It's impossible to go anywhere on the blogosphere without running into someone talking about racism. Anyone who doesn't believe this is manufactured and fed by this administration is just not paying attention. "Divide and Conquer" is apparently the motto of the current crop of puppets in the White House, and of all their communist friends.
Meantime, we've hung our hopes for a better future on the November elections. The elections are important, but it's only a beginning. We are saddled with a federal government that is so completely out of control and so debt ridden, it will take decades to restore it to some form of sanity.
I read an interesting article at The Economic Collapse that, while very good, didn't go far enough. It starts out by making this assertion:
For decades, most Americans have enjoyed an extremely high standard of living. In fact, most of us have been "enjoying the high life" and "living the dream" for so long that we have assumed that it is just always going to be that way.
This is certainly true, but the question is, "how have we been "living the high life?" For most people, this higher standard of living has been acquired through debt, in the same way our government is "financing" the destruction of our country. People built their dream homes (can you say McMansion?) and saddled themselves with mortgages way beyond their means. Add on the SUV that cost $35,000.00 with a monthly payment of $600.00 - $900.00, a few credit cards for non-essentials like $500.00 shoes, and you have a prescription for disaster.
But now a rapidly growing percentage of Americans is getting the chance to experience some very serious economic pain. Today, over 40 million Americans are on food stamps and over 20 million U.S. children are living in poverty. Tens of millions of Americans are unemployed, and personal bankruptcies and foreclosures continue to set all-time records. For many people, all of this economic turmoil was completely unexpected.
Of course it was unexpected. In just the last 60 years, I have witnessed a 180 degree shift in the way people conduct their lives. The welfare state has exploded, the number of children born to unmarried mothers keeps climbing (a leading indicator of children living in poverty), education is dumbed down to the point where high school graduates can't read or write, and easy credit has made us all slaves.
A recent Pew Research survey found that 55 percent of the U.S. labor force has experienced either unemployment, a pay decrease, a reduction in hours or an involuntary move to part-time work since the recession began.
55 percent?
That is incredible.
That means that over half of all American workers have been unemployed or have been forced to take a reduction in pay since the recession started.
That is incredible and as the recent "bank reform" kicks in, ObamaCare slowly unfolds, along with the very real possibility of Cap and Trade being rammed through, it will get much worse.
As the economic situation continues to deteriorate, record numbers of Americans are going bankrupt and are losing their homes. In fact, banks repossessed a record number of U.S. homes during the second quarter of 2010.
The majority of the homes in foreclosure in my area are the ones falling into the "McMansion" category. One of the higher priced golf course communities is located next to where we used to live. On our nightly stroll, we "toured" the mostly ugly homes as they were being built. The average price tag was $400K and up to over a million. Now they can't sell these behemoths for $200K.
The article continues by casting out a glimmer of hope:
A lot of this frustration is coming out as anger towards the government. People are waking up and are starting to realize that the American ruling class has been doing an incredibly bad job of running things. The American people are hungry for a real change. In fact, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 23% of voters nationwide believe that the U.S. government has the consent of the governed.
Well, that's a very good start. The problem lies in those fatal words, "The American people are hungry for a real change." It seems to me that "change" is what accelerated this problem to begin with. The change we should be looking for is the change within ourselves; which, when you come right down to it, is the only change you can really effect. If you're waiting or hoping for someone else to "fix" this mess, you have a long, long wait.
After the glimmer of hope we get this:
But will we start to see some real changes in the years ahead?
Unfortunately, that is quite doubtful. The reality is that the American ruling class has a stranglehold on both political parties, and they are not going to release their grip easily.
Meanwhile, our leaders continue to perpetuate the same failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place. But unless some fundamental changes are made soon, the economic pain that Americans are experiencing is going to continue to get even worse.
Well, now - that's depressing. But it doesn't have to be. I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey and his no-nonsense philosophies of money management. When you listen to his program, particularly on Fridays when the callers who recently became debt-free call in, you can see who the future winners will be; the people who are "not servants to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7)
If you're in debt, rectify the situation as quickly as possible. Credit cards? Cut them up and live within your means. Lost your job? You may have to settle for two part-time jobs. Just think - if you weren't saddled with huge debt, such things wouldn't be that big of a problem. And, most importantly, learn to "pray as if everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you" (St. Augustine)
House Painting Continues
I'll be back with some linky-love. Yesterday's dentist appointment morphed into 2 1/2 hours of torture (which will be repeated tomorrow and for another two appointments after that) leaving my schedule a bit behind. We should wind up the house painting this morning...
