As of this week it’s no longer just the fringies who are seeing the potential or inevitability of financial collapse in the United States. The Fed isn’t bailing out Lehman (nor should it– just encourages risky behavior), AIG is set to go tits up any minute, and Washington Mutual (where I keep all of my 17 cents) has been rated as Junk.
I believe we are headed for the second Great Depression. Seriously. However, I’ve believed this for over a year now and I think I have come to terms with the fear. It will be bad, Bad with a capital B. And yet, This is Life. It’s the way the ball bounces, the cookie crumbles. Human fallibility will always operate this way, up/down/up/down. We’re not smart/savvy/selfless enough to operate any other way.
In the last year I’ve gone through the stages of grief for our economic stability. I think I am now in the acceptance stage. In the past week I’ve begun to notice that there are some positive effects (granted, if I can’t feed my children, it will become another outlook entirely– witness Maslow’s hierarchy).
Small pleasures I had taken for granted have become of great value to me. With affluence (of a type) I had lost the feeling of satiety from life. Seriously. Going out to eat was a given. Movies were a given. New shoes, a day trip, a hotel stay: nice, but expected. It was like an addiction. The thrill had to be bigger every day not to be met with boredom.
This weekend we went to a local football game. It was fun! Last week I went out to dinner with a friend, the first time in a month. It was novel! Instead of looking at the local movie schedule and thinking, pish, nothing all that great is playing, I’m excited thinking, wow, I’m saving my nine bucks till something I REALLY want to see is playing.
I cooked chicken and broccoli and ate in the dining room with my three kids. We played cards. It felt good.
Things are going to be Bad, but nothing is ever All Bad. There will be moments of joy. You know, until the aliens arrive and enslave us as their food source. Maybe even then.
