I'm tired of the "bad economy".

Feel free to agree, to disagree, to add your own insights. Here's what I mean:

Specifically I am tired of hearing people say that we have a "bad economy".

My father was born in 1914. His father was born in the 1880s. So, in my family one wouldn't have to go many generations back to arrive at a time when most people considered themselves fairly well off if they had more than two pair of shoes and ate some meat now and then. No kiddin'. There have been no aristocrats or nobles in my line, just working stiffs, and I've researched the surname back to the mid-1600s.

Even though I find no sport in considering the people who are now in-between employers or who have seen their businesses shrink, it is still generally the case that we live like kings and queens compared to just a few short generations ago. I know there are some out there who are really on the skids (always have been, always will be) but the vast majority have automobiles, color TVs, stereos, music players, clothes and shoes galore, refrigerators, wall-to-wall carpeting, cooling and heating, hot water and showers, telephones, full complements of furniture, watches, glasses, a variety of food, and on and on. The one thing most universally lacking is gratitude.

The "good" economies of the tech bubble and the more recent housing bubble were fiction and people at nearly every station in life imagined themselves to have more money than actually existed. Sure, since it has come to roost my business is down - but I am not upset about that. It HAD to settle down. I am no longer seeing the use of credit cards and equity lines as methods for people to live beyond their means. Is that really so "bad"?

I do not see the present situation as a "bad economy". It is a different economy lately in that it is more realistic. I believe that to chase more of the phantoms which are popularly considered the makings of "good economy" is to deny just how well we live in the 21st century and is a set-up for another fall back down to reality.

Most of the people who I hear complaining would be the envy our parents' and grandparents' generations.

HarpPlayerGene said:

Even though I find no sport in considering the people who are now in-between employers or who have seen their businesses shrink, it is still generally the case that we live like kings and queens compared to just a few short generations ago.

Click to expand...

Like kings in what respect? Granted I do understand what you are saying, but as often people say "times were different".

For one, people often had land, and could grow some of their food to supplement income. Not true today. For someone who rents, making ends meet is hard when under the table jobs dont pan out, youve pawned all you can, and food pantries in your area are all but empty.

Technologically, sure, we live worlds above our grandparents, but in the ways of having having outlets for ingenuity to make ends meet, Id say no.

LD

There has been a lot of press locally about people starting gardens on small patches of land and even rooftops. We put in beans, squash, and tomatoes in the back yard, using what used to be a decorative raised bed.
Another piece that is missing is family; so few people have a network to depend on anymore since the population is so spread out. Many families would get together for a 'stone soup' meal to stretch everyone's resources further. My nearest relative is 50 miles away so that's not an option for us.

You make good points Lady Day.

I still rent in a manner of speaking. My girlfriend is the one who 'bought' the house in which we live (meaning she will be a homeowner when the payments are done - referring to her as such before that is accomplished would be inaccurate). I pay my half of everything and do the handy work. I know that one has to be able to afford to borrow money and I have never been that confident when it comes to a big commitment like a home. Left to my own devices, I'd be in an apartment and be fine with that. I'm not a person who craves more than I can manage.

There are those out there who were high-rolling with real estate investments just a few years ago who wish they were only at zero and renting rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars upside down with all the complexities of a house and rental properties hanging over them.

By the way, I have also been "there" in terms of penniless, pawning, etc. No fun at all. Seems bleak. Persevere. I hear 'Frisco is a pretty town but consider that even whatever the next bubble may be that comes along might not be enough to rite that ship of state out there.

Rachel, you are DEAD ON about the family thing.

All that I listed dosent apply to me per se, but some of them do. As some one who has been out of work since September, I can sure say I too am sick of having to troll ever website, paper, and business to find no one is hiring, or there are 400+ people applying for a min wage gig.

It is exhausting but I get sicker of people giving me 'advice' about it: "You should do this, you should do that, blah blah."

Um, you HAVE a job. Stop it.

I guess its the price I pay for being a loner. [huh]

I still keep my head up.

Okay, back to the thread.

LD

I'm with you Gene, especially when I hear people saying this is another Great Depression. Yes, there are lots of people out of work right now - we all know someone who is in that terrible situation and it is very difficult. But this ain't no Great Depression, by a long shot.

I am seeing and reading signs of improvement overall. Hang in there.

Well put, Scott.

By the way, I do not have a 'job'. I do earn money, however. That's the trick which a lot of people just totally miss and which is one of the real gifts of having been born in the U.S.A. I am free to use my talents and ply them into a living. I won't be on the cover of "Forbes" any time soon but as long as I continue focusing on my unique abilities and sharing them with others, for a fee , I can keep the wolves from the door and enjoy a little leisure to boot.

There are a great many people with more this or that than I have. There are those with less. I do not concentrate on the comparisons though. I just find the thing that four hundred other people in the room can not do and I do that, contentedly. As soon as one catches on to that way of operating, you go from being among 400 competitors to being the one with 399 potential customers.

While none of us can walk a mile in someone elses shoes...unless we have done so (and many of us actually have).....

I agree with the general idea that we as a society have -more- then our parents had...and we -expect- more as well, which is part of why this whole thing -seems- so dreadful.

We have been trained to expect things, that education improves your life....that it will get you a good job, that you will eventually buy into the American dream of a house with a picket fence...etc. That we -deserve- it. In general, its not pointed out to the youth of today that even with a degree, or two..or three, that you will -still- have to spend about 10 years or more slaving away and putting your time in.

