Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
It Is All Around Us...
What is all around us? The constant drumbeat of how bad things are and how long this will last is all around us. We find it difficult to turn on a radio or television newscast without hearing anew just how bad everything is getting to be. Newspapers are full of the bad news. Electronic media of all ilks are full of bad news.
In reality, there are problems; no one can deny that. Jobs have been lost and will probably continue to be lost for a few more months to come. Wisconsin's unemployment rate is hovering around 7% now and that is some 2% higher than normal.
We are in a recession and most of us have long ago accepted that fact. The good news in all this is that recessions come and recessions go. The most typical cycle for recessions is six months. Recessions hit us and then begin to go away in a typical six month period of time.
This recession seems worse because we've heard about it coming for many months during the presidential election cycle. If we think back, it seems as though we've been in a recession for a year already and it really only recently materialized.
The doom and gloom talk actually helped to promote the recession. We hear that a recession is coming and we reduce spending. The reduced spending brings about a recession. The definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why would anyone 'create' a recession? To get elected. Pure and simple. Nasty tactic? Yes. Does it work? Yes. Will it continue to be part of the repertoire? Yes.
This is akin to dirty campaign tactics. People use dirty tactics in political campaigns because they work.
How do we get out of a recession? We get out of it by positive actions. We shop like we used to shop. We buy things. Automobiles will never be priced lower than they are today. Homes are at bargain prices. Banks are lending money to good credit risks.
Some 27,000 truck drivers have lost their jobs because people quit buying things, and that caused shipping to drop drastically. Others have lost their jobs because automobile sales have dropped significantly. Others have lost their jobs because their employers lost orders or were forced to shut their doors. Retailers have gone under because we quit buying things.
The near trillion dollar "stimulus" package will do virtually nothing to solve this recession issue. It is simply, as Rahm Emanuel said, the result of a crisis that couldn't be permitted to go to waste. The "stimulus" package will not benefit you or me for at least two years, if ever.
You and me are the only ones who can bring this recession to a close. Government cannot do anything that really helps. Government simply wants us to think they are helping. We certainly wouldn't want the citizenry to realize that government actually doesn't create anything. We may not be able to spend like we once did, but every little bit helps. Little by little, we'll dig ourselves out from under the bad news and replace it with good news.
Why not get that 'movement' started in Germantown?
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