I am astonished that anyone is astonished that Americans are sour on the economy despite the fact that the economy is doing great … if that is indeed the case. I’ll tell you why I am astonished.
First of all, despite the reduction in overall inflation, the cost of goods has not come down. The reduction in overall inflation means only one thing, and that is that prices are not going up at the rate that they were.
So what? Prices are still high, but why is that? Well, because inflation was high, creeping up to 7-9% from 2021-2022. OK, why is that?
The answer is that there were severe disruptions to the supply chain and labor in nearly every market, and the laws of supply and demand did what they do. OK, why is that?
The answer is that our leaders, not just here in the United States, but around the world, did the absolute worst thing any leader can do during a time of crisis: They panicked. Whether or not anyone knew where the coronavirus came from or how it should be dealt with, our leaders not only panicked, they also kept changing their story as they groped around for answers and solutions, which is the main reason people stopped trusting them and thus gave rise to some of the most preposterous conspiracy theories I have ever heard. And what is even worse, they sacrificed our youth, our future, our school-aged children’s mental health, in an attempt to save the elderly and the frail. Will they ever apologize for that?
In short, our leaders failed us — ALL of them. Democrats, Republicans, ALL of them. They are, in the words of FDR’s Vice President John Nance Garner, “Not worth a bucket of warm spit.”
This is the sort of stuff that the village idiot is supposed to do, not world leaders. It’s the job of world leaders to prevent that sort of stuff from happening, but they didn’t, which would lead any reasonable person to question their qualifications as leaders. This isn’t rocket science, boys and girls. This is simple “connect the dots.”
I don’t believe in conspiracies, but I do believe in incompetence and stupidity, and those are the kind of people we call “leaders,” and that’s why I don’t think it matters who becomes our next president because we’re living in an age where our leaders are as stupid as we are. Talk about “representative government.”
This is it, folks. I see no “shining stars,” and I trust not a one. I’d sooner follow migrating geese. At least they have good instincts.
Now THAT’s a scary thought.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
