I Called, Did You?

I decided the only thing I can really do about this bail out is to call my congressman. So I did. My congressman was one who voted nay the last time. It is my prayer that the naysayers stick to their guns and do not waiver in their resolve. I do not know what the solution is, but I do know that this is NOT it. I tend to think letting the economy be, letting what will happen just happen, may be the best thing that ever happened to this country.

It seems to me that The United States of America (and much of the world, but I'm living in the US so I will only speak of that which I know) or more specifically her citizens, are too caught up in materialism and not connected enough to God. We have a dual income society. Not out of necessity, out of want. Our wives and mothers are out there working*, putting children into daycare to be raised by state standards rather than God's standards. Those parents feel they need to both work, but they don't really; they only need to both work if they want more than what the husband's salary can provide. You cannot have a 6000 square foot McMansion, in the suburbs, drive two new vehicles, have ipods for little Jane and Johnny, a flat screen plasma television the size of the living room wall, and the cable connections to infuse into it, blackberries for mom and dad, cell phones all around, Wii for when there is nothing to watch on television despite having 200 channels of smut to choose from, and afford the gas to cart Jane and Johnny to their 5 weekly activities a piece, on one income. What you can afford on one income is a sufficient house (more than sufficient by world-wide standards), a tracphone for mom and dad, a modest television with a DVD player and a library card to borrow videos, books to line the walls, one very nice car or two used cars, a family computer with a dvd/cd burner and some access to a download site such as i-tunes or that other one with the funny looking logo, ipods for the kids if they buy it themselves with their own money, and one extra-curricular activity per child.

I know this, because we live this. Americans do not want to live this way. They want what they want when they want it, which is always yesterday. If the neighbors get something new, well then I will have it too. Americans don't wait until they can pay for something, they buy it on credit. We live large and it is catching up to us. This is why, in my opinion, the best thing that can happen is for the economy to crash. Let people learn what the dollar means again. We will all be in it together, and we will have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, just like the pioneers who built this country. I realize this is not a romantic prospect, it is going to be hard, and many will want to give up, but it is time to separate the men from the boys. We will have to get our hands dirty to survive. That is the best thing that could happen to Americans right now. It will be ugly, but in the end, I think this will bring our nation back to God. We need to boot the fat cats out of politics, and boot the self serving egotists out of our corporations. We need Americans to find their entreprenurial spirit and tap into their survival instinct. We need Americans to be self sufficient once again, like we all were at one point. We have it in our blood, not so many generations back either. Find it within yourselves and hunker down for what is going to be a rough time ahead.

Incidentally, in my humble opinion, I think if this bail out goes through, it will only be a band aid. It is just putting off the inevitable. I think, if it does pass, it will buy some people the time to plan better for the inevitable, and that things will end up being worse down the line. The ones who use this time wisely will be the best off. The best way to use this time? Eliminate the excess in your lives. Sell off those expensive gadgets (if anyone will buy them) and use the money to prepare yourself for what is coming. LEARN how to be more self sufficient and live with some 'discomfort' because a little training in discomforts will likely pay off big in the long run.

*I do realize there are some who must work, not for wants but for needs, this does not apply to them. I also realize there are some who work and the husband stays home. That is fine too, if it works for their family. Then, there are those who have important jobs and are motivated by altruism over materialism, again, this doesn't apply to them.