Rick Raw: Recession–Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose

By Rick Grant rickgrant01@comcst.net www.rickatnight.com

Today, as Wall Street falters under volatile market pressures, economists are divided as to whether we are actually in a recession or not. But to the average person who has been downsized because their high tech jobs were outsourced to India, or similar scenarios, recession is just another word for nothing left to lose. In other words, to the middle-class Joe, who struggles to find a job and make ends meet, there is no doubt we are in a recession. It’s my recession. It’s your recession. Dammit, it’s The Recession fellow Americans.

The downward spiral happened when America’s corporations started to outsource customer service jobs to other countries, upping their bottom line. Then, bolstered by lack of outrage from America’s working force, they began outsourcing high paying jobs, such as engineering positions, to other countries, eliminating millions of U.S. jobs.

Soon there were more foreigners working for U.S. companies overseas than Americans working for U.S. companies. Of course, the Bush administration encouraged this treachery, stripping Americans of the right to have job security because our government allows companies to move their operations overseas for cheaper labor. Bush’s League of Extraordinary Losers said," It’s a global economy, go forth and find cheap labor, ya’ll, and we’ll be line-dancing in Lubbock with the oil industry in our pocket."

Now, practically nothing is made in America, and our retail markets are flooded with shoddy Chinese merchandise. And, we let it happen. Yes, we have no balls to demand accountability from our representatives in Washington. Wake up and hear the recession. It’s the clicking sound of the National Debt Clock, whirling so fast, it’s a blur.

In the hearts and minds of the unemployed America work force, when our big corporations are not hiring Americans, and Indian engineers are living la dolce vita on 10 grand a year, recession strikes deep into the America’s zeitgeist. However, outsourcing jobs is only part of the problem.
Recession raises its ugly head when every day $4 billion is added to the national debt.

The truth is: The Iraq war is feeding the outer parameters of a full blown recession. We simply can’t afford to continue this debacle. Until we eliminate the Iraq War’s stranglehold on our economy and reduce the national debt, we’re running on massive negative cash flow, inviting economic disaster. Yet, Bush is happy to continue spending billions to "stabilize" Iraq and leave a big mess for the next president to clean up.

If the layperson delves into the various dissertations on recession indicators, written by economists, one is met with complex economic mumbo-jumbo. Yet, the middle-class person knows damn well what’s happening to his lifestyle–it’s going downhill, as prices go up, wages stay the same or go down, and personal credit card debt rises just so the working stiff can maintain a reasonably comfortable status quo.

Indeed, the word "recession" rings hollow to the average person. As a semi-retired person, I gauge my budget limitations as my personal financial health indicator. Lately, I’ve noticed that it gets harder to make it through each month with any money left over. Suddenly, it hit me–I’m in my own personal recession, living hand to mouth. Call it recession, depression, or just that dunderhead President Bush screwing up our economy.

Now it’s personal. One knows there is a recession when it hits home like a financial plague, and suddenly, that National Debt Clock takes on heady significance. Think of it –$4 billion is added to the deficit every day. See it whirl and weep. "Down, down we go, into the abysss without a safety rope."