Companies have been trained to -expect- a profit, (instead of providing a service or product), and now that profits are low or nonexistent, they will do anything to return to profitability, instead of taking care of their workers, meeting their bills and sacrificing that profit for a while...in order to promote the greater good.

It's this divergence from the -expectation- (because that expectation was unrealistic, does not really matter at this point, its what people were trained to expect as their due) that is making this a bigger overall deal then it might have been in other times.....

But our grandparents' grandparents could easily have scoffed at the "luxuries" the younger generation (of the time) enjoyed, compared to, say, the 1850s (I think I got the math right--anyway, you get the idea) when they were young.

We don't miss what we never experienced. But if my AC breaks down on the hottest day of the year, I reserve the right to complain about it, and I don't care how many millions of people over the years never experienced air-cooled comfort a day in the lives.

I mean, it's worth remembering how good we have it, in order to keep things in perspective, sure -- but don't expect me to take such a setback with stoicism.

Similarly, if I were to lose my job (knock on wood, I'm still gainfully employed), I'd take small comfort from the fact that folks in the Thirties might've had it worse. The plague years of the 17th century were pretty rough in London, too, but acknowledging that doesn't pay the rent.

skyvue said:

I mean, it's worth remembering how good we have, in order to keep things in perspective, sure -- but don't expect me to take such a setback with stoicism.

Similarly, if I were to lose my job (knock on wood, I'm still gainfully employed), I'd take small comfort from the fact that folks in the Thirties might've had it worse. The plague years of the 17th century were pretty rough in London, too, but acknowledging that doesn't pay the rent.

Click to expand...

Wise words! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

.

Lady Day said:

Technologically, sure, we live worlds above our grandparents, but in the ways of having having outlets for ingenuity to make ends meet, Id say no.

LD

Click to expand...

The internet provides a lot of opportunities that previous generations did not have.

A virtual storefront can be had for a few dollars a month.

People who like to write can make money from placing google ads on the pages that host their content.

Artists can sell their art online at places like CafePress.com.

Lots of ways to bring in some money here and there or full time, online.

(This is not advice directed at you, just sharing my thoughts on your comment.)

HarpPlayerGene said:

Even though I find no sport in considering the people who are now in-between employers or who have seen their businesses shrink, it is still generally the case that we live like kings and queens compared to just a few short generations ago. I know there are some out there who are really on the skids (always have been, always will be) but the vast majority have automobiles, color TVs, stereos, music players, clothes and shoes galore, refrigerators, wall-to-wall carpeting, cooling and heating, hot water and showers, telephones, full complements of furniture, watches, glasses, a variety of food, and on and on. The one thing most universally lacking is gratitude.

Click to expand...

However, many of those items are supported by credit card debt. Pre-credit card generations had to live within their means. I'm all for going back to that. It's how I've lived my life. I pay my credit cards off in full every month.

PrettySquareGal said:

The internet provides a lot of opportunities that previous generations did not have.

A virtual storefront can be had for a few dollars a month.

People who like to write can make money from placing google ads on the pages that host their content.

Artists can sell their art online at places like CafePress.com.

Lots of ways to bring in some money here and there or full time, online.

Click to expand...

Have you done some of these, because Ive done a few, and just because its online does not mean it will succeed. Easy money in the virtual world is just as hard as easy money in the real world.

The most tend to take home from a lot of these efforts 'simple' is between $10-$80 a month, and by the time youve paid expenses, is that $20 left over really worth the effort to catalog and produce images, prep and monitor your online store, pay for advertising (if you did) etc, etc etc. No.

Not at all.

LD

Lady Day said:

Have you done some of these, because Ive done a few, and just because its online does not mean it will succeed. Easy money in the virtual world is just as hard as easy money in the real world.

The most tend to take home from a lot of these efforts 'simple' is between $10-$80 a month, and by the time youve paid expenses, is that $20 left over really worth the effort to catalog and produce images, prep and monitor your online store, pay for advertising (if you did) etc, etc etc. No.

Not at all.

LD

Click to expand...

Oh, I should have been more clear: It's not easy to make money online any more than it's easy to grow food. Both efforts take a lot of work and time and some luck. My point being is that it's an arena for making a living that wasn't available to previous generations. I have an online business that has provided me with an annual income that's more than what I was making working for the man. I am not bragging or boasting by any means, just saying it's another avenue.

I do wish you well, Lady Day. You obviously have talent!

PrettySquareGal said:

I have an online business that has provided me with an annual income that's more than what I was making working for the man.

Click to expand...

Not to be nosey, but could you give us an idea of what your online business is?

.

she has gorgeous and wondrous fine greetings!

Marc Chevalier said:

Not to be nosey, but could you give us an idea of what your online business is?

.

Click to expand...

Via PM for people I know, but I don't talk about my work on the Lounge. (It doesn't involve naughty pics. lol )

Miss Neecerie said:

she has gorgeous and wondrous fine greetings!

Click to expand...

Thank you! And that's vague enough for me.

Odd that I stumbled onto this thread...

I have worked for the State of North Carolina for twenty-three years and have never had a pay cut....until today. We just got news that everyone from the governor down would see a pay reduction for the remainder of the fiscal year.

But its OK. I'll console myself with stories I've heard about long-gone family members who couldn't find work during reconstruction.

AF

PrettySquareGal said:

(It doesn't involve naughty pics. lol )

Click to expand...

What a pity! lol

.