I'm tired of the "bad economy".

[PrettySquareGal]

What a pity! lol

.

lol

 

[Subvet642]

I'm with you Gene, especially when I hear people saying this is another Great Depression. Yes, there are lots of people out of work right now - we all know someone who is in that terrible situation and it is very difficult. But this ain't no Great Depression, by a long shot.

True! We don't have to contend with the Dust Bowl, or the displacement of many thousands of farm families and the stresses that must have placed on the economies of the places where they migrated.

 

[Viola]

I don't know, when you don't have groceries or heat in winter when there's snow, and you're afraid of losing the house, its tough no matter how hard your grandparents had it.

For that matter, not everyone has seen generational upward mobility.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't know, when you don't have groceries or heat in winter when there's snow, and you're afraid of losing the house, its tough no matter how hard your grandparents had it.

For that matter, not everyone has seen generational upward mobility.

Well said.

 

[scotrace]

I don't know, when you don't have groceries or heat in winter when there's snow, and you're afraid of losing the house, its tough no matter how hard your grandparents had it.

For that matter, not everyone has seen generational upward mobility.

Agreed. Excellent point.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

All good points of view and I appreciate the civil participation during difficult times.

My main sentiment is that I endeavor to focus on being simply aware of the value of what I do have - and what I have access to - rather than dwelling on that which I do not. Many, I'm sure can relate to that way of thinking. It is a philosophy which, to this moment anyway, has kept me from over-leveraging myself in big ways while I marvel at the quality of the small things in my life which seem to me to matter most.

Perhaps couching it in it's contrast to 'vintage' times was a distraction from that point.

Dust Bowls, Great Depression, World War rationing, etc. are things which I do not have in my life so while I acknowledge them, I am not fixated on them any more than I am on a bigger television, a faster car, a five-digit DOW, or myriad other 'wants' in the modern day.

I just realize that as our ancestors had limits, so do we. A general failure to accept them recently has been a big contributor to causing people to feel financial turbulence overall.

What prompted me to start this thread was a fellow the other night who was beefing to me about the "bad economy". He was clean, groomed, dressed modestly but well enough, of a healthy looking height and weight, holding a cocktail and listening to the free live band as they played in the paradise setting of an April evening in Florida. For those who are really caught in the crunch of this adjustment period I'll admit it is bad. But many, many people who are doing the talking are folks like this who just can't stand the fact that he doesn't have even more than he has.

But this really is not directed at individuals. No matter what participation one may have had or not had in the economy over the last several years, we are all experiencing something different together now. Some more severely than others whether that be fair or not. My sincere hope is that it all settles out in a manner which allows some stability across the board, but not a return to the processes that got us here because we mistakenly think of those as good.

Acceptance of realistic expectations and limitations is now characterized as "bad" while the recent memory of exceeding our collective grasp is considered "good", national and world economy-wise.

I feel that until a majority of people realize that 2% to 4% steady growth nationally is more valuable than the wild spikes and swings of these "good" economic bubbles, we will continue to repeat the process.

 

[Slim Portly]

Perhaps I am in the minority, but it does help me to consider how vastly superior my life is, not only to those of the past but to most people living now. I have a roof over my head, and even were that roof to be only that of a homeless shelter it would still be a roof. I have a full stomach, and even if my meals came from a soup kitchen it would still be better than the cup of rice or less that much of the population of the world will have to get by on today. I had to make sacrifices to have surgery two weeks ago, and yet I had access to some of the best medical care in the world.

I could not live in a developed country and sit at a computer to talk to my virtual friends about how hard I have it.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Perhaps I am in the minority, but it does help me to consider how vastly superior my life is, not only to those of the past but to most people living now.

If you define "superiority" by material possessions.

 

[Feraud]

In the context of his entire comment I would say Slim Portly does not define it that way.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

In the context of his entire comment I would say Slim Portly does not define it that way.

That's why I said "if." Many people do define superior living by material wealth.
There is such a thing as spiritual poverty. One can live in a palace and be impoverished inside.

 

[Eyemo]

You have to have difficult times to realise and appreciate the good times...that's my view.

 

[Slim Portly]

That's why I said "if." Many people do define superior living by material wealth.
There is such a thing as spiritual poverty. One can live in a palace and be impoverished inside.

