Scroll of Economic Crisis

Alright, if you haven’t noticed that things in the economic world aren't so dandy.  Today’s scroll will talk about the causes of this downward spiral. I think this crisis was caused by overspending.   People got caught up in the material things that they didn’t need.   People were so obsessed about their image that they would buy things with money that they really didn't have, just like in the 1920’s people got carried away with the modern conveniences. In the 1990’s new technologies hit the market and everybody wanted to have the newest thing.

I think the whole reason we’re in this is because we have a flawed economic system.  My personal opinion is we rely too much on technology.   I’m talking about electronic money and electronic banking.   Yes, technology is great and can solve many problems, but sometimes it just makes things worse then they already are. People can get away with buying things they shouldn’t, a new car, new TV, new house. The banks and credit companies gave people major responsibility and people took advantage of that. That’s what made the banks fail. People took loans out from the banks they couldn’t pay.  Then when the time came to pay up, they couldn't. When the bank has no money because people don’t pay them back, the people who saved lose their money too. When the banks fail people lose their faith and stop spending, they retract into their shell.  When people stop buying products suddenly, the demand goes down. The demand goes down too fast so the suppliers keep supplying, then you end with the demand overlapped by the supply. That causes the suppliers to cut the workers because nobody’s buying, so they can’t afford to keep everybody. The newly laid off workers stop buying because they don’t have a job. They stop buying because when they had a job they thought it would last forever, so they bought stuff they couldn't pay for, a new car, a new house, a new TV. Well at this point it very hard to dig ourselves out of the hole were in.

Let’s recap, it starts with people being irresponsible, then the banks fail, then the responsible people lose their money, so they stop buying. When nobody's buying the suppliers cut workers to keep a profit, that in turn causes less spending which causes more people getting laid off, so on and so forth. In my opinion the cycle can be broken in three ways. Number one: The people who have money suck it up and start buying again. Not very likely because nobody wants to risk their money.  Number two: the businesses suck it up and hire people again. This is also not very likely, but more logical because big businesses made a lot of money, so the people high up have money saved. Number three: government will bail the people and the big businesses out. This plan is like the first one but in a different packaging. We pay the bailouts through taxes. This is the most likely to happen because we already started. The big problem is that people will be opposed to this because it is their money. What people need to realize is that someone has to take the hit.

Now once we’re out of this hole, we need to learn from our mistakes. We went through this before. I think we need to pay as we go. Save if you want, but make it so people can't borrow money they don't have.

For a good explanation of the credit crisis follow the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqUGoVez8xg

Scroll of The Election

I reacted to the winner of the presidential election with an ehhhh… a look up and then back to my mindless computer games. You see, because I couldn’t influence it at all I didn’t really pick a side. I like both candidates, McCain and Obama. I compare this election to a football game. If you’re into football you should like your team in your state or your own city. It’s like having one of your favorite teams play your home team. You like your home team but maybe you like the other team more or vice-versa. You want both teams to win but they can’t both so you don’t care, maybe one team has a shot at the playoffs so you root for them more. That’s basically my thoughts on this election. I wouldn’t mind McCain but I liked Obama more. Maybe it was because it would make history to have a black president or maybe it was the economic crisis. I really don’t know why I liked Obama more. But the big issue that flipped me was the VP choice. Before McCain chose Palin, I really did not care, after I started leaning towards Obama. I don’t like Palin because she is too religious. I’m strongly against religion in politics. I hope that Obama can fix this economy problem and bring jobs back because I’m going to need a job in the next few years. I don’t think the career I want to pursue is going to be shipped overseas. The war in Iraq, or any war for that matter, takes government spending away from science. I hope that I’m able to pursue a career in biological science. The thing I fear about this outcome of the election, is that Obama might get assassinated. If that happens how will we look to the rest of the world? Bad and racist, that’s how. Well I have one question; will Palin run for president next election? Answer that if you can.

