View this page "e2 final drafts: post here by 11/7"

[oc]

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/eng101online3226/web/e2-final-drafts-post-here-by-11-7
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Karey]

hey professor OC:

Are we supposed to only post the second half of our essay or the whole
essay?

[Joe Gonzales]

I cannot find my essay and only part of the short story.  Is anyone else having this problem?  Any help would be appreciated'
 

Joe Omar Gonzales

 

"Being part of an agenda beyond ourselves liberates us to complement each other rather than compete with each other".  Joesph Stowell

---

From: Karey <karey...@hotmail.com>
To: "English 101 online section #3226, Fall 2009" <eng101on...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 9:37:13 PM
Subject: Discussion on e2-final-drafts-post-here-by-11-7

[oc]

KDL/all:

post the complete, final draft of both the essay and the short story

if you mean, do you need to repost for rough draft, no

o'c

[ehenriquez12]

proffesos OC I really need to speak with you.. Can you please email
me. thanks!

[Karey]

Greedy Little Bastards: Consumerism and the “Great” Credit-Card Crisis
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”

William Shakespeare (Hamlet, Act I, s. iii)

For decades, the Unites States consumer has been cajoled by credit
card companies into spending beyond her means with promises of love,
companionship, happiness and prosperity: “Hot cocoa - $2.99, ice
skates- $34.26, gloves- $5.62; Spending a Wednesday afternoon with
your daughter, Priceless.” Credit card companies have invested
billions of dollars in advertising alone, with the sole purpose of
luring the consumer into spending. This “luring” or so-called
“predatory lending practices” has not required any significant arm-
twisting, however. We are a nation of consumers who insist on instant
gratification and who greedily strive to look, smell and live
wealthier than the Joneses- what Bacevich refers to as “profligacy.”
Consumers have gotten themselves into such a heap of trouble that the
government is now forced to step in with an array of tax-payer-funded
“bail-outs.” Yet, many argue that government intervention is actually
the proliferation of politician pocket-lining. In other words, the
credit card companies, consumers and the government are in a triune
greed-based relationship which is at the root of the United States’
current economic demise. What is clear is that Bacevich is right on
point. American elitism and the collective penchant for excess is the
root of the current financial crisis. The only solution is a return
to the humble and economically conservative principles of the pre-
World War II era, i.e.- saving up for large purchases, ceasing
competition via material possessions and earning an elevated station
in life rather than buying it on credit.

As Bacevich argues, “The restless search for a buck and the ruthless
elimination of anyone- or anything-standing in the way of doing so
have long been central to the American character.” (Bacevich, 2009, p.
17) Nowhere is this more evident than in American consumerism.
Americans are so caught up in the culture of instant gratification and
the overwhelming desire to appear to have more than their next door
neighbors, that they are willing to “fake it ‘til they make it.”
Enter: credit cards. Credit cards enable the American consumer to
spend well beyond their means. Like the “Wimpy” character in the old
Popeye cartoons, American consumers are willing to pay for tomorrow
what they can have today.

As of 2006, there were nearly 1.5 billion credit cards in
circulation. Between 2000 and 2006, even as Americans’ monetary take-
home pay was relatively stagnant and their savings non-existent,
credit-card borrowing rose by about thirty per cent. (Surowiecki,
2009) Even now, as inflation increases costs, salaries remain
stagnant, job loss increases and Americans have less to spend, credit
card spending is all the more enticing. Thus, using credit cards has
become a promising option for many to maintain their lifestyles.
Indeed, overall U.S. credit card debt grew by 435% from 2002 to 2007,
from $211 billion to approximately $915 billion. (Schechter, 2008)

Consumers’ willingness to spend beyond their means has proven very
profitable for credit-card companies. Indeed, credit cards comprise
about 14 percent of all consumer loans. (Rexrode, 2008) Between 2003
and 2008, credit card companies’ profits jumped forty-five per cent.
(Surowiecki, 2009). Credit card companies have built an entire
industry on the new consumer. In 2007 alone, 5.2 billion offers for
new cards were routinely mailed. (Surowiecki, 2009).

Yet, while excessive borrowing has increased companies’ profits, it
also increased their risks. In the U.S. alone, there are more than
$850 billion in unpaid credit card balances. That number is fast
approaching $1 trillion, roughly the same amount as in the subprime
market. (Schechter, 2008)

Once the recent economic slowdown began, companies quickly discovered
that their clients could not pay them back. Companies’ defaulted
accounts rose to almost 7.5 per cent in December 2008, an increase of
forty per cent from December 2007. As unemployment continues to rise,
the number of people who are unable to pay their bills will grow.
(Surowiecki, 2009) Now, credit-card companies are doing everything in
their power to lower their risks, including, increasing interest
rates, shutting down accounts and shrinking credit lines.

As the consumers cry, “Uncle!” the government had stepped in. Senator
Christopher Dodd has authored the Credit Card Accountability
Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. The most significant
aspect of the Act is that is amends the Truth in Lending Act to
require advance notice of any increase in a credit card annual
percentage rate. However, it does not prevent credit card companies
from increasing interest rates altogether. Seemingly, the government
called into question both the American consumers’ irresponsible rate
of spending, as well as the credit card companies’ predatory
practices. Indeed, when President Obama signed the Act, he warned,
“We're not going to give people a free pass, and we expect consumers
to live within their means and pay what they owe, but we also expect
financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility
that the American people aspire to in their own lives,” (Travers and
Wolf, 2009)

Driving home Bacevich’s point that the actions of the legislative
branch are ill-informed and influenced by a desire to benefit itself
(Bacevich, 2009, p. 69), critics argue that those who are now
purportedly fixing the credit crisis may have actually been the ones
who benefitted most from its creation. In his recent documentary film
Capitalism: A Love Story, film-maker Michael Moore criticizes Senator
Christopher Dodd and other government officials for benefiting from
exclusive financial programs. Moore criticizes Dodd in particular for
predatory lending practices concerning which Moore argues he turned a
blind-eye while he was Chair of the Senate Banking Committee.
The government’s mere finger-wagging to address the credit crisis
illustrates that the consumer, credit card companies and government
are in a symbiotic relationship of greed. The consumer wants to
spend, the credit card companies want to profit, and government
officials receive buttered palms by looking the other way and failing
to truly intervene in the fiasco. The only real solution is a
commitment by consumers to reign-in their spending. This is a tall
order, however. To successfully cease erratic spending, the American
consumer must adjust her thinking. She must divorce herself from the
feelings of validation in ownership of material possessions, and
instead commit to saving up for “big ticket” items. She must cease
competing with her fellow consumers in a race for the biggest and
shiniest “things.” Finally, to pull herself up and out of this
financial crisis, the American consumer must stop using credit cards
altogether. Only then will the credit crisis cycle be broken.

References
Bacevich, Andrew. 2009. The Limits of Power: the End of American
Exceptionalism
Dodd, Sen. Christopher. 2009, February 11. S:414: Credit Card
Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009: A bill to
amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act, to ban abusive credit
practices, enhance consumer disclosures, protect underage consumers,
and for other purposes. U.S. Senate
Moore, Michael. 2009. Capitalism: A Love Story
Rexrode, Christina. 2008, October 28. Are credit cards the next
collapse? The Huffington Post.
Schechter, Danny. 2008, June 25. House of Cards: You thought the
housing crisis was bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Los Angeles City
Beat
Surowiecki, James. 2009, March 16. House Of Cards. The New Yorker
Travers, Karen and Wolf, Z. Byron. 2009, May 22. Obama Signs Credit
Card Bill, Says Consumers and Lenders Need to Act More Responsibly.
ABC News
The Proud Peacock
At Lake Atitlan, birds of all hues of lilac, amber, emerald and
crimson prance about the shore. It is well known that the most vibrant
colors are coveted, and only birds with ornate and colorful feathers
are respected and admired.

