All the World is Mad

On the album Beggars, the band Thrice lays out on the first track a song exemplifying what one would think when looking at our world today. The song is entitled, All the World is Mad. Focus has been drawn in on the U.S. and for once, the turmoil is here. Older generations look back to the great depression, the birth of the counter culture, Vietnam and the emergence of civil rights protests noting the undercurrents of those events in our current society.


All the World is Mad
Tonight President Obama will speak about pulling our troops out of Iraq, a move that has drawn the usual scrutiny but received the overall approval of the American People. Although I agree with the removal of our troops from foreign soil, especially in places like the middle east that seem a lost cause, Many people fail to realize that we still are sending up to 60,000 more troops over to Afghanistan. So although Iraq is a good start, let us not begin the fanfare so quickly. The war in Afghanistan has gone on for now for 9 years and has been surrounded in controversy concerning clear objectives, the killing of American soldiers, civilians, and General Crystal’s recent relief of duty due to “poor judgment”. 12 days from now will mark the anniversary of September 11th a day that the U.S. will never forget and the event that sparked American occupation of Middle Eastern States.

Moving forward, tensions between the U.S. and Muslims is at an all time high, peaked by the pending building of an “Islamic Community Center” roughly three blocks from ground zero. Debate roars over the insensitivity of the founders versus the defense of the freedom of religion set out by the Constitution. Both parties have valid points, but the fact remains that the owner of the community center has stated that he is building in this specific location to make a point, to dispel social stigmas concerning Muslims and Terrorism. It has only thrown further gasoline atop the fire, and what has compounded the situation even more, are the President’s remarks concerning the issue. He need not have gotten involved, but now that he has backed the construction of the community center, many have regaled him from choosing political sides. He then rescinded some of his comments, back peddling due to criticism, and finally cleared up his comments taking a firm stand on the issue. Obama’s fence walking strategy has only made him appear weaker to the American people, with the Republicans now up on the polls for November’s congressional election. In a shocking poll, 1 of 5 American citizens believes that our President is Muslim. Wow.

American Politics have experienced one of the most tumultuous eras since their inception. The bi-party system has been rocked by a third, known as the tea party movement, backed by “average” American citizens unhappy with the current political system. Building upon the protests of old, The Tea party movement was started in January of 2009 when a financial trader Graham Makohoniuk posted a casual invitation on the financial message board market-ticker.org suggesting that American citizens send a tea bag to every congressman. The idea caught on like wildfire, as most good ideas do on the internet and thus the protest began. The consensus remains that everyone is dissatisfied with the current economic conditions to which President Obama has promised thoroughly he would fix. The problem is that he oversold himself during the election and no one feels the “Change”. Glen Beck held a tea-party rally in Washington this weekend and although the actual figures were not given, a number drawing close to 600,000 in attendance has been thrown around. Even if you do not agree with Mr. Beck’s politics, the fact remains that a large crowd gathered in the hope to jump start the American spirit again. In the upcoming election analysts predict that gridlock will be reached, with the GOP taking back control of congress and negating all forms of bill passing from Obama and his upper echelon cabinet. Whether this will help anything in American society remains to be seen, although those involved in the financial industry note that gridlock is good for the market. It will be interesting to see the emergence of the Presidential candidate from the Republican Party and the involvement between fragmented political factions in the upcoming election.

U.S. markets have taken a dive along with the faith of the American people in the financial system. Controversy surrounding big banks like Goldman Sachs has the average man hiding cash under the mattress for fear of being ripped off like the Greek government. The selling of toxic derivatives and the shorting of the investments later was brought to the table against GS, but I have yet to hear anything further. No one has been indicted yet. Whispers of government and big business collaboration are at an all time high as the U.S. government provides a $350 Billion bailout fund to banks, the auto industry and others. A financial overhaul bill has been attempted but due to deep pockets and heavy lobbying it has been watered down to a different beast than when it began. Confidence is crucial in our economy, and there isn’t much of it going around at the moment. Unemployment remains at 9.5% with figures noting on a daily basis, a slowed economic recovery with some prediciting a double dip recession. People of retirement age are working longer because their savings have been hammered by the decline in markets, leaving fewer jobs for college graduates and the inexperienced. A plethora of young adults underemployed or unemployed breeds revolution, believe it. The biggest issue right now for voters is the strength of our economy, and because it is lacking, disapproval of Mr. Obama is at an all time high. Fix the economy, win the election, this is his dilemma although easier said than done.

The outlook is bleak, we are very worried but the only thing to do is wait. When the elections roll around it will be important for everyone to vote and use the voice given to them by our country, otherwise it’s time to buckle up and bite the bullet.