Scroll of Executive Power

Executive Branch

This branch is big and complicated. It enforces laws, handles foreign affairs and manages a variety of agencies. It is 300 million people strong, that’s a big number. I’m just going to tell you some top spots of the executive branch: president, vice president, president’s cabinet, and the heads of all the government run agencies. The president also appoints the justices of the Supreme Court, that’s why people make it a big deal. The president can appoint officials to all agencies, so he basically controls them. The catch is that the Senate has to approve, otherwise it’s a no go. Some agencies directly report to The Prez, like EPA, some are independent like NASA. The president cannot really make the choice to go war, but sometimes does it anyway. Congress needs to approve the war then it gives money to support the war. But nobody listened to that because we haven’t “officially” been in a war since WWII, except the gulf war of 1990. It happened with Vietnam, Korea and now Iraq. The Senate has to approve going to war but lately that has not been happening. Well after Nam, this law passed that the president could invade other countries but had to get the Senate’s approval in 90 days or the troops just sit there. There is a major loop hole in this system. It’s written that the president can go to war if we are attacked first. This is the stupid reason why we’re in Iraq. The real reason is that Cheney and the old Bush administration wanted to go get rich. I don’t think 9/11 was a conspiracy, but the war in Iraq is just a little too much. The president also has the power to make treaties. Bush could call it off with Iraq but he has gone too far to turn back. The executive branch blew the whole bridge up. Obama is the only chance we have of getting out of Iraq and keeping the little respect that the US of A has left. If Obama is elected Prez, he will handle most of the foreign affairs. That’s why no one likes tourists from the states anymore because Bush screwed up. And Guess what, most likely that’s going to get worse if McCain is elected. That’s fine for you people that just sit here in the US of A polishing your semi-automatic “hunting rifles”. I’m going to say this real fast: if you need a semi-auto rifle to hunt you SHOULD NOT hunt.  One shot, one kill, that's how you do it. Come on if you need more then 4 rounds to kill big game, don’t hunt big game. Enough about that, I would say that this branch is no more powerful than the others, even though it seems really powerful. Sometimes it gets a little power hungry but gets back in line because the other two branches slap it. The legislative branch has the responsibility to approve the president’s decisions. This way the president can’t just go crazy and appoint his brother to some random thing then they get a lot of money. If the president does something unconstitutional or commits a crime he can be impeached and removed from office. This checks the president so he and his advisers protect the people as best they can. So democracy is a big complicated game of rock, paper, and scissors. The executive branch is powerful but can be controlled by the other branches at times. Are three main powers enough to keep the people safe and protect their rights? Or maybe we should use the system that the Ottoman Empire used? I mean they were only around for almost 700 years, that’s a long time.

Scroll of The Natural State

I have been pondering this question: How did John Locke use the idea of a "state of nature" to try to establish or figure out what the purpose of government should be? Now I'm not going to say where I got this from but I like it. He used it to come up with the advantages and disadvantages of government. What do people need to be protected but at the same time free? I'll answer that one, rules and people to watch out for them. How can that happen if the person you entrusted to do that has no power over you. You need to give them power so that you can be protected. Can you trust one man with your power?   No.   This is because everybody is self motivated.

Scroll of democracy

OK so today I will "define" democracy. I will discuss if it is still present in the Mighty U.S. OF A!!!!!!! Democracy is when the government is one with the people. Everybody has a voice. I'll tell you one thing democracy has major flaws. In a perfect world, the power of a democratic government is split up in to three equal parts. But in reality is doesn't work exactly like it should. Like the idea of communism, it’s good but then in the real world it sucks. Yes, I just compared communism with democracy. But I think democracy failed on a smaller scale than communism did. Is democracy still alive in the US, ummmmm.... yes and no. I think it’s on life support.  For example more and more freedoms are being taken away and the three branches can get more power than one another. It hasn't worked out the way it was planned. Tons of people don't vote and then whine about who is president. Yes there is the excuse "that my vote wouldn't have mattered anyway". Well maybe it wouldn't have mattered but you have no right to complain about who runs the country if you didn't make your voice heard.