In economics or accounting, in the black means “making a profit,” while in the red means “losing money.”
Shouldn’t today be Red Friday then? I mean shouldn’t we look at the broad majority of folks, who in order to give their children the “American Christmas” are about to dash against people in search of this or that toy, electronic doo-dad or gift that rekindles.
Two-thirds of our economy is based on buying. One third on production (answering phones and analyzing stuff on computers counts as production too). But it is the countries that produce more than they buy that call the shots. We haven’t called the shots then, since 1972.
No voodoo economics can cure the fact that we sent our means of production abroad, screwed our own labor so that those ALREADY AT THE TOP OF THE HEAP can make more money off cheaper labor. The Dems didn’t just go along with this, it was Clinton who pushed NAFTA onto formerly pro labor,pro environment democrats, and they bit, after being given pork barrel projects one-at-a-time in white house meetings.
Then came the 1995 Banking Reform Act, and the 1995 welfare reform act, both signed merrily by Clinton. Then GATT 2, and with it the ushering in of the all-powerful World Trade Organization. Since then a frenzy of free trade deals (FTAA, KORUS, TPP, what next?) all of which assure the further erosion of the American middle class, and the profitability of multinationals here and abroad, notably China.
Black for the managers and up, and increasingly red for everyone else. Red in terms of time taken and hard work required in trade for folks not being able to afford rent.
Black Friday indeed. Many don’t buy anything on this day. Wow, that’s smart. The “other” black Friday is a day the stock market crashes, or will crash, or could crash. Steely Dan put it this way:
So on this black/red/black Friday, if you let loose of your greenbacks, remember, don’t go into the red to feed the black Friday of the already- stockholder class.
Dougstuber's Blog 
Yes, globalisation can cause problems if not fairly implemented
IF not ? IF NOT!?!? Hehe I need information about how exacerbating global warming to take advantage of slave wages could ever be deemed fair except among the shareholder class. The resource wars are upon us. Ah what a time to be alive. Drawing up survival plans with neighbors, hoping the end of the continuous wars is soon and enjoying the freedom of being a freelance journalist rather than under the auspices of parochial publishers. Free at last.
How are you?
If you are looking only at the US in isolation then of course globalisation could never be good. If you’re willing to look at the welfare of all people worldwide and speak about an equitable distribution when applying a globalisation mindset then there is a way but richer nations just look out for themselves including by creating fictitious wars when the countries they are robbing of ressoirces – whether human ot inanimate – are no longer willing to be robbed and call for a fairer distribution of the profits. It is good to preach about a better world but it is better to preach about an actual better world than a better nation for oneself.
Agreed. Plus with I’ve one million dead and an agregate 5 million or more refugees, these rightfully upset cultures we’ve hammered will be angry about the last 13 years for 1300 years or more. Ooops
Well you’re a US national, it is for you to Wake up your countrymen. Media is so biased there
In 1991 I wrote a piece about American war veterans who, saddled with many psychological challenges, including PTSD, were being dumped on the streets of Roanoke VA, not knowing where they were, and ending up homeless, in many cases. The paper I worked for refused to run the story. I quit right then. SO many times “local jobs” issues cause publishers and their editors to squelch stories that could impact jobs, especially in the areas of management failures or embezzlement and the environment (pollution stories about major companies are rare in small cities). So I spend my time writing novels a la Vonnegut, that are attempting to point out the obvious satirically, or could act as a guide for other lost souls when I include my own life story in the work. The US citizenry is so completely duped by big business media, that they vote for or will vote for the likes of Donald Trump. An openly racist, misogynist, hate monger, Trump is loved by the same bunch of the walking brain dead that consuume Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and even PBS without wondering if they are being lied to. Democracy fails once the watchdog media stops watching. Clearly the USA system of “voting” is flawed with computer screens that leave no paper trail of votes. Each election cycle some smart, or average high school student(s) hacks into the voting system and changes a handful of votes to show how easy it can be done. But honestly, the nominees of the two political parties (political parties are banned in the US Constitution) end up so similar in policy (especially foreign, fiscal and environment) that unless someone like Bernie Sanders actually is the nominee, nothing will change. But wait, it’s worse. Let’s say Bernie wins, and beats Trump or Carson or Bush III, well, his policies, which sound so dandy as he speaks, would never stand a chance of becoming law since the congress and Supreme Court are packed with conservative hawks. The grand majority of legislative Democrats are worse at being labor leaders than Tony Blair was…closer to Margaret Thatcher they are. And these are called the US, “left wing.” our whole political spectrum is now on a thin angle between Reagan and Atilla the Hun. Equal time? ha…Save the environment? ha End the military control of Washington? ha…continue more and more and more and more wars, oh yeah, you can count on that, no matter who wins.
