Corporate Greed Effects on the Middle Class - MIT - Motivational Integrity Thinking

"Corporate Greed Effects on the Middle Class"

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

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Corporate Greed and the Crippling of the Middle Class’ Future Econo

The practice of corporate greed keeps middle class Americans under the control of CEOs. The constant control of CEOs by force of corporate greed is one of the few reasons middle class Americans haven’t gotten the opportunity to advance. Middle class Americans that often overwork but are not making any advancement should start enlightening themselves of the status as well as economic control which CEOs exhibit so wonderfully through corporate greed. The middle class Americans’ economic development has been impeded for numerous years; it is now officially the times to let the overworking middle class Americans enjoy the fruit of their labor. The middle class American needs to be treated as a valued member of the society rather than a second class citizen.

Corporate Greed is the exploitation of employees and those of middle and lower class. Corporate greed is often practiced through the abuse of resources for personal gains. As a middle class American I witnessed the efforts my parents put in their work and how tirelessly they worked over the years for the pursuit of the American dream. Witnessing my parents and several middle class families getting victimized by corporations fueled me to speak on the devastation corporate greed can have on the working middle class’ finances and how it can be used as a control mechanism. Most middle class families are unable to pay their mortgages because of lack of jobs based on the corrosion of the economy, which corporations and their owners had played the majority role in creating. Without jobs, many middle class Americans aren’t able to live sufficiently on the basis of providing basic needs to family members. They soon result to either borrowing money or getting credit cards, credit cards which will later have to be paid off. By constantly borrowing and spending money they do not have, they are unintentionally digging themselves into a deepening recession. Occasionally, even when the overpowering corporations provide some middle class Americans with jobs, they soon lead their own employees into personal debt and financial dependency to ensure that they refrain from experiencing the American dream, which they so viciously pursuit. This exemplifies how lack of jobs and control within the vicinity of the corporate world can contribute to the already horrifying financially dependent middle class. When discussing the effects of corporate greed, I tend to be emotionally invested because I observed how commonly middle class Americans became victims of the economic downturn. I witnessed the horrifying events of starvation between several middle class Americans because of the inability to work and provide for their families. Aside from witnessing starvation between some middle class families, I also observed how the recent recession affected my parents in their pursuit of the American dream, to be able to adequately provide for their family and to one day live a lavish life. Witnessing, firsthand, the influential actions of corporations, their CEO’s and how they were enabled during the recession helped me gain a different perspective on the effect of corporate greed. Being wary of the future of our economy and the lives of future generations, I decided to take drastic measures by elaborating on this issue to better educate my audience, and future generations. Corporations practicing greed have a deteriorating effect on our once wealthy economy. I am tired of witnessing my parents and other middle class families being exploited.

Every middle class American needs to know the gamble they are taking by allowing the greed of corporations to threaten everything they work for. Corporate greed is depriving the working middle class of the small amount of money they have, and it is threatening the small amount of money that their future generations may have. This issue has much importance in the daily life of middle class Americans because it is causing them to lose everything they have struggled and worked for. The working middle class needs to realize how corporate greed can be an over controlling, resource abusing mechanism that is gradually attacking their finances like a sickening disease. By realizing the horrific actions of corporate greed, the working middle class will be able to speak against such devastating acts.

The government, which was instated to protect and establish equality among its citizens, has become submissive to authoritarian corporations. Corporate greed is a crippling, unavoidable, and sickening disease that Americans have not been able to avoid because it is habitually practiced to keep the middle class within a certain social group. Our economy is in the process of deteriorating because of middle class Americans being forced to pay the debt of corporations through rising of prices. Unless we react carefully and swiftly the perfect portrait every American paints in their mind to be one day part of the elite will cease to exist.

Most middle class Americans who lives the repetitive life of paycheck to paycheck have not gotten the opportunity to be included in the small percentage of those who live the American dream because they aren’t able to save and advance. “Millions of families who once enjoyed the American dream of upward mobility and financial security are sliding rapidly down the economic ladder” (Billiteri).They aren’t able to save and advance because of the small amount of money they are often paid and because of numerous debt that they often have to repay once they do get paid. They aren’t able to live and enjoy the life of economic stability or at the very least, exemplify a financially dependent future, a future free of debt, because of a plethora of government corruptions, inflation, big corporate bailouts, cheap lending, bankruptcy, personal debt, and the reckless spending of taxpayers’ money on things which have no value to the advancement of our economy (i.e. wars). Through the countless years of corporate and bankruptcies reign, what never ceases to amaze me is the carefree attitude our government displays when corporate greed is being discussed. The government attitude towards corporate greed is carefree because they constantly enable big corporations by habitually bailing them out when they are going bankrupt. The financial dependency of middle class Americans isn’t solely the blame of corporations and the middle class, it is also the blame of the government because they often enable the corporations by providing them with budgets large enough to feed a third world country; they also enable the middle class by constantly providing them with credit cards and cheap credits with knowledge that they wouldn’t be able to pay it back.

