Dear Germany, the rumors of our (Americans) deaths are greatly exaggerated. We have had economic problems before and we'll have them again. Life will go on for most of us except maybe for the chai-latte sipping doom-sayers who will be compelled to give up their 6 dollar cups of tea and will then commit suicide en-masse thereby doing the rest of the USA and the world a huge favor. I tell these yuppies to strap on a set of balls and start doing some real work, like developing our manufacturing base.
The only real economic problems this country faces comes from the selfish few who sell out their employees for a quick buck by sending their manufacturing to China and other cheap labor locals. And also by those politicians who enable them to do so. Then these same individuals start crying about how "The world as we know it is ending." They can no longer ride American workers out of jobs for their quick millions because they have effectively reduced us to a complete consumer economy and so they need to cry.
To all of you who think our problems are because of sub-prime lending and bad debts, I disagree. These issues are symptoms of the illness, and not the illness. Pumping billions of dollars into these failing institutions is like trying to cure the illness by treating the symptoms, it is ineffective. To cure an illness, a proper diagnosis is required.
To all Americans, I say, stop looking of the cheapest piece of shit widget at wal-mart. This next bit is critical: elect politicians who will level the trade playing field. Let is stop crying, roll up our collective sleeves, and get to work being producers as well as consumers.
Further, admit that we are going to have to pay for the freaking wars in Iraq and Afghanistan eventually and that sooner is better than later. So be prepared to sacrifice. It doesn't matter whether you agree with the war in Iraq or not (and I do not, and never have), the fact is that the war is a reality and needs to be paid for; we can't afford to have China or any other county hold this leverage over us.
To those of you who claim to be of the Democratic or Republican parties, I say the partying is over. Let's get to work; together. Forget party allegiances, elect politicians whose policies will support American workers while supporting those companies who have had the will to continue to produce American products. Historically (and generally), the Democratic Party supported workers while the Republican Party supported businesses. This is silliness in that the two are NOT mutually exclusive, but rather co-dependant. The life (or continued existence) of the one is dependant upon the life of the other.
