End Globalization

Today I called my Citibank card Customer Service and the call was taken by someone in India.

I was disturbed at this because Citibank received government help and I do not see it appropriate for jobs that should have been given to Americans by an American company be shipped overseas. This is wrong especially when this company received bailout money from American taxpayers. But the effects of today’s economic policies have hit closer to home when I found out a relative of mine who is an engineer working for an “American” company has not been paid for the past two months. The principle owner of this company is Chinese. It seems that for whatever reason, whether it’s an internal power play within the company or the Chinese owners feel they want to bankrupt the company, the fact is that my relative along with a large number of workers has not been paid. Another worrisome example, listen closely when the newscaster says that “Saudi Arabia and Opec have decided that the American economy can support and increase in oil prices”.

The fact is that this man and the entire American economy is becoming more dependent on decisions made outside the United States. It is a matter of time before our foreign policy is not only affected (it already is) but is dictated by foreign special interest groups.

America is turning into a welfare state.

It’s true that President Obama’s administration has made great efforts to bring us out of a recession that was perpetrated by a previous administration. It’s true, the current administration has done a lot in a short period of time. It’s true there must be CHANGE. But although there was a bit of talk on cutting tax breaks for companies that move their plants out of the United States, the Obama administration has not begun to go to the heart of the problem and instigate some of the biggest CHANGE needed.

America must make all efforts to increase the value of American labor and stop unemployment immediately. This could only be done by reversing the “Globalization” trend started back in the Reagan Era. And the way to do this is by increasing tariffs and cutting back on imports IMMEDIATELY.

Since the 80’s Wall Street evolvement has been accelerated and stockbrokers have made it a point to offer investors new “product” in which to invest in. One of these methods is purchasing or making public an American company who has a good product and good distribution system. Once the company is purchased or made public the company’s manufacturing components are shipped overseas. By taking advantage of this lower cost of manufacturing labor the company posts an immediate profit which of course is distributed among the investors. These “investors” my include companies who keep your retirement fund so don’t think it’s just a small number of the population that is involved in stocks. In the meantime the factory workers are laid off and the state usually needs to step in and provide them with unemployment benefits, which of course must be funded by our tax dollars and the hole becomes deeper. We are now in a pit!

There are many voices that will stand up against the idea of reversing Globalization but look behind these voices and you will find special interest groups or Wall Street executives who are out to make a buck at the expense of anyone they can get to invest in the stock market. We have to stop this trend, we have to stop exporting our manufacturing plants, we have to embrace the concept of “American Production for American Consumption”. Perhaps “Globalization” seemed like a good concept but it has proved to be the biggest threat to our own national security.

Don’t think so? Go ahead and please make your argument. Post your comment.

What Else...................The Economy!

