Hey You! Dimwitted assclowns! You're wrecking the economy!

[CoffeeCat]

I didn't put this in "Late Breaking News" because I don't believe the attached article IS news. It's
"opinion" put forth by our corporate masters who want us to know that we are selfishly wrecking
an entire economy.

HEADLINE: "WEAK CONSUMER COULD DERAIL ECONOMIC RECOVERY" http://www.thestreet.com/story/10583054/1/weak-consumer-could-derail-recovery.html

Stupid consumer! You just had to pay down your debt and live within your means, didn't you? Well...DIDN'T YOU???

"NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shaky consumer spending could put the brakes on a global recovery that shows signs of recovering."

Did you think of anyone BUT YOURSELF when you decided that a third flat panel if your RV was a bad idea? Answer me!

"Most large U.S. retailers are openly stating that consumers are just outright reluctant to spend."

You're petulant children, that's what you are! You're supposed to redecorate your children's rooms--every year--with coordinating
rugs, curtains, bedding and lamps from Pottery Barn. But NOOOO...you decided that living pay check to pay check was BAD and now you're
saving money for the future. It's just all about YOU, isn't it???

"This penny-pinching trend is not only affecting revenues but has forced many retailers to trim inventories that will prevent them from offering massive markdowns and eventually bolster profits."

What about the granite countertop installers? What about the guy who sells those leather media-room chairs? What
about the woman who owns the high end dog-jewelry boutique? Heartless bastards.

"Neiman Marcus recently stated that they cut purchases by nearly 25%."

Being unemployed or unable to afford something, is NO excuse! The corporations NEED your money, and you need
another pair of velvet Ferragamo strappy sandals!

"Consumer spending is so vital to the American economy because it constitutes nearly 70% of the nation's GDP. Although most economists believe that modest economic growth will be seen in the second half of the year, the consumer could potentially be the counterweight of an economic recovery and an increase in consumer spending will be absolutely necessary to sustain growth."

So, what's it going to be American consumer? Is a more meaningful, peaceful life--focused on people and relationships, instead of material
possessions---really worth destroying an entire global economy? ...Yeah, I didn't think so.

Now, get out there and start buying, or you're going to find yourselves the villains in this whole economic recovery story--and I don't think
you want that to happen, now do you???

Remember, we own the media. We can demonize any group or individual. We can make the poor and certain sectors of the middle class look like
selfish, freeloading cretins who just won't do their part. Bad things can happen to people or groups who are despised, don't you think?

So, take a trip to the mall, drive out to that strip mall, use that credit card and dip into that savings or college fund. It's your
duty. You're the 70 percent.

And we're counting on you.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. K and R.

The consumer-based economy is an unsustainable paradox.

[angryfirelord]

10. It depends on the extent of consumerism

I think the problem lies more within in what the economy produces and how much people save rather than what they buy. I'd say the bigger issue is that we've become a service-based economy with a dwindling manufacturing base. I'll agree that focusing entirely on consumerism as a measure for economic progress is a bad idea, but you do need some good amount of consumerism in order to sustain services and products that companies promote and manufacture.

I'd say the first issue we should address is the off-shoring of our manufacturing and IT industry.

[unlawflcombatnt]

17. Exactly

"I'd say the first issue we should address is the off-shoring of our manufacturing and IT industry."

We need to produce more of what we buy, and the profits from those sales need to be shared more with worker (& consumers) who buy most of those goods, and, in so doing, create demand for production.

[prostomulgus]

2. Corporations are geared toward extracting money from the public

They want the goose to keep laying golden eggs so they have their puppets in the RW media publish crap like this.

[Warpy]

3. However, they haven't quite made the connection

that the economy based on debt is over and that if they want customers, they're going to have to start to pay the help a living wage.

[prostomulgus]

7. Or...

They could just have the govt give them however much they need for their private planes, big bonuses, exotic vacations, etc.

Is that what's called the "new normal?"

[DrDan]

4. on my way to the mall right now . . .

[CoffeeCat]

6. Don't forget your credit cards!

I'd hate to see you spend less than you're able! ;)

[WCGreen]

5. The limits of growth.,.

I can't put ay more shit in my house ifI tried.

[ParkieDem]

9. I know the feeling, WCGreen

What really needs to be addressed is the failure of the FOREIGN consumer to pick up the slack. For the past 10-15 years, the American consumer has not only been driving the US economy, but the global economy as well. There's no doubt our savings rate needs to increase, but the savings rate in some other countries needs to decrease. European and Asian governments need to get their asses in gear and encourage THEIR consumers to carry the wagon for a change. The American consumer has done this for way too long.

[WCGreen]

11. Great point!

[vincna]

18. This is tongue in cheek , right?

The American consumer went deep into hock buying lots of crap that corporations convinced them they couldn't live without. Why would you expect foreign consumers to make that mistake after seeing what it did to our economy?

