ColorLines editor Kai Wright writes in his blog that the real crisis in America is about people scraping money together for survival day to day, not the political horserace portrayed by officials and the fourth estate.
Labor Day weekend began with a familiar whimper: The economy created exactly zero jobs in August. There’s not much labor to celebrate this year — but then again, that's been the case for at least three years now. And in many black neighborhoods, it's been the case since the 2001 recession. So here we are. Another monthly jobs report and another round of numbingly dismal forecasts.
Perhaps most maddening, however, is the way in which officialdom — from politicos to the fourth estate — greets this monthly ritual of entirely predictable disappointment. Consistently, observers ask one of two questions: how has Wall Street reacted and what will it mean for the political fates of the president. And consistently, I imagine everybody else responding with the same question I shout at the radio/TV/website: Who gives a [f—-]?! Aren't we well past the point where the horserace updates of stock trades and political campaigns are the most consequential news about this recession?
No, we're sadly not. And that's the problem. Officialdom continues to think, talk and most importantly act like this is a crisis of theories. What's sound economic policy look like? How can politicians communicate with independent voters? Do investors have confidence in the economy? All of that is, at this point, entirely meaningless.
Read Kai Wright's entire blog entry at ColorLines.