The carefree attitude which our government exhibits fuels CEOs to indulge themselves in addictive levels of corporate greed which causes stealing, hoarding, debt, inflation, and betrayal. Corporate greed causes people to ignore logical and ethical thinking by being selfish towards their own personal needs and goals without considering other people’ needs. CEOs greatly exemplifies these actions because their intentions are to solely make themselves rich without regards that in doing so, they are making the working middle class poorer; corporate greed is the reason our country is in so much debt.

Living as a middle class American has taught me the various social and status control agents, such as money and jobs, which constantly hinder our progression. The most affecting social and status control agent of all is the inability to have and save money. The middle class habitually encounters this social and status control agent because they are constantly paying off personal debt (credit card debt and personal loans) and corporate debt (rise of prices on merchandise and tax).

Presently, corporate greed has crippled the economy of today and is deteriorating the economy of tomorrow. Not only is corporate greed crippling the future of middle class Americans, it is also crippling the overall growth of our economy because of the instability of power. As a result to greed and instability of power, we are 9.3 trillion dollars in debt and as every day passes, the debt percentage is increasing by 1.4 billion dollars, almost 1 million dollars every sixty seconds (McDonough). It is mind boggling how carelessly we can spend.

The history of America has never been flawless, but being in this much debt is illogical; we are currently witnessing the highest debt percentage Americans have ever faced at a jaw dropping 94.27 percent (Jost).This debt percentage is determined by how much we have divided by how much we spend. Therefore, a 94.27 debt percentage signifies that the money we spent largely exceeds how much we have, which is one of the biggest reasons our economy is in the turmoil that it’s in presently. Being in so much debt, one would think the government would stop overspending, stop bailing out corporations, cease lending and save more often. Almost every American is aware of our debt; however, the middle and lower class families are mostly affected; most lose their jobs, and some are overqualified for the ones they have now. The government refuses to act accordingly to ensure the betterment of the middle class Americans because it is not affecting the wealthy or corporations. There is no denying that when the economy suffers everyone suffers, but those who have less, the middle class, suffer more than those who are living lavishly, the elite or CEOs. When the middle class isn’t able to supply to society or take care of basic needs they are often categorized as second class citizens because they aren’t able to contribute to the stability of society because of insufficient means. It is necessary for the government to stop treating middle class families as second class citizens and stop enabling corporations in order for our economy to prosper.

There is no denying that we have been facing the dilemma of debt since the seventeen-hundreds and even prior to that; somehow we have been able to progressively rebuild our nation as well as our economy. Since 1834 and 1835 this nation never again became debt free and unlikely will for centuries to come. The anticipated debt percentage for 2050 is 350 percent an increase of 255.73 percent (Jost); we will, practically, no longer own the government we have been building for centuries because of debt to foreign nations. Our nation’s debt percentage in the future will be more than it is today because of the war on terror and daily emerging corporations, corporations that will be bankrupt or will require to be bailed out using a substantial amount of the middle class money.

Corporate greed has been affecting the lives of countless Americans. The selfishness of corporations has affected the lives of their employees because of their low pay-rate. I fully acknowledge and agree that corporations sometimes fuel the economy for the betterment of those in it. However, when the same corporations that were supposed to help the development of our economy become selfish and practice greed, they become a hazard to the economy. They start to spend more than they are making, and they take their jobs outside of the country to avoid paying their employees fairly. People become jobless, which in result negatively fuels the economy. The crash of the economy later leads to the bankruptcy of corporations. After corporations become bankrupt, they expect to be bailed out by using the money of the hardworking taxpayers, taxpayers who have been taken advantage of. Scandals in the financial market and the obliteration of the investments of millions of Americans relate to the catastrophic downturn of our economy because of the greed of CEO’s; they value their money and the progress of their companies over the investors, as well as the employees.

The crash of the stock market assisted the cause of this horrifying economy because shortly after the crash, gas prices were raised; people lost their jobs and their homes; some even declared bankruptcy. National and personal debt contributed, by far, the most traumatic downturn of modern economy because of the unavailability of the means to pay debts owed. National debt triggered personal debt because of careless spending by those who govern us.

Being already in overwhelming debt, one would consider saving, but as typical Americans, we indulge ourselves in frivolous spending. Corporate greed, which has provoked the recent crash of the stock market, didn’t simply affect the lives of middle class families; it caused banks’ productivity to decrease and the bankruptcy of respected corporations. The most money absorbing, by far, was the bailouts of major companies (i.e. Toyota). Corporate greed affected people’s lives on an individual level by causing them to lose their jobs, fore closuring on their homes, and taking pay cuts. Corporate greed on a national level caused corporations to declare bankruptcy and bailouts. On the global level, it decreased the exchange rate of the dollar as far as borrowing money from other countries, and it also decreased exports and imports. Analyzing corporate greed on a broader scale helps to understand the issue beyond personal levels; I was able to understand the impact of corporate greed on a national level and most importantly, on a global scale.

