Our Lives Don’t Matter.
By: Corinne Davis
Tags: Money, Politics, Poverty, Economics, Billionaires

Our Lives Don’t Matter.

Photo by Matthis Volquardsen from Pexels

A billionaire moving her online retail business to a small, impoverished nation with nine citizens, would instantaneously and exponentially increase the nation’s economic wealth. The business operations, production, purchases, and investments would indicate the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is undergoing rapid growth, but the wealth wouldn’t affect the people’s lives unless it was distributed. The billionaire would potentially create service jobs, but the pay would be dismal, the work low skilled, and the income tax deducted by the government would be spent aiding the billionaire’s business in the name of “job creation”.

Eventually, the billionaire’s wealth facilitates power, and “information” campaigns aimed at misleading the public, as well as the lack of regulations banning unlimited political donations, allow legally funding the politicians promising to cap the minimum wage, environmental regulations, and labor rights. If this story sounds way too familiar, it’s because it is. Over the last four decades the US’ economic growth and rise in GDP have not produced wealth for 90% of Americans, whilst the share of corporate profits has skyrocketed. Income tax deductions redistributed to the big businesses instead of the public goods and services like education, healthcare, parks, libraries, environment, and community, rewards bigger profits for corporate owners yet robs Americans of their wealth, time, and establishes a pay-to-work structure.

Governments, (some) economists, and financial investors use GDP as the indicator of economic health. Producing, buying, investing, and/or selling goods and services within a nation’s borders boosts GDP, but unpaid domestic work, caretaking, and volunteering are disregarded because they’re priceless…? Or they’re horribly devalued, and wealth disparities, wages, discrimination, human rights, social benefits, job opportunities/creation, debt, political stability, environmental degradation, innovation, education, infectious disease control, living standards, and public services do not contribute to GDP because they don’t generate a monetary value. American income tax isn’t going to the lazy gamer who doesn’t want to work, it’s going to the billionaire monopoly owners who desperately need it.

The production and selling of goods and services, as well as exporting more goods than the country imports, is an additional GDP bonus, but providing a liveable income to buy the necessary goods is not considered. Wages continue to decline because the employment opportunities, government spending on public goods, and corporate labor market investments died in the 1980’s, but don’t worry! As wages tumble, corporate profits contributing to the rise in GDP affirm the economy is headed in the right direction, and the double, triple, and quadruple returns from the stock market for the 10% of Americans owning 80% of the shares, indicates all is well. When the stock market is accumulating more wealth for the shareowners, it’s obvious everyone is fine. Just fine.

For 90% of Americans, a rise in GDP and the returns from the stock market pyramid scheme is meaningless because the earnings do not benefit them and their wealth has been declining for 40 years. The financial health of Americans is determined by the ability to make it to the next pay cycle without using credit cards to buy groceries. The government/Goldman Sachs claiming the economy will recover quickly because the resilient services sector will contribute to strong GDP growth excludes the millions of Americans stealing food from grocery stores, skipping meals, evicted from their homes, harassed by bill collectors, disconnected from utilities, relying on charities for survival, and facing a hopeless job market.

Welcome to the United States of America! The world’s largest economy, highest GDP, and the winner of the most extreme income inequalities of the G7 nations.

Pre-Covid, inspiring consumer confidence via bragging about the positive gains in GDP and the flourishing stock market may have done the trick, but 90% of Americans aren’t blind. The faux wealth fabrication can’t sweep the giant mountain of poverty under the cheap, worn out rug unless the US buys a bigger rug, but spending money on Americans deviates from their agenda. Concealing this disaster might be more expensive than fixing it, and the longer it’s ignored, the worse it’s going to get. Eventually, the trickle down, will trickle up, and the 10% of Americans building their wealth off the backs of the hard-working Americans, are going to feel the pinch.

The great, big American economy wasn’t built by a small minority, and the government will soon realize the only “too big to fail” business is the 90% of Americans. The time Americans have collectively dedicated to the economy has created the world’s highest GDP, continuous economic growth, and the money that fills the pockets of the billionaires. Without the mass population of worker bees, the US and foreign billionaires couldn’t have accrued their enormous fortunes, and Covid has proven not even an economic collapse puts a dent in their wallets. As Americans stand or sit in their cars awaiting food donations, US billionaires not only shielded their wealth, they have increased it by $1 trillion during the pandemic.

A few millionaires with a solid plan collaborated the great steal, and purchasing the politicians elected to represent the people was the easiest part, but Americans aren’t living this hell alone. Billions of people are enduring variations of the same nightmare, yet they’re powerless because coordinating a mass movement of people is nearly impossible, and waiting another 40 years for a government to overturn the system working in their favor, is a slow, agonizing death.