Unfortunately, Father Peacock’s feathers were dull and lackluster. No
one paid him much attention, at all. He didn’t have a fancy job,
didn’t hold office and was never in the public eye. However, all that
Father Peacock lacked in popularity and color, he enjoyed in his lush
and abundant orchards of sweet peaches, juicy mangos, tangy oranges
and savory avocados.
Father Peacock was very proud of his fruit trees, as they yielded
enough sustenance to feed him, his wife, and their six children and
enough shade to shelter each of them. Over the years, as Father
Peacock taught his children to prune and irrigate the foliage, he
shared with them, “My lovelies, these orchards are the pride of our
family. Treat them with respect and they will always bear fruit to
feed you and shade to serve you, even long after your mother and I are
gone.”

Father Peacock’s eldest son, Gray, didn’t care about the silly fruit
trees. The kids at school made fun of him because of his father’s
feathers and all he wanted was to be popular. “Your dad is a bore!
Your dad is a loser! MY dad is rich and vibrant!” Gray vowed that
when he grew up he would have bright, vivid feathers so that he could
enjoy the popularity he so desperately craved.

When Gray grew up, he was horrified to see that his feathers were
lifeless and limp- just like his father’s. No one paid him much
attention, either. He worried that he would never be popular. He
plotted and schemed about what to do, and came up with a failsafe
solution. When Father Peacock had died a few years earlier, he had
left his orchards to Gray. Gray decided that in the summer, when the
fruit from his trees was abundant, he would sell the fruit to the deer
around the lake. With the profits, he would buy dye for his feathers.

When Gray began to dye his feathers, he saw immediate improvement in
his popularity with the other birds. He received invitations to flock,
got attention from pretty peahens and earned a seat on the volery
council. But, Gray was not satisfied. He wanted to be even more
popular. So, he sold more fruit and used the money to throw lavish
parties, hiring the most exclusive catering companies and handing out
crystal figurines as party favors. All the birds talked about the
parties for days and months to come, which pleased Gray very much. But
he was still not satisfied. Gray wanted more.

In the winter, when the trees did not produce any fruit, Gray worried
that he would not be able to dye his feathers or throw any parties.
So, he promised the deer around the lake that if they gave him money
then, he would give them fruit at harvest-time. He made promise after
promise, and all through the winter, he dyed his feathers and threw
his parties.

Come harvest, the deer came to collect their fruit. But, Gray was
overwhelmed. He had made so many promises to so many deer, that he did
not have enough fruit to give to the deer who had given him money in
the winter. This made the deer furious, and some of the bucks
threatened to spear him with their antlers. “Gray, we want our fruit,
Damn it! We’re hungry, and that fruit is OURS!” In exchange for his
life, Gray had to promise the bucks that he would give them even more
fruit than he owed them the following summer. Not only that, but after
Gray handed out all his fruit, he had none left to eat and none left
to sell.

Gray had no money and no fruit. He could not dye his feathers or throw
any parties. He knew that even when the orchards yielded fruit the
following summer, that fruit would not belong to him, as he had
promised it to the angry bucks. His feathers grew out their real color
of grey, and, without his fruit, he became gaunt and sickly. When he
walked through town, the other birds jeered at him. “You’re a
pathetic loser, just like your father!,” they yelled. Gray even lost
his seat on the volery council.

One sweltering afternoon, in the blistering heat of the noonday sun,
Gray’s frail body and brittle spirit could ensure no more. “I am NOT
just like my father. He was a noble and practical man. I, on the
other hand, have wasted my life on material possessions and on the
illusion of wealth.” Gray staggered over to one of his barren mango
trees. It still provided enough shade to shelter him from the hot
summer sun, and was the perfect place to rest his weary, riddled
body. Yet, even in his clear state of pain and unrest, the other
birds continued to hurled heckles at him and spat on him as they
passed. As he lay there dying, Gray missed the anonymity of his
father’s life very much.

[Karey]

Sorry I posted my rough draft. Here is my final copy!

[NATALYA D]

Natalya Dverina
English 101
Professor O’Connel
11/07/09

Crisis of Politics
Looking at the political situation in the world, the United States is
experiencing a political crisis according to Andrew Bacevich (2009).
In his book The Limits of Power, he covers in detail the factors that
led to crisis the U.S. is facing. According to Bacevich and other
analysts, abuses of power by the Executive Branch of the U.S.
government, misguided foreign policy, and misjudgment of the political
and tactical situation by the George W. Bush Administration are the
most prominent factors leading to the current political crisis. In
order to contain the crisis, the U.S. needs to reassess its status as
a global superpower and adjust its foreign policy to a more affordable
one politically and financially.
As Andrew Bacevich (2009) states in The Limits of Power, The United
States transformed itself into a superpower after the end of World War
II (p. 67). By 1960, the Executive Branch already had significantly
more power than before the World War II resulting in “imperial
presidency” (p. 68) as Bacevich called it. As a result, post-World War
II presidents were able to defer for counsel on strategy or policy
decisions to so-called Wise Men – presidential advisors not
accountable to anybody but the President (Bacevich 2009, p. 102). Even
though the President is ultimately responsible for all decisions,
there is huge potential for abuse of power by these advisors even if
it may be in the interest of the United States. The George W. Bush
Administration is the culmination of this legacy in the sense that it
failed most miserably by inflicting the death of over 4,000 American
soldiers and adding one trillion dollars to the budget deficit without
accomplishing the major goals that it claimed to achieve (U.S. House
H. Res. 417, Ms. Baldwin, 2009). Programs such as warrantless
wiretapping and extraordinary rendition are clearly overstepping the
U.S. and international law and are some of the key indicators of
manipulation of power and that the U.S. is facing a political crisis.
Due to reckless and misguided military decisions, the U.S. troops are
currently deployed in Afghanistan for an indeterminate period of time.
The legality of actions by the George W. Bush Administration is still
being questioned, but both the House of Representatives and the Senate
issued resolutions condemning the abuses of power by the Bush
Administrations (U.S. House H. Res. 417 2007, Ms. Baldwin, US Senate
S. Res. 303. 2009, Mr. Feingold and Mr. Harkin).
Major miscalculations in the direction of U.S. foreign policy have
made a significant contribution to the political crisis that the U.S.
is experiencing. One of the Wise Men, Paul Wolfowitz, was the
mastermind behind attacking Iraq (Bacevich, 209, p. 117). His vision
of the foreign policy in the Middle East was that by removing Saddam
Hussein’s regime and establishing a democratic government the process
of “transformation” of the other Islamic states will begin, even
though Iraq was a secular state (Bacevich, 2009, p. 117). This
strategy was not revealed to the Congress which had no choice but to
approve the war given all the evidence of Iraq possessing weapons of
mass destruction. Essentially, a small group of advisors took the
country into a lengthy and costly war - all based on their vision of
the U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. system of government was
specifically designed to not give the Executive branch the absolute
power to dictate foreign policy and declare war without an approval
from the Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives issued a
resolution which condemns the Bush/Cheney Administration for deceiving
the U.S. Congress and the American people regarding the weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq and ties to Al-Qaeda (U.S. House H. Res. 417,
Ms. Baldwin, 2009). The resolution also condemns bypassing of the
system of checks and infringing on civil liberties by “claiming the
power to declare any person an ‘enemy combatant,’ blatantly ignoring
the Geneva Convention protections that the U.S. helped create,
ratify…” (U.S. House H. Res. 417, Ms. Baldwin, 2009). The resolution
also urges the current president to immediately start working on
reversing the actions of the Bush Administration and preventing them
from happening in the future (U.S. House H. Res. 417, Ms. Baldwin,
2009).
The situation in Afghanistan was not getting as much attention until
recently, but with the pullout of the troops from Iraq, the U.S. can
concentrate on resolving the situation in Afghanistan. However, in
order to succeed, the U.S. needs to set more realistic targets. The
main goal of the U.S. in Afghanistan is to establish a self-sustaining
government and leave the country with a minimal contingent of troops.
To achieve this goal, the attainable and sufficient targets in
Afghanistan are training the local security forces to maintain the
countries security as well as establishing relationships with
neighboring countries (Innocent, 2009). Additionally, Innocent
suggests focusing on drug eradication policy that targets primarily
cartels that are affiliated with insurgents and not target the “poor
local farmers” because it further alienates the farmers (Innocent,
2009).
The fact that NATO forces are fighting side by side with American
troops, helps the U.S. not only strategically, but it also helps by
improving the image of the U.S. as a world power collaborating with
other countries in achieving a goal of fighting world terrorism.
However, the United States must revisit its foreign policy and abandon
the idea of being the world’s only superpower tasked with spreading
democracy and defending of freedom. According to the article by
Christopher Preble (2009), Americans rank “’Promoting and defending
human rights in other countries’; and ‘Protecting weaker nations
against foreign aggression’; 12th and 13th, respectively.” Democracy
promotion was the last on the poll with 17 percent (Preble, 2009). The
way the United States is perceived in the world, especially in the
Islamic countries, is extremely important for global trade and
security (Preble, 2009). Being a global superpower is simply no longer
feasible for the United States. Great Britain, a leading global power
at the time, writes Leon Hadar, went through a similar transition
after the end of World War II (Hadar, 2009). Even though the situation
is completely different, the similarities between the two countries
are obvious. Just as Britain at the time, the U.S. is having
difficulties dictating the foreign policy to Iran, trade problems with
China, and abandoning the missile shield in Poland – all signs of
diminishing military and economic strength (Hadar, 2009).
The failures and blatant disregard for human rights of the Bush
Administration have struck a serious blow to the credibility of the
United States as a global superpower. As a result, the balance of
powers in the world has changed so that the U.S. is no longer a global
superpower. The longer the U.S. acts as one, the more damage will be
done to its economy and credibility. It is imperative that the United
States reassesses its standing in the world and reemerges as another
country with capacity and strength to make the world a better place.