[CoffeeCat]

19. I wonder about credit-card use in other countries...

So much financial irresponsibility happened because people were living beyond their income--and putting
massive amounts of "stuff" on credit cards.

That's what drove a lot of spending in the United States.

It's entirely possible, that the US harps its own citizens about spending--because they know we're stupid enough
to drive ourselves into debt--by buying large bbq grills, window clings and big-screen tvs on credit at 25 percent
interest.

[Po_d Mainiac]

8. Oh Java'd Feline...What a beautiful rant!! k/r n/t

[truedelphi]

12. Should I realize that I DO NEED another

Pair of velvet Ferragamo strappy sandals, I will do exactly as I am doing for my necessities - I will find a way to trade for them.

Even houses are being swapped these days. With more success than the traditional methods.

I have had two friends meet me for lunch in the past three weeks. And they are cheerier than I remember. Why? Because they have discovered local trading groups.

Psychic reading for massage. Bookkeeping for auto repair.

And somewhere out there is someone with a pair of sandals just dying to have some editing done.

[CoffeeCat]

13. That's awesome!

Trading is wonderful, isn't it?

Just today, I bartered with a friend who is in my coupon group. I got 4 gallons of milk, 6 boxes of cat food, and a bunch
of pears and apples fresh off the trees in her yard. I gave her two outdoor cushions from some outdoor furniture that we
were no longer using. Because of her couponing skills--the items she gave me cost her only $2. I was able to give her
the cushions, which she had been prepared to spend $50-$75 at Target. We both won!

I have to find local trading board. I know about Craig's List and also Free Cycle. I'll have to research more. In these
difficult times, trading like this is such a blessing and so FUN!

And I hope you get those sandals... :)

[Hugin]

14. I'd help out... But, this turnip is bare.

:turnoutemptypockets:

:/

[bain_sidhe]

15. K&R

If only so I can find it again!

[sendero]

16. Every conceivable path to any real recovery..

... depends on consumer spending, yet the consumer is broke and becoming broker. That's why there isn't going to be any meaningful recovery within years.

And when the "economists" tell us the recession is over, well they are as full of shit as they were when they said we weren't heading for a recession.

[CrispyQ]

20. I was at Lowe's yesterday.

Sorry, CoffeeCat, all I purchased was a $12 toilet seat & I paid cash for it. :P

As I walked around the store, looking at beautiful sample kitchens & bathrooms, yards of carpeting & hardwood flooring, & gorgeous out door furniture sets, I wondered how many people spent their home equity at Lowe's & Home Depot & if they are happy with those purchases, now that their home is worth less than what they owe.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks that most granite counter tops look like vomit?

[truedelphi]

21. You make me consider the underside of the discussion of

How so many became conspicuous consumers.

It was the rage. For a while there, people were more about how many new luxury items they were putting into their kitchen than anything else.

Did those things help make us a better people? Did having granite countertops help re-instate the kind of communities so many of us recall from back in the fifties and sixties, when everyone knew the neighbors' names? When the one developmentally disabled child could safely go around to store fronts, and if he or she acted up, the police would not have even considered a taser, had one been available, but put the kid in the back of the patrol car and driven them home.

When my entire apartment building kitchen apps would not have been worth $ 70K. Not even if you added in the basement furnace for the six flat that provided us our warmth. (Hell, I doubt the whole building would have sold for 70K.)

But we weren't poor and we knew each other and had fun. My folks and their best friends considered it great entertainment on the wide front stoop in front of the bungalow and hunt for Sputnik. On special weekends (Anticipating a Monday morning holiday) the women would have on pretty summer dresses and they'd serve cocktails out there. While we kids played hide and go seek QUIETLY, as the games lasted till midnight and we didn't want to wake up anyone that was sleeping.

[CrispyQ]

22. I walk almost every morning - an hour walk in my small bedroom community.

Hardly anyone looks when I pass & even fewer acknowledge me. The ones that do are generally older, 50+ (my age!). In the grocery store, people act like they are the only ones there, blocking the isle with their cart while they read labels. I don't know about you, but I have the capacity to read a label & sense when someone is near me & I'm in their way. Why can't they? On our roads it's all about positioning. If you can get one car length ahead, even if it means driving carelessly, then that's what you do. It's always about getting ahead & who cares if you trample others in your effort to do so.

I know I sound like an old fart, but I don't recall it being this way when I was younger. I don't remember the mean-spiritedness, the being so self-absorbed, the lack of community. More than anything, I miss the sense of community, the sense of 'we're all in this together.'

RE: kids playing quietly - damn! The kids in the park across from me scream bloody murder. I don't begrudge them being kids, having fun & making some noise, but if I had screamed like that when I was a kid, my mother would have been outside in a flash, certain that something dreadful had happened to me.

Nice to see you!! :hi: