The Americans believe in their myths
And they don't see their elites created those myths especially for them.
![The Americans believe in their myths]()
Image from Pixabay.com
It's always very useful to see the world as it is. For that you need to get rid of some misleading myths.
The Americans do believe in their myths.
Myth 1. The USA is a rich country.
No.
1. The Federal Reserve has published a survey in May 2019 - almost 40% of American adults wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit-card charge.
2. The US national debt was more than $22 trillion in the beginning of 2019. The US Gross Domestic Product in 2019 was $21.2 trillion in 2019. So America lives beyond its means and should pay off more than it earns. This is a sign of country's current direction to degradation. It's very bad to incur debts.
The worst thing here is the Americans do not see the connection between p.1 (impoverishment of the people) and p.2 (country's debts).
Myth 2. The USA is a democratic country.
No.
Democracy literally means "rule by people". Even formally the democracy in the US is partial, since the Americans do not elect the executive branch of the US government (their presidents) directly, the Electoral College does that. That's why Hillary Clinton didn’t become the U.S. president having almost 3 million more voters than Donald Trump in 2016.
That's maybe why the USA has got #25 from 167 countries in the Democracy Index 2019 amid the "flawed democracy" countries.
Myth 3. The USA is a capitalistic country.
Not really.
It looks like something is wrong with capitalism in the US since big businessmen-billionaires like Ray Dalio or Marc Benioff talk about the need to reform it or even of its death...
From my point of view the capitalism in the U.S. is "guided" or "crony" capitalism. It works in a little more sophisticated but similar way than "crony" socialism. The example: Trump's border wall $400 million contract was handed to the company owned by Trump's Republican donor.
Capitalism means a free market and it is not free in the United States. There should be competitive rules for the whole market if it is free. However, the rule of free competition works in the US until a certain level where the businesses of the elites work (finances, oil and gas, medicine and medications, education, weapons, tobacco, alcohol, etc) and the competition is very relative there. The elites agree on how the essential goods market is divided and thus this is no longer the capitalism. No wonder it doesn't work.
Myth 4. The USA provide its citizens with "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness".
Not anymore.
The Declaration of Independence has really made America great in due time, but it doesn't work properly. Now the US provide only "Life" (the safety) for its citizens and do that basically well, but "Liberty" and "Pursuit of Happiness" are downgraded to "work, work, work" duty for the people, so the attractiveness of the country is fading. Thus World Happiness Report assigned to the USA only #19 out of 156 countries in 2019.
Myth 5. A meritocracy principle: work hard and you can achieve whatever you want.
Not really.
You can achieve whatever you are able to. Some rare people are able to achieve a lot - like Madonna or Arnold Schwarzenegger, but everybody pays taxes and this is the main goal of this myth. Then the national budget is distributed by national elites according to "crony" capitalism rules (see myth 3).
The United States is not a democratic, but aristocratic country with elements of meritocracy. "Aristocracy" roughly translates to "rule of the best born", which basically means the initial inequality (see myth 6). Current US aristocracy - the wealthiest 1% of the Americans - owned about $35 trillion as of the second quarter of 2019 while the entire US middle class (50-90% of population) held around $36.9 trillion.
Myth 6. All Americans are equal before the law.
No.
Some of them are obviously more equal than others.For example, even the US House of Representatives couldn't get president Trump's Tax Returns. It is a pure sign of inequality and should have been a real reason for impeachment.
And it is a very disturbing signal for the country, because the injustice ultimately destroys any union.
Myth 7: The Americans elect their rulers.
No.
Almost all US rulers are appointed by Democratic and Republican parties. Wikipedia states: "Two political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although several much smaller parties also exist".
So the political market is shared, but by only two parties. The Americans do not elect their presidents and all federal executive branch (see myth 2), but can still influence at least their legislative branch via direct elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate at the state and federal levels. However, probably 90% of candidates are Democrats and Republicans there, too. The best candidate cannot get into power position otherwise. This is a choice without a choice for around 150 years. This is a monopoly on power and a guarantee for country's degradation.
Myth 8: Inflation rate is 2-3% a year in the US.
Not really.
This myth is about value of money and is the mechanism of impoverishment of the Americans. The devaluation of money in the US is controlled via guided inflation by Federal Reserve since its foundation in 1913. Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman wrote in 1974: "Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation."
