Well, here it is- my first official blog. The power, the power of it all.... muhahaha!
I've been watching the stock market and the corresponding panic the last few days and have come to a realization: it's a good thing. Every 20 years or so, a war or crisis comes around to give us a much needed reality check. We're getting ours. The market will eventually correct itself and things will be fine, but a lot will happen in the meantime.
I'm a Gen X brat who grew up in the ME 70's and the go-go 80's. In the 70's we were given the ego, in the 80's we were given the sense of economic entitlement. "We want what we want, we deserve it because we want it, and we want it NOW! Waiting for it and earning it is for wusses. My parents have a big house they just downsized and nice stuff. I'm supposed to have it better than my parents, I'm supposed to have MORE! And I'm supposed to have it NOW!"
Problem is Gen X is comparing what they have now to what their parents have now, forgetting the fact that it took 30 years for them to get to where they are. What our parents had at 40, we are supposed to have by 25-30. Our first home is not a 2 bedroom, 1 bath ranch; it is a 2000+ square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath 2 story. We don't get by on just one car per family, we have to have 2 or more and they all have to be new with leather interior. The list goes on and on. We are on a merry go round; going round and round but getting nowhere.
There will ALWAYS be someone who has more no matter what you have; the question is when is enough, enough? At what point do you step off the merry go round and say "I'm satisfied, I'm done." Once on it, can you ever get off?
I think that there will be a lot of people in the coming months who will be looking at the merits of getting off the merry go round. Some because they can't afford it. Others because they will realize that all of the "stuff" they conviced themselves was so important to their survival, now that they can't have it all, really isn't so important. Eventually they, and the generation behind them, will forget this lesson, but until then we may have a society that is more conscientious, less wasteful, and more responsible for themselves.
Since I stepped off the merry go round quite a while ago, I welcome some company. Contentment is best when it's shared.
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Excellent point! In listening to my father talk about the 'good ol' days' in the post-depression era when food was scarce and money became worthless... it's putting things into perspective... I just hope I won't revert to eating chicken livers and cow tongue which they seemed to develop a fondness for.. lol. Also, on a completely unrelated note.. the word verification for my blog account was quite interesting... had to type in the word 'pophonym'.. is that a new member in the family of synonyms, antonyms, and acronyms??
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