Thoughts on the economey

It seams as though everyone has a comment or an opinion on the economy, so I figure I would set up a soap box and give mine too.

President Obama signed the Economic Stimulus bill earlier this week with the hope of stabilizing the markets and bring economy back on track. But do we really want things to return to normal? Or do we want something more?

Tonight a friend told me some statistic's that read something like this: Corporate executives make as much as 400% more than the lowest paid workers in their company. The top 1% of in America, own 90% of the wealth. Is this the type of economy we want to return to?

At it's worst American capitalism rewards economic growth at any cost. Stock prices go up based on quarterly profit reports, regardless of how worker were treated and the environmental impact of the products produced. An ever growing GDP is the end goal, and the indicator of a "healthy" economy.

John Perkins said it well in his book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"
"The system, however, is fuels by something far more dangerous than conspiracy. It is driven not by a small band of men but by a concept that has become accepted as gospel: the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. This belief also has a corollary; that those people who excel at stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation."

I am not a politician or an economist, and I do not know the answer to our current economic woes. But I hope to be a prophetic voice that can point us in the direction of a more just economy. An economy where the environment if cared for. An economy where they is enough for everyone to be provided for. An economy where everyone is valued.