Economy In Crisis Part III

6/5/2010

It’s Saturday, June 5th, 2010. Do you know where your money is and where it’s going? Thank you for joining me tonight as I FINALLY get back to the Economy in Crisis series. Tonight…Part III. How did we get here and what MUST be done…Before you read tonight’s blog you may want to go back in the archives and review Economy in Crisis I and II. Feel free to check the May archives for those articles.


Economy in Crisis, Part III

So…do you know where your money is? Do you know the difference between wants and needs? Do you owe more than you make? Have you spent money you don’t have?

Those are important questions that everyone must ask themselves. When I say everyone I’m including the “workers” and the “users”. In addition I am including all local, state, and federal governments. For far too long we have sold our soul to the devil. The old saying was that America was built on credit. I used to believe that myself. I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to using credit. I’ve got news for you…America was NOT built on credit. America was built on hard work and ingenuity. Credit is a byproduct of what is leading this country down a path of destruction. Greed, laziness, and a lack of ethics is what is destroying us. Let’s touch on each of these for a second…

Greed…Recognized as one of the seven deadly sins. Greed has manifested itself throughout America. Everyone wants instant gratification. Why wait till tomorrow when I can have it on credit today? The banks have fed into the greed of America because they are greedy themselves. They have lent money to people who had to have the latest and greatest toys and gadgets. Americans have lived by the mentality that he who dies with the most toys wins. I’ve got some breaking news for you. He who dies with the most toys…STILL DIES. And you can’t take them with you when you go. Right along with greed is two of the other seven deadly sins…Envy and Lust. I’ve got to keep up with the Joneses even if I have to go into debt to get it. I’ve got to have it RIGHT NOW. I’ve got to have fun in life and I can’t wait to pay cash for it. Laziness and a lack of ethics comes into play next. A majority of people tend to not want to pay back their debt once they get what they want. I don’t want to work anymore because it’s easier to let someone else do it. Why should I have to pay back that debt? The government will bail me out. This has led to an environment in this country of laziness and unethical behavior. It used to be that a mans word was his bond. Honesty mattered and if you borrowed money you paid it back. Today that has gone the way of the dinosaur and people expect the taxpayers to pick up the tab. This ranges from living in the ghettos to the penthouses of America. Major American corporations are getting bailed out by the boatload with YOUR TAX DOLLARS all while their CEO’s are getting millions of dollars in bonuses. Who can blame the CEO’s and the companies for being lazy and unethical? Where is the incentive to work and do the right thing? It’s easier for them to let the taxpayer pick up the tab.

When I was younger my grandfather would tell me to not spend my money so much and to put something away in savings. Don’t spend money you don’t have he would say. I didn’t pay attention. I was young and naive. Only recently have I begun to see the wisdom in my grandfathers words. I should have listened to the voices from the past. My grandfather was born during the depression and lived a very meager lifestyle growing up. He fought in World War II and when he came home he married my grandmother and they struggled to get by but never spent beyond their means. They knew how to survive. Nowadays I wonder how many of us would survive. We are accustomed to having things whenever we want them.

Many of us are guilty of falling into this trap. Many of us have bought things on credit and while we do pay our bills each month we cannot afford to pay them off entirely. As Americans we have made a major mistake by doing this and the lenders are making a boatload off of those that practice this. This is a mistake that I am now in the process of correcting in my own life. The banks and credit card companies love me. I pay my bills so therefore they have no problem lending me money. But the more money they lend someone the more you become their slave. I am currently in the process of paying all outstanding credit off and becoming debt free. This entails paying off debt and not purchasing things that I want. There are needs in life. Food, shelter, clothing. Then there are wants. Movies, vacations, DVD’s, etc. The wants fall to the wayside and the needs take precedence. This is the way to survive the Economy in Crisis.

This model applies to the government as well. The bailouts and the stimulus packages are just a bandage. Once the bailout and stimulus is gone we will be right back where we started. We would be better off letting the house of cards come down and then build it over again than to keep robbing Peter to pay Paul. The government MUST STOP funding wasteful programs and begin to pay down the debt that has been accumulated over the last administration and the current administration. YOU CANNOT SPEND MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE. That is the path of destruction. If you keep bailing the country out all the time no one will learn anything and the habit of laziness, greed, and envy will continue.

My friends I wish I could forecast a prettier picture but unfortunately I believe that the storm clouds are gathering. We haven’t even come close to seeing the worse yet. There is a Category 5 worldwide storm on the horizon. Everyone is in the cross hairs and the economic hurricane warnings are up. What do you do when the storm is coming. You batten down the hatches and hold on for dear life. If I could give each and every American citizen and government agency some advice it would be this. Cut your unnecessary spending, pay off your debt, stockpile a savings, and prepare for the worst. Use your imagination for what the worst could be. To get you thinking you need to study the Great Depression era and also have a look at the recent turmoil in Greece.

Folks, it’s coming…GET READY.

With that I will leave you thinking until Monday. I hope everyone enjoys their day of rest tomorrow. Stay tuned to The Bandit Speaks…Major breaking news will be posted as needed. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook as well at www.facebook.com/sonny.darlington

Stay Educated, Stay Informed, Stay Alert, Stay Safe


Sonny “Bandit” Darlington