BAaah, baaa We are their Sheep.

Ok, I have been reading and hearing . It's on everyone's minds. Friends have lost their retirement money in the market or company's 401k option. People losing jobs and homes. Well, it's all happened before, possibly not to this degree in a while. My thought is this is a delayed result from the "save " back in the late 70's , 80's . They delayed the inevitable. It's all media, tell us we are doing good, offer us cheap loans , convince us that a shack with 1200 square feet is worth 400,000$. Make us proud to buy said shack or said Hummer. Really, it gets like 10 miles to the gallon. All the battle weary old timers knew that none of that junk was really worth what it was being peddled for. Young stupid sheep (even you 50 - 60 year olds...) were convinced that you now made so much more than you parents ever did, you deserved all that_____. Insert commercial product. If you didn't have a 500$ bag (that's being modest) , or a 5,000$ diamond ring well, you were lower class no?
Enough of my rant...here's some stuff... fodder.....
Don't forget to give your kids cars for their birthday or Christmas.. they deserve it.
( I realize some sources may have bias or be slightly untrustworthy , but most of these facts are easily verified by multiple sources. So, look at the ideas.)

Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980's ish.

1980's budget deficit recession etc read into this one , near the bottom about finances..

This is from my Myspace blog...last year ( when Myspace was still fun..)

In the movie "The Gods Grew Tired of Us, which I enjoyed, A young man from Sudan comments on Christmas here.

"He wonders out loud at the U.S. version of Christmas, with plastic trees and flashing lights. "Is Santa also in the Bible"?" he asks, a dedicated Christian owing to his conversion in the camp. For the Kakuma version of the holiday, he recalls, "People marched in the street, to prepare for Jesus Christ to be brought into our hearts." He turns on the Christmas tree lights, his face suggesting a mix of disbelief, bemusement, and disappointment."
I have known many South americans who also celebrate this very differently. In Biblian, Ecuador the village would gather and walk up to the 1 church high up a hill, they would walk several miles, families together singing.

Thus, in a culture marked so heavily by acquisition and consumption, we should hope to live simply and aspiring for attitude of "enough."

This year, Americans celebrating Christmas will fork over $795.86 each, up 5% from last year, according to BIGresearch, a Worthington, Ohio-based consumer research firm. And while growth is somewhat slower than it has been in years past--in 2005, the firm forecast an 8.1% increase--total spending will be a record $154 billion.

Ok, so I hope I haven't made myself look too foolish. When you start looking into the mess, Everyone's name comes up ...in Both or ALL the parties. I am concerned yet I think we will end up ok. Look at Europe..they've been through worse and they're still kicking, and most recently Japan. We must stop this bubble head mentality, buying everything sold to us. Remember when your parents house had ugly couches they bought new at like 300$ and they thought that was expensive. How about not having your own bicycle? Anyone else share bikes with their dumb siblings..lol Really you all had TV's in your rooms? O.K. My friend got to have a birthday party at McDonald's and I thought "Lucky..." (think Napoleon D there.) .


***Side note..or outline
~70's recession
~deregulation to stimulate economy
~S & L crisis
~more deregulation and rate cuts to save economy
~more deregulation and easy credit (to help lower income folks do well)
(Economy looks fantastic!!)
~current situation

I realize if we don't buy..the economy will grind to a halt. If we don't "bail out " these huge investment companies ( and AIG) Foreign investors won't but our bonds etc, they will pull what they have invested now and their countries too will be drug down with their losses. What a mess the next guy will have to clean up. Good Luck! 20 years of poor financial planning.
If you made it this far check out these fun economic flashbacks.. they show the last 40 years of gas prices nat'l debt etc.. houses at 17,000$ , gas at .31 /gal !