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Stepping Lively in America

With the American economy undergoing continuous disruptive changes, we ought not to be surprised to encounter also changes that are not economic in nature. In fact, many of the more fragile aspects of life in the US are going to be falling apart, leaving us with a changing demographic and a different social face.

Last Thursday, CBC News reported on what is going on in the giant Ponzi scheme that is Florida, with reference to the clever system of taxation and growth that owes its vitality to continuous real estate development and a constant influx of new people. Oops. Like all systems built on a bad foundation, the "Ponzi state" now has more residents leaving than arriving, and tourism is down and the stupid scheme is decomposing. On Tuesday of this week, Britain's Independent reported on what's left of Wilmington, Ohio, after its single large employer, DHL, left town, leaving behind in its tumultuous wake a kind of ghost town. This is happening to other "company towns" that became the preeminent stakeholders in corporations that function very much like a feudal system; when the lord dies, or takes his castle and leaves, so goes the estate. Never mind that the Canadian and British presses can see this, but we can't.

Skilled immigrants are leaving the US and going back to China and India, where there are now more lucrative opportunities than they found in America. Even illegal immigrants are leaving, due predominantly to lack of available work.

The ridiculous but lively two-step dance now going on between our federal government and AIG and the bankers (with music provided by the Federal Reserve's printing presses) may turn out to be a mere historical distraction.¹

1.  Especially the preposterous outrage over the AIG bonuses, which both the White House and Congress knew were going to happen. Never mind that President Obama, Sen Chris Dodd, and Sen Max Baucus are among the top recipients of AIC political contributions. Last month, Sen Ron Wyden and Sen Olympia Snowe amended the bailout bill to prevent huge executive bonuses. Alas, that amendment was not to be. According to an AP report: "In February, the Senate voted to add such a proposal to the economic recovery bill that cleared Congress, but in final closed-door talks on the measure, that provision was dropped in favor of limits that affect only future payments."