This Economic Mess Just Isn’t Fair!
What happened? Who is responsible for this economic mess? This is not my fault and it just isn’t fair!
Sound familiar?
As our children were growing up, I told them many times that life is not fair. No one ever said it would be; and, it never will be. Things will happen that will affect you that are just not right. At times, you will be treated unfairly.
What is very important is not the “what” or “why,” but rather how you respond to those kinds of situations. Today, many people are angry, and who can blame them? Some have lost their retirement savings. Others have lost their jobs. And that just isn’t fair is it?
So, how do we respond to an event of this magnitude? Politicians blame other politicians. Poor people blame the rich. Some people want the government to put a band-aid on everything and make it all better.
All of that is a waste of time. It doesn’t solve anything. And, it doesn’t help or change your personal circumstances.
I’m sure we could all look back on our past and remember incidents in our lives where we were injured or treated unfairly. Once, I was accused of something I did not do, and on top of that I was called a liar when I denied it. That was very unfair.
Another time I tried out for a sports team at school. There was one spot left and the choice was between two of us. I wasn’t that good of a player, but I was a whole lot better than the other kid. But, I was not chosen. When I asked why not, I was told that it would have really hurt the other kid’s feelings if he wasn’t chosen, so they picked him.
I carried the hurt and resentment from both of those incidents for a long time. But carrying all that garbage around for all that time was not profitable for my life to say the least. And, let’s be honest, those incidents were not critical to my life or well-being.
But, on the other hand, today many people are facing serious situations that are not fair. They are not responsible for the stock market, the housing industry, or the credit market. These situations are very real. But it is extremely important how we respond.
Trying to figure out who is to blame will solve nothing. Being upset and angry is a waste of your precious time and energy. Allowing yourself to become full of fear will not help you to get to a personal solution. These are not responses; they are reactions.
First, stop and take breath. You are still breathing! You are alive!
Don’t allow yourself to emotionally react without thinking. Next, stop dwelling on what you have lost or may loose. Instead, look at what you have and be thankful. Thank God every day for everything that you have!
Then, ask God to help you with your personal situations. Look to Him for guidance and direction. Could there ever be a time when the situation would be so bad that God could not help? If there is, then you need to get another God!
Finally, manage your life and your affairs with wisdom and discretion. (I did not say, “With fear.”) Acting out of fear will only bring negative results into your life. Think things through and make the best decisions that you can. If you need financial counsel, then get it.
Above all, put your trust and confidence in God as your Supplier! No, it doesn’t mean that you just put your head in the sand and act like nothing is going on. It doesn’t mean that we do nothing and think, “Well, God’s just gotta do something.” No. We trust God for His help, but we take action without fear, moving ahead one step at a time.
It is easy to sing praises unto God when everything is going just fine. It’s easy to say that we love God and that He is so wonderful when there is no pressure. But when you are up against the wall, you will find out if you really believe that He is really real!
I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that our God is both able and willing to help, regardless of the stock market, the housing industry, or, the global economy for that matter. Do whatever you need to do to get convinced of that!
Refuse to react. Refuse to be motivated by fear. Instead, respond with trust in our delivering and powerful God, Who loves you unconditionally! God is still on the throne!
Michael A. Verdicchio
Why is capitalism becoming so unpopular?
Ok, I know this economic system has its flaws such as the possibility of monopolies forming and it can create a huge gap between the rich and the poor but hasn’t brought long lasting prosperity to the countries who have embraced it such as the US? I do not despise other economic philosophies and I am not extreme in any way, but I honestly don’t know why it has gotten so much criticism. No economic system can ever truly be perfect and even if an economic system based on the ideas of Marx and Lien could be devised and put into practice how could we possibly do it? Would we evenly distribute the shares of huge companies, such as Walmart, to all of their employees or simply create regulations that limit the salaries of the top executives and raise minimum wages. Also, aren’t there already economic ideas that explain how we could fix this mess without implementing huge radical change. Also, isn’t capitalism so integrated into the global economy that it is impossible to go back now? And if this is the case, why do people keep saying we should scrap the ideas of laze fair and Adam Smith instead of saying we should attempt to fix the flaws which is essentially what Lord Keynes tried to do during the Great Depression ( his ideas on how to help the economy in the short term so in he long term we’re not "all dead" ). One last question, didn’t other countries already attempt to put in place the economic ideas of socialism and communism and haven’t they proved that they are not as efficient? I am an aspiring economist and my knowledge on this subject is extremely limited (due to certain factors) so PLEASE correct me if I am wrong and educate me. Please answer if you truly know what you’re talking about. I would also prefer to have the opinions of from all sides of the political spectrum. Answer with facts not with opinions and please respond with long winded answers not just a link to some obscure political site.
Just because capitalism, in your words, is the best system doesn’t mean it is perfect. Those other systems arose precisely because of the percieved downsides with capitalism, namely the inequity. Keep in mind there has never existed a pure capitalist or socialist society, but mixtures of the two, so a lot of the criticisms you talk about concern just how much (or little) government intervention in the economy is warranted.
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because every wants money, to be the main issue of everything.
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It is time to make a criticism during the bust,but not the boom.
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People always like capitalism less during times when it yields worse results.
People should complain instead about the improper regulation of capitalism. That in turn implies that people should complain about the consequences of special interest influence: interference in intelligent regulations, for the purpose of short-term benefits for those interest groups.
For example, the banking deregulation and other policies that led to America’s current economic hardships resulted mainly from lobbying of both Democrats and Republicans by corporations involved in finance and housing. And I suspect that the decisions about waging wars are influenced by defense contractors. I’m sure there are many more possible examples.
People blame the money, the two main political parties, the lobbyists, the PACs, the corporate interests, etc.
But if you really trace the problem back to its source, those are not the root problem. The voters themselves are.
Many voters only consider the candidates placed right in front of them by the mainstream corporate-owned media, even though most of those candidates got the money to make themselves visible by taking legal bribes (campaign contributions) from organizations that seek some special benefit. And then they complain about how the politicians they elect answer to the interests whose money made those candidates visible. Candidates who attract lots of individual donors and don’t need special interest groups’ money are the exception.
The way some people talk about campaign finance makes it sound like it’s literally impossible for voters to consider a candidate who does not have tons of advertising and endorsements. That is not true, especially because voters can use Google to easily learn about all the available candidates, and give them equal consideration. But it will be impossible if voters don’t bother to look.
The most remarkable aspect of all this is how trivially easy it would be for voters to defeat the legalized corruption of campaign finance, if voters decided to act collectively across party lines. They can look at less publicized candidates. They can reject out of hand any candidate who takes any form of influence buying. They can support candidates who publicly warn that they will give no beneficial treatment to PAC donors who independently run ads or other marketing on their behalf. By doing those things, they could render that influence money powerless.
Most voters would not vote for a candidate who had been convicted of political bribery, no matter how "electable" he/she is or what his/her policy positions are. So why vote for any candidate who accepts legal bribes in the form of special interest money?
There’s a saying: "In every democracy, the people get the government they deserve". Voters are getting abused because they choose the wrong representatives. It’s their fault, and it’s their responsibility to change that.
There’s also a saying in business: "Management is always to blame." In a republic, the voters are the topmost level of management, because they choose the politicians.
By the way, the term is "laissez-faire" not "laze fair".
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