Decision of the Century –Crossroad Choice Centralized Communist or Distributed Economy

For some reason Ronald Reagan is given credit for tearing down the Berlin wall. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fall of Communism and the breakup of the USSR was solely due to Mikhail Gorbachev’s vision of a better future and the total economic failure of the centralized economy. The Centralized economy is based on the belief that goods and services should be produced freely in places where labor is less expensive. It also is based on the belief that big structures are more efficient than smaller structures. It only took about 50 years for this economic structure to destroy Russia’s infrastructures and dilapidate their country’s wealth.

The nation is terribly divided about what political party is better than the other. There is also a new group of citizens, like myself, who think that both are corrupt and decadent and should be eliminated. The politicians have been successful convincing many Americans that the problem is with the other party but America is strong. I sustain that we should completely forget the politicians and look at what our economic and political structure has become. A comparison between the US and the falling USSR could be valuable.

The USSR controlled the people by making the government more important than the people. They played on national pride to justify the actions of the KGB. Today we have a very similar situation with all law enforcement but exaggerated with Homeland Security. District Attorneys use their position to steamroll the justice process for their own personal ambitions. One such example could be Elliot Spitzer who prosecuted Martha Stewart for lying to the government. Another could be the Pro Mexican Attorney General who successfully prosecuted two border agents for doing their job when the clear indications from the central government were to allow Illegal Aliens to freely cross the US border with drugs.

The invasion of personal privacy by the citizens of the USSR would have been tolerated if the economy had been good. Unfortunately centralized production facilities are just bad business. Whenever an event affects anyone of these structures then the entire nation suffers. It is like playing the lottery with your entire paycheck every month. Who knows you may win but if you lose there is little to eat over the next weeks. Reaganomics introduced the concept that it was acceptable to have monopolistic structures that use size and financial capabilities to destroy small businesses. It is now acceptable to hear companies indicate that their growth strategy is, “Growth through Acquisition.” In other words if you cannot build a better product at a reasonable price buy them and eliminate the competition.

The USSR further compounded their problems by not investing in the distributed economy. It was only important to protect their major production facilities. Roads, bridges, utilities, telecommunications, and other basic infrastructures did not receive sufficient funding. There just was not enough money. We are seeing the same problems across the US. Hurricanes break levies in New Orleans, bridges collapse in Minnesota, pipes explode in New York, and roads are engulfed in huge sink holds in Texas, just to name a few.

As the corruption of Russia’s political scene progressed the entire economy became less efficient. Unemployment grew, inflation raged, meanwhile the government continued with their talking points, “We are the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.” Perhaps we can find some similarities with our politicians telling us that the economy is strong while we see GDP fall, public debt increases, and the government is no longer able to maintain its contractual agreements with the citizens of the US.

If we continue down the current path we can only expect to realize a future like the USSR’s past. Unfortunately with the current group of crooks running for office nothing will change no matter how we vote. We need new blood. People who are actually interested in “Public Service” and doing the good of the nation. We need to mitigate the mega corporation’s capability to destroy small businesses. We need change. Real Change.

Tags: Government Politics Recession Corporate America Finance Illegal Immigration Economy Reaganomics