Maybe.. (financial, elect, retirement, state)

[bongofury]

This difficult recession has forced some here-and-now self-reflections that have moved to the forefront of many of our thoughts. The past decade and a half as I've traveled America from west to east and back again, I can't help but note our collective conspicuous consumption of consumer goods, our excessive consumption of food and drink, and the sense that Americans understand consumerism is not making them happier in the long run. What do we do? The past is the past, the memories of home values doubling and retirement accounts going higher every statement - gone. Maybe deep down we are getting that the RV's, ATV's, boats, large houses, sports cars, behemoth trucks, and 'shopping to lift our moods' are not the road to substantive inner-satisfaction in our lives. Maybe we are realizing the financial hardships excessive consumption entails is not a trade-off as we see our past purchases not fulfilling the satisfaction they did initially as they depreciate in value and seem to mock us for our lack of frugality and common sense . Maybe we realize that our, and our neighbors garages are so full of junk that many of us cannot even use them for their intended purpose. How many vehicles sit in driveways next to garages packed with junk? Who has not drove through neighborhood after neighborhood seeing all the stuff Americans have accumulated - parked in yards, by the sides of houses, piled into carports and garages? Maybe more of us are thinking these days about things that really matter like our health, our environment, and less about purchasing yet more things we can easily live without. Maybe just maybe we realize that all those semi-tractor trailer trucks and rail cars fouling our air criss-crossing our country packed with consumer goods destined for our Wal Mart's, Costco's, etc., are not our savior but our burden. Might we ask, can we not consume less? Can we not save more? Who does not know that the savings rate in America is abysmal, and yet how ironic that the countries that sell us so much of the stuff filling our yards, cabinets, and garages are also the countries with the higher savings rates? People talk about the signs of empires in decline and of empires on the rise, is not our collective consumptive behavior as a country weighing us down - increasing our debt burden and weakening our society? Are we going to learn to live with less? Are we going to better embrace our neighbors and community, or further isolate ourselves behind our our electronic gadgets and inward inducing activities that are so anathema to the American experience of the past? Do we honestly believe we can return to our consumptive ways of the past? Are we to learn from our mistakes? Maybe.