Billy Sunday and the church of stop shopping

Some leading economists are predicting that the American economy will be back on track by the end of 2010. I hope they are right.But do they mean that we will be buying $50,000.00 pick-up trucks and 1500.00 Louis Vuitton handbags. I think this is where the expression pipe dream comes from.

Let us look at Circuit City for a minute. These guys are a classic example of the whole mess. The Executive Compensation at Circuit City was pretty juicy, so juicy in fact they stopped paying their sales people commission and fired the best ones. This is basically what the big banks and the auto companies did, so why shouldn't we bailout Circuit City too. After all why give Best Buy a monopoly.

The bottom line is we are going into a whole new phase in America and it is the end of mega-shopping and mass merchandising. This bottom line gets even lower when you consider that no one has gotten a decent raise in at least 5 years so we are all to the point where we have just enough money coming in to keep it all going and with all the job cuts and lay-offs starting it is getting nasty. What Will be even nastier is just around the corner with the government printing money as fast as it can, by 2010 what is going to be off the tracks is inflation so that just enough we have will be worth even less. Hey how about a bail-out for the rest of America. Like gas 1.50 a gallon guaranteed by the same government that is guaranteeing billions to the Robber Barons of the new century.

The true shame of America is we were part of the greatest propaganda campaign in history. The advertisers, marketers and I am going to throw in all the Universities too. Convinced themselves and us that you could have something for nothing. You could turn lead into gold if you just wanted it enough and were willing to work hard enough and had a winning attitude. The only motivation that has been pounded into us through all the media and now the Internet is selfishness and greed. Excuse me, I am being boorish the term is Enlightened Self Interest. The American family and all its members have become an economic unit to market to and tax . Nothing more.

Remember always use Other Peoples Money this is a clever slogan that got people to borrow a lot of money it also has been taught and accepted as good business . The only problem with this Ponzi scheme is there are no other people, there never was there has always been just us and the reality that money is loaned to make a profit. Has anyone reading this ever made more on their savings account than they have paid in interest on a loan. We have been sold a version of the American dream , a dream no one wanted to pay for. An American dream of a free ride and an infinite adolance.

The Biggest multi-national corporations in this country and our own government have been running a giant Ponzi scheme since we went off the gold standered in 1972. think about the Social Security program using money from those paying in to pay-off those who are collecting. We have been told for years that Social Security should only be part of a persons retirement plan. Well after we have watched our pensions and 401ks being raped[ is that not the way it feels] What is left but Social Security.

The final outcome to all this is going to be going forward we Will all be living sampler lives with smaller dreams and reduced expectations. The way of life that was promised us will fade as we watch the whole culture evolve from propaganda to truth because it will be to expensive to market propaganda to people who have no money. We have had a consumer economy since world war II ,that has run its course. I do not know what will take its place but it will be interesting to watch the change that is coming.