It's official. Capitalism sucks.

Yeah, I know, except for all the other systems that suck worse.

I used to laugh in senior political science classes when someone said that capitalism held the seeds of its own destruction within itself. Who said that? Marx? Well, The chickens have come home to roost on that one.

So, right now, an enemy of the people would be the non=consumer. Even while people are losing their jobs, their houses and their lines of credit, they are being told that not spending money is not helping the situation.

The problem is that people have been spending like drunken sailors. More credit cards. Paying the minimum balance on one with a cash advance from the other. Making the minimum payment on the final card with your overdraft. Buying a house you can't afford, driving a car that's way beyond your means, shopping, eating out, drinking, travelling. It made the economy crazy.

At the same time, Boards of Directors were demanding increasing profits and higher rates of return on investments, so chances were taken, debts bundled into something notional called asset backed commercial paper or ABCP. Employees were given large bonuses for keeping the whole thing together with Elmer's Glue and #6 Binder twine.

Then it started to go wobbly. Like Roseann Roseannadanna once said, "It's always something." What was the first thing to go wrong? Not sure. But I remember reading a few years ago that there was a correction coming. At the time it didn't seem possible. I didn't think the end of history was going to be the complete collapse of the American economy. Things were steaming along so nicely. But remember, one of my profs said, the Mexican currency crisis didn't only affect Mexico.

So what does the little guy do now? In the USA, Mr. Obama might send out cheques. Does the little guy pay down his Visa? Does he put it into savings and chip away at it in the months to come? Or does he buy a flat screen and a case of beer and sit on his couch and weep silently as he watches Homer Simpson in high definition? I hear the big corporations, who are getting big cheques, are still handing their employees bonuses and remodelling bathrooms.

Tomorrow we'll see what Mr. Harper does with our money in Canada, which shells he moves around in front of us. Should we be building new roads or propping up the railways, which have a smaller carbon footprint? Does Mr. Harper care? How do we best want to be bribed with our own money into thinking we can spend money we don't have again?

So figure out which side of the fence you are on, folks. Are you an enemy of the people and cautious? Putting off that consumption? Wearing clothes from the consignment shop? Brewing your own lattes? Or a devil may care type who will have as many Visas or Capital Ones as you can qualify for?

Do the right thing for your country.

Who is at fault here?

Re the Detroit automakers. Are the problems facing the industry caused by the workers or management, or a combination of both? If workers can only make the cars that come down the line, than those who made the production decisions are at fault for causing cars to be built that went unsold, or those who got into complicated and nonsensical financing schemes to keep a failing industry going. The autoworkers, while they should make decisions knowing that some may end their jobs, shouldn't be forced to give up their hard won protections. They need protection from the bad decisions of management, especially now.

Are people going to continue to buy cars? Without a doubt. For north american auto makers, they need to be different cars than the pickups, hummers and big SUVs that have gone before. Just as we have moved from the huge monster cars with big engines, we now need to move to fuel efficient cars. Detroit has to belatedly get with the program.

Labour costs are high, but it is a tedious job and labour is all most people have to sell. Automakers and all other manufacturers want to have people who can afford to buy the products they build, as Henry Ford knew well. Trying to steal their job security and buying power under the guise of financial crisis will only serve to prolong and exacerbate the same.