Yes, most Americans realize that the economy is not doing well right now, but most of them also believe that this is just a “temporary” downturn. The mainstream media tells us over and over that a “recovery” has either already begun or that one is right around the corner. Sadly, the truth is that the U.S. economy is in much worse shape than most Americans think. Yes, there will be economic “peaks and valleys” as we move along, but it is absolutely imperative that all of us understand that we are in the middle of a long-term economic decline that has been caused by decades of horrendous decisions. Thousands of businesses and millions of jobs have left the country and they aren’t coming back. Last year, 23 manufacturing facilities a day were shut down in the United States and we have lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001. Without enough good jobs to go around, millions of American families have lost their homes and millions of American families have been pushed into poverty. Less good jobs also means that there are less people to pay the taxes we need to keep government services going. Government debt at the local, state and federal levels has exploded as the tax base has dwindled. We have become a nation that is very good at consuming wealth but that is not very good at creating wealth. Just “tweaking” a couple of things here or there is not going to get our economy back “on track”. We need fundamental changes to the way that we are doing things, and there are currently no signs that this kind of change is going to happen any time soon. (Read More...)