Chapter 82.1: So Little Time, So Much to Do

Here we are, in the final week of January, and I feel like I've accomplished nothing. I have valid reasons — who poop and cry and drink bottles like drunken sailors — but it's still amazing to see time evaporate before me.

Anyway, I've been meaning to conduct several interviews for work and haven't even called people to set things up yet. I've got pieces to edit that are piling up in nice messy stacks and I'm only starting to gain the energy to work on them.

So it's nice to see that the world is moving forward regardless of my schedule. The Democrats in Congress have gotten a stimulus package passed despite not having a single Republican vote in its favor. I respect that Republicans might disagree with the amount of money being directed at various programs, including those they consider entitlement programs. But it surprises me that not a single Republican voted in favor of this bill. It's not as though President Obama didn't reach out for their input.

But it's a House bill and this was a stand the Republicans chose to take against the Democrats, who have the votes in the House to pass it. The Senate bill will be different, and if Congress is to get a stimulus package on Obama's desk by Lincoln's birthday, there'll likely need to be compromises made. So much government sausage making.

The way I see it, the issues the administration and Congress are addressing are important, but getting the economy moving in the right direction again will ultimately come down to businesses feeling confident enough in the future to hire people to work instead of laying them off. Big companies like Boeing, and Microsoft, and Target have announced layoffs. These are companies that are relatively strong but recognize that the economy isn't getting better; it's getting worse. So they're bracing for the storm. Friends of mine at other companies have lost jobs, despite having ten, twelve years with their former employers. And the credit card crisis hasn't even hit yet. But it's coming. You can bet your last dollar on that.

It's scary out there. The future looks bleak. Yet, somehow, I think we — my family and those I most care about, including those who are unemployed — will get through it. We'll need to scrimp and save, consolidate things that we used to take for granted, reuse stuff that probably would have been tossed in the past. We'll likely have lots of competitors when we hold a garage sale, and you have to wonder who will be buying. But I think that in the end we'll survive, possibly even come out of things feeling rejuvenated if not a little grayer around the temples.

This is our generation's crisis, and crises mean people step up and do what they need to do. They do what's needed. This is our time to be a great generation. There's no shortage of things to accomplish. We've all heard the ancient curse: may you live in interesting times. Well, at least we won't be bored.

Chapter 79.3: Mind Boggling Collapse

We are living through an incredible moment. The utter collapse of U.S. financial markets is like something out of a futuristic tale of apocalypse, except it's happening now, in real time, with real damage.

The Bush administration probably will go down as the worst in U.S. history because of the myriad debacles — financial, military, political, legal — that occurred on its watch. To be sure, not everything has been President Bush's fault; too much has happened to blame it all on one person. But then again, not everything was Herbert Hoover's fault either. That doesn't mean we have warm, fuzzy feelings for him or his term in office.

Looking back at Hoover's Wikipedia entry, I'm a little concerned that he was also considered a progressive and a reformer. In this election, we have a purported progressive (Obama) and reformer (McCain) and the election is looking razor thin. (What is it about extremely close elections in this century?)

To a financial know-nothing like myself (just because I can do math doesn't mean I'm up on economic theory), it appears that the rich were trying to get richer on risky investments and when many of those investments failed, they weren't able to make good on their outlay of cash. They were over-extended. Much like the American populace.

Let's face it, this world lives on credit. It's not just in America — all over the world. Hell, I think they extend credit on Antarctica! And if a bank were to say, "I know we gave you a 30-year fixed mortgage, but we need our money now," (which probably isn't legal, so I'm not too worried about it happening to me) there's no way I could pay it without having to borrow money from someone else for less favorable terms. I think that's, in a sense, what has been happening on Wall Street.

This could well be the beginning of our Great Depression. If, as some speculate, we are experiencing the end of the "American empire," then we should probably pay close attention to what's going on. Our next major decisions — like who we choose to be president for the next four years — are exceedingly important for today and for our children tomorrow.