Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wait and See What Happens...

...I do it too!  In the old days I was far more of a risk taker.  I ordered way more steel than I needed for a particular job, nice to have the inventory, convenient and I knew I could sell it.  I used to have a "cash flow",
completed jobs awaiting payment, jobs in progress needing to be finished, and jobs "on the books", guaranteed jobs to do down the line.  Those days are gone and I don't know whether they will ever return?
   I have become a part of the problem.  I am far more conservative now with the little money I have, careful where I might spend it, knowing more will be hard to come by.  This is rapidly becoming the new American standard and it is hurting our economy.
   Business has developed this same attitude, hanging on to their money, creating less production, hireing less, making less, laying off workers.  It is not the burden of being in business, it is not the taxes or insurance, none of those expences.  There are no customers.
   Cheaper doesn't seem to work.  Walmart has lost customers too.  It used to be that a business could create something better, invent something new or make it less expensive and they would succeed.  That doesn't work anymore.  You just can't create a job for a product that no one wants or can't afford.
Different businesses have tried everything.  "Free" this and free that with a purchase, time plans.  Heck, I have even seen beds you can buy over a four year payment plan!
   The working poor have become the new poverty statistics!  That is 25% of us!  Add to that the 14 Million people who aren't working at all and you have a recipe for disaster.
  It is funny when I hear different politicians come up with a solution for this.  You can't get blood out of a turnip.  You can't tax the poor any more.  No one played Monopoly as a kid?  It doesn't get better by reducing the flow of money.  We are waiting "to pass Go" and collect our $200!  Just something so we can keep playing!
   There are lots of ways to save money, to reduce our National Debt if that is really the issue.  Quit being the world's policeman would help or send someone a bill for the services.
   I liked playing "Monopoly" as a kid, liked the element of chance and got pretty good at it as I came to know the rules.  It was an American game and I liked that too.  If you worked hard and made good investments, knew the rules and played fair you might even win.  Always a chance.  Opportuntiy.  And risk, you never wanted to lose what you acquired.  Sometimes that would make very conservative players out of the most obnoxious kids.
   It was just a game invented from the last great depression, another time of grief and failure.  The "American
Dream" the game was based on is dissappearing.  Good jobs and home ownership is rapidly dwindling, the things that give us reason to be conservative.
   It was always the loser that tipped the board over in his own disgust.  Having lost everything, there was nothing left to lose.
   That is what makes riots in the street.  Nothing left to lose.

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5 comments:

Timaree said...

Now you sound just like my husband! I wonder if some of our lack of shopping is simply we have enough! I don't need anything and I don't want too much. Having people buy what they don't need or want is no way to get the economy going again. I don't know the answers any more than the next person but I really don't want to be told to go shopping.

Jerry Carlin said...

Me too, not much out there I want either!

Yvonne said...

You're right about nothing left to loose. And there isn't much out there that I can't live without. I only buy what I need, and I think business' that sell fluff have a much harder time surviving when incomes dwindle.

Autumn Leaves said...

Nothing left to lose also sums up why customer service is so poor. At minimum wage, employees could give a hoot if they get fired from a job. There is another fast food job right across the street. And the vicious circle continues.

What is really scary is when you can't afford the necessities and then we're back to those riots you mentioned.

Cheryl said...

StonePost, think I have mentioned here previously that I stopped shopping many years ago when I realised that almost everything was made in China. To me, goods have no real value these days. I am hanging on to my 'retro' stuff purchased in the 70's when quality was important. Forget the 'flat pack'