Fish in a Fishbowl Theory

If you haven't been following the financial issues which are facing our nation in recent days, let us really understand what is taking place here. Our nation stands on the brink of collapse. Now some would say to me that's impossible, no one would let that happen, and of course, the government will do something to prevent this.

Sorry folks, nothing is impossible, the leaders of our country opened the door for it to occur, and the government stood by and let it happen. When Ronald Regan moved the country towards deregulation of business his assumption was that those companies would invest in the American economy, and assist in creating innovation in science, technology, health research, medicine, and economics.

That isn't what happened. By 1987, the country experienced the first stock market crash in our modern times since the Securities and Exchange Commission was set up in 1933 to be a corporate watch dog assuring that no publicly traded company would achieve a monopoly, nor unduly influence market activity for specific gain. Basically, a referee to make sure everybody plays by rules.

By 1984, the Regan administration, along with congress acted swiftly and sweepingly against the need of the day to deregulate and reduce taxes on corporations to allow those companies greater control of their operations and to increase profits. This philosophy toward government oversight of private industry was believed to assist with bringing growth to the economy which would eventually filter or "trickle" down to the people on the bottom.

This did not occur. In fact, the "trickle-down" theory of this economic plan further divided people into classes, and where there was a wealth-gap between the rich, middle-class, and the poor, there became a chasm, the haves, and the have-nots.

This economic theory led to black monday in October 1987, where institutional and wealthy junk-bond investors divested themselves of the market, taking profits in proxy businesses (ones that existed in name only, now illegal), and absconding with record profits, names like Ivan Boeski, and Michael Milkken may come to mind. These people took advantage of the markets by cashing in at a peak of value, and selling large quantities of shares, causing a trend in the market so extreme, that the market was shut down early to prevent a crash.

Now we come to this again, slightly more than 20 years later, here we go again. As of today, banks around the world are willing to loan the U.S. money to assist in the bailout, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, and others are offering to help. Sounds a lot like we've become a third world nation. We have.
Under the neglectful eye of former CEOs, and Chairmen of the same corporations which have raided the American economy, realizing record profits in a time where war, economic insolvency, and unchecked corporatism have found their way into our free market.

Ultimately the fish in the fishbowl does not know where he stands, just his condition, and his environment. When the water runs out, even slowly, he realizes there is decreasingly less room to move and, eventually, less air to breathe.