References:
Axe, D., Innocent, M., & Reich, J. (2009, October 6). Defining Victory
to Win a War. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10612
Bacevich, A., (2009). The Limits of Power: the End of American
Exceptionalism. City: Holt Paperbacks.
Hadar, L. H. (2009, September 29). It's the Balance of Power, Stupid!
Retrieved October 24, 2009, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leon-t-hadar/its-the-balance-of-power_b_302469.html
Innocent, M., & Carpenter, T. G. (2009, September 14). Escaping the
"Graveyard of Empires": A Strategy to Exit Afghanistan. Retrieved
October 24, 2009, from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10533
Preble, C. (2009, October 16). U.S. Standing in the World. Retrieved
October 24, 2009, from http://blog.psaonline.org/2009/10/16/u-s-standing-in-the-world/
U.S. House (2009, May 7). Expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives (Publication No. H. RES. 417). Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from
http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=43920228054+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve

U.S. Senate (2007, August 3). Censuring the President and the Attorney
General (Publication No. S. RES. 303). Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office. Retrieved October 24, 2009 from
http://frwebgate6.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=436315416515+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve.
.

Short story:

Little George

One day, little George woke up with in a great mood. The weather was
nice and his friends promised to come over later in the afternoon.
George was a ruler of a large empire even though he was only ten years
old and did not have many friends of his age. His farther died several
years ago and left him the empire to rule. Little George was still a
child, but he was forced to start being an adult much sooner than
other kids of his age. Still, he was always happy when kids of his age
came over to play.
The morning started as usual with a traditional breakfast of eggs and
toast with some tea. Suddenly, Joseph, one of his mentors and advisors
on the political matters walked in and said that his presence was
urgently requested by the Council of Elders. George was somewhat
happy, because he was tired of the same breakfast for several days, so
he proceeded to the meeting hall with Joseph. Joseph never called him
to the meeting hall before and George was pretty intrigued.
The meeting hall was a large room made out of stone with no windows
and a big table in the middle surrounded by massive chairs. There, the
Council of Elders consisting of nine people that usually advised the
monarchs on the matters of the empire awaited George’s arrival. After
everyone took their seats with George at the head of the table, Joseph
started talking:
“We are here today because of a great threat that our empire is
facing. We received news that the Ughott Empire has assembled a large
army.”
“Isn’t it far far away?” asked little George.
“Yes, it is,” said Joseph, “but they hate us because we live so well
and will stop at nothing to destroy us. We must strike first and take
the fight to them.”
“If it is so far away, can they really hurt us?” wondered little
George.
“My King, you are still young and did not live as much as we did to
know that the Ughott are savages and will hurt us if we only give them
a chance.” replied Joseph, “Many years ago, before you were born, your
farther fought them and won, but he spared their ruler Ussoph. He is
still alive and has sworn to take revenge for his defeat.”
Little George was scared and did not know what to do. His father never
told him anything about the Ughott and nobody every mentioned Ughott
as a threat before. “What made them hate us?” thought George to
himself. He was a king and even though he was a child, he knew he had
to protect his people.
“What do think we should do?” asked George the Council of Elders.
“We thought carefully about this and we see only one choice. You, my
King, must address the Assembly of Lords and convince them to take
their warriors to fight the Ughott.”
“But what do I tell them? I do not know anything about the Ughott!”
exclaimed George.
“Do not worry my King, we will tell you what to say, we have all the
evidence to convince them.” assured Joseph.
George faced the Assembly of Lords consisting of over a thousand
powerful lords and even though he was a ten-year old child, he was
able to convince the lords to assemble their vassals into a huge army
and attack the Ughott. The Ughott did not expect the invasion and gave
in without almost any fight. Surprisingly, their army was much smaller
and poorly armed unlike what the lords expected. The lords recalled
most of the army because there was no need to have the whole army
there to maintain order and to make sure the Ughott never assemble
into a significant force.
On the way back from the Ughott, more than half of the army including
several top generals died of an unknown plague. Having received the
terrible news, the Assembly of Lords called their monarch to find out
for what cause half of the army is dead and why they went to the
Ughott to fight in the first place.
“My King,” quietly said Joseph addressing King George, who was
studying at the time, “the Assembly of Lords wants to talk to you.”
“What do they want?” asked George.
“They want to know why you sent them to fight the Ughott.” quietly
said Joseph.
“Can’t you tell them what you told me?” asked George naively.
“The Council of Elders is only serving the King, they would not listen
to me,” said Joseph, “They won the war, but the Ughott army turned out
to be weak and not as large as we thought. It seems that our spies
gave us false information. In addition, a terrible plague killed
almost half of the army. The lords are angry and demand explanations.”
“Joseph, you have been my mentor all my life, what can I possibly tell
them?!” cried George.
“My King, first, you must calm down,” said Joseph calmly, “Second, you
can tell them that they just made our empire bigger, richer. It is
unfortunate that the plague took away half of the army, but you can’t
be responsible for accidents, can you?”
The Assembly of Lords met the young monarch angrily. George’s
explanation did not make their anger any lighter, but they did not
dare to challenge their monarch openly because the army was at the
point of rebellion. Instead, the Assembly of Lords issued a decree by
which the Council of Elders was disassembled and their members
executed as traitors. By same decree, King George remained a king, but
without any real power that the kings and queens before him ever
possessed.

