If today's on-going, rotten economy is indicative of what we are going to continue seeing for several more months -maybe years - to come, then we had all better brace ourselves and start planning accordingly.
This writer is no stranger to the negative effects that the economy has had to persons world-wide. Those who know me already know my dilemma so I won't bore anyone with details about it. All I will say is that people need to start saving as much money as they possibly can each paycheck. If you can put aside $5 here and there, it is better than spending it on frivolous things you really don't need. I facetiously stated $5 because it is quite obvious that people need to put aside more than $5 at a time, but maybe I am not too far removed from the financial ails of people and I can see that $5 could actually be the most that people can really put aside. Maybe most cannot even afford that. Whatever amount can be saved one week or bi-week is good because the time will come when those $5 or more will come in very handy.
Going forward in my adult life, I will listen more to what my Mom has to say and what advice she has to offer as she is the wisest person with the best foresight of anyone I have ever known. Since the new millennium began, Mom has been telling my siblings, me, their kids, friends...most everyone whom she had contact with to start saving our money, to be less carefree with our money and more frugal with our expenses; to buy groceries & everyday necessities (IE: sundries) in bulk for the hard times because the hard times were coming and coming fast. My Mom has been doing just that - doing just as she recommended that others do and she has prepared her household for those hard times which indeed did rear its ugly face and everyone is clearly seeing its effects if not also feeling its awful effects. She has helped feed others who fell short of being able to buy food, and loaned money as she could afford it herself. She has been a life-saver to many, many people. Her pantry is like a grocery store. My siblings and I are often the beneficiaries of her pantry and we can often grocery shop for the essentials straight out of her pantry. As for the recession that Mom kept forecasting for years & years, it took a few years to finally hit, but they are here. In actuality, my Mom saw the economy start to decline & she was quite vocal about it long before the un-necessary war of "W's" that saw fuel prices sky-rocket, long before the Lehman Bros. fiasco, long before the diabolical home loan/predatory lending scandals, long before bank bail outs and car industry plummeting sales, my Mom predicted the economy going sour long ago and was not afraid to tell people. Our ignorance to even acknowledge such an occurrence was probably born out of fear. Fear that she was right and none of us would be prepared for it.
I am certain that several people thought my Mom was being overly cautious or just paranoid. I am ashamed to admit that those thoughts crossed my mind from time to time, but I respected her views and opinions because she did have a history of being right. She had long been right about many things that most of us would not even want to think about. My Mom got it right as did many older people who have been through the great depression or similar. Those very people who went through worse times than we are seeing now, those people who have made a mental note of past bad times in order to prevent from repeating them. Those older people -our elders - who have since prepared for bad times each and every year. Who better than that generation, my dear Mom's generation, to be able to see when the bad times were coming AGAIN? After all, they had to live through and endure through the world-wide, financial collapse that came to be known as the Wall Street Crash of 1929; the very inciter of the great depression which saw several years of financial windfalls of epic proportions. My Mom's generation lived it, and they remembered it every day until things got better but as they moved forward they proceeded with great caution. The very caution that present day has eluded to once again. Did people forget what catastrophic events had to occur before the world recovered from the great depression? The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and in doing so they... "awakened the sleeping giant". WWII and all that ensued was apparently what brought an end to the great depression.
Going forward in my adult life, I will listen more to what my Mom has to say and what advice she has to offer as she is the wisest person with the best foresight of anyone I have ever known. Since the new millennium began, Mom has been telling my siblings, me, their kids, friends...most everyone whom she had contact with to start saving our money, to be less carefree with our money and more frugal with our expenses; to buy groceries & everyday necessities (IE: sundries) in bulk for the hard times because the hard times were coming and coming fast. My Mom has been doing just that - doing just as she recommended that others do and she has prepared her household for those hard times which indeed did rear its ugly face and everyone is clearly seeing its effects if not also feeling its awful effects. She has helped feed others who fell short of being able to buy food, and loaned money as she could afford it herself. She has been a life-saver to many, many people. Her pantry is like a grocery store. My siblings and I are often the beneficiaries of her pantry and we can often grocery shop for the essentials straight out of her pantry. As for the recession that Mom kept forecasting for years & years, it took a few years to finally hit, but they are here. In actuality, my Mom saw the economy start to decline & she was quite vocal about it long before the un-necessary war of "W's" that saw fuel prices sky-rocket, long before the Lehman Bros. fiasco, long before the diabolical home loan/predatory lending scandals, long before bank bail outs and car industry plummeting sales, my Mom predicted the economy going sour long ago and was not afraid to tell people. Our ignorance to even acknowledge such an occurrence was probably born out of fear. Fear that she was right and none of us would be prepared for it.