9 comments:
Very good analysis and advice my ADD friend. No more debt should indeed be our motto as individuals. I can't get my meager house paid for fast enough.
Hope your dentist isn't so sadistic today.
My husband had to take one week of mandatory furlough without pay for each quarter last year. When the company found out that the employees were getting unemployment benefits for those weeks, they changed the last two quarters to having to come to work without being paid for that week. That way the didn't have to contribute to unemployment benefits.
The thing is...before they started these mandatory furloughs, the company was doing very well, making plenty of money. The parent company just decided to take as much as they could from the one subsidiary that they had that was doing well. They were basically bleeding them dry. The furlough's weren't necessary, just greed.
Needless to say, they started losing money fast. Some of their best and most experienced scientist took early retirement and those that remained, didn't knock themselves out to produce scientific data. No one worked late or came in early. Plenty took paid sick leave. They haven't had a furlough since...they're trying to build up what they almost destroyed. We'll see if the learn their lesson. I doubt it.
Excellent! We are working hard to pay our credit debt off (it's not that bad, but it exists so therefore it is a problem). Thankfully, when we retire from the military, we don't want a big house - just something to grow old in with a nice little yard to putter in. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Can't enjoy it if the cost makes you antsy!
If it wasn't for the idiots in the Bush Administration that forgot to regulate the bank and promoted homeownership we would be in this mess!!!
The people vote for pin heads in the government and what do we get the Great Recessions. The Bush Administration really should be held accountable for it's tax cuts, war spending and bailing out the bank. They decreased earning and increased spending dramatically.
Pinheads shouldn't be allowed to be elected period!!
Great post. The economy is in free fall. Debt is horrible, I wish I had a paid off house. I don't charge up credit cards. I never paid more than $50 for a pair of shoes in my life. I can't wait until Nov. until we can hopefully start to fix things.
Excellent post, Adrienne. I was ONCE one of those who lived on credit cards, paying minimums and such and never making a dent. Then I married a man who believed in using cash ... if you can't pay cash, then you don't need it philosophy. We have only one car payment (at 0% interest) and our mortgage. The rest - utilites are paid via monthly statement, and groceries, gas, incidentals, clothing, etc. is paid via a sky miles credit card and then paid IN FULL when we receive the bill. (1) We use THEIR money for a full month, interest free, while (2) we build sky miles for free trips and discount hotels.
This is SUCH a stress-free way of living. I finally "get it" and wouldn't go back, even if we had to downsize, which has not been an issue as my husband has worked for one of the national utilities for 33 years, so he has a great retirement built up.
Think and live SMART!!
Abbey ♥
In Tennessee, we're heartbroken that Dave Ramsey has endorsed a TARP voting Republican for Governor. Seems like the extra $2000 per person would qualify as stupid tax.
Speaking of personal survival, what's with the restriction on seven dust -you can only buy it around here in a little shaker. How do I keep the bugs from eating my beans without seven dust? I will be putting in another garden plot next summer, which will bring me up to three. Life in the burbs is scary when you think what might happen.
The term "ruling class" seems to ignore the fact that John & Joan Q. Public put those fools into power.
Whether done intentionally or by reason of apathy, We The People are ultimately responsible for the way things are. We need to become more politically active, right down to the local school board level.
Being active is how the more liberally inclined amongst us got into power. THEY weren't sitting on their butts, letting the country run in AUTO.
We're either a part of the solution or a part of the problem. If there is a "ruling class" it exists solely due to our allowing it.
Anonymous, you claim that the Bush Administration "forgot to regulate the bank": just who was in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac??! Wonderful Dems like Barney Frank. And it's a Liberal mantra that we have to get everyone into a house, including those who can't really afford to (because it's racist to demand that a person be able to afford what they're buying).
As for war spending, do you really know what the actual percentage of total spending it represents? It's a small amount-- go look it up before throwing out comments like that. Facts matter, ya know.
Overall, though, I'd agree that the Bush Administration spent too much money. The answer, then, is to elect people who will spend less.
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