The Depression

I got a great email the other day why a good friend of mine thinks that this depression we are going into is going to be very different than the last one, regardless of all the doom and gloom. He said he didn't need to be credited by name and didn't mind my sharing, but I just want to assure you this isn't my own work. I'm not that economically savvy! However I thought his thoughts on our current situation and his prognosis was worth sharing.

As we discussed, we are already having a depression.

But this depression cannot play out like the last one for the following
reasons:

- We do not currently have a drought causing dust bowl conditions and a
mass migration of agrarian workers ("Okees").

- The proportion of our economy dependent on an agrarian work force has
been vastly reduced.

- The national highway system did not exist then.

- The rural electrification program hadn't happened yet.

- We did not have our modern transportation systems.

- We did not have our modern communication systems.

- We did not have the Internet.

- We did not have such an interconnected global economy (it existed but
nothing like today).


- We did not have the general level of affluence that most people can
take for granted today (hot and cold running water for everyone, flush
toilets, a highly efficient food production system).

- None of those things are going to break down to any significant degree
under current economic conditions, no matter how bad things get.

- It would take a war of some kind to produce the type of conditions we
had to endure then.

- Remember, Europe was bombed to rubble, and recovered within 20 years
(really less) and is on par with the U.S. today in terms of general
affluence.

- By the way, the "Marshall Plan" to reinvigorate the European economy
after WWII cost about 1/4th of what we are spending today, in today's
dollars, for us to bail out our financial institutions, car company's
etc. AND the new economic stimulus package that has just been passed.

- Sadly, the Bush administration has already spent as much on the war in
Iraq, as we are now spending on the above two packages (over 2 Trillion
dollars, more or less).

- Currently Japan has a larger national debt with respect to their GNP
than we do.

- Currently England's financial crisis and bank failures is even worse
than ours.

- The whole world is in this together, so whatever happens, we'll have
to do it as a world.

- The biggest question is... how bad are governments going to fuck up
what needs to be done?

NOBODY knows the answer to that.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

That is the message that is everywhere today. If it’s not global warming, terrorism, or plane crashes it’s salmonella in your peanut butter.

Right now hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs and the economy seems to be taken a nosedive as sure as Flight 1549 splashed down in the Hudson.

What am I doing about it?

I quit my job, am taking time off, and relocating!

It seems madness. I have had a lovely job, live in a great town, have lots of great friends, and enjoyed both a studio and an apartment, but I wanted something different. I have been planning and thinking about this life change for a long time, but when I started taking steps towards achieving it, burning bridges if you will, that’s when the news about the economy started getting bad enough to even get through to a hippy dippy artsy-fartsy type like me. Even wrapped up on my creative little worlds I got the picture. It’s been coming on for a long time.

I briefly thought about changing my plans and hunkering down, but then it occurred to me: the only thing to fear is fear itself.

I’m not going to stop living my life the way I want to because of dire predictions. I will eat peanut butter and spinach (I might prefer organic though just to feel a bit more reassured) but I also have to take leaps when I want to take leaps and trust in my belief in myself, my ability to create my own reality, and that ultimately whatever will be will be. At least I’ll have fun trying.