[Caroline D]

America is in a crisis, suffering a crash in the economy for a while
now. The average American household has more than $8,000 in credit
card debt and is growing, making us consider the current American
economic state. The surprising thing about this statistic isn’t that
it is so widely known, Rather, it is that the statistic paints a
picture that’s just plain wrong. In his 2009 book, The Limits of
Power, Andrew Bacevich traces back the American citizen's spending
habits to Ronald Reagan, who the author says is guilty of instilling
in Americans the belief “Credit has no limits, and the bills will
never come due.” The economic downturn has made the unemployment rate
turn into the millions, yet consumers continue to fall prey to
marketing ads of the latest trends making them lifestyle necessities.
What many do so that they may have these necessities when there is no
money in the bank at the time of purchase is to put it on credit,
paying it off later. Many consider credit cards very helpful, but
others take an advantage to shop without limits and create a big debt
in their credit history. Then there are those that will not get a
credit card because it is better to pay for it in cash at a later
time. The Unites States government has attempted to propose solutions
towards recovery from reckless citizen spending and abusive credit
card company practices, such as seen in the recently signed Credit
Card Act of 2009 (H.R.627), which has the potential of limiting the
amount of credit extended towards consumers dependent upon factors of
ability to pay, while also demanding fair practices from the credit
card companies that will enable consumers to pay off their debt within
reasonable guidelines.
Bacevich states “The ethic of self-gratification has firmly
entrenched itself as the
defining feature of the American way of life.” It’s true that there is
a pressure to accumulate material goods in order to achieve a high
social class ranking. But uying the newest, biggest, and best, has
become an all-consuming need in itself. Billions of dollars are used
annually on product advertising, with the primary objective of
convincing
consumers that they “need” the goods being sold rather then a want. In
Susan Josephson’s article What advertising does to us claims
“advertising is structured to cause us to imitate and want what we
see. It stimulates desire and asks us to act. This makes advertising
potentially more dangerous than any other art form. If there is any
art that is capable of killing America's soul, it is advertising.”
With all of the advertising that there are on billboards as driving to
work or school, on the walls of stores when shopping, in magazines and
newspapers, on television, and on the products use. And even get them
in the mail and don’t forget junk emails. With all the temptation to
buy everything in sight they resort to using credit card. It is
necessary to consider that if working hard enough to earn the money
required to purchase whatever desired lavish product were enough of a
simple means to an end, consumerism may not be such a grand-scale
problem. Unfortunately, consumers possess the tenacity for buying
beyond their means, rationalizing that the product is essential in
fulfilling their lives. MasterCard/ Visa card representatives recruit
eager, young college students with the assurance the only way to build
good credit is to possess a credit card. Lost along the way is the
tiny fine print that supposedly spells out every regulation,
condition, limitation, penalty, etc., that accompanies the credit card
which few consumers read, and even fewer comprehend. Credit card
companies have preyed upon consumer ignorance by ballooning
attractively low introductory rates to unconscionably high rates,
leaving consumers drowning in rapidly soaring bad credit card debt.
This new law strives to fulfill President Obama promise, said at his
May 14, 2009, at town hall meeting in Rio Rancho, “…all forms and
statements that credit card companies send out have to be in plain
language, in plain sight. No more fine print, no more confusing terms,
no more hiding the truth. We're going to require clarity and
transparency from now on.” This law will require these companies to
adhere to fair practices towards consumers, so that Individuals will
then be provided a better opportunity at achieving debt reduction and
elimination.
Going far back into the history of Americans, the concept of having
more is better and it has been embedded in the American culture,
persuading citizens and presidents alike, that possessions, power,
money, etc. is the road to happiness. On the other hand, the money has
run out, but still the driving desire to consume and possess the
bigger better things has not subsided. Government must act in the
better interest of Main Street rather than Wall Street, and fulfill
their obligation of representing the American citizens. These changes
will lead the American nation on a course towards a better quality of
life. As President Obama said in his speech “Let's make the tough
choices now, so that we've got a better future for America.” With the
tough choice of holding back on the things we want rather then need,
the future for Americans with credit card debt will be better.


References

Bacevich, A. (2009) The limits of power.

Remarks by President Obama at Rio Rancho Town Hall Meeting, May 14,
2009
http://www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7554:remarks-by-president-obama-at-rio-rancho-town-hall-meeting-may-14-2009&catid=88888983:latest-national-news&Itemid=88889930

Susan Josephson, September 1996, What Advertising Does to Us
http://www.worldandihomeschool.com/public_articles/1996/september/wis15446.asp

Open Congress
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h627/show



John first credit card

Every eighteen year old right of passage is receiving there first
credit card in the mail. But little did John know that his first
credit card would make him go into debt.
“Hello this is Lisa operator 724 with American express. How may I help
you?”
“Hi my name is John and I’m calling to find out how to activate my
card I received in the mail.”
“Yes, well lets get you started and if you lock in with us now you’ll
have no interest for six months”.
With that john was sold. From there began of the curse of just wiping
your car. His first star was a car dealer ship turn in his reliable
used can for a brand new car which he really didn’t need. But thank to
his new credit car he could put a reasonable down payment on the brand
new car. Then next he was off to his favorite high end store at the
mall for a little shopping spree, never realizing that he doing
exacting what the creditors expected him to do. The next couple of
days his spending had calmed down, then reality set in when two weeks
later her bill came in. His jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the
damage of all the spending he done the past two weeks. His friend gave
him the bright idea opening another credit card to pay for the
payments on the first credit card. So became the vicious cycle of
credit card dept, so before john realize it he was already twenty
thousand dollars in dept in just six months. John kept making payments
but the balance never seemed to go down, he decided to make a call to
the credit card company to see why it would not go down.
“Thank you for calling. This is April with American express, how may I
help you.”
“Hi April this is John and I’m calling to see why my balance will not
go down after I have been making the payments.”
“Well let me pull up your file and see what is going on. Give me a
second.”
“Ok”
“Well sir on here it does show that you have made all your payments
on time.”
“I know I have but I want to know why the balance will not go down.”
“Well the reason it may not be going down is because of the interest
rate which is at 10%”
“But shouldn’t it still go down a little”
“The only way to get ahead is to pay more then the minimum”
“So this whole time the payments I have been making was just the
interest rate pay off”
“Yes Sir”
“WOW you guys could have told me that before I was making all the
minimum payments”
“Well sir it was written in your statements that you received”
“Where does it say that. I have the statement here with me.”
“If you turn the paper over and read it you will see it there.”
“So I have to read all of that very fine font to find out.”
“yes sir”
“Well this has been no help for me”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can help you with.”
“No unless you can make that file disappear”
“ sorry sir I can not do that. So you have a good day”
“Well thanks for the explanation and you too have a good day”
John was eventually able to climb out of the hole he had dug with both
credit cards. That was only after cutting up his card and making sure
every payment was made on time and was more then the minimum. It took
him 7 years to finally get rid of his debt. From that day forward John
made sure that a credit card did not touch his hands so that he would
not fall into the same situation as before.

