Not that it is vitally important from a spiritual perspective, but according to CNSnews and Politifact, the debt has doubled under the Obama admin. The unemployment rate is far higher than the Bush admin, and welfare spending has exploded, but let’s ask ourselves why… higher unemployment.
True. However,
(and I am not a political partisan), reasons for higher unemployment are mutiple. The Root of All Evil, embodied by Wall Street, consorted with the mortgage industry, first of all. The mortgage indusry is possibly the most amoral of all industries, if it’s possible to best Wall Street in that department. Mind you, I must qualify that mean-sounding statement of mine to say that I have met fine people of integrity working in real estate per se (agents, brokers), who are not of such venal minds, and with blood in their veins instead of ice. However, the corporate types who own & run mortgage companies and conglomerates are of a different breed; this breed was voraciously instrumental in the mortgage meltdown of several years ago.
The Wall Street mini-crash of '08 was another tsunami. Combining as a perfect storm with the mortgage crisis, many, many people found themselves out of work: companies literally disappeared, so we’re talking white-collar, educated, degreed professionals here, as well as those less educated of course. This was because the revenue of these companies was literally speculation, or a house made of sand.
Third major factor (growing more slowly than either the developing mortgage crisis or the sudden WS implosion, has been the unconscionably immoral level of job outsourcing and the complementary hiring/firing policies of many companies. What I would call Employment Attitude is omnipresent now: almost no company is employee-friendly, in the sense of giving a you-know-what about your future, your livelihood, your notice of longevity, your competency, your loyalty, even oral assurances made to you at hiring. Undoubtedly there are conscientious employers on this board. Unfortunately, most of us have never met you.
I’m not talking about whistleblowers, troublemakers, malcontents, or incompetents on the job. I’m talking about one quality employee after another being victimized, in companies big and small, incorporated and non-incorporated, local and international, who are and have been both immoral and irresponsible. I have heard and read so much, and met so many individuals who have victimized by the brutal employment atmosphere of the late 20th and early 21st century, that I know whereof I speak. Some such employees are CAF members, by the way.
And be clear that I am NOT a union supporter, overall. Nor am I a leftist. I am a person with a conscience, who believes that social justice has been hijacked by the Democratic Party, who has defined it uniquely, narrowly, and politically. I don’t see many Democrats in power, locally or nationally, putting much pressure on policy changes.toward employers.
I do not believe in unions unless the entire country gets to be unionized. Otherwise, unions are merely special interests (privileges) for a minority of people that the rest of us, in professions, don’t get to be part of. It creates both
inequality and an adversarial dynamic, which is part of what got us here (the adversarial part).
I believe in a Common Good party, with a platform that thinks through consequences of enacted policies and unenacted negligence/laissez-faire. I very much believe in capitalism, but I also have seen that laissez-faire is not a policy but a synonym for apathy. We Catholics are supposed to stand for morality, and that morality is supposed to extend to all spheres, including government and including the work place. None of us benefits with increased unemployment, and poverty has always been, historically, a negative element in any country’s sense of well-being as a country. Poverty creates social unrest, is divisive, and is time-consuming for government and for even the people not directly affected by poverty. If you own a small store or small business, poverty affects you in the pocketbook.
Just an explanation of my comment about WS. I actually love the idea of stocks, and have invested profitably in the past in Money Markets. I like the opportunity for speculation and investment which are part of a capitalistic economic system like ours. The bottom line, however, is that with regard to WS, the mortgage indusry (because housing is an essential element of survival!), and Employment, I am a believer in regulation which aims to balance capitalism from becoming runaway exploitation and profiteering without consequences.
Long answer. Probably not what the OP wanted. In short, it is not a particular party which is or is not responsible for increasing or decreasing the items listed in the thread, but unwatched central elements of an economic system that has needed watching and restraint, and still does.
