one thing people need to understand is that economic "growth" isnt all that it is cracked up to be... you can have a growing economy where all of the growth is benefitting a small portion of the population at the expense of the rest.....

economic strength is far more important, the earth is like a spaceship with limited resources. GDP is basically the speed in which we are turning those resources into garbage. yet it doesnt take into account any of the costs of cleaning up the mess....take superfund cleanup sites required to clean up after a corporation makes huge profits and leaves a huge problem behind when they leave- the profits go to increase GDP but the billions in taxes required to clean up the mess dont subtract anything from GDP and often actually are calculated as an increase in GDP-
we are basically defining economy with terms that have nothing to do with the bottom line for the working man

70% of economic growth is from getting more work out of the same amount of employees or less employees- take the computer for example: it makes everything way easier but are you able to work less because of it, of course not, you just get more done in the same time.... only a very small portion of economic growth benefits the working man......

we need to protect familly values thru the familly economy- we need to work towards making it possible again for one working parent to support a familly financially. for parents to be able to spend more time with their kids and raise healthier kids and communities that require less in social services.... it isnt materialism necessarilly that is forcing two parents to need to work to support the familly budget, it is that it costs us so much more to have the basics than ever before. homes are increasing in price so fast that it is impossible for most to afford to buy in the areas where they grew up- but salaries are not going up in any way that makes up for it.... we are needing to work harder and harder to have the same as the generation before us- and this is all happening under a growing economy. what we need is a strong economy, one that can weather storms and protect the entire population and not just mean more plastic trickets are being produced......