We live in dark times.
A plague torments us, our economy is crumbling, social unrest is commonplace throughout the land, Oregon and California are on fire, the Gulf states are being pounded by hurricanes, and citizens have lost civility and the ability to reason. Gun sales are booming.
It appears that God has pulled the plug.
My grandson Craig visited us for the past few days. He’s 19 and finishing up high school this term, albeit primarily online. He’s a real fine lad, well-spoken, gets good grades, and in normal times would be destined for great things. He doesn’t do drugs, hang out with the party people, and is thoughtful and careful with the female folk that he has met. Craig is exactly the kind of guy that any parent would want their daughter to hang with.
However, his life, like so many others, is well and truly screwed right now. The economy is down and will be getting much worse in the next six months, he has no marketable skills, and doesn’t have the wherewithal to afford the expensive university education that he deserves. Millions of high school grads this year will be in the same boat: scarce money and no job prospects. To make matters worse, many of their parents might also be without jobs and the family home might be in foreclosure.
Desperate times, for sure.
Charlie and I have been lobbying Craig for awhile now to enlist in one of the military branches where he would get room and board, some pay, learn a skill, and qualify for G.I. benefits when he leaves the service. Maybe in four years (in the Navy, it looks like) the economy will be better, he will have a better understanding of what he might want to do for a career, and he will be eligible for the college G.I. Bill. Later, he will be eligible for veterans’ benefits like a V.A. home loan.
It’s a start.
Things were simpler back in my day, when the American economy was running at full steam and a college education was dirt cheap. I’m guessing that my four-year degree from Cal State University at Los Angeles cost me $2,000 tops. I paid for it by working 20 hours a week doing various jobs like doing data processing at the L.A. County Jail, making and delivering Broasted Chicken, unloading and loading boxes from trucks, and lifeguarding and teaching swimming. Four years of tuition at CSULA now costs $28,000.
Back in those days (i.e. the Sixties), many young men expected to follow in the footsteps of their father, working on an assembly line, toiling in a mine, hawking consumer goods, or learning the ropes in the parents’ restaurant or retail establishment. Such work had provided for their family, given them a piece of the American Dream, and provided relative security. They’d never be rich but they’d be satisfied with a secure job and a happy family. And maybe be able to afford a nice vacation each year.
It’s a different world now.
The American economy bears little resemblance to its counterpart in the Sixties. A great portion of the consumables that used to be made in the U.S. are now imported from countries which have extremely cheap labor costs. Those jobs weren’t “stolen”, as some politicians would have us believe, but rather they were relocated as a natural by-product of capitalism, which we Americans have been brainwashed into thinking is the be-all, end-all of economic systems. Unfortunately, capitalism is bean counting run amok; i.e. the only thing that matters is profit and increased share price for stockholders. CEO’s, Boards of Directors, and stockholders don’t care where the profits come from as long as they keep coming. They have no loyalty to anyone, any town, or any nation…although that’s not what their politician friends would have you believe.
Certainly, Americans have benefitted from more affordable consumer goods, but that benefit has been offset to a great degree by our increased reliance on other nations (China, India, Third World countries) for basic necessities and the fact that so many American jobs were outsourced. As a result, we are now a service economy, relying to a great degree on the health of the financial services sector and leisure industries. Should the economy go into a tailspin, the worst-hit industries will be…the financial services and leisure sectors.
This is happening today and the carnage will worsen in 2021, no matter who is President of The United States.
One of the reasons is the fact that the richest one percent of Americans will still control eighty percent of the wealth in our country. They make the decisions, and their designated proxies in government follow their orders. The status quo is represented by the Federal Reserve Board, and those appointees are part of the economic elite. Change/progress only occurs when it is in the economic interest of the elite. If this group makes mistakes and suffers economic loss, the Federal Reserve has their back, as do the Nation’s taxpayers.
Another reason for concern is that there are millions of young people like my grandson Craig who are literally tuned-out of politics and government. Tens of millions of this cohort didn’t vote in the 2016 Presidential election because they saw little difference between the candidates. Clinton and Trump were “old, rich White people” who couldn’t relate to young people’s struggles, hopes and dreams.
Young people are remarkably uninformed about things that matter. They are attuned to styles, music, and “reality” entertainment (that is, in fact, staged). They spend more time on their cell phones than on sleep or productive pursuits. Because they participate abundantly in social media, these young people are constantly being barraged by fake news, conspiracy theories, and delicious re-Tweetable gossip. They have little focus and they feel that government and politics don’t matter to them. They think politicians are fools and, really, who can blame them.
Those are the two components of the population that aren’t about to change anytime soon: the economic elite and the 68 million Generation Z’ers. The former will prosper and set the table for their friends, and the latter will suffer horribly from the Recession/Depression.
As America circles the drain, there will be louder and louder calls from world leaders to reconsider the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The United States under Donald Trump has withdrawn from world diplomacy and cooperation with other nations, seemingly wanting to go it alone. Other economies are growing and assuming roles that America used to own. Where the U.S has withdrawn, the Chinese and others have filled the vacuum.
If (when) the U.S. dollar is replaced as the world’s reserve currency, it will depreciate in value significantly, throwing America into a deeper economic hole. Every asset we own will be depreciated and everything we want to buy will cost us more.
Some experts predict that America’s predominance on the world stage will end by 2030. Other’s fear a second civil war, pitting one angry sector of the population against another.
It is sad to see the darkness coming, but it is.
That was evident last night, when President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden squared off in the first Presidential Debate of 2020. Charlie and I watched about half of it, until we got sick to our stomachs and turned the channel.
One journalist later said that the President “resorted to strapping on an explosive suicide vest”. Others called the so-called debate a “dumpster fire”, a “shitshow”, and an “epic spectacle, a new low in presidential politics, a new high watermark in national shame”.
You get the idea.
I won’t bore you with the details, except to say that President Donald Trump publicly shat his pants behaving like the schoolyard bully that he is, ignoring pre-approved debate rules, and interrupting opponent Joe Biden 138 times in 90 minutes. He was the most un-Presidential national leader I’ve ever seen on television, demonstrating to all those not already convinced that he is in way over his head.
This obvious conclusion will not be lost on the rest of the world.
The Chinese Politburo, which was undoubtedly watching the spectacle live on television, must have spent those 90 minutes in absolute glee, toasting each other with alcoholic beverages and high-fiving each other. Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably high-fiving himself, for helping to elect Trump in 2016. What a great investment that was!
September 29, 2020…another date which “shall live in infamy”.