America is the land of the free. A place where your dreams will come true if you put your mind to it. A place where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights. Freedom of expression is a hallmark of this great nation, with individual choice being something people pride themselves in here.
These are some of the ideals we are led to believe when looking from the outside and they are further emphasized in the country. Have you ever stopped to review the validity of all these claims? Is this the America dreamed of? Are people really as free as they are led to believe? Question marks certainly arise.
The recent financial crisis has left many reeling, people are being hit hard by the recession, but it seems people who had the least to do with causing the recession are suffering the most. With the bailouts of Citi, AIG and Bear Stearns one wonders when big bankers will ever get their hands burnt for screwing up. Yes there is the talk that the country's current recession would have been worse if these companies were allowed to fail, but I say how did it get to the point where we had our whole financial system relying on the existence of a few massive institutions. How were these institutions allowed to take the sort of risks that left them on their knees and unable to do anything but beg for money on Capitol Hill, incredible. Now the auto companies are in the same boat. We are told that the economy needs to be boosted by spending more, so we have all these stimulus plans that will encourage us to buy stuff we do not need and create jobs. I am not against job creation but the motives are vague to me, these are short term solutions to a bigger problem.
Continuing on the influence of business in the United States one sees the amount of commercialization that the country is exposed to. 30 minute television shows are split almost 50/50 with commercials which encourage us to buy more and more. Every business is fighting for our hearts and minds. In politics business has a crucial role to play with the billion dollar campaigns we have now. I support Barack Obama, and in his campaign he has been critical of lobbyists and the government catering to big business but sometimes I wonder how well he would have done if he did not have such an efficient marketing campaign. I am sure he had to hire some professionals in a pretty large business in order to run such a campaign where he was one o the most visible candidates in history. So business played a role in the candidate for change's campaign.
The government continues to probe further and further into our private lives, this made easier by the "war" on terrorism. We have been startled into such a paranoia we gradually give our our freedoms to a threat that may not be as bad as it is made out to be.
There is less and less independent news out there with many publications delivering the news being owned by large corporations whose interests may not necessarily be to seek the truth and keep you informed. They have shareholders to answer to so they may rather seek to keep you glued by making the news more of a sporting type event where the viewer needs to be entertained. Certain issues are focused, others are dropped. It all depends on what they feel is necessary. Is this really freedom? If you are misinformed or not informed about the world around you, are you really free?
Our monetary system is fundamentally flawed. With the dropping of the gold standard in the 70s the US dollar is floated against other currencies. Money is created by the government from thin air essentially. They buy bonds from the Federal reserve in exchange for money, which is added to the money supply. So money is created through debt. Most people are not aware of this, but the fate of our economy lies in the hands of a few key individuals. No matter how hard you may work, these men can reduce your chance of success simply because of their impact on the markets.
There are more examples that question our true freedom in America, it is worth asking whether you are really free, because I'm not.
