The stockmarket is..... ?

Who cares?

Not a part of the economy?

A gambling casino for the rich and wealthy?

A way of the 1% to impose control over workers and companies in a back handed way?

All of the above?

More than what I have listed?

I've heard all the turmoil about the stock market slide because of problems in the Chinese economy and the oil price slide. It's either Chicken Little crying “the sky s falling” or (pardon the sexist comment) a bunch of sonority girls in a Hollywood slasher flick.

Either way, I'm not really interested. Because the stock market is not the real economy. It's only a way for the 1% to extract more money from the 99%. They demand a profit and we the people pay the price. We have our jobs cut, outsourced; wages, benefits cut; shifts slashed so that the 1% can get an extra dollar of profit.

Wall Street is not the economy and does not matter.

Want proof?

9/11 – Wall Street and the stock market basically were shut down for a week. GM, Ford, Chrysler, and other manufacturers kept making cars and whatever they produce. Farmers kept growing crops. McDonald's, BK, Wendy's, and other food service places kept serving food (or whatever it is that they serve.) Hospitals kept treating patients. You get the picture. And Wall Street did nothing.

What really matters?

1. Employment. How many people that want jobs have them?

2. Full time with living (or better) wages, and benefits. Health & Dental insurance. Life insurance. Retirement plans (defined benefits).

These are the issues that really matter for the economy. GM can manufacture all the cars, trucks, and vans it wants. If people can't afford to buy them, so what?

And every economist knows that when America had jobs for everyone that wanted them, and unions were much stronger than they are today, that the American economy was the strongest. That was during WWII. We could do that again without war – Rebuild our infrastructure: Roads, bridges, hospitals, schools. Develop renewable energy: Solar, wind, tidal/water based. Break up the industrial farms and return the farmers to the land. We can succeed.

So the stock market is falling.

Workers will pay the price no matter what the market does. If it improves, there is no guarantee that people will be hired back or that salaries and benefits will improve.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Then again, the stock market's initials are the letters s & m.

We all know what that is an abbreviation for…..