Have bailouts helped or hurt US?

Election 2012

HERE'S SOMETHING TO CONSIDER when you go to vote this November.Those of us who objected to the bailout of major American corporations were laughed at. We were called names. Unsophisticated. Shut up and sit down. Let the “smart” people take care of things. Bankruptcy? Are you kidding? It would be totally irresponsible for us (US) to allow major corporations like GM fail. Think of all the jobs that would be lost. Well, think again.

Have you been following what has happened? You may have missed it. Mainstream news media have been silent on the subject. What little has been reported generally supports the bailout. Thank God for the Internet. Whistle blowers can be heard. Daylight can be shed on business dealings that leaders would prefer that you don't know about. For example, take a look at the following video of the shift in General Motors operations from America to China.

 Allow me to summarize. We borrowed $80 billion mostly from China to bailout GM. Failed managers who should have been sacked held onto their jobs. Labor contracts that were unsustainable are now being sustained with tax dollars. Purportedly, the goal was to keep an American industry alive and keep American workers on the job. It's not turning out that way, is it?

Furthermore, consider this: We still have to repay China for that debt. Simply put, they bought GM and we will have to repay them the money that they used to purchase it. It takes truly “smart” people to make a mess as grand as this.

I'm not going to waste any time considering the repercussions of the fact that we our strengthening an ideological opponent, possibly a enemy, while simultaneously shooting ourselves in the foot. I'm already mad enough at the insanity of the economic issues involved.

Even more aggravating is the fact that the same people who crafted this mess still enjoy great popularity. Go ahead and look at the polls. Don't they yet see the chasm between what they believe and what is? That's called “dissonance.” Many of us survive quite well in a state of dissonance until we become aware of it – we become cognitive of it. Generally, when we become cognitive of a dissonance, we simply realign our beliefs to better fit reality. For example, almost everybody believes that they are good drivers. Back in the 1950s, the National Safety Council sponsored a televised National Driver's Test wherein the audience was shown situations. The video was paused and the audience presented with multiple choices of how to best respond. When the film was resumed, many saw that their response led to an accident. They became cognitive of the dissonance between their self image as good drivers and the reality that maybe they made mistakes when driving. In that moment, they were open to learn a better response.

However, if the chasm between reality and their beliefs that cannot be bridged, it appears that they will turn on the agent that made them aware of it. For example, some of my friends and family became incensed that I sent this video to them. It appears they have invested their trust in their political parties to such a degree that they cannot reconcile the chasm that exists between their political beliefs and the reality that our leaders in Washington have made such a mess of our economy.

Are they so afraid to look at reality that they will return the same politicians, Republican and Democrat, to Washington? If they do, then truly we will deserve everything that we get.

I don't know about you, but this makes me mad as hell...