Business came to Reagan and said "we no longer want to share the gains of economic growth with American workers. We want sweatshop labor from enslaved nations in the middle east. We want lower operating costs. American labor is too expensive"
Reagan said "Okay, we'll use the Cold War as a context to intervene militarily in the 3rd world, so we can create easy access to 3rd world labor and raw materials. But how will American families survive if we ship their jobs to dictator-run, freedom-hating nations that pay workers pennies a day ?"
Business said "Easy Ron. You realize that by excluding the middle class from the gains of economic growth, we'll have a lot more money. We'll give that money to banks and they'll loan it to middle class in the form of credit cards, mortgages, and a variety of debt instruments."
Reagan said "So you want to loan the middle class the money they use to receive in wages? You want to sustain American families by expanding credit markets? You want people to have to go into progressively higher debt just to survive? Won't that eventually bankrupt American families? And if they go bankrupt, how will they re-pay the loans you give them? Wouldn't it be easier just to keep their jobs here, rather than sending them to freedom hating nations in the 3rd world - the very places we're claiming to fight?"
Business said "Easy Ron. When they default on the loans we give them, you'll bail us out, then we'll foreclose on them, and seize their homes, and then sell their homes to the next round of morons. And we'll use some of the proceeds to fund your elections and keep you in power perpetually. "
Reagan said "Okay. But don't you think people will figure out how badly we're screwing them?"
Business said "No problem there either Ron. Just create a straw man called "government". Blame everything on Washington and not the large financial interests which own it."
Reagan said "But what will happen to the domestic economy if we allow predatory finance to destroy such a large body of consumers?"
Business said "Don't worry gipper. This is what the global economy is for. If one consumer market is too bankrupt to consume, we'll just go to whatever consumer market has money."
Reagan said "But won't that lead to social unrest? What are we going to do with all the workers who can't find work and have no means to survive"
Business said "Jeeze Ronnie, that one is easy. Create a number of policies that make it easier to watch and jail the superfluous. Call it the War on Drugs. Or the War on Terrorism. This will allow you to beef up domestic surveillance and law enforcement - so it will be easier for the state to put people in jail."
Reagan said "But won't people notice when the freest country in the world has the largest prison population? Won't people start to wonder when they see all the people we're putting in cages?"
Business said "Come on Ron. What the **** do you think Fox News is for? If we capture the media, we can decide what people see. For instance, right now the biggest crisis is America's growing dependence on oil, and the shipping of jobs to dictator-run state controlled economies, along with the increasing financialization of the economy - where more and more resources are devoted to speculative garbage rather than the real economy. You'd think this would be a problem, and that Americans would revolt. Not so Ron, because we'll distract with demons - evil empires and evil doers... Soviets, Marxists, socialists, gays, illegals, baby killers, etc. "
Reagan said "But won't they notice that we're not really fighting communism when all the jobs end up in communist China? I mean our largest contributors are Walmart, which gets all its manufacturing from China, and big oil, which derives its profits by making terrorist nations richer. Won't voters see through these lies?"
Business said "Golly Ron, you are dumber than we thought. Have you ever listened to talk radio? We control what people think. They will never be the wiser. The game is over Ron. We fund most elections and we own most politicians. We own everything Ron. Stop worrying and come to bed?"
