13 year funk of recession followed by underwhealming recovery. Starting at the end of Clinton/Gore in 2000 and all through Bush II and Obama the economy has sucked. The government doesn't even pretend to represent the people anymore, the disparity between rich and poor is reaching Gilded Age proportions and The Baby Boom Generation is just now starting to suck us dry
Don't get me wrong it probably won't happen in my life time and we'll probably not go out in a bang - more like a whimper and we'll end up a second rate mess like England. But I'm more than convinced this country has already seen it's best days.
leftyjace
Well-Known Member
You know, I can't help but wonder... how much of this is due to 9/11? Not just the economic impact, but also the impact on consumer confidence?
Point to ponder.
If you look at the psychology behind why average joe commoner has a special way of losing money you'll find chicken little syndrome as the overwhelming driver. It's human nature, even moreso in a Christian dominated society with an Armageddon mindset. People have been calling for the end of the world since the beginning of time.
Also, most fans hate their coaches -- no surprise I'm on the right side of both these worldviews.
I can. And it's completely cool if you don't agree with me.
And I had this big long wall of text, linking back to NY times articles, german wikipedia articles, and scholorly studies that prove my point, and probably better illustrate my way of thinking. But the goal of any communication is to get someone else to understand what you're saying, not hate it. I can't imagine Jason being a guy that put this site together for mathletes and sociology majors to have battles of study.
But I will say this; once one reaches the point of healthy sustainment, money will not buy you happiness. I firmly believe this philosophy, and think it needs more buy in from everyone.