Unemployment nation-wide is stated at something like 11%. That’s only counting people who are actually contacting their state employment agencies though…The real number may be as high as 16-18% according to some sources.
That’s damned near a quarter of the population of the United States! Of five people you know, one of them doesn’t have a fucking way to support his family…The total population of the United States as of June 2008 was 304,059,724 people…Let’s meet in the middle and call it 15% unemployment…That is 45,608,958 people who are of working age and are not producing. That’s un-fucking-believable! Holy Hell, NEW YORK CITY only has 8.5 million people! Los Angeles has 4 million. LA County has just shy of 10.5 million. So, the largest city in the country and the largest county in the country, population-wise, don’t even combine to form HALF the unemployed people in this country!
Fuck me! Let’s assume that the actual number really is 11%...That’s 30,405,972! Even THEN, it’s more than double the population of NYC and LA County combined!
Think about that for a minute….
Over 30 MILLION people don’t know how the fuck they’re going to pay the rent next month. Over 30 MILLION people don’t have a job, so they can’t buy Christmas presents for their kids…How the fuck can we NOT collapse under that load?
There is no sign that the economy is recovering either. It’s getting worse. What happens when the unemployment numbers hit 25%? Can the taxpayers who ARE working support that large of a load? The .gov sure as shit can’t, it’s already somewhere between 11 and 100 TRILLION in debt, depending on whether you only look at the “official” deficit or the REAL deficit that takes “unfunded” programs like Social Security and government pensions into account.
But let’s be “official” about it. According the U.S. National Debt Clock (remember, this only covers “funded” programs!), the national deficit as of my typing this is $12,096,640,766,200!
On the other hand, the Gross Domestic Product of the United States is 14.2%. So, at least we make a LITTLE bit more than we consume…Except the .gov can’t get ALL of that 14.2% or else we the People would have no food to fuel our bodies to continue producing for the State.
If I went to my bank today and said, “Hey Carlos (my banker’s name is Carlos. He’s the only one in the branch I will deal with.), my annual income is $140,000. I want your bank to loan me $120,000 a year. Whaddya think?” What the hell do you think he would do?
After he quit laughing at me, he’d probably tell me to go home and take my meds. Let’s say I’m bigger than him though and have more guns (I am and I do). I say, “No, you don’t get it Carlos, I NEED this money so you WILL give it to me!” He’s going to call someone with more guns than me, i.e. the police. Why wouldn’t he?
Well, newsflash for you boys and girls, that’s EXACTLY what we do everyday. The U.S. takes stuff from we the people by force. If you don’t pay your taxes, they come with the guns and escort you to prison.
Maybe instead of ANOTHER government program like “Cap and Trade” or “Universal Health Care,” our government should figure out a way to REDUCE government spending…Just a thought.
If the aforementioned conversation took place at my bank and I explained to Carlos that I NEEDED the money because, well, you know, my Aunt Jemima is needs her heart medication and my kids need school supplies and my wife needs a new boob job (I’m not married), he’d probably explain to me that my best option would be to reduce my spending and save some money. “Quit eating out every night Cowpuncher; don’t go to the movies every weekend. Sell your brand-new Dodge 3500 Dually Crew-Cab and buy an older model for cash…”
So, if my 22 year old banker can figure that out, why the Holy-Fuck-Me can’t the whiz-kid geniuses working for the government figure it out?
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are so goddamned smart, why can’t they figure it out? Why can’t the Messiah living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue figure it out?
I might be a simple-minded guy (I’m not really) and I might cling to my guns and individual liberty too much, but you know what? Fuck you very much; it was guys like me who founded this goddamned country!
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They don't want to figure it out. They want to keep doing what they're doing, because its personally beneficial to them. They won't lose anything in this - They won't even lose sleep. Even if everything goes to shit completely, they'll still be in the power network, and doing just fine. So why should they figure it out? Why should they care? Altruism? Patriotism? In Washington? Hah.
ReplyDeleteWe're on our own. Guys like us already knew this, but everyone else is having a hard time catching up. Some folks are doing it faster, and will be better for it.
I'm excited by things I see, the innovation among trades-folk, artists and local producers to make themselves viable in this economy, the sudden validity of the "prepper" thing, and the interest in and emergence here and there of structured attempts at more resilient lifestyles, family groups living together, community sufficiency gardens, resilient communities, etc. Excited by, but still troubled.
The Nation is in bad shape - And the mechanisms of the state are, maliciously or not, aligned against those of us who have the ability to not only get by, but succeed, and possibly make it work again.
I wonder about my best friend's three year old, and what her America will look like.