Wikipedia confirms: "Although an instrument of the US Government, the Federal Reserve System considers itself "an independent central bank because its monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branches of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the board of governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."
US dollar actually costs nothing being just a paper or fiat money. Yes, all other currencies in the world are also backed by nothing, but that just means that all humanity switched once from absolute to relative (or comparative) value of money and thus lost the base. NOW MONEY IS GLOBALLY DEPRIVED OF ITS VERY IMPORTANT FUNCTION - TO BE A STORE OF VALUE. That's why in particular the global economy stagnates despite the growing figures in USD - there is no absolute base to compare like gold as it used to be.
Inflation devalues money and eats away at the savings for those who have them, and now just 47 percent of American adults say that they have enough emergency funds to cover three months of expenses.
Let's see how much and fast your savings are depreciated.
The annual inflation rate in the US is really between 2 and 3% within last 30 years. However, the main question is about long-term cumulative effect of inflation over time which is reportedly around 2275% for 100 years since 1914 till 2014 or 22.75% annually in average.
Let's get the official figures from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If to enter the data into CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation calculator we see that $100 in January 1914 had the same buying power as $2579.71 in January 2020. Thus money has been devaluated 25+ times. 25 x 100% - 100% = 2400%; 2400% : 106 years = 22.64% yearly in average.
The example: a person who earned 100,000 last year must earn 122,000 in the current year and 148,000 the following year just to keep up with the inflation pace. How many Americans do earn so much so quick?
That's why the USA is a "work,work,work" country (see myth 4). Americans cannot outrun the inflation and have to work more and more to make ends meet. It turns out that they live to work to be able to pay their utility, medical, insurance, educational and other bills which are carefully issued by their "elected" elite.
It is interesting when Americans do realize that despite the fact they work very hard, each of them and their family members already owe almost 80 thousand dollars as of June 1, 2020. Look how fast the wheels of the U.S. national debt are spinning. That is YOUR growing debt because the elite doesn't create material wealth, YOU DO.
The right answer always comes after the right question has been asked. And the right question comes only after you can see everything in the way it really is.
P.S. Dear Reader! I am very much interested in your opinion on the subject of this article. Please, write a comment or ask a question if you want to clarify something.
Yours,
Igor Chykalov
Image from Pixabay.com
It's always very useful to see the world as it is. For that you need to get rid of some misleading myths.
The Americans do believe in their myths.
Myth 1. The USA is a rich country.
No.
1. The Federal Reserve has published a survey in May 2019 - almost 40% of American adults wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit-card charge.
2. The US national debt was more than $22 trillion in the beginning of 2019. The US Gross Domestic Product in 2019 was $21.2 trillion in 2019. So America lives beyond its means and should pay off more than it earns. This is a sign of country's current direction to degradation. It's very bad to incur debts.
The worst thing here is the Americans do not see the connection between p.1 (impoverishment of the people) and p.2 (country's debts).
Myth 2. The USA is a democratic country.
No.
Democracy literally means "rule by people". Even formally the democracy in the US is partial, since the Americans do not elect the executive branch of the US government (their presidents) directly, the Electoral College does that. That's why Hillary Clinton didn’t become the U.S. president having almost 3 million more voters than Donald Trump in 2016.
That's maybe why the USA has got #25 from 167 countries in the Democracy Index 2019 amid the "flawed democracy" countries.
Myth 3. The USA is a capitalistic country.
Not really.
It looks like something is wrong with capitalism in the US since big businessmen-billionaires like Ray Dalio or Marc Benioff talk about the need to reform it or even of its death...
From my point of view the capitalism in the U.S. is "guided" or "crony" capitalism. It works in a little more sophisticated but similar way than "crony" socialism. The example: Trump's border wall $400 million contract was handed to the company owned by Trump's Republican donor.
Capitalism means a free market and it is not free in the United States. There should be competitive rules for the whole market if it is free. However, the rule of free competition works in the US until a certain level where the businesses of the elites work (finances, oil and gas, medicine and medications, education, weapons, tobacco, alcohol, etc) and the competition is very relative there. The elites agree on how the essential goods market is divided and thus this is no longer the capitalism. No wonder it doesn't work.
Myth 4. The USA provide its citizens with "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness".
Not anymore.
The Declaration of Independence has really made America great in due time, but it doesn't work properly. Now the US provide only "Life" (the safety) for its citizens and do that basically well, but "Liberty" and "Pursuit of Happiness" are downgraded to "work, work, work" duty for the people, so the attractiveness of the country is fading. Thus World Happiness Report assigned to the USA only #19 out of 156 countries in 2019.
