Once upon a time, there was a country that had 'EVERYTHING', and it was the envy of the world it shared... and it was warned, by Dwight Eisenhower, in 1960.
Its currency, respected and held around the world, facilitated the purchase of petroleum, especially to power THE CAR.
From T-birds to T-Bonds, the world has been transformed in many ways, during these last forty years, and that tout-puissant country, yet again, is resisting any calls upon it to 'tighten its belt', to arrest the expanding burden it places on a fragile global eco-system, and even worse:
Its currency, the once-almighty DOLLAR, has pistoned its value into the collective toilet, as the GROSS VALUE of AMERICA falls daily.
Its currency, respected and held around the world, facilitated the purchase of petroleum, especially to power THE CAR.
From T-birds to T-Bonds, the world has been transformed in many ways, during these last forty years, and that tout-puissant country, yet again, is resisting any calls upon it to 'tighten its belt', to arrest the expanding burden it places on a fragile global eco-system, and even worse:
Its currency, the once-almighty DOLLAR, has pistoned its value into the collective toilet, as the GROSS VALUE of AMERICA falls daily.
SIDEBAR: In its 2005 report: WHERE IS THE Wealth of NATIONS? Measuring Capital for the 21st Century (The WORLD BANK, Washington, D. C.), its team of authors established a 'wealth value per capita' for each country on our beautiful planet; the data in this crystelZENmud post comes exclusively from their numbers, and ZENmud productions' own derivative calculations.
If a country, say... Saudi Arabia, wanted to buy the ENTIRE United States: every business, every resource, every personal bank or savings account, every tangible and intangible asset, the World Bank estimated the US total wealth to be roughly USD 14,466.8 BILLION (in 2005 dollars). Based on a population of 282 million persons, this number was equivalent to 'each citizen' having a share in the total wealth, per capita, of 512 thousand dollars (rounded numbers).
In our day, as we near 2008, we also hear that Bush and Congress are agreeing on a 696 BILLION dollar defense budget, for fiscal year (FY) 2008.
What does total wealth and defense spending have to do with each other?
Simply, it points out yet again how disastrous US governmental response has been, perpetually, when regarding the sum of material benefits accruing to the Petroleum-Military-Communications-Industrial-Complex (PMCIC), rather than to the common citizen of our country.
Remember that the Saudis *could* have bought the United States, lock-stock-and-barrel for some 14,466.8 BILLION dollars in 2005. If they had wanted to pay this in Euros, that would mean that the King of SA would have to fork over some 12,354.4 BILLION Euros (given November 2005 exchange rates).
TODAY?
Bargain CITY, my friends, my fellow patriots: the Republicant Party has succeeded, through the amazing drifting spiral of US domestic and foreign policy, in achieving the unthinkable.
Our astute Saudi King, if he had chosen to purchase all of the United States today, would only have to pay 10,406.5 BILLION Euros, and all the while receiving the bonus from economic growth these last two years: likely estimates today, of US total value, should range above 15,000 BILLION dollars.
ANALOGY:
Say you wanted to buy a US-made LEXUS in 2005, after returning from your two-year assignment in Paris, with your hands full of Euros.
Say it cost $50k in 2005. It would have cost you Euro 42,760 for your new car, in November, 2005.
But TODAY?
A $51k car, in the US, priced in Euros, would cost you only Euro 34,744!
And this car analogy is perfect, as we read in the International Herald Tribune from Tuesday, that Alfa Romeo, a division of FIAT, is seriously considering the opening of a production plant in the US, to reintroduce its cars to the American market.
READ THIS CAREFULLY:
European automakers want to SAVE PRODUCTION COSTS.
The cost of an average American auto-worker is now TEN DOLLARS per hour CHEAPER than average Western European countries' labour costs, such as France (Peugeot, Citroën), Germany (Porsche, Mercedes, VW), Italy (Fiat, Ferrari).
European automakers would not be considering massive, expensive relocation of PRODUCTION FACILITIES if they believed that the current sad status of the dollar was going to REVERSE course in the near future.
In only two years, a growing wealth base in the US has now become worth some FIFTEEN percent less (15 %, in EURO terms) than a smaller wealth base would have been two years ago.
And how does the American Eagle feel, about becoming the source of cheaper labour for a strengthening EUROworld?
America cannot ignore the world it shares, via the bias of the media which 'serves' the public. Should it continue to do exactly what it does best: ignore climate change, ignore deficit spending Republicant misAdministrations, and worry more about Michael Vick than the Bali Climate Summit, it can only have itself to blame.
This post is merely a warning... ACT or REACT, America: it's your choice...
Courage,
ç*””*”*”*ç*””* ZENmud *””*ç*”*”*””*ç
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