During the course of my short 52 year lifetime on more than a few occasions I have lived through numerous periods of “Downsizing”. I guess this recession we are living in has shaken everyone up to the point no one cares about being “politically correct” and describing this economic period as what it truly is: It Sucks!We are truly at the doorway to the future and although there are many that see opportunities coming up, there are far many more that are dreading the change that is looming on the horizon.Talk to any economist and he will explain that we have built a “consumer” economy that is based on buying the latest gadget on the market. To make things worst we have been buying it on credit.Well, like one huge pyramid scheme it’s caught up to us.This is not going to be a short term “market phase” the shockwaves of this recession have been felt to the cultural core of our way of living and it will surely alter how we have perceived “The American Dream” for the past twenty years.There are many who put on a veil of optimism and point out that “market indicators” are showing that we should be out of this recession by year end. Some are even bold enough to claim that we are through the worst.The term “market indicators” is loosely used by many in the stock market and it simply means that the stock market closed with gains on a sustained daily basis for a period of time. Like drowning men whoever uses this term is simply trying to hang on to whatever will keep him afloat. This I’m afraid means a lot of hogwash to the majority of small business owners. If anything, we can thank the stock market for the continual increase in product prices and decrease in quality throughout the years. It has been the need for stockbrokers to offer “new product” to shareholders that has driven American production overseas and opened the door to “Globalization”, open season on the American Middle Class.There is no benefit to anyone other than shareholders in opening overseas markets and shipping production out as well. We need only to see the number of layoffs and the demise of the entire American Textile industry to see the benefits of “Global Markets”. Let’s face it, “Globalization” has proven itself to be lobbyist talk to improve profit margins for large corporations that had the financing to move their production overseas. I read it many years ago, “When Nike moved their factories to Taiwan did the price of their sneakers go down?”.The bottom line is that the majority of Americans are affected disproportionately when the market goes up and down. When it goes up the majority get a small trickle. A good way to define Reagan Era “Trickle Down-Economy” money certainly “trickles” to the majority of the working class. And when things go bad, the blunt of the catastrophe is definitely suffered by the working class.Another major factor that we have to face is the fact that the majority of American Consumers are turning over 65 in the next few years. Yes, the Baby Boomers have reached maturity and they are going to spend less and demand more of an overburden social security and medicare system that will ultimately fail them during their time of need. Don’t think so? Look at how many pension plans have been sunk in the past 10 years.Although I am not in his political camp I keep in mind Ron Paul who stated a year ago that the cause of this “recession” was simply a case where the market is adjusting itself to supply and demand. In this case the demand for more money for the cost of products….do I hear the dirty word “inflation”. Face it, for the past ten years or so we have been riding an inflationary market but because it has been politically incorrect to use the word “inflation” to the point that it has the effect of a four letter word, economist and politicians have shied away from using the word much less recognizing the symptoms. Consumers simply “charged it”.I shudder to think of a book I read back in the 80’s, “The Great Depression of 1990” by Ravi Batra. Back then it clearly outlined what was going to happen and it clearly pointed out that putting in place more or less the same government quick fixes that have been put in place would only hold back economic catastrophe but not really cure it. I strongly recommend this book and another title by the same author, ‘Surviving the Great Depression of 1990” to get a basic view of what is happening and help you draw your own conclusions and hopefully, solutions.Overall the economy is being handled by politicians and like everything that has gone political…the Korean, Viet Nam War, First Unfinished Gulf War, Current Iraqi War, 1970’s Inflation, etc……the track record for success has hardly been something to wear as a badge of honor. OK, so like everyone else that seems to be able to write a few sentences and get them posted on a blog or newspaper I’ve taken my potshot at the issues at hand. So what’s my solution?Very simple, get back to basics:1-Downsize. 2-Buy only what you really need. Drop the labels. 3-Try to buy made in America products. 4-Cut down fuel expenses-just this week I read the Saudis who hold the majority in OPEC in what I took as a sanctimonious statement that THEY feel the economy at this point can sustain oil priced at 60.00 a barrel. I don’t know about you but I had the impression that WE were the ones that ran our lives not the government and definitely not some foreign conglomerate.Our way of living has changed pretty drastically. For some reason or another after a number of washings those brand label clothes clean the car as easily as the cheaper brands. Our “luxury” cars go as fast as the jalopy next to me on the congested US-1 Highway and my child doesn’t really care that I gave her the latest iPod but rather that I get down on the floor and play Barbie with her for an hour or so.

