Topic: Progress

Source: Considering the readings in ANTHRO about progress, I began to realize how much trying to foresee areas of progress has influenced my view of our nation’s economy.

Relation: Our sheer lack of wealth as a country has taken millions of jobs, and ruined many lives. It's important that we focus on what decisions will lead the nation to a better future, as our leader’s ability to resolve problems have become much less apparent. My lifestyle has had to adapt because of the new economic hardships, and keeping up with the causes has kept me more aware of the solutions.

Description: Almost all outcomes lead to progress in some form or another. If a mistake is made, it is remembered not to be done again; but sadly that has not been the case for the United States' economy. We seem to have forgotten that every step of progress our nation makes affects the next step. As a nation we pushed too far forward, overlooking important errors that are monumental today, and now there are five threats to our economy that we can ignore no longer: 

The first is Pension underfunding. It has been caused by many companies that offered defined-benefit pension plans that have failed to fund those plans. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation already owes $23 billion, so chances are it will result in a Federal bailout, which in turn may only invite future defaults.

The second is Public Debt, the government’s mistake of turning society to a trend of consumption has led to an enormous debt burden of almost $8 trillion. We import much more than we export, and instead of building the items we intend to consume, we encourage U.S. manufacturers to produce in third world markets like Mexico and China. The worse the debt grows, the more likely the government is to turn to the central bank to produce more money. This would just lead to higher inflation taxes, to finance their irresponsible spending.

The third, being the over-building in fault zones, floodplains, and coastal areas leads a risk for major property damage due to storms and flooding. The coasts are highly sought after by the population because they want to live in warm, sunny locations. The larger these populations grow, prices on land and property will gain value, adding to the damage likely from upcoming (not to mention inevitable) natural disasters. The only promising solution at this point is easy enough to attain, where the federal government can offer less funding for construction and insurance for disaster-prone regions. When people have to pay more to live with these hazards, they are much more likely to have the preparation for the risks involved.

The fourth crisis is that Americans' social security is in financial trouble, and people are not saving enough for retirement on their own. The risk of reducing social security benefits in the future poses a potential threat to many under-saving citizens, and social security trustees forecast a current-dollar shortfall of $4 trillion by 2017. All citizens need some sort of a private retirement account, as it is the only solution to the pay-as-you-go retirement scheme. The overall objective needs to be to continue funding social security as promised, but also transition to a long-term sustainable system of old-age savings.

The fifth effort is on our increasing use of computers and electronic technology that has chosen luxury over efficiency. Our current yearly energy consumption costs at around $755 billion, and is expected to grow 1.6% a year for the next twenty. The increase seems small, but in reality it costs an additional $12 billion a year, that could be used for more beneficial approaches to new sustainable energy. The best approach would be to divert the Department of Energy's spending to these new sources, rather than following the same unsustainable methods.

These five major problems our economy faces are some serious contributors to our country's massive deficit. Considering how critical the situation has become, I'm surprised more extravagent measures haven't been taken to confront these issues. Everyone is content for the time being, but that will only last as long as we can sustain our methods of consumption: which isn't looking like it will be very long.

Commentary/Analysis:

I remember seeing families drop off the grid back in 2008, none of which I was close to, but the banners posting "FORCLOSURE" were hard to miss as I drove by. The beginning of the country's economic collapse was marked by the housing market collapsing, which in turn started a domino effect of economic downfall. The government no doubt is overwhelmed in dealing with all of these problems, not to mention ill-equipped. Budgets are being cut like it's nobody's business, as the government tries to compensate for financial losses by retracting funds to the public sector. I grew up in a pretty liberal area, one of the few that attempts to progress past the 20^th century system of disposable-everything. At the same time, everyone still needs to stay updated with technology, so I must admit we contribute to the consumerism leading to our public debt. The only minor financial loss my family sufficed from these problems had to do with our beach house in Shelter Cove, where the house insurance rates rose 4% over a 3 year period, due to multiple earthquakes causing small scale damage on the town. In terms of social security, staying updated on the situation helps me keep a realistic plan in mind for the future, because I’ve still got a few years before I need to worry about it. The energy crisis will be a difficult one to overcome, luckily around here (and my hometown), people are pretty eco-friendly, and alternative energies already are a focus for many. Like I said earlier, it’s surprising no greater actions have been taken against these predicaments, even worrisome. That’s why everyone needs to be aware of where progress is going, to carefully buffer it in the right direction.