MJ Samuel - The economic crisis touches us all. But who is to blame, and who can make the needed changes to ease the situation ?

Nicolas Sarkosy demands that those responsable for the American economic collapse be held accountable. Yet, the poster boy for greed and materialism, President "Bling-bling", exemplifies the root of the problem. Because like most people he believed the televised "American ideal" to be real and attainable. Elected on the platform of "work more to get more" Sarko spoke to the greed of a nation. But what voters failed to realize is that since the new millinieum the image of the American dream has been scribbled over by lines of credit.

The english business model means failure for the average consumer and small entrepreneur, as it is set up to favor megacorporations and monopolies. The
little guy consistently goes into debt to compete, sometimes just for his right to work, as everything beyond a McJob requires an exorbitant investure in
education, to purchase the papers that certify one's right to work in their chosen field. Unfortunately, like a gambler; there is no guarantee on investure; and the stakes are often raised beyond one's grasp, forcing bankruptcy and the seisure of assets.

To the average worker this means being a prisoner to one's job, living paycheck to paycheck, never earning enough to go anywhere, or never having enough time
or money to move on to something esle. For the entrepeneur more than one man's job is often at stake, and when the corporate giants put him out of business,
it's like a hand-cuff closing on the independence of society. Take the most profitable industry, oil, for example, by our dependence on the resource, they
can set the price as high as the want; their profit being our detriment.

True free market capitalism prevents monopolies and price fixing, because everyone gets an equal opportunity. Likewise true democracy prevents privatized
industries/corporations from controlling national policies, because the rules are decided by a majority vote, not by the whims of a few politicians'invested
interests. Too bad currently neither are real because these autrocities plague the world.

For over 5 years, the majority of amercians, canadians, austraillans and brits alike have been spending more than they earn. And as interest payable is accumulative, their debt to income ratio just keeps growing.

While the people Sarkozy governs are concerned over a 64% public debt, they are also guilty of hyper commercialism. Why, especially when everyone's
purchasing power is dwindling ? Because of the endless onslaught of publicities. TV, internet, public transit. Walls that were once covered in public notices are now plastered with pubs. Advertisers are even profiting on the constant city congestion, adding their billboards to public-works sites.

The pubs aren't even well translated anymore. As too many french share their leader's obsession and inferiority complex towards the master's of media, and
business, AKA, the anglos. English is deemed necessisary to function in any commerce, political or public relation type field. And on the social scale that
makes it cool. And cool is marketable.

This unhealthy obsession is empowering a new era of serfdom, where the heads of megacorporations become the new monarchy and we the "freeborn" serfs. But this time the ruling class has the technology to collar us all without impeeding our work with cumbersome chains.

So who is responsible for the economic crisis? ...everyone. Think of that next time you go to upgrade your telephone or computer, next time you go shopping,
not because you need something but because there is a sale. Thanks to mondalization, you're not even supporting your domestic ecomony, but rather building some third world nation to take your place.

There is of course hope. The european model of local commerce and unions, hasn't yet been irradicated. It works wonders to prevent monopolies and price
fixing and to ensure jobs and real purchasing power, not just for a few elite but for the population at large. But for it to work we have to rely on
ourselves. Stop hoping that new technology will make your life easier and learn some of the skills your parents or their parents had. Like how to sew, cook,
build or repair things for ourselves. Turn off the publicity machines and do something in your community; this is not communism but rather communalism or
small C capitalism, the opposite of mondalization.