Everyody Is Robbing You Blind

​Wall Street and the big banks are robbing you blind. They've destroyed your savings, your retirement, and they've put the smack-down on any hopes you have of a rising income, so you can pay your bills. But don't complain, especially if you're a blue collar white man. If you're a minority, it's OK to complain, because racism can be used to explain your plight. You see, it's better to have racism as the cause than it is to point fingers at the real culprits. But, if you're a minority, especially an African American and you join hands with the disgruntled White folk, you'll be called an uncle Tom by media types who hate racism but tend to get confused when it comes to just about everything else, so they don't know what to think, thereby reverting to the one thing they do know, which is "Racism is bad."

God forbid you're just an angry, blue-collar White man, though, because you'll be painted as some oxycodone-fiend who's just damned lazy. Based on your White privilege alone you should be rolling in the dough and yachting at your summer house in the Hamptons. And, it isn't just liberals who think this way. Conservatives are just as bad. That's why they see Trump as a symbol of ignorance. He is "The Great White Hope" to the poor and disgruntled masses. He is Jim Jeffries reborn, looking to take one more shot at the first Black heavyweight king, Jack Johnson.

​So let me explain. Here's what's really happening. Central banks, like our Federal Reserve, have been given a mandate by our government "Keep employment high and the supply of money flowing." That wasn't always the case, at least the employment part. With this new mandate, our central bank, which we shall henceforth call "The Fed," keeps printing money, so the government can pay its bills. Why? Because our government spends far more than it takes in. So, when there aren't enough taxes to pay the bills, the only way to keep the ship of state afloat is to create money out of thin air, which The Fed does. The Fed then buys up government bonds, infusing our government with the money needed to function. The Fed also lends this manufactured money to Fed member banks with the hope they can make auto and home loans and get you to take another couple of high limit credit cards so you'll spend, spend , spend, thereby creating economic activity. And, if you create economic activity, hopefully, you'll also create jobs. This is called "Keynesianism" after the economist John Maynard Keynes whose theory was that government could prime the pump of the economy when times were bad by borrowing and spending. And, that if we just did that, all would eventually be swell.

But, what happens when all that manufactured money is spent, and everybody has more debt than they can possibly pay back? The only way out is the hope that people's real income will rise high enough to pay their debts; mortgage, car payments, food, gas, clothes, etc., plus, all that new debt. If not, they're screwed, and so is every other American in the same boat (Which is pretty much every other American.) At that point, this economic house of cards will collapse like....well....a house of cards. (Sometimes a redundant metaphor will do just fine.)

Now, what to do? Hmm? How about more of the same. Unfortunately, once interest rates are at zero (Which they have been since Obama became president) you have only one option, move to less than zero. What is less than zero? Nothing in the real world. In banking terms, though, it means that if you invest in a CD or a government bond you'll actually lose money. That’s right, you'll earn no interest. In fact, the government will charge you for using YOUR MONEY. Why would anyone do this? To protect their greenbacks from Uncle Sam's voracious tax eating tendencies. So, you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't. All of this means one thing, that anyone who attempts to save is a sucker, and you can kiss your savings goodbye.

Recently, Donald Trump suggested, that maybe, just maybe, the government could pay back less than what was owed to all those folks who loaned Uncle Sam their hard earned money, by buying government bonds.  That would be China, Europe and Japan, among others, but also average Americans, who hold about 60% of those IOU’S.  Immediately, talking heads began exploding everywhere—as if the government hadn’t been doing exactly that all along. Every time the government, through “The Fed” lowers interest rates, it destroys savings, thereby paying back less and less of what’s owed, as interest rates are forced lower and lower.  All of which is done because the government has borrowed so much money, that it can’t afford to pay it back. It’s a clever sleight of hand used by pick pockets and politicians.

​So, let's circle back to the beginning. High taxes kill jobs. High taxes exist because of high debts. High debt exists because the government wanted to create jobs through Keynesian stimuli (Spending like a crack addict.) But, the government doesn't really create jobs, the private sector does. That, however, isn't fast enough for politicians who want to get reelected. Enter, the Fed, who speeds the process up by printing paper money, thereby creating a lot of short-term economic activity. This in turn, creates the illusion of a healthy economy. But, it's not real. Not for most people, it isn't. The banks, however, make out like bandits. Wall Street soars. Meaning, those people who are connected and savvy about how to turn a buck, like the money men and women at the big banks and on Wall Street, they feast like kings. If you're a blue collar worker, though, you've been hoodwinked and bamboozled, which will be explained by suggesting that you're just an oxycodone smoking slacker. That is obviously why you're voting for Donald Trump. And, with that, the world will be set right by calling you a racist.  This enables those who have only one answer for every problem to reinforce their political beliefs. By doing this, they can also quell any hint of moral conflict and human awareness that might trickle in. And finally, when all the hub-bub has died down, they'll return to yachting in the Hampton's, while you rot with the rest. A can of Alpo and a few sticks of wood to warm your racist ass, that should be all you should need.

Mark Magula