[Christine Choi]

LACC Fall 2009
English 101: College reading and composition I
Instructor Ed O’Connell
Online Section #3226
Christine Choi
11-7-09

The social analysis of profligacy in US

At this time of years, it is inevitable to sense the economic
meltdown in US. Most of people are currently familiar with the
bursting of the housing bubble, over expenditure on national security,
and Wall Street’s malfeasance and etc. are one of the reasons for this
chaos. However, people started to realize that the average Americans
also shared the fault of economic crisis by spending too much for too
long. Number of studies point out that country’s expectations
exceeded its ability to satisfy the level of expenditure of American
citizens. Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of international relations
at Boston University, former director of its Center for International
Relations, opened up his concern towards profligacy culture in US
which was shaped by the own historical background. Since the economic
crisis continues without any immediate solution, Bacevich’s argument
has to be considered with discretion, which can act as a guide to an
actual solution.
Bacevich’s argument was well explained and narrated down on his
recent book, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.
According to Bacevich, the economic ascendancy of the US, world order
and the fundamental strength derived from victory in the context of
European and Japanese destruction after the WWII (Bacevich, 2008).
Throughout the 1950s the US achieved a standard of living that became
the “envy of the world,” but that began to shift in the late Vietnam
War period. From here he moves on to economic decline and the two
different political campaigns of Carter and Reagan. Regan’s victory
introduced a period of spending unsupported by fundamental economic
strength. Trends since then have only continued and debt has
supplemented earning power in American life. At that point, Americans
faced a choice: “curb their appetites and learn to live within their
means, or deploy . . . United States power in hopes of obliging others
to accommodate” them. Eventually, the bills from this profligacy
eventually came due.
One of the authors from the New York Times, Philip Bowring also
pointed out that profligacy is America’s one of the serious problems.
He argues that there is a direct connection between easy credit in the
US, which can encourage consumption, Wall Street irresponsibility,
consumer excess, unsustainable trade imbalances, the return of global
inflation and the worldwide asset price boom can be the reason behind
today’s economic hardship in US (Bowring, 2008). Another article from
New York Times, “Is Freedom Just Another Word for Many Things to Buy?”
opened its article by stating that American people were persuaded by
the society that having more choices means having more freedom
(Schwartz & Markus & Snibbe, 2006). The authors also stated that
“Americans are increasingly bewildered – not liberated – by the sheer
volume of choices they must make in a day” and which can be leaded to
increase in consumption rate (Schwartz & Markus & Snibbe, 2006). Now,
the government tries to focus on saving general expenditure of people
and energy and are started to enforced by creating different
Congressional Bills such as “Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient
Vehicles Act of 2009,” “Sound Management of America’s Resources and
Technologies for Energy Act of 2009,” “Clean Renewable Energy and
Economic Development Act,” and etc (111th Congress Senate Bills,
2009).
However, Robert Reich, an American politician, academic writer, and
political commentator who once served as the 22nd US Secretary of
Labor under President Bill Clinton, presented his different opinion.
He said the real reason behind the high debt rate is not because of
the overconsumption, but the high living expenses due to inflation
which entrapped middle-class citizens to have large debt (Reich,
2008). He also suggested a solution to this problem; “the way to make
sure Americans don’t live beyond their means is to give them back the
means” (Reich, 2008).
There are number of different studies hoping to find the solution for
today’s economic crisis. In a Book “The Limits of Power” tells
readers how historical pathways led Americans to overspend their money
and brought forth irreversibly large amount of debt. Many other
authors supported Bacevich’s argument by stating Americans interpret
the meaning of freedom as having many choices which led people to
consume more. Also on top of that Wall Street malfeasance and housing
bubbles, and etc. made the economy worse. In the other hand, Robert
Reich opposed above argument by stating that the reason behind the
debt is not because of the over consumption, but the high living
expenses and unsecure economic situations. Even though there are
different perspectives about economic problems in US, it is evident
that Americans spent too much until the public debt reached to 7
trillion dollars (Bacevich, 2008). That is the reasons why government
putting in more effort by passing Congressional Bills and enforce
them. There are many different voices and thoughts towards the
current economic meltdown, but there’s something in common to every
articles and researches and that is the hope and wish to find better
solution to keep this nation firm and overcome this economic
crisis.





References

111th Congress Senate Bills. "WAIS Document Retrieval." GPO Acess: US
Government Printing Office. 5 Mar. 2009. 15 Oct. 2009 <http://
frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?
WAISdocID=57919653886+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve>.

Bacevich, Andrew. The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2009.

Bowring, Philip. "Bowring: Profligacy is America's problem - The New
York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News &
Multimedia. 23 Jan. 2008. 15 Oct. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/
2008/01/23/opinion/23iht-edbowring.1.9435972.html>.

Reich, Robert . "Robert Reich's Blog: Post-Meltdown Mythologies (I):
Americans Have Been Living Beyond Their Means." Robert Reich's Blog.
14 Oct. 2008. 15 Oct. 2009 <http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/10/
post-meltdown-mythologies-i-americans.html>.

Schwartz, Barry, Hazel Rose Markus, and Alana Conner Snibbe. "Is
Freedom Just Another Word for Many Things to Buy? - New York Times."
The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 26 Feb.
2006. 15 Oct. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/magazine/
26wwln_essay.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=is%20freedom%20just%20another%20word
%20for%20many%20things%20to%20buy?&st=cse>.




Pretty Woman

I can feel the eyes of men moving up and down, chasing my
foot steps as I walk by each one of them. The eyes of women filled
with scorns also follow along, but I know behind their contemptuous
gaze, they are busy searching for the brand name of clothes that I’m
wearing now. I enjoy those eyes; it’s my decoration and pride. My
beauty can’t be compared to anyone even the cutest celebrities in
States. I know guys praise my beauty and girls hate my perfection.
Leaving those attentions behind, I finally found the perfect purse at
Chanel. It will be the perfect match for my chic black cocktail dress
I bought yesterday. I just paid for $5,000 for another decoration
made with black lucido python skin and I still need to get another
pair of pumps that can go well with this purse. I’m very famous
around here. I can get whatever I want and can go wherever I want to
go. After sun goes down, another night at a club with shots of hard
liquor will finish my day. The nightlife is the highlight of my life,
which will accentuate my decorations even more. I can get whatever I
want, even beauty and love. Many people would say there are things
that money can’t buy, but that’s just a foolish excuse of poor. What
I’m seeing and experiencing everyday always telling me that money is
the power, privilege, and the ultimate way to the happiness.
As usual, I’m starting my day at the Rodeo street searching for a
perfect outfit for the night out at Las Vegas on this weekend. I have
reserved a VIP suite at MGM and will stay there with my girl friends
for this whole weekend. This Vegas trip makes me very exciting but
honestly, all I can think about is to become the best dresser for the
night. All of my friends will be covered with premium brand named
collections. I just can’t look bad among those girls! But somehow, I
can’t really focus on shopping this morning. Maybe a cup of coffee
will straighten my mind and help to concentrate. Like always, I’m
craving for a grande iced skinny vanilla latte. As I wait for my
coffee to be served, I chose a small table where sunlight glazes down,
so that I can sip my coffee and rest my legs a bit more. I’m closing
my eyes feeling the warmth from morning sunlight and the aroma of
vanilla coffee melting me down. “Excuse me.” I opened up my eyes and
couldn’t believe my own eyes. The guy standing right in front of me
was a guy that I was searching for my whole life. He is looking down
at me with a smile in his face right in front of me. I’m thinking I
must be dreaming, but it is happening right here, right now. I
answered him back with flirty smile, hoping he wants me to join him
for a cup of coffee. “Do you know how to get here?” He’s pointing a
small map and asking me for a direction. This is a total betrayal of
my hope and dream. My face is turning red and cannot hide my
disappointment. I can’t believe what just happened. I’m a very
attractive woman, ruling this town of mine. I’m thinking next time he
face me again, he will fall in love with me right away. I will make
him mine.
Ever since that encounter with this guy, I’m coming to this café
everyday at the same time to see this guy more often. If he sees me
more often, he won’t get away from my irresistible beauty, I thought.
It’s been already two weeks and I’m still coming to this café every
morning just to see this guy and in a hope of another coincidental
encounter. However, it seems like he doesn’t even care about anything
around him. He just comes in for a cup of coffee and works until he
finishes his morning coffee. I immediately thought maybe it’s because
I wasn’t look good enough. For the past two weeks, all I have focused
on is this man without thinking about what I was wearing or which
perfume I wore this morning. All I was thinking was this guy. This
is terrible. I need to go find more outfits and try everything to
satisfy his taste. I need to buy new make-up sets with different
colors, clothes, shoes, purses, perfumes and so much more. I don’t
know what he’ll like, so I’ll try every combination possible to get
his attention. I just changed my life style into shopping mode for
now and I will hunt him down.
I’m sitting down with my dream guy at a café and enjoying our morning
coffee together. He just gave me his e-mail address and screen name.
I knew he will take down the guard and open up his mind like every
other guys. All I need to do is to click this guy and save him as my
boyfriend. Adding a new friend will give me only 500 coins, but
adding a lover will get me 5,000 coins. Now, finally I can buy a new
car. It took me more than two weeks to earn those coins. My eyes are
starting to burn and shoulders are stiff. I guess I was sitting in
front of the computer way too long. I think I’ll need a cup of
water. I reached to my mini refrigerator and took out a bottle of
water. My nails are too long and I don’t remember when the last time
I took shower was. I emptied a whole bottle of water and looked
around for left over potato chips. My dark room is filled with trash
and unwashed laundries. I don’t think I never left this room since I
gained 200 pounds 5 years ago. I can’t stand the scornful eyes of my
neighbors so I just locked myself in my house and living day by day
with the food that my younger brother drops off once a day. I’m
riffling through piles of empty cans and snack bags for something to
munch on. I guess there are no more foods left. I turned by head
back on the computer monitor. She is a cyber character, the most
popular and wealthiest in this cyber town, looking and smiling at me.
This is not a game. This software is very popular around the whole
world. You can create a character and it can represent you. Even if
you are poor, ugly, or fat, you can be whoever you want in this game.
You can do anything you want and you can be whoever you want to be.
This is my world. I rule this world.

