The Economic Curtain

The current financial crisis has emphasized the deep impact of the economy. Which got me thinking, why do we live in a world where the avarice of a few can have destructive consequences for so many?

Our world is controlled and driven by wealth. We have no choice in the matter, since the day we were brought into this world, we were actually bought into it. Everything we do revolves around money, from our first ice cream cone to our education; it is the currency for survival. No matter how we choose to live our lives, we are forced to play by the rules: earning, saving, and spending money so that we still have some left over for tomorrow. As capitalism has spread, there is no place left to go. We simply cannot escape.

Don't believe me? For any other aspect in life we have choices. If I don't like oranges, I don't have to eat them. If I don't like my job, I can quit. If I want to leave the neighborhood I can move. If I don't like my country I can emigrate to a different one. I can even convert religions if I really wanted to. But try to live in New York City without using currency is impossible. 

As an economist would say, even though we live in a free country with a free market, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So maybe we are not free, and the market system does have costs, but what are they?

Freedom for one, as I have already mentioned, but maybe more importantly unfairness. We live in an evermore asymmetric society where income inequality can be so egregious that the top 1% of the population can determine the fate of the world. A heavy price to pay for the rest of us.

My point is that I have no way to participate in this world without abiding by the rules of the economy. There is a bias of thinking well this is the way it is, but sometimes you have to rethink from the ground up. Being smart, working hard, is not enough anymore, you have to hope that those who also participate in the economy don't screw it up, quite unlikely.

So I don't care if  "it's the economy, stupid" just get me out of it.

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