Things might be tough for the average person in the USA, but the nation is still the richest country on the planet.

We often "tch tch" at the leaders of nations and their cronies who are filthy rich while the general populace suffers, but the truth is the same sort of thing happens in most developed and "free" economies - just perhaps not so much to the same degree and different players are involved. Certainly a minority hold the majority of the wealth; and they are also often connected with the majority of environmental destruction.

A hot topic in the USA at the moment is the amount of government (taxpayer) money spent on a failed solar power company; yet the US taxpayer has spent billions and billions on failed defense projects over the years and there's hardly a murmur of dissent by comparison.

Why is it that environmental projects often have to fight tooth and nail for crumbs from the funding table in order to get a kick-start while the "old boys" club (such as the fossil fuel industry) enjoy a gravy train of subsidies long after they have been able to stand on their own two feet?

The maker of The Story Of Stuff, Annie Leonard, tackles these sorts of topics in the Story Of Broke, released just a short time ago.

The Story of Broke calls for a shift in government spending away from dinosaur industries and toward investments in environmentally friendly solutions such as renewable energy, zero waste and green collar jobs.

Annie says, "It’s time to rebuild the American Dream; but this time, let’s build it better."

Hot off the tubes of the Interwebs, here is The Story Of Broke:

If you found this video interesting, check out these projects by Annie Leonard and her team:

The Story Of Stuff
The Story Of Cosmetics
The Story of Citizens United v. FEC