We shall see how the market eventually settles as the day winds down, but I believe that the emergency 75 point rate cut by the Federal Reserve board is simply a small bandage on a potentially fatal wound. (As I write this the Dow is down 140 points) While this rate cut is going to help a small number of people keep their homes by being able to refinance at a lower interest rate, the dollar is going to take a brutal beating and in the end every citizen (outside of the handful at the top) will be forced to downgrade their standard of living.

It is tough to see an easy way out of this mess. The rate cut today and the rate cut that is sure to follow next week’s scheduled Federal Reserve Board meeting only seem to be delaying the inevitable crash of the markets. The economic stimulus packages are worthless and are not going to get at the heart of the problem. They are pumping capital into the market, but the lack of true wealth in this nation remains a problem that nobody seems to want to address.

Over the coming months we will see major market consolidation through fire sales and the takeover of American corporations by international interests.

And the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

The saddest part is that it didn’t need to be this way. We have to ask ourselves how this situation became possible. The answer is really very simple; we have been living as a country and in many cases as individuals far beyond our means, living on borrowed money for too long, and the time has come for the US and its citizens to pay the price. The US population expects comforts and privilege that most human beings on this planet will never know much less understand.

While most of America sits in front of their television and waits for the government to save them, they do not realize that their own government no longer has the citizen’s interests in mind, they are now at the point where all the energy they can muster is being used to save themselves and their circle of friends at the top. And with the American people so far removed from the production of the products they use and the harvesting of the food they eat they chose to remain blissfully ignorant to what is happening because they feel they have no power to change the situation and have no choice but to remain dependent on the large corporation’s ability to distribute.

The American people need to understand that this is not a time for an economic stimulus package (essentially a forced loan of the government’s money that sadly a large portion of the public will view as free money and spend quickly and carelessly) or drastic rate cuts by the Federal Reserve; it is time for a complete restructuring of the US economic/monetary system. It is also time to take a self inventory and try to be honest with yourself and understand what you can truly afford.

It will be important in the coming days and weeks to watch who will continue to bail out the banks that are going to be forced to look honestly down into their graves and overall how market consolidation will pick up speed. The two best options on the table right now, seem to be nationalizing the insurers who back the banks or allowing international investors with deep pockets to bail out the banks, neither option is very appealing, but unfortunately that is where the country is today.

Check back soon, I will be writing a post about how I believe this will effect the Presidential Race.

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