WKKX EDITORIAL NO. 100
(2008 Market Crash)
The market crash of 2008 wiped out trillions of dollars of people’s savings and pensions.
We have just witnessed the collapse of Gordon Gecko’s greed-is-good capitalism. We as a nation ignored history and we forgot and abandoned the philosophy and principles that made us a great nation.
Our country achieved its greatness because its citizens practiced fiscal responsibility and was willing to work hard to make a better life for themselves and their family. We actually believed in saving for retirement and a rainy day and living within your means.
For years we Americans have spent more than we earned. Credit card debt, consumer debt, and corporate debt are at record levels.
Through World War II, we believed that America must remain economically independent of the world in order to remain politically independent. Our philosophy changed to promoting a world economy. American companies became global companies and moved plants and factories to Mexico, Asia, China, and India and we began buying more cheaply from abroad what we used to make here in the states: clothes, shoes, computers, TV’s, radios, cars, and you name it.
We, as the last superpower, are unable to defend our borders, protect our currency, win our wars, or balance our budget.
We don’t need handouts to Corporate America in the form of bail-outs and additional debt for the taxpayers. We as taxpayers have lost enough in our savings and pensions.
We need legislation that re-establishes our economic independence -- we need steel mills, factories, and corporations to produce our needs within our borders and laws that keep out inferior products made by foreign workers who are paid non-living wages and forced to work in inhumane environments. We need laws regulating the credit vultures from extending credit to people who could never be expected to realistically pay off such debt and lastly we need to regulate Wall Street and prosecute those who manipulate the system.
Americans are strong and have always bonded together during times of crisis. We as a country are in such a crisis now and we need to unite and correct these problems. The first order of business is for our elected officials to stand tall and pass meaningful legislation to allow us once against to become a self-sufficient country.