[Anna S]

Anna Sondall
Sec. 3226

U.S. Deficit: The Drowning of America

Andrew Bacevich's 2009 The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism gives an accurate description of the fall of the
American empire. The U.S. deficit is at an all time high. America owes
money to many countries. Instead of paying off this debt, the U.S is
only further investing in these other countries, only further
depressing the dollar.
President Obama has created a stimulus package that the U.S. has only
been able to pay out because it has been borrowed. The War on Terror
is just another example of money going towards something that the U.S.
can not afford. As Bacevich states, “rather than insisting that the
world accommodate the United States, Americans need to reassert
control over their own destiny”. American needs to get their spending
in control in order to insure the future success of America.

The U.S. debt has been increasing at a rapid rate. According to
the
U.S. National Debt Clock, as of 24 October 2009, the U.S. National
debt has reached eleven trillion, nine hundred and one billion, nine
hundred and thirty million, three hundred and ninety-one thousand, two
hundred and forty-four dollars and eleven cents. Translated to U.S.
population, each citizens share would be thirty-eight thousand, seven
hundred and forty-eight dollars and sixty-six cents. How exactly does
Obama plan to get the U.S. out of debt? By making more thats how. In
the February 26, 2009 article, Calmes states “ President Obama
proposed a ten-year budget....to invest trillions of dollars...in
reshaping the nation's priorities”. It doesn't make sense to spend
more money when the U.S. does not have it in the first place. You
have to spend money to make money but, to get out of debt you have to
budget and pay your bills! America as a whole has to be on board.
Every American owns this debt. Though Americans don't want to spend
more of their money they have to bite the bullet before it destroys
them. In this case, raising taxes could be part of the solution.
President Obama has toyed with the idea but, as Calmes states, “none
of the new taxes and other sources of revenue...would take effect
until the economy recovers”. In the mean time, Obama, just plans to
keep borrowing. The bill H.CON.RES.85 was passed on April 4, 2009
“setting forth the congressional budget for the U.S. Government for
fiscal year 2010 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for
fiscal years 2009 and 2011 through 2014”. Hopefully this budget will
reflect the saving that the U.S. needs to be making. Unfortunately,
“hope” is all that America is clinging on to these days.

President Obama has created a huge stimulus package to help
America
get out of debt. This stimulus package is suppose to give money back
to Americans and stimulate the economy. In Fox's January 9, 2009
article Will Obama's Stimulus Package Work?, Fox states that “American
consumers have turned suddenly frugal, they're more likely to save any
extra cash they get than spend it. This may be the right thing for
most people to do, but it won't stimulate the economy”. If people
have the common sense that they should then they should most
definitely use the extra money to pay off their bills and what is left
they should save! Fox goes on to say, “if consumers do spend money on
televisions and cars and such, much of the impact will leak out
overseas to pay for imports”. If Americans do choose not to spend the
money responsibly then the money is going to leave anyway. The money
will head back overseas. This will not help the U.S. if all the money
meant to help is all exported just like everything else.

Obama never wanted this war. In the beginning he wanted to assist
America in getting out of the war. Now Obama has got America into even
more debt by investing in the War on Terror. As Allen and Burns state,
“Obama announced the deployment of more than 4,000 additional troops,
hundreds of civilian specialists and increased foreign aid to
Afghanistan and Pakistan”. The increasing debt from America and the
amount of lost lives seem to be the least of Obama's worries. Allen
and Burns go on to state that Obama “acknowledged that his decision
could try the limits of Americans' patience- particularly the new
investments in civilian nation-building”. Obama knows that this is not
what Americans want, but he is willing to risk that.

In conclusion, Andrew Bacevich has the right idea. He says that
America needs to step up to the plate and take responsibility for our
financial downfalls. It is Americas fault and Americas fault only that
the debt is in the shape it is. If the U.S. wants to see a turn around
then it is the Americans that need to make that happen. This problem
of over spending can stop, but it must start here, now. Americans need
to let their President know that the constant borrowing to pay off
Americans debts will not get America where it needs or should be. The
stimulus package is only a temporary solution to an expanding problem.
Obama should stick to his original plan to bring American troops home,
ending the unnecessary spending in Iraq. American has a difficult road
ahead, but with some common sense and strong will American can and
will prevail.

Allen, Mike. Burns, Alexander. 26 Mar, 2009. Obama's War- New Troops,
New Plan. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20538.html

Bacevich, Andrew. 2009. The Limits of Power: The End of American
Exceptionalism.

Calmes, Jackie. 26 Feb. 2009. Obama Plans Major Shifts in Spending.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/us/politics/27web-budget.html?_r=1&ref=business

Fox, Justin. 9 Jan. 2009. Will Obama's Stimulus Package Work? http://www.
time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1870575,00.html

Spratt, John M. 2 April 2009. H.CON.RES.85

U.S. National Debt Clock. 24 Oct. 2009. http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Anna Sondall
Fictional story half of essay 2
Abu Abeebe

Abu Abeebe was a man of power. He was on top of his world. He had it
all. He would say he was living the American dream. He had a good
paying job that made him tons of money. He had an enormous house.
Around the house was a white picket fence. The lawn was always cut.
The bushes were always trimmed to perfection. There was even an
American flag flying high in the front yard. His dreams were all
coming true. Everything that he had worked so hard for was here. There
really was nothing more to ask for. Or was there?

