SURF'S UP
By
Richard Davis

GUILFORD- The perfect economic storm is gathering force in the United States, and perhaps beyond. A vicious cycle of economic tsunamis of unprecedented proportion is a real possibility.
The United States is deep in debt and the dollar value is at an all time low internationally. Who would have believed that Canadians and Europeans would start shopping in the U.S. to save money? Some prominent economists contend that a sinking dollar value does not portend economic downturn and, in fact, may be a good thing. Perception and reality rarely find common ground in stock markets.
It would be easy to blame the Bush administration and its policies over the past seven years for the mess we are in, yet that is where the blame clearly lies. We have an economy that has come to depend on war profiteering and that will be a tough nipple to disengage from if we ever do find a way to create peace. As bad as the war driven economy is, the high cost of paving the road to world domination is only part of the problem.

Medical debt is at an all time high. Half of all bankruptcies are the result of medical bills and 75 percent of people accumulating that debt have health insurance. Fifteen percent of the American population does not have health insurance and that contributes to the escalating cost of health care and insurance for the rest of a country that finds itself less able to afford high monthly premiums and deductibles. It means that too many Americans are one illness away form homelessness or bankruptcy.
Try to imagine what it must feel like to be under treatment for cancer, paying monthly insurance premiums and finding out after eight months of chemotherapy that you have to sell your house in order to be able to afford the full course of recommended treatment.
Meanwhile, the profits of health insurance companies are at an all time high.
The average American over 65 takes five prescription medications. (Correcting problems of prudent medical management are somewhat separate issues.) Many people cannot afford to pay for those drugs without having to cut back on other essentials such as food, clothing, and heat.
People cut pills in half and try to put up with more easily triggered shortness of breath or a little more pain than usual. It is not uncommon for diabetics to lower their insulin doses to make a $40 bottle last a little longer. Many of these people end up in the emergency room with problems that could have been prevented.
Meanwhile, the profits of drug companies are at an all time high.
Then there are those who are struggling to pay their fuel bills. Filling up a car with gas has become a major financial purchase. Living in an area of the country that has long, cold winters has come to mean that there are more and more people who rely on government programs and other forms of fuel assistance simply to prevent hypothermia and death.
These are working people who are trying to carry their own weight, but if they earn minimum wage or a little above that, then they often have to decide if their family can afford to eat and also stay warm.
I heard from a local couple who told me they went into debt last year because they had to take out a loan to pay for fuel for the winter. Then there are those who are eligible for fuel assistance who have to wait until late November before the federal government makes the funds available.
A lot of your friends and neighbors went without heat for most of November or they took their five gallon cans to the gas station and filled them with diesel fuel and prayed that if they kept their thermostats low enough they would be able to get by until help of some sort arrived.
Meanwhile, there is a huge market in fuel futures trading and profiteers are making millions of dollars as they buy and sell fuel they will never use while people suffer and freeze to death because of their greed.
The bubble is about to burst. In other countries people would have already been out in the streets protesting. But Americans live in fear of their government and that's the way Bush and his people want it. Until we reach a point where the government fears the people and the potential power they have, our lives and the causes of our deaths will continue to be controlled by a handful of greedy profiteers.