c'mon, seriously? what's wrong w/fascism? well, I certainly don't (and i'm sure you'll agree) want to be paying taxes to the government to help support businesses (as has been said thousands of times in this thread)...which IS happening, and has BEEN happening for a very long time now. Shit, you know taxpayers pay 1.5 billion/year in this country directly to walmart cuz walmart is too cheap to pay medicare?
And you better believe these financial institutions and retail giants rob the little guys from competition too. Who's gonna support local when they don't have the means to, or just when it's cheaper anyway? Quality has gone out the window for the most part and it's all about how far you can stretch your dollar.
America was founded on the idea that anybody could come to this land of opportunity to try and make something out of nothing. How u gonna do that now, when places like McDonalds and Walmart have neglected quality all for the sake of profit and sold our jobs to cheap labor in sweat shops overseas? How you gonna do that now when our tax dollars are paid in gov't subsidies to the corn that makes up EVERYthing on a mcdonalds menu, from the soda to the bun to the burger, frying oil, ketchup, etc (yes, corn or corn syrup sweetener is in ALL these things). large-scale commercial farming, the pesticides used and the carbon footprint left behind are ALL detrimental to the environment.
this is only one example, I could go on about subsidies. tobacco and milk....you know we actually produce more milk in this country than is used? Why do they inject these cows with rbst growth hormone to make all this milk that gets wasted, and why am i paying for it? Why the fuck am I paying to support tobacco farmers, I don't smoke tobacco. Why am I paying these corn farmers to produce high fructose corn syrup and corn that goes into all cheap, processed food? Why am I paying for the environmental damage they cause? i eat all ORGANIC. And finally, why am I paying taxes to support our health care system, when i'm paying for all the things I just listed that kill people's health. gov't has their hands in the health care system. see what im sayin?
point being...our country has gone way past capitalism. We're a fascist nation, whether you care to see it or not, and it's hurting you whether you see it or not
America's economy is 2/3 consumer based because of these practices- we are a country of consumption, not production. And so when the gov't encourages this behavior (anti-nationalism is what I'D personally call it) they're selling out opportunities to nearly every American cuz it only benefits the CEO's at the top...that aint what america is about...least not what it used to be about. We're not all created/treated equally.
the gov't ALSO further-encourages over-consumption and spending beyond ones means through our entire phony system of credit. We've learned this the hard way- YOU CAN't SPEND what you DON't HAVE. Obama has SAID this in many speeches- that americans need to cut spending and increase domestic production. And then what does he do? turns around and borrows 787 billion from the fed reserve. riiight...and many ppl will continue to say "we HAD to in order to avoid a ripple-effect."
OH REALLY?? we can just borrow and print money with no dire consequence? I tell ya what- printing and borrowing money now is like putting a bandaid over a gaping wound. It's like playing with a ticking time bomb...you can't borrow forever...and thats why our monetary system (the Fed) is completely fraud and people need to wake up and see that Obama has invited the PRESIDENt of this fraudulent company to be our secretary of tREASURY.