Though Abu loved his job, he was a little tired. Abu wondered what he
could do to make his life more fulfilling. He decided that he needed
more free time in his life. Abu cut his hours back at work in order to
allow himself more leisure time. With his new free time he picked up a
new fulfilling hobby. Abu got lessons to learn how to fly planes. The
lessons were so much fun and kept Abu busy. The lessons didn't come
free though. The package of lessons that he bought were already taking
up one fourth of his monthly income. Abu knew that this really was a
lot to be spending but, he loved his new hobby so much! He loved it so
much that he decided to buy his own plane so that he could fly
whenever he wanted. Abu was getting a bit greedy now. He got the best
plane available. He wouldn't settle for anything less. It was top of
the line but, the price was too. Abu had to get a loan to pay for the
plane. It would take Abu thirty years to pay off the loan for the
plane! The monthly payments were more about half of his monthly
income! Plus, he had to rent space at an air field to keep the plane.
This additional rent meant that he would be taking about two thirds of
his monthly income just to pay for his hobby. Abu started to think
about going back to work full time but, he didn't think that it would
make any sense to work more to pay for his hobby if he couldn't take
time to enjoy it.

Abu kept his plane and decided that the only choice he had was to get
a new bigger loan to pay off his original loan. This loan made his
payments more manageable at least on a monthly basis. It also meant
that he had to take a higher interest rate and would be paying on the
loan for fifty years. He also wouldn't have any extra money for any
trips or anything extra things he would want in his life. Abu's
options were running out so he decided to ask his family for a little
extra cash. Luckily, his aunt Aly Abeebe had a couple thousand to
spare. This was only a temporary fix for a long term situation. When
that money ran out he asked another relative. He was in luck again
but, this time he was told that the money needed to be repaid. Abu
desperately needed the money at the time, so he took it anyway. About
a month later when the money he borrowed was to be repaid he didn't
have it. Abu asked a friend this time to lend him the money. Abu had
at least some luck left because his friend lent him the money. The
money he got from his friend he used to repay his relative. So, you
can see where this is going. He kept borrowing from people just to pay
off debt. It was a vicious cycle that he thought he couldn't get out
of! Meanwhile, Abu was taking out payday loans to pay for other
entertainment. He felt he still deserved to be able to do things he
enjoyed like going out to eat and going to the movies. Although, maybe
Abu did still deserve these things, Abu needed to stay within his
means. This was something that he wasn't willing to do. It took a lot
of soul searching to find a solution.

Abu realized that there was a fix. He realized that living with all
this debt wasn't going to make him happy even if he did love his
plane. He knew that the worry of the debt would cloud the fact that he
was so happy flying and he wouldn't be able to enjoy it anyway. Abu
sold his plane and used the money to pay off most of his debt. In
order to get caught up on the rest of the debt he inquired he got
himself on a budget. He also went back to work full time but, in order
to pay his bills off faster he took on a second part-time job. Abu was
out of debt in just four years. Abu had created a lot of work for
himself but, he realized that the four years it took him to get out of
debt was a whole lot better than the fifty plus years it would have
taken him. Sometimes you just have to put in some elbow grease and get
the job done. Avoiding the matter would only have made things worse.

[oc]

Nov 7, 9:17 pm
Chad C
English 101. #3226
Prof. O’Connel
07Nov09

American Decay

America the country recently turned 233 years old, a testament to
our perseverance and determination to endure trial after tribulation.
Although in the scope of recorded human history 233 years old is a
mere footnote. Established governments have been regulating peoples
live for much longer than 233 years, but given our list of accolades
we certainly excelled at maximizing our time. In little more than 200
years we have transformed from a patchwork nation of back wood
settlers into the most technologically advanced nation the world has
ever known. Surely the world now has a population deserving of
inheriting it’s riches. No good thing lasts forever, and countries are
not immune. Lord Henry had explained this very concept to the bright
eyed Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s book “ The Picture of Dorian Gray”
that “ Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous
puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too
much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage
to yield to”. America’s limbs of government branches have been failing
us, our moral sense has suffered a severe case of acute Alzheimer’s
disease, and certainly there is no temptation which we haven’t
succumbed to. America’s infrastructures have been crumbling for some
time know. Factories that once hummed with opportunities have been
lying dormant, skeletons of our industrial might. Once vibrant
neighborhoods now resemble war torn cities that doted post World War
two Europe. The air has been poisoned, and our waterways morphed into
a cesspool showing us our reflections of exactly what we have become.
Andrew Bacevich argues in Limits of Power that basically this mutation
has been taking place since our countries inception, but it has been
increasing rapidly since the end of the second world war.

The idea of a free market is certainly not a new idea. Caravels
were traversing the Mediterranean long before Adam Smith explained the
concepts of “The Invisible Hand”. Every great nation in history has
been built around a strong economy. Of course there must be the
essential ingredients required, a land mass with natural resources, an
educated workforce willing to sacrifice labor for capital and of
course, a system of checks and balances implemented to make sure the
system doesn’t implode. Few countries have the whole package, but
America seems to have been blessed with all three. It took some
finagling and a few wars here and there, but the essentials are in
place, and we have exploited it to its full potential. At what point
do we resign from a resourceful and innovative country to a culture
defined by excess. At the end of the second world war most nations
were vulnerable, barley able to govern its own population. Outside of
the Soviet Union, America stood as the last remaining super power, and
we readily adopted the responsibility of acting like one. We were free
and clear to shape the political and economic policies that would
govern the world. There was one problem though, no one impeded our
trajectory, no foreign power to hold a mirror to our naked ambitions.
The American way of life would become universal.

Within those naked ambitions were the seeds of our own
destruction. As Ron Chernow wrote in the New York Times in Everyman’s
Financial Meltdown that “the infectious excitement obscured the
economy’s dangerous lopsidedness, with oil, agriculture and other
“sick sectors” undercutting the general prosperity. We became so
consumed with profit margin that we totally neglected the welfare of
the infrastructures of our country. At the end of 1950 almost 12
percent of our annual budget was dedicated to infrastructure, now it’s
less than 2 percent. We were the envy of the world, setting the bar
for how life was to be enjoyed. Clean water spewed from our faucets,
cheap electricity flowed from our outlets. Dams were constructed to
provide water for agriculture, and hydroelectricity produced to keep
our factories at maximum output. We could drive from coast to coast on
an uniformed system of roads. No doubt this elaborate undertaking kept
us at the lead. Now our age is starting to show. Bridges are
collapsing in Minneapolis, people in upstate New York actually have
alerts that require them to boil their water before they consume it.
Our priorities have been grossly mismanaged. As expressed in a recent
bill passed on Jan 15 2009 H.R 597 “Access to complete education” Our
corporate entities are receiving billions of dollars in bonuses while
children in Pittsburgh read textbooks that are outdated. Private
planes crisscross the country while art and, music have become
luxuries in our educational system. Certified teachers get pay cuts
while baseball players vacation in Lake Como, Italy. Like an aging
beauty queen who forgoes medical checkups to inject her face with
collagen. We’re polishing the brass on the titanic when we should be
avoiding the icebergs. We should get back in the habit of building a
country rather than exploiting it. Instead of acting like individual
emperors, we should act like citizens concerned of our neighbors
welfare and that of our countries.

The decay of our countries infrastructure is only one aspect
of the problem. It’s only the ramification of a bigger problem at
hand, financial implosion. It’s difficult to ponder how we can go from
an economy whose dollar was the bedrock the world around as a global
currency, to increasingly being shunned as worthless. If there was one
thing you could rely on was the U.S dollar and its ability to be worth
exactly was what it was stated to be worth. An article in The
Independent called the end of the dollar spells the rise of a new
order articulates our demise . Since virtually ever country in the
world traded with the U.S it would make sense to use our currency. The
recent financial crisis has compromised other nations confidence of
our economic superiority. Granted it’s simpler to trade in a one world
currency, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the U.S dollar will
reign supreme. In economic classes around the world the teaching of
our economic policies have been abandoned for a more reliable
approach. Our financial system has been built on greed. Certainly
greed defines us. It has been a factor in every surge in human
achievement. Inventors won’t create a longer lasting light bulb
unless it has an incentive, and while a cleaner sky would certainly be
an incentive, it doesn’t entice as much as a nice bonus in your
paycheck would. Once again instant gratification has outweighed our
moral sense. It’s important that our offspring have clean air and
water, but it’s imperative that we get that bonus now. Instead of
instant gratification we should move to system not based on
gratification now , but more importantly gratification for those that
come in the future.

