Economic Chaos

It’s ironic that the nation’s capital is greening into a lacey lime green while the federal government is “de-greening,” to the point of shutting down. A few characters and ignorant ideologues with “grandiose” illusions have added to the melodrama. Our elected representatives are running roughshod over the will and voice of ordinary Americans. It’s as if we are not even here. They will run the government as they see fit, and the rest of us be damned. The common good be damned. It is so annoying and frustrating that I am beginning to feel like an Arab in one of the Middle East countries run by vicious tyrants that we supported for over 30 years.

At least the government is still running even in Ukraine, I told a PCV friend. HAH, was the somewhat frivolous response. “The Ukrainian government doesn’t have to ‘shut down,’ because it doesn’t ‘run’ in the first place.” Goodness, what’s the world coming to.

People are yearning for self-determination while politicians, worse among them in our Congress the tea party Republicans, treat us as if we are in the way. That’s the untold, unexplored connection between our domestic policies and our dysfunctional foreign policies. I suppose the first step is exposing these weaknesses and the nature of the problem. That is being done now with painful clarity, like unpeeling the layers of an onion rotten to the core.

How callous can one be to think that closing down the government is going to do anything but hurt a lot of people. I am thinking we need to put Bill Clinton in charge of the economy. We have no coherent domestic economic policy. As far as I can see, all Obama’s economic advisers have let him down, and the rest of us, too. There needs to be a leader at the head of the economic ship of state. We don’t have one now, and we are descending into economic chaos made worse by ideologues who are “know nothings” and won’t compromise. Does any sane person think defunding NPR and other “nickel and dime” programs , like student aid or peace corps, are going to solve our economic crisis? Give me a break! Whether the government shuts down or not, our Congress and president have some problem solving to do to get the entire government on track. I can't see a bunch of ignorant minority right-wing ideologues derailing the whole American government as if it were a lego set on the stage of a billionaire's yacht.