Inflation & Supply Chain problems are failures of private-sector profiteering, not the government

GOP and mainstream media would have you believe that the government is at fault for inflation and supply chain failures. It is private-sector greed.

Who is to blame for supply chain disintegration?

60 Minutes did a piece on the supply chain disintegration that was very well done. Anyone who watched it must conclude that it is a failure of a profiteering private sector we should be used to by now.

On the inside, away from the politicians that try to blame it all on President Joe Biden, there is a circular firing squad.

“The truckers blame the terminals, the terminals blame the shippers, the retailers blame the truckers and the shippers,” said 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker. “How do you get that contentious group to sit at the table, stop pointing fingers, and actually clear out this backlog.”

There is no real answer. Why? The 60 Minutes piece is clear. The corporatocracy profits from the pain of the American people.

This month, the world’s largest shipping line, Maersk, reported record profits of $16 billion — up 68% from last year. The ocean carriers — most headquartered in Europe or Asia — say demand for cargo space keeps rising.  …

The following exchange should clarify the fraud in the supply chain fiasco.

Rick Woldenberg: I’d estimate that the domestic lead time is 45 days. And that’s unbelievably slow. Pony Express could have gotten it here faster.

Woldenberg told us he tried to avoid the backlog by placing his Christmas orders in May, only to hit a monumental snag in Chicago.

There was so much cargo at the rail yards that his containers got stuck at the bottom of a pile for nine weeks. He told us it was like having his toys held hostage. The kicker? The rail line charged him for “storage.” This on top of paying $30,000 for a container from China, ten times what he paid last year.

Rick Woldenberg: If that were as bad as it was, that would still be horrible but it gets worse because we get penalized for storage. And that’s where it becomes the theatre of the absurd. So, the $25,000 to $30,000 is the market gone berserk but penalties are a punishment that is unconscionable.

Bill Whitaker: So wait a minute your– your cargo is being held up?

Rick Woldenberg: Right

Bill Whitaker: For nothing you have done wrong?

Rick Woldenberg: Correct

Bill Whitaker: You can’t go pick it up?

Rick Woldenberg: Correct.

Bill Whitaker: But you have to pay for it to be stored?

Rick Woldenberg: Correct.

The private sector always wins in our corrupt system. They profit from their pricing power or their monopolies. And if they fail, the government, we-the-people bail them out. Yet, there is always hesitation in giving a pittance to we-the-people when in need.

If we are to succeed in getting middle-class-centric policies, we must enlighten our peers, friends, and families to the truth. Doing so increases the probability of inoculation from the propaganda that continues to have us voting against our interests.