Dispatch from the Front lines

Whilst plying my musical trade over the past 40 years, late in the game I entered into the real world of economics when a friend in need drafted me to work in his office during tax season. Some theoretical background decades ago in university prepared me for it on one level. But now working 6 days a week on the front lines I have witnessed the way people who represent a goodly cross-section, several hundred of its rich, poor, young and old, are trying to make it through this current “crash”.

Since the days of the early 80’s when the stock market was at 400 it has been “morning in America”. At least that’s what we were sold. From Nixon to Reagan, to Bush and Bush II we’ve had a parade of ruling class managers (let’s not forget “slick Willy” and his NAFTA caper) whose laissez fair policies dismantled the rules here and left the door to the chicken coop wide open.

The “Dream” which was to own a home, raise a family, have a car and 2 kids had been replaced by the fantasy that “greed was good”. By mid 2000 the market was at 13,000 – we had struck it rich and entered into la la land leaving reality behind.

Then came the second half of 2008 ushering in the end of the New World Order. At the end of the reign of “W” the whole s**thouse went up in flames. This tax season the Ponsi scheme of the Financial Sector was exposed to everyone. In the past 6 – 9 months millions of people have lost jobs, homes, retirements, marriages and even lives. Not to exaggerate, but seeing things up close in the office on a micro-scale then projecting that reality into the distorted media picture allows a fair bit of understanding of just how much things have truly changed in the historical blink of an eye.

The blinding revelation came when Bush II with his infamous TARP swindle gave away our children’s future to the banks that had run amok. Unregulated, and so far unaccounted for billions of dollars flowed into the pockets of the biggest criminals in US history.

Thankfully, the 2008 election did bring a ray of hope. People reacted overwhelmingly by repudiating the past quarter century politically along with 400+ years of racism by electing Obama. It is no small irony that a black man in America offers the one great hope for not only US, but also global reformation. We truly are One in this great big community of nation states. The sooner we realize and come to terms with that the better off we’ll all be.

Next time a tale of transcendence, and “trip into the mystic” with Van Morrison…