tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post3175011048851060445..comments2023-08-07T09:56:04.428-05:00Comments on Better Than Machines: To Ride the Wave, or To Stand Against It: That Is Obama's QuestionDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11154351095467482965noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-65962381491616700382009-03-31T22:57:00.000-05:002009-03-31T22:57:00.000-05:00To pick up where Amy and Chris left off--I think t...To pick up where Amy and Chris left off--<BR/><BR/>I think the notion that a "spiritual and ethical vacuum" is part of the cause of our economic mess is right on. I would just add this: Sometimes when we focus <I>just</I> on the failings of individuals, we ignore the failings of the systems and social institutions we've created. Obviously, we need both--individual change and social change. <BR/><BR/>For example, some conservatives have tried to blame the mortgage crisis almost entirely on families who wanted more house than they could afford. But they ignore the banks who were pushing loans that they knew people could not repay, as well as the free-wheeling financial system that encouraged firms to gamble on those loans with our (the nation's) money. And we almost all ignore that this is the sociopolitical system we as a people have <I>chosen</I>. It doesn't have to be like this.<BR/><BR/>I think one of the big phantoms filling the country's "spiritual and ethical vacuum" is our hyper-consumer culture. Powerful corporations work very hard to get us to buy things we do not need, even when buying them means we go into debt to other corporations. Ignoring the wastefulness and deception of this economic model for a moment, we cannot pretend these marketing strategies and the culture these corporations have created do not affect us as individuals on a deeper psychological, even spiritual, level.<BR/><BR/>Again, it doesn't have to be like this. I hope the populist wave I describe gets us on track to change a lot of this stuff. We need to re-regulate the financial system and rebuild the economy from the bottom up. We need to limit the wealth and political power that individuals can wield. We need to reintroduce the concepts of shared sacrifice and shared prosperity. And we need to shatter the delusion that we can all live like kings, to name a few things.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11154351095467482965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-42981442670769587162009-03-28T06:41:00.000-05:002009-03-28T06:41:00.000-05:00Chris--I agree, so many are living under the illus...Chris--I agree, so many are living under the illusion of having more than they really do, and almost that we have a "right" to those things. (And that where it's a spiritual/emotional issue in my mind.) As disgusted as I am with some of the high profile AIG-type stories, I'm hoping that we can look at our own choices and not just throw rocks--in other words, that something productive will come from the anger. <BR/><BR/>Dave, keep posting! It's cold and lonely out here.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07969357513275063157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-22307056849630711202009-03-27T17:57:00.000-05:002009-03-27T17:57:00.000-05:00I hope, hope, hope he knows what he's doing. For a...I hope, hope, hope he knows what he's doing. For all our sakes. The faux populism judo is my greatest fear. I swear that if he could just pull off fixing health care, or starting to fix it, that would make so many people's lives better that it would buy major good will.<BR/><BR/>Until then, I know that we are paying $1100 a month for COBRA coverage.Beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06517252487552392654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-63011302102024021502009-03-26T11:57:00.000-05:002009-03-26T11:57:00.000-05:00Amy, I'll throw the first stone:It seems you are l...Amy, I'll throw the first stone:<BR/><BR/>It seems you are linking economics to God/Jesus/spirituality/ethics by way of claiming that if we "come-to-Jesus", only then will our government reforms help the economy. <BR/><BR/>I understand what you mean and I like it, but I'd like to decrypt and find a more universal translation of your comment.<BR/><BR/>"Not just from those executives, but from all of us--thinking we could have outrageous returns for little effort, or live ridiculously beyond our means with no fallout." This is a deep rooted psychological issue with Americans. We think we need what we don't need. So we buy unnecessarily. We (the middle class) buy houses and cars and go into debt just to maintain a "middle class" image. It seems like everyone who thinks they are supposed to be middle class is clawing out of the fiscal poverty hole to appear middle class. Nobody wants to appear poor. It's an image thing. I know families who appear (big house, new cars, kids) to be quite wealthy yet are bankrupt. <BR/><BR/>It seems like there is a middle class but my arguement is that the middle class is an illusion. It's the haves and have nots. Of course there are exceptional have nots who don't have the image complex and live in their means and maybe this is the true middle class but if anything this is a scant group of people (maybe %20 of USA). Then I'd say another %20 is the "haves" and the remaing %60 is the "have nots" (most of which appear to be middle class via going into severe debt).<BR/><BR/>And don't sell yourself short by using religion as a crutch. Each individual has to take responsibility for her own actions. Take control of the wheel and realize only you control your destiny. Yes fate is a factor but ultimately what counts is what you do with the hand dealt to you. And if one is dealt a poor fiscal hand, then work with that and live within means.<BR/><BR/>I know very little about economics so I'm not certain of the principles behind why the econmoy crashed. But for some reason I trust Obama. He's getting tons of flak for potentially creating more debt but somehow I think in the long run whatever he's doing (universal health care, etc.) is worth the raving conservative critics and potential decline in public opinion (and potential loss in reelection). You gotta see the forest for the trees?<BR/><BR/>And keep blogging BTM, this is my only news source!!!!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08738343141272365073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-89270320572061972132009-03-26T11:53:00.000-05:002009-03-26T11:53:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08738343141272365073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-88919189160980354492009-03-26T05:05:00.000-05:002009-03-26T05:05:00.000-05:00I hope hope hope this administration can make the ...I hope hope hope this administration can make the changes that are needed. But does anyone actually know what that would be? Cause I haven't really heard anything clear yet.<BR/><BR/>But I also think that what we're experiencing now is the result of a spiritual and ethical vacuum that exists in our country. (I know, throw rocks at me.) Not just from those executives, but from all of us--thinking we could have outrageous returns for little effort, or live ridiculously beyond our means with no fallout. And until we have a come-to-Jesus about that, I don't think government reforms will make a lasting difference. As Stephen Colbert said the other night, as long as we aim our pitchforks at AIG, we don't have to own up to our own junk. Y'know?<BR/><BR/>Which is what Obama alluded to in his inaugural address. Let's hope he can lead in that kind of reformation as well. It's a tall order.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07969357513275063157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4065910512732060865.post-84897759860251077122009-03-25T23:20:00.000-05:002009-03-25T23:20:00.000-05:00Even now, I'm afraid that the Dems on the hill are...Even now, I'm afraid that the Dems on the hill are too afraid of the ghosts of Republicans-past to gird up their loins and follow the presidents. We need to be heard, both on the hill and in the white house.Camp Papahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03918758148818443535noreply@blogger.com