I am certain that several people thought my Mom was being overly cautious or just paranoid. I am ashamed to admit that those thoughts crossed my mind from time to time, but I respected her views and opinions because she did have a history of being right. She had long been right about many things that most of us would not even want to think about. My Mom got it right as did many older people who have been through the great depression or similar. Those very people who went through worse times than we are seeing now, those people who have made a mental note of past bad times in order to prevent from repeating them. Those older people -our elders - who have since prepared for bad times each and every year. Who better than that generation, my dear Mom's generation, to be able to see when the bad times were coming AGAIN? After all, they had to live through and endure through the world-wide, financial collapse that came to be known as the Wall Street Crash of 1929; the very inciter of the great depression which saw several years of financial windfalls of epic proportions. My Mom's generation lived it, and they remembered it every day until things got better but as they moved forward they proceeded with great caution. The very caution that present day has eluded to once again. Did people forget what catastrophic events had to occur before the world recovered from the great depression? The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and in doing so they... "awakened the sleeping giant". WWII and all that ensued was apparently what brought an end to the great depression.
The United States has since then fallen asleep on too many occasions. The signs were ignored back then just as they went ignored this past decade. The demise of the financial world for the new decade, the new millennium would begin the minute "W" was "selected" by the Supreme Court (SC). Sara, my Mom and I hung our heads and agreed that nothing good would ever come of that man's appointment by the SC to President of the United States. Sara and I agreed that war would soon come our way. We said this even before the attacks of 9-11. For months we said that and hoped we be proven wrong until "W" announced war against a sovereign nation and pushed aside the real culprits behind the 9-11 attacks. Only the gas companies and certain construction companies would benefit from this wrong & cumbersome war. Fuel stocks soared and the Wall Street "bull" was happy and the "bear" was sad, but patient for his turn would come soon. Oil barrel production and prices would increase and hit extremely high prices that were really questionable, but no one did anything about it; shame on Congress. The "no bid contracts" made companies like Halliburton richer than ever; it was a damned monopoly and still no questions would come from Congress. The Senate waited for the House to make a move which would never come because the House sat on its laurels.
ANYway, the "W" administration was the worst one to date. "W's" reign began the descent of our country's financial system, of our country's reputation, and of our empire. His lack of action in some areas and his over-reaction in others was just too much. There was never any balance to his administration/reign. Our country would slowly start to spiral downward and it would have a domino effect on the rest of the world. During his reign is when financial institutions began their sorry attitudes of entitlement. No one was watching them anyway, all eyes were on the war and how it was being mishandled. The Lehman Bros. fall was not the beginning of present day recession, this recession started way back on January 20th, 2000...then for the next 8 years, things would just get worse as would the ignorance. I read a book once and in one of the chapters the author referred to a certain theory that touched upon the effect of "a man with no plan but who gains much power is a dangerous one". That theory and description is how I will always remember "W".
I bring this up because it makes me mad that so many people are suffering right now through no fault of their own. So many things could have been done to prevent this recession. I know there are always other people who have it so much worse; those who have nothing, but let me remind readers that had things been caught and tended to during the "W" years, these needy people could have been helped and helped big.
As I think about those who have nothing, I think how much they could have had. As I think of those who had a lot and lost it, I think how much could have been done to prevent it. As I think of the privileged that still have everything and had a hand in the recession, I think about the negative Karma they have invited into their lives and I feel sorry for them. One day they will see the error of their ways and maybe admit a little guilt for this stupid economy.
ANYway, the "W" administration was the worst one to date. "W's" reign began the descent of our country's financial system, of our country's reputation, and of our empire. His lack of action in some areas and his over-reaction in others was just too much. There was never any balance to his administration/reign. Our country would slowly start to spiral downward and it would have a domino effect on the rest of the world. During his reign is when financial institutions began their sorry attitudes of entitlement. No one was watching them anyway, all eyes were on the war and how it was being mishandled. The Lehman Bros. fall was not the beginning of present day recession, this recession started way back on January 20th, 2000...then for the next 8 years, things would just get worse as would the ignorance. I read a book once and in one of the chapters the author referred to a certain theory that touched upon the effect of "a man with no plan but who gains much power is a dangerous one". That theory and description is how I will always remember "W".
I bring this up because it makes me mad that so many people are suffering right now through no fault of their own. So many things could have been done to prevent this recession. I know there are always other people who have it so much worse; those who have nothing, but let me remind readers that had things been caught and tended to during the "W" years, these needy people could have been helped and helped big.
As I think about those who have nothing, I think how much they could have had. As I think of those who had a lot and lost it, I think how much could have been done to prevent it. As I think of the privileged that still have everything and had a hand in the recession, I think about the negative Karma they have invited into their lives and I feel sorry for them. One day they will see the error of their ways and maybe admit a little guilt for this stupid economy.
