We live in a world that has changed much since the 1990s. Ever since downsizing and offshoring became the new business memes, employees have feared for their jobs, and have been bullied into accepting ever decreasing wages. A wave of complaints has been generated by businesses that claims they cannot compete successfully if legislation to protect workers and have an equitable minimum wage are introduced (which raises the question, how is it that businesses manage to donate huge amounts of money to political campaigns, return record profits to their owners and shareholders, and yet are unable to pay their workers a living wage) The “Business Model” is so ingrained into our psyche, that it is even applied to places like Hospitals and disability benefits, which should be administered out of compassion, not based on the bottom line. Yes, it is a good practice to audit government institutions to protect against fraud, but, how much money is wasted on ridiculous venture capital, startups, and gambles on the stock market that could instead be put towards human needs?
The truth is, workers do need an incentive to work. Paying them the minimum legally possible is not the way to encourage a good environment in your workplace. When people realize the only way for them to make ends meet is to either kill themselves working multiple jobs, or to simply give up, live in subsidized housing, and subsist on welfare. This makes no sense, even subsidies are silly when you think about it because its just more government money going to private individuals to house tenants who are on the bottom rung through whatever circumstance.
This transfer of government money to private corporations is entirely the problem with our modern economy. It was always bad, with corporate welfare, ridiculously discounted taxes and incentives to set up shop in a particular community, but, it has risen to a completely corrupt system. The pioneers of the industrial age like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison did not need government subsidies, they saw a need, and set forth to find a way to fill it (despite their other shortcomings) But, a modern business can expect everything from writeoffs to outright bribery in order to even start investing in a community.
This has become worse since 2008. A real economy would function on its own, with the government standing watch as a safeguard against abuse. Instead of giving money to the people who would spend it and get the economy going, the government gives money to the financial institutions, who lend it out at interest, pocket the profits, and somehow this is considered a good business model? Why is it unacceptable to have universal health care that is fairly distributed, but, it is acceptable to have given trillions of dollars to the elite financial institutions to keep them solvent?
The business world is supposed to produce products which it sells. It is supposed to employ people, and their wages are supposed to be sufficient to allow them to purchase products which they find valuable for their life. Not everyone deserves an 80 inch plasma high definition TV, but, products should be affordable, both in terms of value to the consumer, and in terms of affordability to the average person. instead, manufacturing is done in nations where safety is either a tertiary concern, or worse, is non existent, and wages are so brutally low that the labourers are literally slaves to the company.
It supposedly costs $6 to make a modern cell phone with all the bells and whistles, but, it is sold for hundreds of dollars, if not more. Where there was once the ability for a person with moderate ambition to get a factory job, work their way up the seniority list, and eventually retire with a pension, instead we have become a nation, indeed a continent of warehouses, with manufacturing taking place only in the most select cases. Manufacturing itself is almost a lost art, tool and die makers and machinists are no longer in demand, while forklift drivers and truck drivers are the new engine that drive the economy. And even these “low skilled” positions are commanding lower wages than a factory worker from a decade ago with one of the big 3 auto makers.
The situation is unacceptable, and must be remedied. It is unacceptable for the consumer, who is forced to purchase products from overseas simply because they cannot afford anything else. It is unacceptable to businesses, who depend on government grants and subsidies to operate. It is unfair to the taxpayers, private and corporate, because their money is being turned over to banking institutions who return consistent and lucrative profits (hence the term blue chip stocks) The only people it benefits are those who either know how to game the stock market, those few who have slugged their way up to senior executive positions, and those who have figured out how to scam venture capitalists out of cash over and over again.
The Occupy Wall Street movement never stood a chance, because their actions did not affect the 1% they protested against. The only way that it is possible for us to move forward as a society, and as a planet is to realize that there are economic inequalities in the world, and that we need to address them. It would be acceptable for, say, Canada and Great Britain to have free trade agreements, because both have universal health care, both have social security nets, and both do attempt to safeguard their workers (although there is most certainly corruption in both cases) On the other hand, when either of those parties attempts to have free trade with a poorer nation which does not afford its workers protection, it temporarily causes a boom when cheap foreign products arrive, but, ultimately results in a bust, when the people cannot afford to buy those same goods because they are working at a subsistence level, or worse, are surviving off a government pension or disability.
Banks provide capital to businesses. Businesses are supposed to generate goods and services for the people. In return, the people need money to pay for the goods and services, which they expect to get by finding jobs with the aforementioned businesses. Instead of this, in the past 20 years, people have gone from looking for a good job with a company, to looking for a job with the government, because the wages and benefits are far superior in the public sector.
The government should never be the driving engine in an economy. Instead, the government needs to regulate it, and make sure businesses and banks are prohibited from making obvious mistakes, like fractional reserve lending with a ridiculously miniscule fraction, sub prime mortgages and loans, or attempting to undercapitalize their own projects in the hopes of juicing up corporate returns. Free trade needs to be abolished, and corporations need to be reminded of their responsibilities to their customers, not only in terms of service, but, also in providing a wage that is satisfactory for them to be able to purchase the products the corporations make.
Its no secret jobs are harder and harder to come by, and the ones in the paper typically advertise for bare minimum salaries. This is perhaps the first thing we need to do to rebuild our economy. Start tapering off the economic stimulus packages, and instead, let businesses learn to survive on their own, like they used to. If the Banks and businesses learn to stop sucking at the free money provided by the government, everyones taxes will go down because we are no longer subsidizing institutions that exist solely to suck money out of our economy.
