so a nice conversation that originally took place on xbox live with a complete stranger while drinking a beer and playing left 4 dead (where else do thought provoking conversations take root?) has gotten me thinking . . .
as an advertising grad, i'd like to think i have a pretty good grasp of of our current economic state, at least from a spending (including overspending and underspending) standpoint, and i'd like to offer up my thoughts to the subject. allow me to say, before i get started, that i think this is simply something to consider in addition to many other "causes" that are floating out there, but something i think has been understated and undermentioned as a possible reason we are where we are now.
the conversation originally began with what many (myself included) believe was at the core of our country's economy. classical liberalism was derived from, very simply stated, a response to britain's over-developed government heirarchy and a need to follow in the steps of any 13 year old angst ridden emo kid and rebel. this system of classical liberalism over the last 4oo years has changed quite a bit, and several times over, but compared to many systems of government economic strategies is relatively the same as it was way back when. that being said i feel like we have bought a gold-plated desert eagle, and shot ourselves in the kneecaps with it, metaphorically of course. the system that was originally formed to give us the freedom to explore and expand rapidly has given us the freedom to run ourselves into the ground. many claim that the government (over)regulation has become an integral part of severely slowing down our ability to get the economy back on its feet, and i agree; as is par for the course for any extremely large and regulated body to make any sort of major change in an environment.
Classical liberalism is often mistaken for the very simple view of limited government involvement, and that is an integral part of the larger ideal. However, at the heart of the matter is a more personal call to action requiring individuals to adhere to the system that allows them such freedoms. A system with no external government help requires a strong internally governing mindset within all its citizens to hold the ideals. It is these ideals that become corrupted when faced with an individual profit, and eventually lead to the necessity for government regulation to protect the innocent.
all in all i suppose my point is that our classically liberal economic structure has fallen by the wayside. that is, at least when compared with individual greed and people that are willing to skip steps and take advantage of the governing system to make a better end for themselves, even if it means the eventual collapse of the system itself.
but as they say, the rains of tragedy bring about the winds of change, which i think is a great summation, albeit overstated, about the recent explosion of corporate transparency, green technology, and collaborate philanthropy we've been seeing from many of the fortune 500 companies. as i said, it takes awhile for any entity that large to make a significant change in its operating structure. i think the ideas are there, and it's just going to take a little time before everyone's headed in the right direction.
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