Okay, I'm over reacting. After all, Ford didn't take any TARP money so it can do whatever it wants, I guess. It can close all the plants it desires in the US and build sparkling new ones in China, as it was proudly announced today. GM and Chrysler have to be a little more careful, given all that taxpayer cash they've taken, but only a little, since they have to get their financial stability back too, right? I mean, what else can a struggling multi-national do but fuck the hard working American worker and take off for other shores, which of course means they also write off the American consumer, since an out of work American consumer can't consume much.
So off to greener pastures go those happy multi-nationals -- China, India, Brazil...what do the rest of us do, other than rage, plead or bleed?
Buy local.
I've been trying to do it more and more. Buy from a guy or gal who owns that pharmacy down the street. Buy at a farmer's market where the people have dirt under their fingers. Avoid anything with a fancy logo over the door. You pay for that logo big time, because it also means mucho bucks for TV advertising and hard driving executives, large bonuses and so forth.
And I'm finding that buying local has helped (a little) in combating my rage at the fucks in all those high places who don't give a damn about me or you or anyone else. I'm starting to meet some nice, hard-working folks, too. They're struggling, these people who own their own companies- but my twenty bucks here and there has helped. And I can feel gratitude. And it feels good.
And when I buy local I suddenly become a capitalist again. The whole thing makes sense again. It makes me realize what will crash and burn with the second meltdown is not necessarily capitalism as we know it (and the second meltdown is coming because nothing has changed in Washington, or on Wall Street, or in the banks or fancy boardrooms across this country). And when the second meltdown comes, it shouldn't be the collapse of the concept of capitalism, it should be the collapse of corrupt capitalism.
I don't want this collapse to happen fast. I hope it takes a few years so I can get used to buying more and more local stuff. And I must admit, it hasn't been as easy as I thought. These multi-national fucks are smart. They're everywhere with big parking lots and they pound you everywhere with how cool they are. I still find myself going to Whole Foods when I'm stuck (I used to trust them, but now they're everywhere too and the photos on their walls are just too glossy to be trustworthy.)
Frankly, big is bad. Big beats up on little. Little is better (not perfect, but better and human.) Human is good. I don't believe human is perfect (not by a long shot). It gets corrupted real easy, but it gets a little harder when the guy or gal who has to face you every day across a counter tries to fuck you. It's not so good for business, then. So buy local. It's fun. It's smart. It's a real start on the antidote to what the fucks have left us with - which is each other - not such a bad thing when you actually think about it.