As the recession talk heats up and the economy slows, what can we expect from the conspiracy theorists and fear mongers? I mean, what better time to get out our finger-pointing and scapegoating skills than when jobs are disappearing and bank accounts and emptying. And I don't mean shadowy figures Hebreaic or Masonic - I want some meat on the bone with my conspiracy theories. Here are my best bets for auslandering:
- Finance Professionals? Let's be frank. It really is the fault of those eggheads who created leverage buy-outs for the unemployable that we are in this mess. Too much credit based derivative financial instrumentation has let to too many people thinking that you can get somewhere without actually having to get anywhere. In that respect, this is simply a bubble like the new economy bubble of the internet that sacked the US for a while back in the late 1990s.
- The Internet? Why not? The world of web 2.0 is all about getting the things of others for nothing and sooner or later all that cheapskate thinking has to have an effect. The effect on an economy is called recession when money stops moving. Who knew so many family members were actually middlemen? Maybe we are going to learn that the wonder of the western economy is actually the overpaying of people involved in overly complex supply chains.
- The Response to 9/11? This makes less sense but had more legs. When George Bush went out and said Americans should spend money after 9/11 he forgot to mention that you should earn that money first. Would it have killed him to say "work hard" instead? People have gone on a spree over the last few years that have left them unable to do anything for the next few years.
- Western corruption? Before 9/11 it was somewhat acceptable to rail against materialism but due to the connection made by Osammy between western values and his murderous agenda, we are now loath to say anything that smacks of disloyalty. Yet, that railing was one of the natural regulators of our society as was general religiosity and the work ethic. As these things go, we are left with an understanding of what the world is like when they are gone. We continue to have faith, we just have faith in things that are worth anything much at all.
Comments
David Janes - March 23, 2008 12:19 pm
You forgot "George Bush/Dick Cheney/Halliburton"
Alan - March 23, 2008 2:24 pm
You'll have to work that angle.
sean liddle - March 23, 2008 11:49 pm
"happy selling"
I am one to think that the response to 9/11 has some merit. The mere fact that trillions have been spent on a venture that a few million worth of well placed covert ops and a couple of neutron weapons could have solved smacks of blind high hopes and fiscal irresponsibility. Sure, it is entirely possible that had all worked out as planned, the middle east would be a happy haven of imperialist toadies that not only supplied cheap oil to the US machines but did so with a grateful smile, but it did not, and gas prices rose and the dollar tanked. Add to that the poor money management of the high risk lenders and bam, depression, in more ways than one.
I have never been so happy in my life to have made my recent investment and career choices than when I watch the news of late.
Alan - March 24, 2008 11:18 am
Yes, prepare ye to hear the phrase "cocooning" again and maybe even an entire revision of Martha Stewart, returning to her origins as an advocate for living well in tough times through developing home skills. When I think of my old patch of 1800 onions (for a twenty dollar investment) I wish I had last bought a plot of more than 60 x 100 feet. Still, a couple of big pots of basil go a long way to improve a winter's worth of oil.
sean liddle - March 24, 2008 4:31 pm
We are doubling the size of our garden and growing less of the fun things that do not last and more of the blanchable and freezable types. Add to that a newer bigger pellet stove, making beer again and baking bread and we are slowly developing that "stay home on weekends instead of spending money for fun" mentality that will make the oncoming R or D more bearable. Then again we are looking at retirement property in Yorkshire.