Random thoughts about Economy

Random thoughts about this CRUDDY economy.. I have no solutions, but have an inkling to our "REAL" problem.

This morning at the gym the 3 TVs were on 3 different channels. EACH of them on the Sunday morning news and EACH of them talking about the dreadful economy. One was interviewing a single mother who had lost her job and had to resort to dancing at clubs to pay the bills, another was a different family in the same situation, the last was just a report on the sales decreases. ALL were depressing and showed dreadful outlooks. They even had a poll that had asked Americans how long they think this bad economy will last. Now, while I feel it's important that we are financially aware I personally like to relax on my Sunday mornings. Sunday USE to be a day with the family to reflect. Instead its so dreadful just to turn on the T.V!!!!

Why can't we as individuals and businesses follow Dave Ramesy's advice??? If you don't have it DON'T spend it!! Save!!! My father has followed this all his life. Much of what Dave Ramsey says sounds like my own dad. We never had much and what we did have was mainly given to us at Christmas or our Birthdays. I now know my parents saved up pretty much all year long and our Christmases were GREAT!!! If we ever "begged" for anything my mom would say "ask Santa" and if we KEPT begging we got "the look" from mom. Those "things" were not our right.
To this day I don't understand when people say "I want to give my kids the things I didn't have."" Well, what was it YOU felt you were without?? The newest, most expensive video game? The coolest clothes?? WHAT?? What kids WANT and NEED is security and love. They are so bombarded with "stuff," even more than we were, and it's ALL expensive!!! I remember being a foster child living with the couple before my parents adopted me (even though I was around 3 or 4) and all I wanted was a stable family. The more "stuff" you give a kid the more they want. So, that could be huge part of our problem.

Another, is these HUGE bonuses. HELLO.. I'm a teacher, "Supposedly" the MOST important profession and I've never really received one. AIG is giving out like 198 MILLION in bonuses!!! WHAT IS THAT?? I know their base salaries are far higher than mine for certain. What do they base their bonuses on? They talk about "teacher accountability" endlessly and how would we determine if they deserve a bonus. Well, these people just show up to work and get a bonus. It's a catch 22. People will complain endlessly if I get a mere few thousand in bonuses, but really they say little about business people. Can't the fact that I put up with stupid people telling me how I "should" do my job earn me a bonus???

I think our economy shakes up every once in a while for us to get back to our "roots" work hard, and SAVE.