As an American I can't help but compare our economic "recession" (which I say is just another word for industry leaders not being able to have a second yacht) to economic struggles faced by the citizens of Third World countries. Our federal government's loaning “free money” in an early advance of $300 to $600 US dollars to American Taxpayers was yet another ploy to feed Wall Street's addiction at the expense of consumers who drown their sorrows by spending more money for petty enjoyment, while they too, (like those in Jamaica and elsewhere), feel the bite of capitalistic greed for the good of those who sip cocktails in the backseat of Hummer limousines.

My hunch is that the levels of local, state, and federal government control--doled out upon other the citizens—is in direct correlation with the level of panic and dependence ignorance exacted upon the people who swallow 100 percent of what the media is trying to make them believe. In societies where there is no voice, questioning of government was hardly ever questioned. Talk about Iraqi freedom all you want, we still need to practice what we preach, and compared to other thousand-year dynasties, the United States was a country of hope before it became a nation of doubt.

Did anyone ever ask if the reason for all the American layoffs lays in the nest of the three headed dog known as globalization, industrialization, and eminent financial annihilation?
Perhaps people in the middle east, Korea, and other nations would look upon our country as less of a villain if only it looked upon the resources of developing countries in different cultures as partners, not as pawns to be raped of their heritage, and their right to be governed as they determine for themselves. That pattern of self-determination folks, hard as it may be to swallow, is not based on how one nation feels another must behave, unless there’s potential financial gain attached at the end of the freedom carrot.

Now that the stock exchange seems to have wrapped its own butt in a sling, American companies will have to think twice because what they've dished out is now coming back to haunt them in terms of layoffs, increasing crime rates, and a whole lot of really ticked off voters who are ready to do more than sit with their heads uncovered in the sandstorm.

America is afraid of losing its clavicle pinch over the less fortunate, and we all are unfortunately going to be stricken with the consequences. And I think of it as no surprise that in this nation, the lighter your skin, the more we encourage immigrant wealth. Yet att the same time we also prefer to bully the darker-skinned nations through the IMF and World Bank on non-U.S. soil where the people should really have their own say. And if they determine that free enterprise is more of a pain than a prize, they need to have the freedom to say, “No thank you, U.S.A.”

Meanwhile, we all better "saddle up", because what goes around. . . .

And as far as the good ol' American dream goes for those who depend on the yellow brick road of days gone by, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”