Next, we need to establish trade relations with nations that are similar to our own level of development. While at first glance, this seems unfair, long term, it will do the lesser developed nations no good if their market goes belly up because its governments can no longer afford subsidies for companies that warehouse their products in the wealthier nation. Trading blocks are not a bad thing, but, as the recent European crisis has shown, when you attempt to fuse wildly different economies, holidays, work schedules, and hours of operation together, the end result is a massive disparity in the haves and the have nots. Perhaps Germany was the best example in the past 30 years, because they were able to pour massive amounts of resources into the former East Germany in order to bring it up to their standard. South Africa provides us with the counterbalance, since after the Apartheid regime was deposed, they found themselves saddled with massive debts they were unable to pay, and the world bank was able to blackmail them by threatening to foreclose on the loans, and refuse to provide funding to build their country.
Countries like China represent massive markets, but, unfortunately the trade has gone completely the wrong way. Instead of opening up new markets for products created in the west, instead, manufacturing has been displaced to these nations where a workers wage can be set at a far lower rate than in an already developed country. So businesses should be forced to manufacture their products where they are going to sell them. Even if it is only final assembly because their product requires a rare earth element that is naturally abundant in another nation, it will still provide more jobs and more equity to the nation in which they sell their products. Again, ultimately this will disperse production worldwide, and should a local disaster develop, there will always be the capacity for that nation to rebuild by its own resources, or through a special exemption.
We need a place for low to medium skilled workers to earn a decent living. As stated, not everyone deserves an oversized TV, but, they do deserve to live on more than beans and rice. Protectionism worked because it equalized the playing field for national industries, and this was the natural role of the government, regulating trade with other countries to keep the economy functioning instead of driving the economy through what are, essentially, humongous donations to the banking cartels. Free trade is possible between two countries, but, only when they are at a similar level of development, and when they each have a resource the other needs, so perhaps Canada trades Steel and Wood to Israel in return for Oranges and electronics that cannot be grown or made locally here, and this would be exempt from protectionist duties. However, this should be negotiated carefully, and not left to the willy nilly total exemption practices that exist currently.
This would not cause any extra beaurocracy. Indeed, crossing the border between two countries currently practicing free trade still involves customs inspections, border clearances, and releases for products. So the idea of “free” trade is a ridiculous notion. Sure, the businesses don’t pay any duties on the items, but, instead, they pay their money to a broker who clears the item for them. It would be better to pay the duty, because that would force businesses to look for economic and profitable solutions at home.
No matter what, our priority must be to stop lending money to the banks. It makes no sense for the government to be transferring money to institutions who exist solely to make money by charging interest on it. Until 2008 the banks were blue chip stocks, why over the past 7 years did they suddenly forget how to successfully manage their own affairs? Any successful business should be able to recover within a year or two, or else it is following the wrong model. Banks are no different.
As stated previously, not having to spend trillions on stimulus packages would mean the overall federal budget could decrease, and so would our taxes. Businesses are always complaining about high taxes? This should be an idea they can all get behind. They might not like having to pay duties again, but, when they understand that they will not be allowed to sell products without manufacturing them in the country where they intend to market them, they will adapt and become better providers. In turn, they will have to learn to live without the cushy zero interest loans, subsidized utilities, and special land grants, and compete at the same level our grandparents generation did.
If there is a place the government could invest those trillions that would guarantee a boon to the economy, it is on infrastructure. Most of the construction taking place now is maintenance on plumbing and electrical systems that were put in place by visionaries from decades ago. We need those same visionaries now. We need electrical generators, plumbing, places where development can be encouraged. Pretty much every major city has an eyesore area, instead of leaving it to rot, clean it up and redevelop it. This will discourage urban sprawl, and encourage people to re-use space. Construction jobs are relatively highly paid, and there are excellent opportunities for apprenticeships, so the immediate benefit would be that more people would be working higher paid jobs, and be able to afford more. If combined with the above suggestions, we could revitalize our country, our continent, and the entire planet, because opportunities would be widespread again, instead of limited to a few people.
Keep in mind, this model can be expanded upon. I am not saying abandon the poorer nations, I am saying that we should show them a model in which they can build upon for themselves. Richer people are more likely to donate money to a worthy cause, and thus a richer general population is good for everyone. Every nation brings a different mix of ingredients to the table, and if they learn to manage them wisely and not fall under the heel of corrupt businessmen and bankers, then they will prosper.
In our current situation, we are just one massive collapse away from a global meltdown. A new domino effect can be avoided simply by increasing personal wealth for everyone worldwide. The time for profiteering is over, and the time to invest in our present and future is now. We have the resources available, we have the people, and we have the technology. Lets get to work, all of us that can, and take care of those who can’t until either they are better, or at least until they are at a level of comfort worthy of the term “dignity” Because that is what we lack in modern society, dignity. Restoring it will take time, vision, and a lot of effort, but, it is not an impossible task. In fact, it is quite simple, as outlined above. I hope someone takes note of this vision and puts it into practice, since a revolution cannot be started with just one blog.
Please share the link to this blog if you agree, not for the sake of the writer, but, for the sake of the future.
jayrsworld 
