New Report, Same Story

Reports like this seem to be expected. We have a broken economic system because our political system is ass backwards. The American collective has viewed themselves as consumers first and citizens second-that's why the elections were and are going to be about the recovery that is supposed to happen and supposed to have happened. Our participation in democracy is largely influenced by our power to be consumers and to interact with capital; why else would we debate/talk about jobs, health care costs, housing market issues, taxes, and the like.

The report shows a bulge corporate profits, generated mainly through cheaper production costs and the lack of demand. These conditions point to a egregious phenomenon- those folks not at the top have lost consumer power. This loss does not result from loss of ambition or the will to self-improve. Consumers want something better but just can't afford it, whatever it is. Is this because consumers are working less? Absolutely not. Americans are working more hours, and their wages have been stagnant for years. These facts are not new. Consumers can't consume because they have no money and their assets are dwindling. Consumers who are not in the upper-class are just losing the game that has been rigged by businesses that are too big to fail and by our politicians who allow the game to be rigged for the benefit of a few.

Consumers are not fault for their ruin; the financial meltdown caused this mess. For those who caused the meltdown, they've already moved on because they can. Consumers are time and time again left to foot the bill. The article cites that current corporate profits do not show signs of a strong economy- increased consumer demand and consumer spending power. Would I still complain if profits were this high and the numbers reflected a strong economy? Probably, because we can do better than this.