We would think after an financial collapse the U.S would cut
back on it’s spending. Recall some of its military forces, realize
some its mistakes and work to correct them so this type of scenario
can never happen again. On the contrary Washington decided that the
rest of the world will be responsible to make up the difference. An
article titled our drunken uncle unveils the facts. More money is
being taken from our social security programs and educational
institutions. It doesn’t go to the unemployed or the uninsured. It
goes to the executives initially responsible for the meltdown. Those
trips to Lake Como, Italy surely have to as luxurious as possible.
Soon 92 cents of every dollar of federal revenue will be spent on the
major entitlement programs and net interest costs. That spells
disaster for our offspring. Our current military quagmire also
represents our decay. Every organism on earth establishes an
equilibrium with the environment careful to never over produce.
Humans, especially Americans appear to be the exception. When our
domestic oil supply dried up, we looked abroad creating situations
that required our intervention. The U.S is now over extended. The
balance is on the verge of being tipped. Certainly Americans should
take advice from other mammals learning to live within our means and,
stop living for instant gratification.

Works Cited:

Andrew Bacevich, (2008). The Limits of Power. New York. Metropolitan
Books.

Oscar Wilde,(1854).The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York. Random House,
Inc.

Paterson, P. (2008). How well do young offenders with Asperger
Syndrome cope in custody?: Two prison case studies [Abstract]. British
Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(1), 54-58.

Bossong, G. Ergativity in Basque. Linguistics, 22(3), 341-392.

Fisk Robert. (2009).The End of the Dollar spells the rise of a new
order.
The Demise of the Dollar. The Independent.com

Our Drunken Uncle.(2009) Investors .com

Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy
policies. The Country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.

Ron Chernow.(2009, October 22).Everyman’s Financial Meltdown. The New
York Times

H.R. 597 Access to Complete Education Act. Jan 15 2009.Govtrack.us

The phone was ringing. The phone always rang in Roy’s office. It was
the sound of opportunity. Money was on the other end of that phone. He
certainly wasted no time answering it. Ever since the corporate junket
in Seattle last week when he learned that the workforce was to cut by
30 percent, Roy made sure that 30 percent did not include him.
“I’ve been with you for 17 years now” he stuttered to his
boss John on the grotto at the Marriott.
John replied “and your tenure here will certainly be
considered” That word “considered” certainly kept john up at nights.
He learned the true meaning of that word in his interview with John 17
years ago.
“You know who uses the word consider Roy” sensing the
condescending tone in Johns’ voice Roy decided to keep his mouth shut.
”People who use that word can’t make up their minds, they waffle
around an idea like vultures circle a dying zebra scared to make a
move. In this business your either in or out. It’s a zero count game,
someone wins and someone loses, if you can’t handle that then this
interview is over”
Roy thought briefly of his pregnant wife and overdue
mortgage payments and eagerly answered” yes I can handle that”.
The ringing had brought Roy back from his day dream. “Roy
here, talk at me babe”
“Roy it’s John” he heard the unmistakable crackle of an air
phone gone for years without maintance
“John I thought you were in Chicago this week” “had to cut
that short I got a call from corporate” wow, Roy thought, that trip to
Chicago was mandatory, to discuss this years shrinking profit margin.
If Roy was worried before he was downright terrified
now.
“ Roy I’m not going pay 1.99 a minute to explain it to you
right now, meet me at Sparks Steak House at 5 for dinner I’ll explain
everything there”. Roy couldn’t stand Sparks. The infamous mobster
Paul Castellano was gunned down outside that place. A victim of his
own greed, he increasingly took more from his henchmen even though
they weren’t earning as much. Maybe he should have taken less, learned
to live without, Roy thought, still that steak house on 46th ave in
Manhattan still made him feel uneasy. “ Every dog has his day” Roy
thought to himself.
“I’ll be there at 5 John, but your paying”. He heard John
force a chuckle out followed by a long sigh.
“Don’t be late Roy”. He knew then and there that this was no
joyous occasion. The line went dead.
Roy craved a cigar and regretted giving up smoking a year ago
on the advice of his doctor. Dr. Loper always told it like it is.
“Roy if you won’t give up smoking I’ll be forced to let your
insurance company know, you life insurance policy could be voided and
your premiums will go up.
Roy being the salesman he was tried to sell Dr. Loper on the
benefits of smoking “ it helps me relax and it keeps my weight down,
perhaps you could write me a prescription for a stogie a week” Dr.
Loper gave a quick grin but, that stern professional bravado quickly
returned.
“Roy I expect your next chest x-rays to show no scarring or we
might not see as much of each other“. Roy knew his insurance company
would jump on any chance to raise his premiums and, that life
insurance policy could be smashed and sold on the market in less time
than it takes to light a fresh robusto.
“Hold my calls Ali, just let them go to my voicemail” Roy
barked. Ali had an M.B.A from Penn state and here she was answering my
calls, Roy thought.
“What about your appointment with” Roy cut her off “
“Just make sure you send my calls to my voicemail”. he wanted
to apologize for that outbreak, console her and tell her as soon as
the market jumped back she could get a job at any fortune 500 company
she wanted to. Her feelings were of little importance to him now,
besides he had his own to worry about. Ali just slumped back into her
seat defeated by a problem that was set in motion long before she was
even born.
Roy loved the winters in New York, he especially loved when it
snowed. It reminded him of his childhood in Flint, Michigan. Although
Roy was a broker, but he still loved the feeling of putting in a hard
days work of manual labor. His dad was a union worker at a
manufacturing plant. He still remembered the smell of motor oil that
filled his house when his dad came home. He also remembers the smell
of the paramedics aftershave when they came responded to his dads
heart attack. Just like today his dad’s downfall came from a phone
call from his union leader letting him know his job was now obsolete.
“I’m no longer economically viable” was the last words his dad
ever muttered before a sudden cardiac arrest took his life. Since it
was snowing Roy decided to take the train. That also gave him an
uneasy feeling. Being down in those unkempt catacombs made him feel
like he was in a coffin. Plus due to cutbacks the trains have taken a
dive for the worse. About a year ago a train was destroyed when a
piece of road fell down into the tunnel.
Why were there so many police racing towards Starks? Roy
thought. As he approached he saw a bloody figure laying in the
street.
“ Oh my God, what happened” he asked an officer.
“ Some nut shot a big time executive, but don’t worry sir we got
him in custody”. When Roy looked over to view this madman he almost
fainted. That’s no madman he thought, that’s Steve from my office.
Steve looked up at him and smiled.
“ I got him Roy, I got him good.
“Have you lost your mind Steve” Roy yelled”
“Roy he called you here to let you go, he didn’t want to give up
a piece of his salary to keep us on” Roy couldn’t believe what was
happening. “He fired me here because he thought I wouldn’t cause a
scene he was going to fire you too”
“Stand back sir” the officer demanded “ this man is dangerous.
Roy stood there in that empty street and looked down at Johns lifeless
body. “Was it worth it John” Roy said aloud. At that moment he
realized what was important to him. Not his time share in Boca Vista,
or his Jaguar. No, his family was important. The ones who loved him
near and dear. He jumped on his phone and called his wife “ hey baby
you in the mood for a steak?”