Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 21:02:26 -0700
Subject: M-INTRO: Re: The paradox of the American economy
From: Che-AT-pseud.pseud


This semester has been very enlightening, as I have come to a deeper
understanding of Marx, and especially man relationship to the commodity. 
That is why I find it so interesting that the pursuit of the commodity
and the accumulation of commodities rules our lives.  Many people attend
college so that they can get a better job and for what purpose to buy
commodities.  Our culture is inundated with the notion that we constantly
have to be buying and consuming commodities.  I was recently watching TV,
and some economist that was giving a forecast of what to expect from the
economy in the next few quarters made an important point.  He stated that
if we consumed just what we needed to survive that capitalism as we know
it would not exist.  American capitalism depends on Americans to consume
at an enormous rate.  We are a nation that consumes the most of any other
nation and to keep this consumption up they promote debt as an option to
perpetuate a consumer economy.  I think that there is a paradox in this,
we spend and go into debt to keep a strong economy, paying ridiculous
interest rates, which further enriches a select few.  We can borrow
against our home for more than it is worth all to keep up the cycle of
consuming and buying.  The paradox lies in the fact that what happens
when we hit hard times?  When people are our of work, the economy is
suffering, people loose their homes, go into default on their consumer
debt, what happens to the economy.  The economy that we spend to support,
suddenly when there is a ripple within the system the whole economy
implodes due to the debt that created it.  I feel this all to real a
possibility, given the current economic circumstances that American and
indeed the world face.


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