What is wrong with Politics and the economy in the US

 

My Opinion based on my many years in tech and IT

 

By Daniel Loper

 

    I have spent my adult life teaching myself about computers and technology as well as how they work.  At 18 I took out a loan and with a little help, built my first computer and at 42 I got 8 (11 if you stack them) certifications in IT management in 7 months.  What I have seen based on my sources and information which I feel are more reliable due to my research on misinformation and fact checking everything I know is that currently, the US and it’s form of democracy and capitalism is only widening the inequality gap as well as injustice due to wealth and influence not being distributed evenly due to the wealthy and large companies being the only ones that lobby and get laws passed for their own benefit or their bottom lines.  There is also a lack of regulation and regulations being removed that is only contributing to a more volatile finicial markets and inequality.  The current trajectory is heading towards a Oligarchy and benefiting only the wealthy 2% rather than the majority of workers that are on the other end of this major inequality gap.  Over the past 100 years we have had some good times where the lower and middle class were compensated well enough so that they had mobility or were able to get ahead financially but that was when unions were more widespread back in the 70’s.  Our governments letting monopolies thrive here like these big tech and retail giants like Wal-mart, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and even Apple has only crushed many small business owners or put them out of business due to their control of most of the consumers by undercutting other small businesses then acquiring them or their product all thru the disguise of trying to save money for the customer supposedly while legislation to protect the consumer or small business owner were not passed and instead only the wealthy and large corporations being able to lobby and get laws passed to reduce their tax burden furthering the inequality gap and creating greater income inequality as well.  Back during the pandemic who did they give money to in order to stimulate the economy?  The consumers and small businesses who are also the drivers of our economy because the lower and middle classes are the ones that consume the most. 

     Another problem I have seen is how much of what we see on social media and the internet is controlled by these companies too.  A significant portion of what we consume online and on social media apps, is controlled by these corporations and even though their influence is slow and subtle it is still control that goes unchecked.  Most Americans have no clue how all these things work at all and also don’t verify any information they read while also conformation bias which affects all of us, is another major thing they pay no attention to only viewing information that conforms to their deeply held beliefs instead of being more rigorous with their fact checking because fact checking requires more work and having the knowledge on how to fact check things as well which no one does in this day in age where attention spans are continuing to dwindle.  Since we have become so divided it also makes it almost impossible to have debates or even conversations with others for those who aren’t able to believe that they could be wrong which makes conformation bias flourish even more creating filter bubbles and even families of individuals incapable of communicating with anyone who doesn’t agree with their world views.   In a world like this, very little intelligent conversations happen.  In a well rounded society or country, people from the spectrum of political and religious beliefs can all communicate with each other and can hear each other out so each of them becomes a more intelligent and has a more full perspective of any given problem.  If we as a society become more anti-social in the “real” world it will only deepen the divide while also creating more mental health problems similar to what the pandemic amplified.  Being confined to our homes and families caused considerably more mental health issues and also allowed the main stream conspiracy theories to become mainstream during this time period.  This is easily proven by looking at the  cases for Measles and other diseases that had been nearly eradicated due to vaccines are coming back because of the doubt that one disgraced man spread who came from Great Britain.  His discredited study has sparked many to refuse vaccines.  Another mainstream conspiracy about the moon landing was also started by one man in the 70s and hadn’t gotten much traction until the pandemic by simply putting some level of doubt in our minds which is irrational due to how many people it took to get us to the moon the first time.  That is just 2 of the many examples of conspiracies that are irrational or illogical but many don’t go any deeper, they use conformation bias and doubt win rather than searching for the truth because the doubt and conspiracy go along with what they want to believe already. 

    In a world where truth, fact-checking, and fake news are spreading stories 7 times faster than the truth as well as the bulk of the consumers of this misinformation don’t  check the source or even try to make sure any of the information they spread is truthful or factual or not, the future looks bleak.

    I believe we should learn from the past and make changes to bring unions back, pass laws for progressive taxes on the wealthy instead of giving them tax breaks and Monopolies need to be broken up with stronger anti-trust legislation to reduce the amount of inequality in our country.  We are heading currently towards a more authoritarian and oligarchy like economy on our current trajectory so the wealthy and large corporations have a disproportionate control over the laws being passed as well as deregulation in the financial industry as well which led to the 2008 financial crisis.  If it continues we are likely to have more crisis’s in the future.  

    What I fear will happen due to my experience is that our country will only grow more divided by not hearing both sides of any debate or conversation which allows conformation bias to continue to get stronger instead of encouraging a more skeptical well-informed public to emerge.  Also if we don’t teach the public on how to be skeptical and fact-check information in some form or fashion then only the major corporations will control what information and ads we see. 

    In my life, unlike most people, I hear out any person that I may disagree with while no one hears me out for the most part.  I truly feel alone in the fight against misinformation and these big companies.  I think that most Americans never think about what can they do to make the country better for good reason.  It’s mainly due to our voices not being heard by our leaders and politicians while the wealthy 2% and large corporations are being heard.