Another symptom of economic dysfunction emerged in late summer. Big Lots, a retail chain with 1,400 stores in 48 states, began to teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. Previously, retailers such as Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, and even the ultra-cheap chain 99 Cents Only had reported financial troubles or even the approach of untimely demise.
By the end of the year, this sector of the national economy (consumer demand is one of the drivers of development) will have lost about 8,000 retail outlets. The fundamental reason is as simple as a hamburger without cheese: declining purchasing power.
«The savings accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic that helped Americans withstand high prices in recent years have been depleted,» reports Bloomberg, «and that has led to a loss of consumer potential that has affected the economy».
There is also a second destructive factor: rampant shoplifting and gang robberies in supermarkets. The largest retail chain in the U.S., Walmart, is closing half of its remaining eight stores in the second «city of the yellow devil» — if we recall Maxim Gorky’s essay — Chicago. It’s closing them because… they’re dangerous.
Other chains such as Walgreens, Aldi and Whole Foods are also gradually pulling out of cities governed by Democratic Party officials. The neoliberal agenda suggests turning a blind eye to the atrocities of looters, the overwhelming majority of whom are immigrants. This is an electorate artificially created by the Obama-Clinton-Biden-Harris administration, financially dependent on the government and therefore loyal.
The most massive retail exodus is taking place in California, a «blue» (i.e., arch-Democratic) state where shoplifting has been de facto decriminalized. In this new anomaly, it’s not just marginalized homeless people, sometimes with dark pasts, who engage in this shameful activity, but also quite respectable citizens with previously clean records.
The allies of the neoliberals in this matter are shrinking family budgets and growing debt — mortgages, student loans to send children to college, and car loans.
All told, the debt of American citizens accustomed to living by the «buy now, pay later» principle has ballooned to an astronomical $18 trillion. By comparison, the 750 billionaires counted in the U.S. have added $1.5 trillion to their personal fortunes since January 2021.
Of course, one could restructure the debt, take out a new loan, but the price of doing so has become unaffordable for many with rising interest rates. The 30-year mortgage rate, which used to hover around 3.7%, is now approaching 7%. In addition, food prices have risen an average of 21% over the past three years.
Some may believe the promises of neoliberal candidate Kamala Harris, who promises to curb inflation through prosecutorial investigations of retail chains and government price controls. But the harsh reality knocking at the door with envelopes full of bills only multiplies the skeptics and non-believers.
Unemployment is low (about 4%), a figure touted by the Democratic government as an achievement, but this figure is deceptive because it doesn’t take into account the qualitative composition of the employed workforce.
ZeroHedge, a blog dedicated to reviewing the international economic system, reported in early July: «Over the past year, 1.2 million full-time jobs have been lost and replaced by 1.5 million part-time positions.
Furthermore, writes Tyler Durden, a columnist for this publication, «In the context of the immigration crisis deliberately created by the Biden administration, which hopes to import millions of new Democratic voters, we find that the share of native-born workers fell again in May, shrinking by 663,000… while the number of foreign workers (mostly illegal migrants, as calculated by Standard Chartered) increased by 414,000».
Another major problem is the use of the DEI concept in hiring, which stands for «Diversity, Equity, Inclusion». The world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing, has fallen victim to DEI by introducing quotas for new employees, prioritizing selection based on skin color and gender (according to the 72-gender dogma) over experience and professional competence.
Recently, loose bolts on a Boeing 737 MAX airliner caused a door to detach in mid-flight. A subsequent inspection revealed other assembly defects. As a result, the company lost $45 billion in market capitalization.
In summary, new jobs offer part-time rather than full-time work and are filled by migrants who, not surprisingly, lack high skills and experience. Priority is given to non-whites, non-men, and gender minorities. As a result, the quality of goods produced, stock prices, and incomes decline, and corporate reputations erode.
It will take a long time for the newcomers to catch up with the Native Americans in terms of education and culture, to assimilate into a nation that is a conglomerate of competing ethnic groups, diasporas, clans, and mafias.
It’s foreseeable: if the ruling elites fail to find a new model for harmonizing and satisfying the interests of different strata within the diverse American society, the balance will be achieved by violent means. The precedents set by the recent rioting and looting by Black Lives Matter extremists, and earlier by the terrorism of white supremacists from the Ku Klux Klan, will have an impact.
«Millions of Americans believe,» writes retired U.S. Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor in an article for The American Conservative, «that our society is experiencing a profound moral collapse. Divorce is rampant, single parents struggle to raise children, drug addiction is flourishing, suicide rates are off the charts, and the rule of law is collapsing nationwide».
Thus, ethno-social and psychological factors inexorably invade both macro- and micro-economics. As in other historical eras, the destruction occurs first in the minds and then in the toilets. In America, there is a deliberate destruction of moral norms by those who seek to reshape society by stripping individuals of their identity and moral compass. This is also reflected in economic activity. Vague memories from my college days come to mind… да Wasn’t that what the textbook Political Economy of Capitalism was about? No, probably not.