At a time when faithful Republicans eagerly await the appearance or reappearance of their supposed Messiah, the rest of the country remains mired in a quagmire of economic instability. It is under the radar of the mainstream media that an undercurrent of ongoing angst continues to surface. The announcement in recent weeks of more corporate layoffs from IBM, Macy’s and other notable retailers has warned the country that, despite the president’s blunt admission that the country is moving in the right direction, it really is a false assumption. Now comes the surprise of more than 30,000 layoffs in the past week alone with more signs to come that this nation’s economy is far from stable. However, what is being reported gives the impression that these underreported numbers are just a small bump in our path to economic stability. The authenticated finding that the United States is in real and deep economic danger continues to be ignored by the media.

When the United States has transformed its once-rich manufacturing workforce into retail service industries courtesy of our trade agreements, also known as NAFTA, and when this new Trans-Pacific Partnership is signed, it is no wonder why so many are seeking an increase in the minimum wage. The service and retail industries have always been the mainstay of the lowest wages, and as such have continued to employ only workers whose wages remain just above the federal minimum wage. In no way have these workers received wages that are equivalent to complying with “Williams’ Theory of Economic Evolution.” It is now also a cold hard fact that today’s workers realize that there really is no job security like there was to a large extent in the workforce 50 years ago.

Today, coinciding with the IBM and Macy’s news, while the American consumer may be rejoicing in the tailwind of cheap gasoline prices, many American companies are not so optimistic. On the same morning that the Conference Board announced that consumer confidence hit its highest level since August 2007, the stock market plummeted, buoyed by disappointing earnings announcements from big-name companies like Caterpillar CAT 0.20% and Dupont DD. -2.01%, and pessimistic outlook for Pfizer PFE-1.99% and Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY-1.06%. The fall in oil prices has had the opposite effect on large corporations like Caterpillar. These reduced gasoline prices are a devious attempt to divert attention from the continued maneuvering of those in powerful positions to reap more wealth by controlling commodity markets.

Caterpillar, in particular, has been negatively affected by the sharp decline in the price of oil and other raw materials. The falls have led energy and mining companies to reduce their investment in the type of accounts that account for the bulk of Caterpillar’s sales. As many economists have warned, lower gasoline prices at the pump also mean a greater inclination for industries to cut production, and that means more unemployment. This disappointing news may also be a result of the fact that the economic outlook for the rest of the world remains rather bleak. Both China and Europe have recently lowered their growth forecasts. Meanwhile, emerging markets like Brazil, Turkey and Russia are reeling amid falling oil prices and foreign investment. Caterpillar President and CEO Doug Oberhelman said the sharp drop in the price of oil is the biggest contributing factor to his prediction that sales will fall routinely. Caterpillar’s performance is often considered an indicator of the health of the global economy because it sells the type of mining, construction and equipment that serves as the engine of global economic growth. Caterpillar’s diminished outlook is a real indication that the supposed economic recovery is not really happening. In fact, all signs point to just the opposite of what is being reported.

As with the fading economic picture, there is another realm of reality facing the American public. It is with stealth as agility that the American consumer, that is you and me, are being deceived and literally poisoned by the food we eat. Unbeknownst to us, we are all guinea pigs in a massive cover-up by biotech companies, corporate agri-industries, the US Department of Agriculture, and even the FDA. All in the name of engineering food sources to combat the ever increasing population. At the same time, however, the almost certain probability that the world will soon face global famine has increased. The real consequences of what is being done to our food supply has only increased cancer rates, heart disease, obesity rates, and so many other diseases that continue to shorten human life. All for corporate profits.

To see firsthand the impact of our food supply already being contaminated with known harmful additives, all one has to do is walk the aisles of every grocery store. The shelves are packed with consumables that have been injected with harmful chemicals, additives and other ingredients known to be unhealthy. Even the bottled water industry has added aspartame, a chemical known to be poisonous to man and animals. However, many of us are not aware of what we eat and drink. A perfect example is that over 95% of all wheat bread found in grocery stores is actually white bread dyed brown. Not only that the whole wheat bread that so many of us eat for breakfast or lunch now has high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and other chemicals that don’t really have beneficial effects on the human body. What is happening when we eat the food we buy is that we have inadvertently shortened our lifespan.

This is all by design for corporate benefit. The food we eat today is the main source of many of the diseases that have increased dramatically in recent decades. What we buy at our neighborhood grocery store has become contaminated to the point where we are killing ourselves with every bite we take. Just because the FDA has approved it as safe, first look at the ingredients on each label and be aware of where the food you buy comes from. Education about what is in our food, how it is grown, harvested, processed and stored is essential. Knowing what is really in our food and what it does to us is one step in reducing the devastating effects of the food we have been exposed to.

The disappointment that exists today is still double. Both have huge economic implications that have hastened the demise of the middle class and put the health of this nation at grave risk. What we see today is that in Europe, with sputtering economic growth, their life expectancy has gone up, while in the United States our life expectancy has gone down significantly, mostly because of the food we’ve been eating.

Have we reached a tipping point where, on the one hand, government officials continue to be consummate in a massive agricultural cover-up? On the other hand, the American public is unaware that most of our food sources are the direct result of collusion between biotech companies, corporate agribusiness, and our own government. As always, it is the lowest wage earners, our elderly on Social Security, and those too destitute to care for themselves whose lives are shortened and their quality of life diminished by the corporate will that exerts power and control over the majority. of the population. The disappointment still remains.