The U.S. Economic Crisis - Bring It On

I am well aware that if the U.S. Government doesn't act to bail out Wall Street that the U.S. Economic Crisis will eventually affect me financially too - even though I live in a smallish country town in South Australia. However I say the U.S. government shouldn't spend a single dime on Wall Street. Bring on the crisis!

This morning I was listening to the Michael Groff show on Internet radio and he was telling me why I should be very concerned about the U.S. Economic Crisis and the Wall Street crash.

He said that if the American People and congress didn't support the government bail out plan, there would be chaos. That you may as well take your family, retreat to a farm somewhere and protect what little you have with a gun - because that is how bad it will get. Then in the next sentence he said that he wasn't trying to be alarmist.

Despite that he personally didn't want the government to bail out wall street but because of the potential consequences it was the 'right' thing to do. Otherwise the fallout will affect you and I personally (he is correct on that) and he wasn't ready to go there (presumably to his little farm somewhere).

However when was the last time you heard world leaders and big business talk like, potentially, the best course of action would be to dig a bunker somewhere, stock up on food and don't come out until the coast is clear if you don't act now to protect yourself? Think about it...

That's right. The Millennium Bug. Remember how the whole world was going to fall apart. There would be chaos if we didn't act to protect ourselves now. Didn't upgrade our computers?

Did you cave to the pressure? Did you start digging your bunker? Are you still digging your bunker? Sounds like you're going to need it again doesn't it?

Let's back up a bit. I'll humor Mike on the 'chaos' outcome just for a moment. Let's say that is a possible outcome of the crisis. The world collapses into chaos.

People who have that view fail to recognise the human spirit. There might be a bit of chaos, here and there but ultimately people prefer order in their lives.

Whilst banks, big business, small business, and you and I head towards chaos you can bet we'll be doing everything we can to make the best of it. To maintain order and stability until things start to improve.

Like the oil crisis. You can't afford petrol, you walk, ride a bicycle or use public transport. You lose your job because you can't afford the petrol to drive to work, you look for a job closer to home. You don't start robbing gas stations to get petrol. You make the best of what you have. That's what people do.

Perhaps the U.S. government should save it's trillions of dollars for supporting well fare programs, food stamps etc. I'd support that because apparently you and I aren't going to able to get our pay cheques, according to Mike, if we let this crisis continue.

Big Business and the banks can get its money back through us, the little people, spending our meager welfare cheques. The people who live through economic crisis every day because those F**kers up there keep scheming more and more ways to keep us in debt and them living the life most of us can only ever dream about.

This is what credit does. It lets you and I, big corporations and banks spend more money than we actually have until you reach critical mass and go bankrupt (well, that is, if you can't find someone to bail you out).

Credit is a great idea, if you understand it and use it conservatively but unfortunately stupid people don't realise it's money they've yet to earn and may never actually have. It's betting on the future. Well this time it's the big players that have screwed up. They bet on the future and it wants its money now.

David R. Francis of CSMonitor on September 8, 2008 wrote an interesting article, US financial crisis spreads towards your wallet which clearly describes how you may be affected by quoting economic consultant, Gary Schilling:

Consumers account for more than 70 percent of all spending in the United States. Since many families have relatively little savings and are deep in debt through credit cards, car loans, home-equity loans, etc., he foresees a cutback in spending. This will lead to a deep recession next year, one that will spread beyond US borders.

Personally I say don't bail out Wall Street. Don't bail out banks. Don't bail out big business. Don't bail out small business. Don't even bail out you and I. We're all in this together.

If the big players are going to go down and we're going to let them then we shouldn't expect to be bailed out either. At least we shouldn't expect any more assistance than that which we currently have available. Come what may and make the best of it.

A government bail out is simply a band aid to delay the inevitable. I say bring on the inevitable now. Things may get tougher. Prices may go up. You may not be able to get a loan or even your pay cheque but eventually the big players will realise that if they're going to survive then they need to give us and them products we all can afford. Stop throwing us into debt.

This is a real chance to bring a lot of people back into reality. Don't worry about retreating to some shack in the woods with a gun because you won't be able to afford either (apparently). Stick around and ride it out.

The U.S. Economic Crisis is just a lot of whiny rich people applying pressure because they're not ready to give up their million dollar views for chaos, a shack in the woods and food stamps either.