It's a Wonderful Li(f)e

Probably not just me. It feels a little harder to 'get into the spirit' (of either generosity or mindless consumerism, depending on whether you're a half-full or full-of-it kind of guy) this Christmas season. I'm reaching the point, maybe you too, where there's less and less of the daily newspaper I read--skip the front page and the national section and the finances and the international pages and the political analysis and....wow, what's left? The professional Armadillo Full-Contact Wrestling League standings, Hi and Lois in the comic section and the personal ads over in the classifieds (not that ANY of us know anyone who actually reads those, or would admit to reading them). I don't even watch theTV news anymore (Is it true Jay Leno was named the host for Meet the Press?)

Go on line and look at news headlines this time a year ago and we were no happier than now, with, in retrospect, less reason. So while the 'how did we get here?' seems to be a sticking point, I'm more concerned that it's keeping us from getting to the heart of the matter and moving onwards and upwards.

Everyone has competing theories for our economic state so let me offer mine, based on ZERO knowledge and less expertise (I'm being honest (to myself) which is more than we might be able to say about others), you can shake your head in disbelief and dismay and then we can proceed to the "we gotta get outa this place" portion of the proceedings.

Businesses, I submit, used to be formed for the purposes of making something and were a creation to benefit all of those involved in that endeavor. Instead of 'we are together to make/do/be something' the mission statements now are 'we are in business to make X% return on our investors' money'. The visionary who brought us together and got us to the mountain has been replaced by a guy who knows how to count. All of a sudden we're out in the tall grass and can no longer see the path. And no one knows how we got there or how to get back.

Back in the day, when money was something and there was no cell phones, video on demand or even (shudder) Home Shopping Network, I was in the US Air Force with someone with a wry sense of humor who had a sign on her desk that said 'I am now starving on the salary I once dreamed of making.' Today, we would have outsourced her and her sign. We already outsourced our sense of humor.

Look at the house in which you live or where any of us lives. How much physical improvement did you make in it in the last five (ten? fifteen) years? (I don't know enough about things to know what the 'typical' municipal assessment and re-evaluation cycle is.) Your house is appraised and assessed at more this time than the last time, even if you did nothing. That's vapor (please don't be angry, I don't mean it personally). But then, you go to the bank with that vapor number and get a new line of equity. Now we've transcended vapor and are into voodoo (again, my apologies if you're a follower of voodoo, I use that term in a non-religious way).

All of this works as long as each of us keeps moving-- like lemmings? Okay, sure. Lovely animal, beautiful plumage said someone, once, somewhere, perhaps. That movement for the last three to ten (or more) years (depends on who is telling the story and how much supply side cider they've had to drink) has been circling the drain, didn't matter until--YIPES!--suddenly it did.

As I noted at the top, that's how I see us getting here. Bottom Line: Not everyone is gonna get their money back from the Building and Loan, George Bailey. Ask Mr. Potter. It's a Wonderful Li(f)e. When will we decide to stop using the past to keep us from the future? Does today work for you? There may not be a tomorrow, that's why I'm asking.
-bill kenny