recession

You can barely listen to the news or partake in water cooler conversation without hearing the word uttered. Gas prices are the equivalent of highway robbery, even milk and eggs cost exponentially more than they did a few months ago. Other tell tale signs is that the dollar is practically worthless and the price of GOLD is once again skyrocketing. I can't say that I am surprised, though. I saw this coming nearly 8 years ago when a bonehead was elected to be president. I'm serious, you can ask my ex. Though, I predicted it would only take 5 years to hit, you couldn't fool me.

Anyway, what's really disturbing to me is my observations driving around each day; the growing number of boarded up houses in Chicago...a direct result of the sub prime meltdown. Its just sad because each house symbolizes yet another family down on their luck, possibly homeless...who knows. I'm sure other cities like Sacramento, which are being hit harder by the foreclosure crisis, are even more depressing to see.

But, as I drive down these streets with abandoned & boarded up houses, I can't help but think about the social ramifications of it all. Debt has so long been ingrained in the American culture that like many others, I can't remember a time where I was truly debt free. I get paid so I can adequately pay another bill and attempt to stay afloat until next month, when I will do it all over again. It's like a rite of passage in the U.S. or something...and the finance companies, they greedily gobbled it up for as long as they could. Well, it appears now that our beloved country is paying tri-fold for that greedy mentality. The social ramifications have spilled over into every crevice of the economy and will not go away as easily as it was put there. In other words: we are in deep shit!

The next question remains: How do we fix this crisis? How do we prevent the eminent recession? Who will help us help ourselves get out of debt? Who will cut up our credit cards, consolidate our loans, and set realistic budgets for us to follow? Who??!! Because it appears we do not have the will power to do it for ourselves?!!

They say the government should lead by example, but yet our country is currently facing the largest deficit in history.

Despite all these DEPRESSING facts, I have hope...One thing is for certain: I AM READY FOR CHANGE. I am a woman on a mission to disillusion myself from the glory of "material" purchases. I have closed out a number of high APR cards, and am reducing costs like removing my HBO package from Comcast (which never has anything noteworthy on it anyway!) Little steps, I know..but maybe after some time it will really pay off. I just hope the future face of our country adheres to the same mentality. After all, the White house doesn't need that $3,000 toilet bowl cover, now does it??!!