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Your argument presumes that the USA will go down the toilet. But what if it doesn't? It might be a good idea to save, just in case.
Would you keep eating desserts until you weighed 400 pounds, because the world is going down the toilet anyway?
Keep all possible scenarios open, and conduct your life so as to maximize your prospects in any case. And, if the world does go down the crapper, but you survive, it might be useful now to start learning how go get by without things that plop you into the lap of luxury.
Thanks for your thoughts. It's a very tricky balance between living for today and saving for tomorrow. At this point, I will continue to save without being too obsessive about it.
.......but ultimately, I think we must start by looking to our own personal responsibilities. We should try everyday to be the best human beings that we can be. Positive change starts in the home, then who knows, maybe we will have a 'pebble on the pond effect'. I guess that is one more reason to save for a potentially brighter future. Plan for the worst and pray for the best!
Well let's ask the bailed-out banks, big corporations evading taxes, and corrupt politicians to "try everyday to be the best little [insert whatever] they can be."
(I understand what you're trying to say, but in the overall picture we need to wake up and get real about what is causing what.)
Saving is an excellent idea, for all the reasons you enumerated. Have you given any thought to what currency you should save your wealth in?
Gold and silver are MONEY. They are currencies, just like paper. Americans need to wrap their heads around the fact that paper is not money. It is the instrument used by the bankers to part you from your hard-earned wealth.
I hear you on that. But gold & silver prices have really spiked in recent years. It's hard to know whether it's a bubble or not.
Oh, good. The 'personal responsibility' people have signed in.
Do you really know any people who have consciously decided not to run their lives in ways that are personally responsible?
It seems to be that being irresponsible is usually a default choice. Not many people say, "I'm consciously choosing to screw up my life". But they have weaknesses they're ignoring....stuff they know they should be doing that they're not paying attention to. And then when they have to deal with the consequences of their neglect, they cry that it was someone else's fault...that they were doing their best (even though, if they're honest, they would admit it's not true).
Now, of course, it's true...life deals tough blows to people....stuff that's beyond their control. But it seems to me those who complain the loudest are the people who had the power to do things differently but put their heads in the sand instead.
Personally, I save because it's the prudent thing to do for myself and has nothing to do with the future of this country. If anything, I save in preparation for the things that can happen beyond my control. You'll never know when it's your turn on the downside of life's roller coaster ride.
I was having a great time in my career early 2008 with company recognitions left and right, then late 2008, my former employer lost its CEO and a new guy took over and decided to shift company's direction. His move cost the company a big contract that I was supporting, thus he decided to lay off the entire department that supported said account from Director level down to administrative level. Unemployment rate was reaching 10% in my area at the time. It took me over 9 months to find a new job in a different state, and to get back on my feet again.
Had I not saved dilligently every month, I would've been in a deep doodoo, worrying about how to stretch $750 unemployment checks per month for COBRA (the health insurance jumped from $200 per month when I was employed to almost $1000 a month in COBRA for just myself and my husband), other monthly expenses, how to afford to move to another state to get a job in my field, set up costs in the new state, etc.
After that humbling experience, I believe even more in saving money and in living below your means. The way I see it, if it happened to me once, it can happen again anytime without a moment's notice.
I agree with you. But what I talked about in my original post is that I think we're headed for something that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. For that kind of economic catastrophe, having savings is not going to mean much.
I hope I'm wrong. But in the meantime, I do continue to save.
I agree with you. But what I talked about in my original post is that I think we're headed for something that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. For that kind of economic catastrophe, having savings is not going to mean much.
I hope I'm wrong. But in the meantime, I do continue to save.
People do not have a very clear understanding about what can happen in real economic collapse the kind that other countries have suffered. Goods may not be on the shelves if the cost of gas and transportation soars, or in other catastrophic scenarios. All the paper money or gold in the world, for the average person, will not mean much depending on the rate of inflation and the availability of goods. Smart young folks today will get their property with a bit of land, get their gardens going, learn how to put food by, learn alternative means of getting goods such as bartering (poaching? ) and finding alternative means of transportation. Living way out in rural areas may be good or bad, depending on how supportive the local community is to each other. Living in the city can be good or bad, depending on same. You can do a lot with an inner-city yard (as I once did at the age of 20 on the edge of a ghetto in Boston). The problem everyone would face, if things were really to "go south," is physical security.
How exactly do you propose to remedy the current situation?
Since you asked:
The first step is to teach Americans that the purpose of government is not to help people who CAN help themselves, but to help those who CAN'T. In other words, as the Founders wrote in the Preamble, "promote the general welfare" instead of promoting the personal welfare of those few who have already grabbed the national wealth for themselves. The same ones that you applaud for their virtuous personal responsibility.
In short, we should depend on the people who are responsible, to use their skills and talents and energies to make American great, not just themselves.
If someone is approaching middle aged, they should focus on living below their means, living in a thriving job market, and keep their technical skills up-to-date. All of which are fairly common sense.
As long as the US gets the deficit under control by either cutting spending or raising taxes, then our economy will be fine. On an individual level though, I would not want to be turn 50 in ten years and be facing a sea of young workers who are twice as productive because they have honed computer skills since they were three.
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) and finding alternative means of transportation. Living way out in rural areas may be good or bad, depending on how supportive the local community is to each other. Living in the city can be good or bad, depending on same. You can do a lot with an inner-city yard (as I once did at the age of 20 on the edge of a ghetto in Boston). The problem everyone would face, if things were really to "go south," is physical security.
