When I started this blog I was "approaching" the ripe age of 59. Well today 59 landed and I can't say that writing about my point of view has changed anything about me. I have shared a lot of opinions and thoughts. I probably have more to share but I am not sure that these are revealing, particularly original or insightful. In fact most of my ideas and thoughts are learned from others and after living a certain amount of time, I have passed them on as ideas that have stood up under the test of my personal experience. I am not sure how much longer I will continue to "blog" as in a way it is sort of like belly button gazing with no real value to anyone except myself.
But today is my birthday and I am saying goodbye today to a wonderful colleague who started work the same time I did and we have been work survivors together. He is retiring at 62 and is looking forward to a new life with his wife down in Williamsburg, Virginia. I told him that he would enjoy becoming a true Virginian, and I hope that is the case. It seems fitting that he come to the state in the year it turned politically blue. I have been considering how to participate in this effort in the proper way. I will have to give that subject some more thought this year.
I still consider myself pretty typical of my age and time. I have the expected skepticism about these bailouts and I just don't see the tax payers benefiting. It makes you wonder if Rome burned because the tax payer got tired of footing the bill. I would have to have a better understanding of history to answer that question, but I think there is some truth to the saying that "history repeats itself." I bet we could find some parallels if we went back far enough. But I also think that the problems are complex and embedded into our social fabric deeply enough that it might require something pretty drastic to change direction.
Labor unions -- once these were a good thing. They served a very important purpose when we were a developing industrial nation, but I wonder if they have now become the problem instead of the solution. Some of the rules and benefits are absurd in the eyes of those of us who don't have the benefit of the "protections" that a union negotiates. How do we keep the good parts and get rid of the pork in these agreements? How do we return some of the control back to the companies that need to be able to be flexible in these trying times.
Here is a thought, are economic crisis points when something gets out of balance? For example, financially we became unbalanced because we lacked a check to the mortgage industry. The imbalance in the mortgage industry lead to cheap financing which lead people to feel that they could afford to buy housing, which lead to demand for housing which lead to builders building, which lead to --- well you get the idea. Everything is related, we do not exist in a vacuum and as a result there is a delicate balance that must be maintained. This balance is what the economists spend their lifetimes analyzing, sometimes they get it right and sometimes they get it wrong (Greenspan) at our expense.
Same with industry, labor power has become unbalanced. So if you look at your personal finances, what has become unbalanced? Too much debt for your income? Too little income for your lifestyle? Too much house, too little spending discipline, too much material things, too little faith, too much for any family to deal with. So how do we correct this mess? And how does the country get back on track?
Well first things first: before you can fix something you have to know how bad it is. As painful as it is to face the realities, get out your pencil and figure out what your income is and what your financial obligations are. Then figure out what you need and what is the difference between what you need and what you receive -- your income minus all expenses = a positive number (good) or a negative number (not so good). So this tells you to cut expenses or get more income. Now expenses can only be cut so much before there is pain (no food, no shelter, no transportation, etc.) so that means you need to find other sources of income or increase the income you get. BIG HINT HERE - you should not ask for a raise AND it is not the time to find a new job. So now you need to get creative. Work a second job, work a part time job, create a product that you can sell, find a service you can provide that people want, work overtime if it is available to you, or register with a temp agency.
From adversity you can create opportunity - I am basically optimistic so I have to toss this out there. Economic downturns turn up at some point and are temporary. So all you have to do is get through it. Sometimes, it will force you in a direction you would not have taken otherwise but which turns out to be a good one. Or sometimes you have to regroup and revisit your goals and aspirations in life. An economic crisis can become a personal crisis that makes you a better and stronger person. Take this and translate it to what the country needs to do.
So why am I spending my birthday writing this blog? Because, just because.
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