America the Great

I have to let you know that I am not a fan of the stimilus package. I understand that the US economy is not doing well right now. However, some of the problems we are facing now are because of our past actions in trying to prevent a recession. It appears that after the dot com crash The Fed lowered interest rates to try to avoid a recession or economic slowdown. As a result we went from the dot com bubble to the housing bubble. It became really cheap to get housing loans. The govenment kind of encouraged the housing boom because they felt the bubble was creating jobs, and homeownership. So even though the economy was expanding on a shaky foundation all the financial players were excited because the economy was expanding.

It is also interesting that when other countries were suffering economic woes, high inflation, recession etc.., the US government was free with the advice. Basically they said do not bail out the banks or financial institutions. Allow the excesses to work their way out the system. It's painful but neccessary. But now that we are suffering for our excesses they keep trying to bail out the banks. All I'm saying is it might hurt to go thru a recession but we need to get rid of all the fluff in our economy.

Many times people think I'm strange for not watching TV. But the older I get, the more respect I have for this decision. I spend a lot time thinking about what makes the United States different from other countries. No matter what people say, this is still the only country that everyone is trying to come to. If you are a great musician you try to come to the US. If you are a good actor/actress, Hollywood is your destination. For every field, when you reach a certain point you want to come to the US for more opportunities. The only exception may be for soccer. Good soccer players want to go to Europe. If you are at the top of your field or if you just want more economic stability, you come to US. So I kept wondering what makes us different? At first I thought it was freedom. Maybe it's because people can study anything in college. Also, anybody can start a business in anything they like. But then I started thinking, maybe it's strength of businesses. We have lots of businesses: Small, Medium, Large, Titanic. Businesses are good because they created jobs and they pay for stuff they need. For instance if your company is in the middle of nowhere and you need a road, you build one. Once you build the road people come to live near you. Instant city. Then I thought, maybe it's actually the legal system. Because other countries have businesses too. But because they have a week judicial system, business spend a lot of time, money and resources battling thieves and those who won't pay for services. But here the police will go after crooks(most of the time) and you can sue someone if they don't pay you for a job. This allows businesses to focus on running the business instead of trying to avoid loss.

Now I think what makes the United States different is marketing. Marketing is the glue that holds the country together. Every aspect of life has been researched and they have found a way to sell you a product. Everything from groceries, to politics, to medicine and sports and entertainment. It's all a product and they know how to sell it. Look at something as simple as a holiday. Almost every major holiday is a huge opportunity to sell something. If it's not candy and gifts, then it's food and drinks. But it is everywhere. I'm doing my part to fight against it by buying only what I need and avoiding what I want.