Corporations often hinder the growth of middle class Americans by raising prices. Often when corporations raise their prices, average Americans are forced to spend more to satisfy their needs. The more corporations raise their prices the more they take from the typical middle class American and the less middle class Americans will be able to pay off their debts and save. The rise of prices affects the average American by stripping them of the small amount of wealth they have tirelessly worked for (Merrifield).

Aside from rising prices preventing the middle class family from progressing, they sometimes hinder themselves. Although the government and corporations play an immense role in the hindering of middle class Americans, the middle class sometimes hinder themselves because of jealousy amongst one another and because of numerous personal debts and having numerous credit cards, which they are aware that they won’t be able to pay back.

Middle class Americans are aware of the submissive forces corporations use, but they seldom stand for their beliefs. Most, if not all middle class Americans, are aware that they are living from paycheck to paycheck because of the horrific steady decrease of the economy, which the government, corporation owners, and middle class Americans have caused. Middle class Americans who have never been a dependent of the government are becoming financially dependent (Billitteri). They are falling behind, unlike the wealthiest Americans because of the constant widening gap between both (Billitteri).

Middle class Americans are sliding down the economic ladder because of the deterioration of the economy, which went undetected for numerous of years. The economy has gotten so worse over the years that several middle class Americans are declaring bankruptcy; most are getting their houses foreclosure. Middle class Americans are currently witnessing things they never imagine will happen; they are currently seeing themselves at the lowest they have ever been.

Subsequent to detecting this crippling problem, I instantly decided to enlighten other middle class families who aren’t aware of the way they are being treated on the basis of status and finance. There is nothing more traumatic to the middle class than a deepening recession (Billiteri). As Americans, the middle class envision themselves, on a daily basis, living a lavish and elegant life, but as times passes, they come to the saddening realization that the dreams they so desperately want to live have been tampered with by corporations through the deadly forces of corporate greed. Most middle class families feel as if corporate greed ceased being about economic situations and became more of a social control aspect of their daily lives. They base this assumption on the fact that they work tirelessly but never seem to be climbing upward on the economic ladder. Middle class families feel that corporate greed is becoming a social control mechanism because they are left to pay the debt of corporations through high prices of merchandise, which hinders their ability to save and move up on the economic ladder. Through knowledge all is achievable; once middle class Americans acknowledge their wrong doing and accept that they shouldn’t be treated as second class citizens, they will be more open-minded to ways to stop being viewed as part of the bottom of the economic ladder. The middle class have the power to be viewed as one of the elite or at the very least, a financially stable social class.

Several middle class families are constantly affected by corporate greed. They remained unspoken for numerous years until recently when they finally came to the realization that they have been working too tirelessly not to advance. They came to this realization because as years passed they noticed the gap between the elite and the middle class getting wider, a gap which shows the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. In order for the middle class to stop being affected by corporate greed they need to exemplify a sense of control with their own personal debt by refraining from taking too many loans and credit cards which exceeds limits that they are able to afford. The middle class needs to become more passionate about this issue because it is threatening everything they have tirelessly worked for, and through passion and understanding, the middle class will be more aware of the situation at hand and will rally and will protect their rights by protesting for their beliefs.

Within the next two years I expect the middle class to establish some dominance over corporations and cease the thunderous devastating power of corporate greed. I expect the middle class to establish dominance by standing up for their beliefs and using this essay as a guide, to richen their knowledge on this issue in order to understand the proper ways to target corporate greed. If the middle class couldn’t establish dominance over corporations, I, at least, expect them to regain control of their savings in order to establish financial stability for future generations. The middle class family deserves to be treated as an equal to other members of society rather than being unfairly exploited for their resource

Works Cited Billitteri, Thomas J. "Middle-Class Squeeze." CQ Researcher 6 Mar. 2009: 201-24. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2009030600&type=hitlist&num=8.

Clemmitt, Marcia. "Income Inequality." CQ Researcher 3 Dec. 2010: 989-1012. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2010120300&type=hitlist&num=0.

Feldstein, Martin. “The Hidden Future of the US Economy.” Project Syndicate, 2010. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/feldstein25/English.

Jost, Kenneth. "Financial Crisis." CQ Researcher 9 May 2008: 409-32. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2008050900&type=hitlist&num=89.

McDonough, William J. “CEOs and Corporate Greed.” Christian Century Foundation, 2004. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3067.

Merrifield, Jennifer. “The Effect of Corporate Greed in Relationship to the Future of Our Economy.” Personal In

Rewritten and Designed by,

Don L. Johnson

terview. 17 Mar. 2011