“The Worst Economic Crisis Since the Great Depression”

“The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” That’s the mantra we keep hearing from the governing class and their accomplices in the mainstream media. But is it really? During the 1970s we had inflation, double-digit interest rates, double-digit unemployment, the lines for gas stations wrapped around the block. Loans were hard to get then because the rules were tighter. To get a home loan you had to have 20 percent down to show commitment to the purchase. During the late-1980s and early-1990s, there was the Savings and Loan crisis. Over 700 S&Ls failed during that time. Also during that time over 1,600 banks closed or received federal assistance.

Since the current fiscal crisis broke last September, a grand total of 39 banks have failed. Unemployment is still in the single digits, interest rates are at an all-time low, inflation is nearly non-existent, and the only time you can’t get gasoline is when a hurricane strikes your neighborhood [been there, done that twice thank you very much]. Does that sound like “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression”? I won’t kid myself to think that these conditions couldn’t get worse – they can. But consider this – the business enterprises that asked for assistance from the American taxpayer were some pretty big names – General Motors, Chrysler, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup [may they rot in hell…], AIG, etc. To reiterate, this is Big Business. And since Big Business is going in the tank, either through greed, poor management, government over-regulation [pick your poison], then in the small minds of the mainstream media, the sky must be falling everywhere. And in the media culture of today, if it bleeds, it leads. And if it bleeds for some, it must bleed for all, including small business. Remember Tony’s definition of socialism – “everybody suffers equally.” It used to be said that “what is good for General Motors is also good for America.” Conversely, thanks to the “sky is falling, if it bleeds it leads” mentality in today’s mainstream media, what is bad for General Motors is also bad for America. And this reporting is scaring the crap out of Americans. When Americans are scared they hold onto every nickel they can.

Small business owners are paying for the sins of Big Business. The dirty little secret is that small business is really the backbone of the American economy. What exactly is small business? Think about the guy who fixes your car when it breaks, the people who make your home improvements, the guy who unplugs your toilet when it backs up. There’s the owner of Ray’s Restaurant in Edgerton, Wisconsin, the person who runs your favorite taqueria in Fort Collins, Colorado, or the orthodontist that makes the braces for your kid’s teeth. When the American body politic gets the crap scared out of it by the mainstream media, it’s guys like “Joe the Plumber” who take it in the shorts. When people don’t want to spend their money because they’re scared shitless by the mainstream media, it makes it harder for small businesses to survive. If small businesses start going under, then the mainstream media, with their “if it bleeds it leads” mentality, will have created a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’ll have more blood to report.