I can say this much, anyone who thinks that the mess that we are currently in was all caused by one particular law either has a fundamental misunderstanding of the macroeconomic global markets or has blinders on. We are now reaping the results that we have sown over 70 years of social programs, growth of government, technological advancements, changing societal values, the rise of newer countries, and good old fashioned politics. All the social programs that FDR convinced people were necessary cost real money, they also require more government to regulate said programs. Government abhors a vacuum so the increased size of government brought with it additional regulations. Business didn't really love those costs and regulations but for decades they really didn't have any place else where they could invest and conduct business.
Enter the microchip. This single invention changed the world more than anyone currently alive or dead can ever fathom. All of a sudden computers and machines were now reliable enough that humans didn't need to oversea every mechanical operation. It also allowed the formation of advanced telecommunications networks. All of a sudden it wasn't so difficult for a CEO or business owner to keep in touch with people in other parts of the world and make sure that business was being properly conducted. Couple this with increased stability in Asian countries that didn't exist before as well as the embrace of capitalism in China. Now there really is someplace else for companies to invest besides the US.
Bring on the world wide web and the information age. Now all of a sudden people have instant access to news and current events 24 hours a day. People have more accumulated knowledge than is available at their local library at the convenience of their home computer. People start learning about things that they never knew of before. Couple this with the baby boomers having amassed a great deal of wealth from their precipitous rise in an age where there was virtually no competition, but they want to make their money work more for them like only the richest Americans once did. All of a sudden everyone is invested in the stock market. Whereas once only a small portion of the population had their money and retirement tied up in equities and other more complicated investments, now everyone is invested in the market.
Now with all of this change,the government did little to adapt over the years. Politicians are best at getting re-elected so they focused their energies on re-election 24/7. With the power of the information age they could tap in to what the will of certain groups were at any time and they capitalized on it. They passed more legislation and spent more money than the founders of our system of government ever envisioned, most of it just go get that marginal "extra" vote.
Now with everyone invested in the market and everyone having access to instant information and often "misinformation" we created an amazingly huge pool of money for investment. The downside to this is that when the market has its inevitable downturns everyone is now affected instead of only the richest people as it was just a decade or more earlier. So now everyone starts to really feel the pain, including lots of people that didn't really understand that pain was possible. Couple this with all kind people who took advantage of others during the changes we've underwent over the last 50 years. Couple it as well with a government that didn't adapt its ways as society has adapted, except to throw poorly designed legislation and buckets of "cheap" money at fringe groups and problems to get enough votes to get re-elected. Couple this as well with other growing nations who were only too willing to take advantage of our government's inability to adapt and use it as an opportunity to grown their economies by using our own policies against us. Couple it also with generations who are increasingly averse to any potential short term pain and/or struggle even for long term benefit and who are used to instant gratification. There are so many other factors as well, but at least we should all be able to see just how complicated our situation really is. Sure the unions were a factor, as were over regulation, greedy dishonest business people and politicians, smart foreign competitors who were looking out for their own best interests while we became fat and immobile, poor laws like the CRA, etc. However, what we're ultimately experiencing moreso than anything else is a broader societal change as we move from the industrial age to the information age. It hasn't been all bad either, as even the poorest Americans are richer than 95% of the rest of the world, people are living longer and people have access to more knowledge than ever.
And as far as the choice of truck, I buy the best truck for the best price. I might make a pretty comfortable living, but I can't afford to simply throw money away, especially to make a political statement which will have ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT. I personally went from driving a GM to driving a Ford, but only because they were the two best trucks that I looked at for my needs and Ford gave me a better deal. If diesel keeps going up while gasoline keeps going down, I may be looking to make the switch to another new truck, except this time a gasser instead of a diesel now that the gassers will handle even more than my needs and are essentially even matched with the diesels for bumper pulling in the weight range that I tow. If that's the case then I'll be back to whether Ford or GM wants my business more and who is willing to sell to me for less.
