Third World America - Arianna Huffington [61]
In other words, it’s simple biology: We humans are only smart enough to create situations in which the rich are beneficiaries of huge wealth transfers from the middle class—but we have not yet evolved to the point where we can foresee that this is what we’re doing.
In truth, the problem is not that we are “not smart enough as people.” As we’ve seen time after time, smart enough people are all too willing to ignore facts they don’t like or that don’t happen to benefit them in the short term. And to lessen personal culpability, they institutionalize not knowing—constructing oversight systems deliberately designed to be ineffective and accordingly unable to provide those in power with information they don’t really want to know.
We had our warning signals for the financial crisis: They were called Enron and WorldCom and Global Crossing. Those outrages set the stage for the much larger, more sophisticated, and much more dangerous excesses that drove the housing and banking meltdown.
But the broken system that allowed the scandals at Enron and the rest was never really reformed. Yes, there were window-dressing changes and Band-Aid legislation. But the guiding philosophy—that the free market would regulate itself, and that corporate America always knew best—remained in place. Indeed, it was given much freer rein.
So it’s been déjà vu all over again, with one big difference that makes this latest crisis so painful: the scale of it all. The impact on average Americans has been so much more devastating and long lasting. And here’s the bottom line: If we don’t reform the system—really reform it—the next financial collapse will surely be more than we can withstand.
It’s the thing that will send us over the edge, making the idea of Third World America more than just a scary harbinger of things to come. It will be our reality. So it’s time to say good-bye to the “Who Could Have Known?” era. It’s time to know things again—and to acknowledge that we know them. And to make things right before it is too late.
LINDA D. WILSON
Perhaps my story is no different from that of millions of other middle-class workers who are experiencing an enormous test of their faith. I have an MBA and more than twenty-five years of human resources experience. I worked for the same company in Louisiana for twenty-two years. Despite countless layoffs and downsizings, I was either promoted or changed positions every two to three years, expanding my HR skills and knowledge. I can honestly say I never concerned myself with getting a pink slip. I served on local boards and committees, volunteered for good causes, donated to charities, and served at my church. My near-perfect credit score and disposable income allowed me to live with little debt and pay down my mortgage from thirty to seven years.
I overcame a birth defect—a cleft palate. After surgery, I had to learn to talk again. I attended college on a track scholarship, and in my senior year I competed in the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials. From there, I earned my bachelor’s degree and started my career. While working full-time and successfully climbing the corporate ladder, I had an idea for an event planning system. I filed for and received a U.S. patent. However, working full-time in a competitive environment left me with little time to launch a business and new product, so I put it on the back burner. Instead, I focused on a seemingly safer and more stable corporate career path—guaranteed paychecks, benefits, pension, and a 401(k). Like most other members of the middle class I believed that with enough hard work and determination I would be successful. It was what my parents taught me by example and what they expected me to demonstrate in everything I did.
In 2005, I adopted two girls—sisters. My ten-year-old was diagnosed with HIV and works extra hard to learn and be successful in school. I set them up with a financial plan and invested in real estate, which I planned to leave them for their inheritance.