If you take my meaning thus then my words are more clumsy than I had hoped.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

If you define "superiority" by material possessions.

I will also say that in the things he was referring to....like food, and medical care, that yes....our lives could indeed be considered superior.

I have lived in countries where -walls- are not a guarantee with the roof, nor is an actual bed.

And while I did not starve, I have lived on just slightly more then that cup of rice and some beans....I have eaten pumpkin for a month straight once, 2 meals a day, with some coffee and dried bread being the other meal, and I still knew that we were lucky to have that.

Compare that with the States, where one can literally and quite nutritiously eat from the 99 cent store, including fresh produce for say 20 a week. That is more then some folks make in a much longer time frame.

This same place, -still- has an annual polio vaccination campaign because -yes- people still get polio there.

So even discounting -material- possessions...we live in a superior time and place, where even those unemployed -can- walk into a hospital and get treatment for their ails. This is not true in most of the developing countries of our world.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

So even discounting -material- possessions...we live in a superior time and place, where even those unemployed -can- walk into a hospital and get treatment for their ails. This is not true in most of the developing countries of our world.

With all due respect Miss N, many Americans can't afford health care in America and go without needed treatment.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

With all due respect Miss N, many Americans can't afford health care in America and go without needed treatment.

Yes...I do understand that...but they is also the -availability- of walking into the hospital, into an emergency room and -receiving- care.

In many places there is not even the possibility of this, there either -are no hospitals- or there are no government programs that assist in covering emergency care for the indigent. Here...there are.

Like everything, sure there are hoops to jump through etc...but it -exists-

 

[Foofoogal]

I am eternally grateful to have the spiritual as well as the monetary blessings I have.
I count my blessing every day. I have always said when I see my grandchildren walking around with a bowl looking for some rice then I will be very concerned.
If you can go to the sink and turn it on and have something come out you are way ahead of many. Water is precious. To be able to see and walk and hear and talk is precious.
I do think it is slowly sinking into the realization things have changed for us all but I also think people adapt.
Watch ExtremeMakeover sometimes if you need to know how much you have.
Working in a food pantry made me extremely thankful. (every week I had a reality check) I have seen all sides of people. Some people expect it all with no work and no thankfulness but they truely are few and far between as far as what I have seen.
I do think though some monetarily wealthy people are poverty stricken .

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I do think though some monetarily wealthy people are poverty stricken .

Moral, social or spiritual bankruptcy is not exclusive to "monetarily wealthy" people. The aforementioned malady is non-discriminatory and can be found in the "misery loves company" section of the human condition. [huh] [huh]

 

[Foofoogal]

I do agree Carlisle.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

I recently heard it referred to as an "Economic Problem- a new one on me. But my favourite so far.

 

[Undertow]

Well, I don't know how I feel about this one.

I think it's a matter of relativity. If we are to compare this economy to the economy of the 20's, 30's and 40's, why not compare our economy to the late 1700's? Or the Stone Age? I realize that sounds a little facetious but remember it's all pretty relative.

I can definitely appreciate your position; it's not good that people are losing their jobs, but you're right, it's not as if we have soup lines every which way and people are using bread bags for shoes, etc. But clearly, at least in recent history, this economy isn't doing well.

I don’t think we’ve seen the full extent of this problem yet. I don’t think we really know where this is going. I DO believe the economy is bad and I DON’T think people realize how far it could go.

Now when comparing our economy to those around the world, there’s simply no comparison; that’s beyond apples and oranges – it’s apples to Intel Processors. Even if we only look at the people who WANT to be where they are (e.g. mud huts with a cow as the family’s central food/material producer) most of the world still can’t compare to the luxury we have every day. But that’s always been the way it was and will likely always be the way it is, at least from one society to the next, unless there is a cataclysmic shift in our planet (i.e. meteor knocking out organized civilization altogether).

In other words, yes, the economy IS bad compared to the last 40 or 50 years, but because it’s an inherently relative term, it really only matters to those affected, and not at all to the others.

I’m not trying to sound smug, but I’ve personally not been affected by the economy within the last year (knock on wood). So I shrug my shoulders when people say the economy is bad. However, I have been affected within the last three years (lost a job, a house and had to settle with a terrible junker car I can't afford to get rid of). Am I standing in a soup line? No. Am I able to afford everything I want? No. So…[huh]