U.S. economy is a mess

By now, everyone agrees that the US economy is in a mess, despite predictions or profits on Wall Street. Calling it a recession, depression, or not, is merely a matter of semantics. We are in one of the worst economic down turns in decades that may not see the light of day for years to come.

A recent report on NPR stated that, for everyone currently unemployed were to be rehired, at least three hundred thousand jobs would have to be created every month over the next three years to fully employ everyone laid off due to this recession. Who thinks that will happen? Neither do I.

The American people blame the government, the war in Iraq and, in particular, the greedy banks and speculators who were so generous in handing out sub-prime mortgages at enticingly low lending rates, even to families who did not have the financial capacity to make interest payments. And now, they are being foreclose on, driving innocent families out into the street. There is merit in this argument, of course, but it is not the whole story.

The American public would be well served if they carried out some introspection.

I should have prefaced this article by admitting that my knowledge of complicated finance would fill up maybe a page. My consolation on the other hand is that it puts me in the same playing field as millions of ordinary people - not just in the US, but all over the world. The difference though lies in attitudes towards money.

Just as an example, the majority of people in India, or Europe for that matter, who want things in life would more than likely save up before they would buy it. In America though, is the land of instant gratification, instant credit, instant debt – for life. Consider a typical young couple.

They may have recently gotten married, want a good house and children - and they want it all now. Unless they are highly qualified well paid professionals, they both are working in low paying jobs, making it paycheck-to-paycheck. According to their income, they may only afford community housing, or a studio apartment.

But why should they settle for that? This is America, where the “American Dream,” a well marketed dream, exists. After all, shouldn't they be entitled to the “American Dream.” It's so achievable, isn't it? No. No. And, NO! The so called “American Dream” is just that – a dream! It keeps people chasing after something many just can not afford financially.

Banks are all too eager to provide loans, and if that loan is not big enough for that "nice" house you want, borrowers don't have to limit themselves to just a single mortgage, get another. As for paying back those loans, they'll worry about it when the time comes.

If push comes to shove, and collection agencies start calling, people can always max out their credit cards which over the years have become one of the most easily obtainable forms of credit, debt, in the US.

There are pop-up ads on websites, where credit card companies seem almost desperate to give you a card. It is immaterial if your credit rating is good enough.

In one of the episodes of a law series, the defense attorney accused the credit card companies of enticing people to accept their credit card, even though they well aware the recipients would default on their monthly payments. This gives credit card companies the excuse to increase interest rates until they reached astronomical levels.

While I am writing this the price of gasoline is about to reach four dollars a gallon. Americans may be moaning and grumbling about it, but how many would seriously consider trading in their gas guzzler a reasonable smaller more gas efficient model? Car pool? Use public transit? Or walk? Not enough to mention.

Why is it absolutely essential to have your own car once you turn sixteen? Why can't people walk instead of driving everywhere?

These suggestions are horrifying to many Americans. A smaller car is considered ridiculous.

Yes, credit and debt lives well in America. When one credit card gets maxes out, use another one. That is how the system works and keeps you dependent as their debt slave.

Bush's solution to ease the financial crunch was to give away money, putting the nation into further debt. Makes sense – give people money now, let them pay it off in higher taxes tomorrow. There was one story of a mother who expected a check for $600 dollars. She promptly went out and bought her kids stuff for school charging it to her credit cards. When the check came, it was a lot less than $600. Now she had no way to pay off all those charges she made to her credit cards.

No one seems to be learning the lesson here: You are all pretending to live a good life all the while you are slaving to pay off all that debt you have amassed.

I am so glad I am debt free, so can you.

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