Myth 5. A meritocracy principle: work hard and you can achieve whatever you want.
Not really.
You can achieve whatever you are able to. Some rare people are able to achieve a lot - like Madonna or Arnold Schwarzenegger, but everybody pays taxes and this is the main goal of this myth. Then the national budget is distributed by national elites according to "crony" capitalism rules (see myth 3).
The United States is not a democratic, but aristocratic country with elements of meritocracy. "Aristocracy" roughly translates to "rule of the best born", which basically means the initial inequality (see myth 6). Current US aristocracy - the wealthiest 1% of the Americans - owned about $35 trillion as of the second quarter of 2019 while the entire US middle class (50-90% of population) held around $36.9 trillion.
Myth 6. All Americans are equal before the law.
No.
Some of them are obviously more equal than others.For example, even the US House of Representatives couldn't get president Trump's Tax Returns. It is a pure sign of inequality and should have been a real reason for impeachment.
And it is a very disturbing signal for the country, because the injustice ultimately destroys any union.
Myth 7: The Americans elect their rulers.
No.
Almost all US rulers are appointed by Democratic and Republican parties. Wikipedia states: "Two political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although several much smaller parties also exist".
So the political market is shared, but by only two parties. The Americans do not elect their presidents and all federal executive branch (see myth 2), but can still influence at least their legislative branch via direct elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate at the state and federal levels. However, probably 90% of candidates are Democrats and Republicans there, too. The best candidate cannot get into power position otherwise. This is a choice without a choice for around 150 years. This is a monopoly on power and a guarantee for country's degradation.
Myth 8: Inflation rate is 2-3% a year in the US.
Not really.
This myth is about value of money and is the mechanism of impoverishment of the Americans. The devaluation of money in the US is controlled via guided inflation by Federal Reserve since its foundation in 1913. Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman wrote in 1974: "Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation."
Wikipedia confirms: "Although an instrument of the US Government, the Federal Reserve System considers itself "an independent central bank because its monetary policy decisions do not have to be approved by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branches of government, it does not receive funding appropriated by Congress, and the terms of the members of the board of governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms."
US dollar actually costs nothing being just a paper or fiat money. Yes, all other currencies in the world are also backed by nothing, but that just means that all humanity switched once from absolute to relative (or comparative) value of money and thus lost the base. NOW MONEY IS GLOBALLY DEPRIVED OF ITS VERY IMPORTANT FUNCTION - TO BE A STORE OF VALUE. That's why in particular the global economy stagnates despite the growing figures in USD - there is no absolute base to compare like gold as it used to be.
Inflation devalues money and eats away at the savings for those who have them, and now just 47 percent of American adults say that they have enough emergency funds to cover three months of expenses.
Let's see how much and fast your savings are depreciated.
The annual inflation rate in the US is really between 2 and 3% within last 30 years. However, the main question is about long-term cumulative effect of inflation over time which is reportedly around 2275% for 100 years since 1914 till 2014 or 22.75% annually in average.
Let's get the official figures from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. If to enter the data into CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation calculator we see that $100 in January 1914 had the same buying power as $2579.71 in January 2020. Thus money has been devaluated 25+ times. 25 x 100% - 100% = 2400%; 2400% : 106 years = 22.64% yearly in average.
The example: a person who earned 100,000 last year must earn 122,000 in the current year and 148,000 the following year just to keep up with the inflation pace. How many Americans do earn so much so quick?
That's why the USA is a "work,work,work" country (see myth 4). Americans cannot outrun the inflation and have to work more and more to make ends meet. It turns out that they live to work to be able to pay their utility, medical, insurance, educational and other bills which are carefully issued by their "elected" elite.
It is interesting when Americans do realize that despite the fact they work very hard, each of them and their family members already owe almost 80 thousand dollars as of June 1, 2020. Look how fast the wheels of the U.S. national debt are spinning. That is YOUR growing debt because the elite doesn't create material wealth, YOU DO.
..........
The right answer always comes after the right question has been asked. And the right question comes only after you can see everything in the way it really is.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. Dear Reader! I am very much interested in your opinion on the subject of this article. Please, write a comment or ask a question if you want to clarify something.
Yours,
Igor Chykalov
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