Memorial

As I was having my Sunday breakfast at SoBe's Cafe Milano an interesting sight caught my attention across the street on the beach. The Veterans For Peace Chapter 32 had erected a makeshift memorial to honor our servicemen who have lost their lives in Iraq. It was a very sombering affect and after my breakfast I went to take a closer look. This is my reflection.As I walk among the symbolic tombstones and it's not the names that reach my core but the ages of the fallen represented. We always remember the war dead using the phrase "Don't allow their sacrifice to be in vain", this has been such a cliché. Like the majority of us, these fallen soldiers could not ever understand less agree with the policies, much less the rationale that our suit and tie clad politicians come up to justify the decision to start, much less carry on this dessert version of Viet-Nam. These men died trying to safely return home to their families, to their dreams and fighting for their comrades. Ask any serviceman, any veteran and they will confirm this.We went into this war in the belief that we were fighting a tyrant that had WMDs at his disposal. We were led to believe that this regime was financing terrorism aimed at their neighbors and ultimately our country. We as a Nation believe we were doing the right thing, It has been proven time and again that we were mistaken and our “just cause” has reduced this nation to the role of unjust occupiers, torturers and true imperialists. To continue to pursue this course is to turn our mistake into a crime, a crime against humanity. If we as a nation continue to back up the policies of this government towards this war then we are as guilty as the politicians that support it. Not all Germans supported the Nazis, but their inaction made the whole German nation guilty. And if that’s the case, then we as a nation deserve to be obliterated from the planet because we are no different than our enemies.These tombstones don’t represent this country's sacrifice, once again that's a loosely used government and media clique; these tombstones represent this country's ultimate mismanagement. Our political mistake paid for with the blood of our youth. As we learned in Viet-Nam, enemy body counts are not a sign of a war won. This war has to be measured by the social and moral effect that it’s had on this nation. We have lost this war and our failure has taken us on course that we cannot easily turn away from. We have planted Dragons Teeth and our enemy’s ranks swell on a daily basis. Our allies do not back us because we represent freedom and decency, but rather to gain leverage in our current and future trade policies with them.Every politician in Washington should be taken to Arlington to reflect on the gravity of their decisions. Rest in peace beloved children, the ranks of those that oppose this vain blood-letting grows on a daily basis and we will try our best that this never happens again.

Thank these Heroes for SoBe

Populism and The Church

We seem to be entering an era of populism that is leading to the reforming of many institutions. Among the institutions that are being pressured to change is the Catholic Church and the actions of Father Alberto Cutie may represent the voice of the masses who today are demanding the Catholic Church come down from its self-proclaimed sanctimonious perch and take a stance away from its outdated doctrines and pageantry.
Mr. Cutie is being what G-d intended him to be....a man. The oath of celibacy is an outdated attempt on the church's part to divide their clergymen from the populace by establishing a version of what a servant of G-d was deemed to be centuries ago. Like many of the elaborate displays of church rituals that are used to bewilder it’s followers to accept the law of G-d as dispensed by the Church.
The hypocrisy of the Catholic Church goes back centuries. While it was the Spanish who first established a European presence in the Western Hemisphere it was the religious flight of Protestants and members of other religious groups that were being persecuted by the Catholics in Europe that established themselves in the New World and eventually laid down the foundation of this great nation of ours.
While the Protestants were establishing a country that emphasized religious freedom the Spanish were intent on sacking the New World of its riches. The Spanish appeased Vatican approval and financing by supposedly making it their mission to convert the indigenous inhabitants of the New World to Catholicism. In the name of the Catholic Church and the Vatican, the Spanish enslaved and slaughtered hundreds of thousands. This is the same church that was responsible for the Spanish Inquisition and who has through the centuries developed elaborate pageantry and rituals to mask a thirst for power that for two thousand years has caused rivers of blood to flow. And we call the Taliban extremists!
Father Alberto Cutie's actions echoes the voices that wants to stop this hypocrisy and bring the Catholic out of its veil of pageantry and hypocrisy to the mainstream of a modern society.

Common Sense finally arrives at the White House

Today President Obama impressed me by simply signing an order to close Gitmo within a relative short period of time. He also made away with certain torture tactics that had seemed to be "acceptable" because of the circumstances.

In a nutshell President Obama has put our AMERICAN PRINCIPLES as a priority. Many might feel that these principals are a bit "passe" in these times but lets remind ourselves that these are the principals that founded this country and so many rivers of blood have been shed in order to maintain them. We cannot become "one of them" by embracing ideals that are foreign.

We Americans have always held the beacon of Liberty and Democracy to the rest of the World. It is high time that we AMERICANS REMEMBER WHO AND WHAT WE REPRESENT and not just think of profit margins!