Good people often finish last. I am not sure who coined this phrase but, in these times on uncertainty within the economic world, it certainly is brought home by stories that are lived by good people who are known to us and close friends. Apparently, they have done all the right things, with all the wrong results.
In one of the recent presidential campaigns (believe it was one of the Bushes) the title phrase above became a war cry. However, ever since I have had a memory of things financial, this has been the war cry or, simply, the cry of most people. In the early 1970’s, with the gas crunch (which has now become a constant gas squeeze) the price of gasoline went from less than a dollar to well over 3 dollars. All this, in less than 6 months. We did not know it then, but this crunch was the end of economic wellbeing in general, and the beginning of a very long US economic slump. There have been temporary upswings but on the average, it has been a continuing downward slump which still goes on, despite the claims to the contrary contained in the texts of government press releases.
Our economy had been based on things mechanical for several generations. Big, bigger, lower, wider were the call of the car marketing hypes of the 50’s through the early 70’s; even when these longer, lower, wider body cars were sitting at the dealer’s while the egg like civics were selling faster than they could be brought into the showrooms. US made cars lost sales due to their gas guzzling engines, more and more workers were laid off over the years, factories closed and many related subcontracting firms went out of business. Some of these last might have survived, but the farming out of their potential business to other, cheaper labor markets, did them in. This same behavior was reflected along the length and width of several of the primary economic generators of the US. The overall result has been catastrophic for the average American family.
In the long run, it has taken at least three generations (how are they measured, anyway?) for our economic gurus (read: shakers and movers) to finally accept that our structure needs to be retooled, redone and re-launched, despite the political cost it may carry; I personally believe that the political cost of having done little or nothing over the last 25 years should be accounted for, and the price collected from those elected leaders who should have responded. The changes being attempted now will be late for many who have lost everything along the way; it may also be late for those who are in their last throes, trying to salvage what little they may have left in order to maintain a semblance of a life, as it may have been known before. Many regular, normal every day families have been victims of this downturn and, unfortunately, there will be many more before an honest upswing happens.
A couple, friends of ours, who came from abroad several years ago are a typical case. As many who have come over, their goal was to work, accomplish and live the American dream. They had an older child who now is on his own and then had two other children, the older being now around the age of six. The father went to work in what seemed to be a steady position and made enough money to allow his wife to work part time and devote most of her time to care for the children. After years of employment, about a year ago, all that had been done went into a downward spiral. He lost his job, and has been unable to find another that pays him at least as much as unemployment.
In the meantime, his home mortgage goes into a default mode and they desperately apply for assistance to the different media that supposedly will help them restructure their loan. The bureaucracy then takes over between the bank and the government entity in charge of these issues, and it all goes into a black hole from where it is impossible to get a defined answer. The bank people blame the agency and the agency people, of course, blame the bank. The real issues are actually a lot more ridiculous, including the fact they have been told -in writing- that all is OK and approved, to then be told that it is not. In the meantime, this family has been told their home is in the final stages of foreclosure and that they will have to leave unless the full amount of back payments due is made. The sum is more than what they can put together so we can assume their home, representing years of hard work and much sacrifice, will soon join the hundreds of thousands of other homes which will be dumped on the “foreclosure” market. What about this flesh and blood family? We will all try to help them and make sure they do not end up on the streets. Not the dream they envisioned; it is more a common nightmare.
“It’s the economy, dummy”… It would sure be good and different if some of the so called leaders who issue these “election year war cries” and loudly proclaim them for all who can vote to hear, would tighten their own belts and fight for the changes which might actually lessen these losses and suffering.
Be Well!! Be Back.
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