"Talk about your miracles, Talk about your faith
My dad he could make things grow out of Indiana clay
Mom could make a gourmet meal out of just cornbread and beans
And they worked to give faith hands and feet and somehow gave it wings."
First, I am not one of those who thinks the sky is falling economically, or that life as we know it is eminently coming to an end. As signs of recession come back into play and the government is pretty much out of play this time because of its own debt situation, I think there are some really good potential outcomes to all of this.
One of those outcomes is a simpler, less stressful, more sincere lifestyle. I think most of us inherently know that the path we're on, as a nation as well as individually for most of us, is unsustainable. Speaking in generalities, most Americans work harder to make more money so they can borrow more so they can have more. Those who can't borrow are really at a disadvantage, to the point of being marginalized in today's society. Hell, you can't even get a decent job without a respectable FICO score.
I don't think the sky is falling, but I do think some adjustments are coming and are warranted. It's like medicine that tastes bad, but is good for us. We're not going to take it voluntarily, so it's going to hurt more than it needs to. But in the end, the medicine will do it's job and life will be better.
Debt is to the economy what booze is to the alcoholic.
We're addicted to debt. We've got so much of it we'll never be able to pay it back. It will kill our economy. The addiction has to be broken, and prevented from here on. And it is in our best interests to break this addiction across the board, from governments to individuals.We'll be better off when it's done.
I've been pretty deep in debt for the past 25 years. Each decision I made to incur more debt was appropriate at the time, and made good sense. But the result is bad. I'm not alone. In fact, I'm better off than most people. I'm better off than our government because I can service my debt without making up money that doesn't really exist, and my budget is balanced. But I'm 15 or 20 years from being out of debt if things stay the way they are now, assuming that I don't face any really big necessary but unexpected expenses.
I can't help but think that the house of cards needs to fall down, and the it will eventually be a good thing.
But there is a huge downside that has to be addressed first.