financial zen

Do you believe it? That’s the big question today: When’s the next bull? How long will the bear last? And forget Washington’s rhetoric about “no recession.” The truth is, you can call it a “bear,” “slow growth,” a “downturn,” a “recession” — call it whatever you want. Timing’s the real question. How long will it last? When will it bottom? 2008? 2011?

-marketwatch

Whether or not you believe it, we’re in the midst - or start - of a depression. This isn’t the great depression, just things aren’t pretty anymore. Being a student of economics (yes, a student of many things!) I particularly enjoy the quoted Marketwatch article, because it sites the many causes of our current dilemma - without resorting to name-calling and crying.

Let’s break it down:

• We’re in a war with ourselves, overspending and living in denial.
• We’re letting other people let us be lead, cluelessly down a treacherous path.
• We let ourselves be diluted that ’something will happen to set things right.’

Plain and simple, we’re at election season, and all I’ve heard it “vote for me, because I stand for change.” or “vote for me, because I have experience, and that matters.” “For for him, he’s not a politician.” “Don’t vote for him, he’s being lead by lobbyists!”

I’m pretty sure you can pick out who is who in that bunch. The point is - no one has really stated how they will fix the economy or our current crunch. Bush gave tax credits to big companies - and then gave the american public a check (well, he will be). He did things for the “rich” and the “poor.” He’s doing what he can to try and stave off the inevitable - a long, hard look at ourselves and how we’re letting greed lead the way.

People live by credit, overcharge, overspend and let their big purchases lie to them about their stability.

Time’s up people, sell back your over-priced gadgets, cars, and toys. I’m not saying live a meek life - I’m saying live within your means. I’m not here to tell you what you’re doing wrong, just tell you that maybe - just maybe - you need to look at yourself in the mirror and say “am I happy?” Do you need this stuff? Or do you need to start thinking of the future, and how you want future generations to look back and say “That is when it changed - that is when things started to get better.”

I’ve got some ideas (and a little more free time) so let’s see how things pan out in the coming weeks…