Well, this blew my mind. I have been digging around the internet for meaningful data about the economy and our fiscal problems for weeks, because you can't trust the spin each party puts on the numbers to support their politics.
I found what I wanted and learned yet again to be careful what you wish for.
I follow Bill Gates on twitter, and he recommended this independent financial analysis of the USA's current fiscal quagmire. Please give the video a listen or better yet, give the report a look. Share it with anyone with a brain so we can begin to understand the scope of the problem, which is as much about demographics as it is about dollars. I'm a third through the report and my head and my heart hurt. If we all symbolically hold hands together through this, maybe we won't be so scared.
The Video:
The Report:
USA Inc. - A Basic Summary of America's Financial Statements
This imbed is amazing, you can enlarge or change pages using the buttons at the bottom. For fun, jump to page 72 to see that we spent more total dollars on health care in 2007 than the other 30 countries in the report combined. This report is rich and dense with data, presented in easily understood graphs and charts.
I believe this is the most important post I have shared yet. Please share this with everyone you know, so that we might begin the hard work of making informed choices for the future.
Turn off your mind
3 hours ago
Mel, I feel like a real copout, with you going to all the effort to give me the facts. I cannot deal with it right now. I am just trying to keep my head above water, feeling like I might drown with hopelessness if I am not careful.
ReplyDeleteI promise I will come back when I am not so depressed about the direction our country is going.
DJan, I am still trying to absorb the first third I've read. But I'm glad to have ammunition the next time someone starts blaming Obama for this mess. I think reading this report should be a prerequisite to strong opinions about the debt and budget. I would like to believe at least our elected representatives had the facts. That's a dream, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIf you start to go down, holler for a life line, OK?
I'm with DJan, I just don't have the heart for it right now, but I would like to cheer you on in your quest for understanding what's going on...
ReplyDeleteI took a look at these...but like everything else.... I feel like there are people pointing us in a direction that helps their own agendas...it seems like the S&P's lowering of the credit rating is turning out to be their agenda towards helping the Republican party come election year. There is so much confusion and the media just keeps tossing us more information that seems to theatrically drive us into stuffing our heads in the sand because we just can't take anymore. I feel like the whole deal with congress was just a big push to get things rolling toward next years election...like..let's all look at Obama's failures ( and I hate to say this because I voted for him but....he's shafted us as well). I feel so played all the time that I've just stopped looking at all the stats...of which I have no idea of their truth. Everything seems skewed right now. Just feel we can't trust anyone. I used to get quite involved in politics and now feel like whatever I do is futile...useless...makes no difference. We've lost control of this country. We are debt slaves. And anything we do will not change it.
ReplyDeleteWell the above sentence reads tell me what you think and I did. Hope it doesn't offend anyone. I think it's great that you still have the want to look at the numbers. I wish there were more comments...we need to talk about this...but it seems to be subject that gets shunned. Are we all just giving up...I hope not. But whatever we were doing before just isn't working for change...I've just taken a pause to sit back and reevaluate where to focus my energy for a positive outcome.
Keep at it...
karena - not offended, I appreciate your honesty. And to tell you the truth, by the time I got finished with the massive report, about a week after I posted this, I was numb. Numb even moreso from the continued onslaught of crappy news, and the dismal future that looks headed our way. I wondered how much of the data I can trust versus how much of is has been massaged to support the report. Even so, even if the numbers are remotely correct, the children of the baby boomers are screwed and things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. I just don't see anyone in power doing anything to make things better in the short or the long term.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what to do now that I've read this report. Hide like a turtle seems a sane response. Grow a garden. Turn off the news. I just don't know. I think most sane people are just shell shocked at this point.
I know I am.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Betsy too.