The 'Job Creators'

With the rise of the OCCUPY WALL STREET protests in New York City, there’s been a lot of legitimate discussion about money in politics. I say ‘legitimate’ because the protesters aren’t spewing political talking points like ‘no taxes’ or ‘less spending.’ They’re pointing to the financial sector, not Washington D.C., as the source of the problem. Politicians loosened the reigns on Wall St., but bankers and corporate entities were the ones running amok, taking radical risks at the expense of the stability of our country. 

Which makes it all the more gut wrenching when I hear politicians shill for corporate and financial interests. We’ve heard them for almost a year now spewing nonsense. “Big businesses, banks and lenders, millionaires and billionaires… they create jobs in this country.” Yeah, thanks for placing the cart before the horse. The truth is that businesses ONLY create jobs when those jobs improve their ability to serve more customers and clientele and thus make more money. Consumers need those few extra dollars in their hands FIRST before greedy assholes can get at them with products and services and not for profit donations. 

In any other conversation, you’d be crazy to suggest that a business would hire employees without sufficient consumer demand to justify that hiring. And yet, this same bullshit passes for logical discourse in Congress. In fact, certain politicians are getting all misty-eyed about hurting or overtaxing those innocent, patriotic tycoons. Because if we question the financial sector or the Free Marketeers, they get real bad scared and withhold prosperity for the rest of America.

Average Americans are starting to see through the politicorporate spin, the constant campaign to define our reality for us. They’ve taken to the streets across the country in protest. And it’s a good step, but it’s not the only step the 99% of Americans can take against our financial overlords... Are you sitting down? Because most people don’t like the second option available to them. Won’t even acknowledge it...

If we want to take back power from corporate interests, and we don’t want to fight with the police on Wall St., we could always stop consuming so much. Right? We can stop feeding that beast so much. We could try and be satisfied with less. That way, we’d have fewer wants and needs that corporate interests could capitalize on. 

Yes, the richest 1% would survive; they’ve been making money off of their money for years, and that won’t stop any time soon. But that 1% won’t thrive. They won’t have opportunities for growth. It would be a kick to a crotch that has so far lorded high above us. Talk about power!