Economic Recession

Ignore what our beloved media tells you; we are on the brink of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the government is doing absolutely nothing useful to avert it. The current plan is to give $600 billion to the companies that got us in this predictament, in the hope that fixing them will trickle down and help the entire economy. Wait, doesn't this sound like Reaganomics? And didn't Reaganomics help get us here (along with the following factors: inflation, increased workforce leading to increased competition, the outsourcing of blue-collar jobs and the fact that our entire economy was designed as a giant ponzi scheme that is now bottoming out as all eventually do)? And everyone is ignoring the pink elephant in the room (his name is Rampage, please say hello, because he will soon be dancing on our heads), which is this: where exactly is this money coming from?

The Great Depression of the 1930s was caused by a myriad of factors, including people buying with money they didn't have and a faltering world economy. Now, I know that is completely different from the current causes of the economic depression, but bear with me. There were three main initiatives that dragged us out of that depression, and I suggest three similar initiatives to get us out of this one.

1) The creation of millions of jobs via government-funded projects

People without jobs need government help to live, but have no money, and so pay no taxes, which mean other taxpayers need to give them money so they can live...I think one can see how this cycle can quickly spiral out of control. In the 1930s, FDR gave people jobs with government-funded projects that at the same time did useful things. My suggestion is, rather than giving banks $600 billion to go back to the status quo that got us here in the first place, we use a portion of that money to create millions of jobs. What will these jobs be, you ask?

I am glad you asked! I believe these billions of dollars should be used to fund nation-wide urban reconstruction projects, focusing on building more housing and improving public transportation systems. By the same token, cross-country public transportation systems (namely, Amtrak) should be more extensive and fixed up. Doing this would do wonders towards improving the infrastructure of our cities, move away from our overreliance on cars, and entice people to move into cities, hopefully decreasing that abomination known as suburban sprawl.

2) The legalization of previously banned substances to increase tax flow

The repeal of Prohibition decreased crime and increased tax dollars, two very good outcomes. While I support the elimination of all victimless crimes (an issue I will probably expound upon in a later post), at the very least marijuana should be legalized. The legalization of marijuana would give the United States millions in tax dollars and decrease crime. Also, it is good to legalize a drug that helps people relax in these tense times, right?

3) Using war to stir an economic boon

FDR had World War II to both cement his legacy and provide the needed economic stimulus to really get us out of the Great Depression. Of course, World War III is far more likely to be the Apocalypse than any sort of economic boon, but let us work in the opposite way. Before the 1950s, the United States only maintained a standing army of officers, and used enlistment drives or drafts to fill its ranks in times of need. However, during and after the 1950s, the military-industrial complex became a behemoth that guzzled billions of dollars a year for little reason. Even now, we maintain military bases in 130 countries for unknown purposes.

I propose that we slash the defense budget significantly, get out of Iraq (they don't want us there and we don't want to be there) and maintain only a standing army of officers. Why spend billions in the development of newer and better weapons when almost all of it is completely meaningless? With the existence of nuclear weapons, there will be no major wars due to the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction. By saving billions a year, we help to balance the budget and maybe can get rid of this deficit, or at least put the money to better uses.