Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the first collaboration article on this blog! I want to thank Carlo and Rida for working with me to make this blog article.
In the past, I have met many people who have wondered why the economy matters in America. I can't blame them because the economy does seem like a distant thought for many, well, not until now. To answer the question of what is so important about our economy, we will cover the basis of our economic system. Additionally, we will feature topics such as consumerism, corporate culture, and human capital resources that stem from our economy. Stay tuned!
Economy and capitalism have been the backbone of American society from the very start of America, keeping the nation alive. It could be a double-edged sword that either helps America grow stronger or harms America. Of course, the economic system is not perfect, though we work hard to create a better public policy that benefits all of us.
Over the years, many trends stemmed from this perfectly flawed system. American Consumer Culture stemmed from a massive surge of production and consumerism post-WW2. Wartime production helped pull the US out of the Great Depression. Once the war ended, Americans became more eager to spend as their economy had then recovered, placing consumerism as a large aspect of American culture since then.
Continuing the theme of a Double-edged sword, in “The Day the World Stops Shopping”, by J. B. MacKinnon, MacKinnon addresses the issues and effects of consumerism on the environment. He observed in his research that a nonprofit organization called Global Footprint Network had analyzed the biologically productive areas on Earth, splitting them into Hectares, which are areas a little larger than a soccer field, “If they were split equally among all humankind we would each get 1.6 of them (referring to the hectares). The average American’s ecological footprint is 8 global hectares” (MacKinnon 32). This evidently proves that we as Americans are consuming more than the world can produce and sustain.
Additionally, consumerism is an addiction, even among those in low-income situations. “Even the world's poorest citizens buy, as a World Bank report puts it, ‘what they are willing to pay for--not what they need.’ The globe's 4.5 billion low-income people are an enormous consumer market together spending more than five trillion US dollars each year” (MacKinnon 7). Consumerism is not only affecting the environment, but it's also an addiction that we, especially as heavy consumers, need to consider and keep in mind as we live our lives.
Additionally, consumerism is an addiction, even among those in low-income situations. “Even the world's poorest citizens buy, as a World Bank report puts it, ‘what they are willing to pay for--not what they need.’ The globe's 4.5 billion low-income people are an enormous consumer market together spending more than five trillion US dollars each year” (MacKinnon 7). Consumerism is not only affecting the environment, but it's also an addiction that we, especially as heavy consumers, need to consider and keep in mind as we live our lives.
In America, while consumerism makes up a large aspect of the economy, cooperate cultures is something that every employer lives with. In The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2016) by John Perkins, Perkins mainly centers around and critically analyzes the illegal and unethical practices implemented by big corporate superpowers and financial institutes in America by recalling his time as an economist working for these big private companies and federal agencies. Perkins book is more of a critical analysis but a word that stood out throughout this entire book -- that we believe encapsulates America’s economy better than ascribing it as a capitalist economy -- Corporatocracy.
Corporatocracy can be described as any economic, political or judicial system that is controlled or influenced by business corporations that serve their interest which may at times come at the expense of other people or the environment etc. This is fueled by what is known as free market liberalism, which consists on limited to no government intervention in big business practices, increase their flexibility to carry out operations and practices that favor them, increase their profits and serve their general interests. This flexibility allows the very upper elite class to hoard wealth as power is saturated at the top, creating an income gap between the working and upper class which creates income disparity- the middle class as we know it is disappearing in America. And this is a problem why? Because this means the middle class is being pushed towards an increasing growing working class while there exist the small percentage of elites on top which in influence consumer spending patterns that through their abundant wealth influence rising prices in goods and services, tax leading to ultimate inflation in the economy that the growing working class cannot keep up with. These systems are so interlinked that they ultimately affect the average Americans life without them realizing that their ultimate spending patterns, wages, taxation in the economy are so intertwined and influenced by America’s Corporatocracy.
Now, let's look at the fundamental layer of our economy. Human capital resource measures our potential to succeed in the workforce through education, skill and experience. Technically the more of each we have, the more successful we are. However, the labor market has only become more and more competitive since the millennium. Author and former wall street broker Malcolm Harris argue that the competition has been there since childhood all the way to adulthood, and it will only get worse. Looking into the "journey to success", we start off as successful students, go to college and then get a job. That’s good right? However, the competition for us to have that level of success already started during our childhood.
In Kids These Days by Malcolm Harris, Harris brought up the series Danny Dunn and the homework machine. In the series, Danny used technology to finish his and his friends’ homework in order to gain more free time, but they never really got free time because once everyone started using technology, getting homework done fast is no longer novel. The teacher started giving more homework. Similar in our society, the rate of AP class expansion is both the example and index of larger trend: more people are working harder. In the past, taking more ap classes might give some students a competitive advantage, but now more people are doing it, so it is harder for us to succeed and outdo other. Additionally, the pressure and expectation placed upon us resulted in helicopter parents and unhappy children. Nightmare. Okay, let’s go to college to hopefully escape from some of that. College might’ve been a good place, but you quickly realize that it is far from ideal these days, especially with student loans. College charge a lot, but you’re still receiving the same education that the older generation received. The student loan system does not do much to help students pay off their college fees because student loans do not go away even after filing for bankruptcy. College education is supposed to help students set up their future success, but the student loan and high debt made it more challenging for students to achieve that in our economy. However, most politicians treat student loan more as a public relationship problem, overlooking the severity of this issue. As the people who live in this system, a system that's only growing increasingly more competitive, we are responsible for making certain changes to benefit us. But let's be honest, there's really not much we could do besides waiting for some politicians to come along and maybe make changes.
In Kids These Days by Malcolm Harris, Harris brought up the series Danny Dunn and the homework machine. In the series, Danny used technology to finish his and his friends’ homework in order to gain more free time, but they never really got free time because once everyone started using technology, getting homework done fast is no longer novel. The teacher started giving more homework. Similar in our society, the rate of AP class expansion is both the example and index of larger trend: more people are working harder. In the past, taking more ap classes might give some students a competitive advantage, but now more people are doing it, so it is harder for us to succeed and outdo other. Additionally, the pressure and expectation placed upon us resulted in helicopter parents and unhappy children. Nightmare. Okay, let’s go to college to hopefully escape from some of that. College might’ve been a good place, but you quickly realize that it is far from ideal these days, especially with student loans. College charge a lot, but you’re still receiving the same education that the older generation received. The student loan system does not do much to help students pay off their college fees because student loans do not go away even after filing for bankruptcy. College education is supposed to help students set up their future success, but the student loan and high debt made it more challenging for students to achieve that in our economy. However, most politicians treat student loan more as a public relationship problem, overlooking the severity of this issue. As the people who live in this system, a system that's only growing increasingly more competitive, we are responsible for making certain changes to benefit us. But let's be honest, there's really not much we could do besides waiting for some politicians to come along and maybe make changes.
When considering America's relationship to this topic, it is essential to understand the issues related to the economy and consumerism including the impactful environmental effects, an overtly competitive system to live in, and enlarged wealth gap because they all affect our daily lives as Americans living in a capitalistic society.
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