The powers that be say they do not use the "R" word because it will generate a recession. And once they admit we are in a Recession than there will be the "D" word to worry us: Depression. So our avenue of escape from this financial mess is to think positive and spend, spend, spend.
I want to remain hopeful and I want to remain in some sort of financial balance. At the moment those two concepts seem to be in direct opposition to each other. I feel a bit like a frog perched on a lily pad in a turbulent pond.
A year ago April 7th I began a home improvement project of adding 336 sf to my house. It is a studio/gallery which will hopefully at some time in the near future generate income without having to travel to as many art fairs. The state is even supporting this endeavor obliquely by beginning a art studio tour loop for tourism through this part of the state. So I am rather stuck in having to continue to do some spending over and above food and gas. I am sure my local economy loves it, because I cannot afford to run to the big city every time I need to purchase tile, or grout, or lumber for the deck, paving stones for the walkway, etc. I admit to doing this all a lot slower than the original schedule, however. I guess that supports those words of "economic slow down" Bush likes to use.
I guess this is all why Obama's message of hope resonates with me so much. I don't care if it is irrational but I need hope. We all need some hope. There are too many dashers of hope out there: McCain because he thinks we ought to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps, Bush because he refuses to admit we are in the deep shit here, Hillary that wants to continue to play the same old dirty trick politics I have come to hate and darken my dream of hope.
How about we all go to a hilltop and meditate on achieving balance in our lives? And actually I do find some of what is happening economically hopeful. I am shopping local far more and finding that I enjoy that even when it costs me a bit more. If I have problems with the mix of paint or a broken tile they are far more likely to make it right for me than Lowe's. And I can feel good about helping my local economy.
I had picked this image of a frog on a lily pad this morning. It reminded me of how tricky it must be to balance on a small pad in the middle of a pond especially if their is turbulence. But it also reminded me that global economy or no it is the health of my little pond that matters. Shop local but shop I suppose is the message. And match your outgo to your income. Balance. And Hope. Let us not forget hope. It gets us through the worst of times.
Hope is all we have at the moment. And I for one, hope that Obama makes it as the nominee and then as the President because I feel that he is the one who get the US and subsequently the rest of the Western Hemisphere out of this deep shit. People like the Clintons, Bush and McCain don't live in the real world.
ReplyDeleteBut who do the big businesses want. They like the world they have created because they make profits and they can cut our wages and benefits. Obama with just the support of the common man and woman cannot be popular with big business
ReplyDeleteTherein lies the rub; which candidate do the big moguls prefer? But, as you've already said, they want the one who will maintain their profit lines and to hell with everyone else.
ReplyDeleteyou need to remember the basis of each party the Democrats have always been the party of spend and the Republicans the party of making the money-I for one don't trust any of them for they all and yes even OBAMA helped get us in this mess because it didn't just happen over night and if you look at OBAMA'S record he has done next to nothing except collect his pay check-now remember we must be honest and look at all these people with reality in our eyes not all the grand talk they give us and unfortunatly for me OBAMA is a smooth talker sorry Jaquie-but time will tell.
ReplyDeletehi from Heidi
Course the "cash and spend" democrats left us with not merely a balanced budget at the end of the Clinton years but a surplus. The Bush administration using the terrorist and 9/11 card has spent all that and run us into enormous debt. The first time in history a tax cut was given to the rich in the time of war. And you can't blame congress because they have had absolutely no say. Everything they pass GW vetos. Who knows about Obama but he is not a Clinton or a Bush (McCain might as well be.)
ReplyDeleteI was watching a programme a couple of weeks ago and there was some discussion as to whether or not there should be fear attached to the US dealing with China. I don't remember the percentages but Japan came first in owning America. 'Who owns America?' was asked in connection with borrowing. The list ran like this:
ReplyDeleteJapan
China
Great Britain
The US has one hell of a debt.
I'm not sure that Obama hasn't done anything - not from what I've read and seen reported. What had Bill Clinton done before he got into the White House? It would appear that Al Gore was responsible for Clinton's win in that he as C's running mate, won major states for the Democrats. Time will tell & in the meantime, it's an interesting debate.
PS. I was horrified to see that the McCain family owns a private jet. I don't have a problem with people owing private jets - I have a problem with extremely wealthy politicians who are out of touch with reality and the people on the ground, owning private jets. Doesn't say much for his carbon footprint either!!