The Importance of Ownership

In the new global economy, the unemployed become America’s throwaways. We are all at constant risk of being downsized, laid off or just plain fired. And when that happens, replacing the job and income you had will become increasingly difficult. It will require learning completely new skills and accepting a pay cut for your trouble. As more people compete for the same job, the cost of labor goes down. It’s the simple economics of supply and demand. Additionally, there have been major changes in the human element of employment. We are increasingly viewed by our employers as replaceable tools of the production process rather than being viewed as human beings.

The "key indicators" of our economy are manipulations rather than facts. We are told that the unemployment numbers are improving but we know this doesn’t include the people for whom unemployment benefits have run out. We also know it doesn’t include the people who have settled for a job that pays less than the job they lost. We are told there is no inflation but the price at the gas pump says there is. The size of items at the grocery store shrank and the price has increased. When necessities are more expensive, it has a big impact on your wallet. In addition to higher prices, we have taken on other costs our parents and grandparents didn’t have to deal with such as computers and cell phones. We need to get real. Our lives have become so busy and cluttered we don’t take time to think about what all of this means. What is it doing to us, to our families, to our communities and our society? Why are we living this way? In a free country, things happen for a reason. This is someone's dream but we don't think it's yours and it is certainly not ours.

The picture is clear. Today, 99% of the people function to serve the other 1%. We understand this and yet when Monday rolls around, we go off to our jobs and get lost in the immediate needs of our day to day lives. After all, we have bills to pay. We are aware of many wrongs in this world, we know about corruption in our government and other public institutions and frankly, we don’t want to think about that anymore. The deck is stacked against us and there is nothing we can do. We have been tricked into believing we are powerless. We have lost control and we are losing our country to greed. We think it’s time to say enough is enough. Equanomics was formed so we can take it back together. As individuals we have no power but together, we have all the power. If you are tired of being downsized, right sized, laid off and treated as a cog in a wheel, Equanomics is for you.

It is our belief that we need to become a country of owners rather than a country of employees who are increasingly creating wealth for the top fraction of one percent. Ownership changes our outlook which in turn changes everything. We will not outsource our own jobs. If automation is deemed to be in our best interest, it will be done so that everyone benefits, not just a select few.