the recession is here

by Matthew Kimball

Published: March 31, 2008

There’s no doubt about it. The recession has arrived. The political punditry in Washington would like you to think that we’re amidst a “rough time” in our society and that things will eventually recede to normalcy. However, wages are not rising with inflation and the citizenry has had to adjust its lifestyle to a more unyielding existence. The laissez-faire, as unregulated as it claims to be, has begun to force people to regulate their own lives to adjust to its free market, profit-driven ideology. People are learning to rely more on each other and less on corporate America. Communal living seems to be increasing and cooperative food markets, credit unions and other multiple-ownership groups are on the rise. Perhaps inflation of prices in our economy will actually morph the populace into a more archaic way of living or a way of living based on anarchist principles or socialist idealism. Perhaps the corporatocracy with its ambitions of temporary wealth for the few will actually spawn a new generation of freethinkers and a genuine revolt.

In the meantime, a lack of job growth in the U.S.A is often attributed to a xenophobic, racist rhetoric of migrating Mexican workers into the country. Political pontificators would like us to think that our jobs are being stolen from Mexican migrates that plan to commit a cultural genocide against our culture. A groundswell of fervent hatred for the Mexican people can be largely associated with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). According to Bill Fletcher Jr. of blackcommentator.com in a March 15, 2008 commentary on presidential debate regarding immigration, NAFTA has only perpetuated the augmentation of “sweatshops and near-sweatshop labor along the USA/Mexican border.” The policies of NAFTA have allowed U.S. corporations to outsource their jobs to foreign areas, where benefits and regulations present in the U.S. don’t apply. This tool of colonialism has forced a northern migration because the citizens of Mexico can no longer compete with the U.S. companies invading their country.

Outsourcing is a large reason why our economy is failing. Of course, our illegal and immoral war and occupation of Iraq is laundering U.S. taxpayer’s money to a foreign military blunder, but it isn’t the sole reason for our deteriorating economy. Outsourcing is beneficial to U.S corporations because it saves insurmountable sums of money. Immigrant workers don’t work under the same safety regulations or receive the same kind of benefits that most Americans receive. Migrant workers become a source of cheap labor and ensure that America’s top CEOs will be fat with wealth at the expensive of human rights and the welfare of its own economy.

The expressed mantra of the western world is “pull yourselves up by your bootstraps.” Many citizens take this to heart. However, this ideology often places the blame on the victim. Poor people live in poverty because they are lazy. Minorities don’t make it far in life because they are sadistic thugs. These are all carefully crafted stereotypes that are present in our mainstream media. Those with less education are especially susceptible to this philosophy. In his book entitled Constructing America’s War Culture, Tom Conroy uses the term “NASCAR Dads,” to refer to this segment of the population. These working class men and women confide in politicians who will ultimately vote against the kind of social programs and benefits these people want. The reason why this populace tends to vote conservative is because these politicians espouse to a sever vehemence of minorities as the reason why they’re losing their jobs and the economy is failing.

This is not to say that the United States should discourage immigration, but rather it should discourage the formation of corporate monopolies that take away work from Americans. In addition, the federal government should implement regulations that raise the income to a livable wage. Of course, this will not happen overnight, as the fight to end recession will be found in discouraging the American elite from the drive for profit. Profit itself results in a concentration of power and creates a colossal disparity in our society, economically and socially. Those who’ve adjusted their lifestyles to live in a more communal sense are on the cutting edge of disrupting this sizeable disparity of wealth. This segment of the population has realized that profit at the expense of human rights is a radiant stigma for the human race.

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