Sad but true. Forget the media, it is already your education system that is flawed. You are fortunate to have had access to another type of education. Your young are not taught to understand and analyse but rather to process and conform. How do you expect them not to be brain dead as adults?
Amazing. I switched from journalist to educator, and though teaching “English” used current events and the way the media lies as my main curriculum, regardless of the title of the class. I lasted 7 years ata prominent school before being shown the door. It was a great feeling to direct the minds of smart kids (I was teaching in Gwangju, South Korea) who had been robotized in WORSE WAYS than American kids, to open their eyes, and wow did they ever. The church-going conservative kids reported me to the dean a lot. Many under developed analytical brain cells were turned on I assume, as the papers and newspaper stories I made them write in English proved they figured out i was on to something. I teach in community based classrooms now that I’
m back in the USA. The truth is considered RADICAL here, especially the core truths underneath all the bad governance. WOW, are we the evil empire then? Is our system even more dramatically kids to accept the status quo or fail? If so, then Russia, China, Nazi Germany all come to mind as fair comparisons. I’m not sure Goebbels had it so easy as the propagandists do here though. the USA eyes and ears accept the White House line on anything as gospel once read on tv by “broadcast journalists,” who only get access to any news if they toe the line.
There is no worse autocracy than a democracy led with an iron fist
I’ve only shopped two Black Fridays. One I didn’t buy anything just wanted to see what the chaos was about and that it was. Then last year, I did score a great price on a trampoline. I’d rather take my time and shop instead of doing the rush rush and buy things I don’t need because the price is low. 🙂 Great blog. Interesting.
Thanks creative! There are a lot of posts under such titles as “the US role in globalization” you might find eye opening or at least eye brow raising
Yes, and no different than Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan. As time goes on the government is more corrupted by filthy money, and makes new laws allowing pure corruption (Citizens United, 2010) and, Obama in particular, give lip service to progressive ideas, while spitting on those ideas with the TPP, and MANY OTHER “for-the-rich-only” decisions. His continuation of the continual wars we’ve drummed up since World War II proves that no matter what people say in their candidacies, they will be fully they become puppets of the corporate elite and the gun, tank and bomb manufacturers once in office.
Can I get an amen up in here? ( are you sure you didn’t graduate from Warrington bc those journalism degrees, they brainwash liberals) 😉 oh…and effing Seminoles –.–
Effing
Still hurts a little bit ;*
It’s gonna hurt more this Saturday unless a great deal of talent development is inserted into (I don’t care how) Mr Treon Harris. The kid can’t find the open man, prefers to duck and run to the sideline than throw the ball, and when he does find an open man, he misses the pass. I mean misses by a lot. Still 8-4 was the best we could have expected BEFORE the season, then when Greer got busted for doping, 8-4 seemed a longshot, and now we’re 10-2, EAST champs of the SEC, headed to Atlanta, and with a bowl game OTHER than the former Gator Bowl. HATS OFF and celebration of the DEFENSE is what is in order. Indeed, when I wrote my anti-Reagan rants for the Alligator and kept going in many publications around town and later New York and North Carolina, my journalism professors black balled me but good. I got ZERO professors to write me a recommendation so I went out and caddied on the LPGA Tour for classmate Deb Richard. WOW what a great experience. She’s an amazing human.
Dear Geetha B-
Genocide, Slavery, Greed
We cry for the slavery that led to such wealth,
This is not just the land of the free.
We witness genocide all over this earth.
What can we do to end greed?
We cry for the land, full of modified crops
We must work to save human life.
What will our grandchildren have to live through
Since our appetite causes such strife?
The oil wars that started a decade ago
Have moved toward the Caspian Sea.
We are the dissidents, loud, without fear,
Even if we are cut at the knees.
We cry for the news they keep off TV,
The grapevine could snap any day.
Disinformation is the age we live in,
So who’s going to show us the way?
The answer is simple, we grow as a team,
A new brotherhood in the light.
We must build the village, invite all your friends,
This is no time to give up the fight!
They have all the bombs, the juntas abound,
Monsanto is spraying the poor.
We must dig our hands into arable land
Or genetics will foul every spore.
Profit mongers have sucked the earth dry,
We must reclaim all that we can.
Industrial China, the last frontier,
Soon money will own every man.
The kids on the streets are locked-down together,
Push a bike, and you could get ten years!
All this is forced because we stopped caring,
Yet some offer blood, sweat and tears.
We couldn’t stop bosses from shipping our jobs,
The replacement is for-profit jails.
Our schools are rotting, so teach if you can,
Where it counts, not Harvard or Yale.
The time is upon us, united as friends
We can make anything grow.
Come join the party, sing and dance all the day,
Tomorrow we get out the vote.
We cry for the genocide, slavery, greed
That persists after thousands of years.
It’s late, but there’s time, if we really work hard
We can stop the torrent of tears.