The economy is always up and down and if one listens to the politicians it can be up and down at the same time. How the economy is doing is often a matter of perspective and unless it hits close to home we tend to ignore. The economy is something to worry about at some future date; nothing to concern ourselves with today, until it hits home.
When does the state of the economy hit home? It hits home when you are 54 years old, don’t have a degree and get laid off. When the credit card companies that had always treated you with respect increase your interest rates not because of your neglecting to pay them but just because they can. You discover that there are few jobs available and the ones that are available have such exacting qualification it appears that they are searching for one particular person and that person isn’t you.
The economy really hits home when you realize that the government which should be protecting your interest manages the country’s money worse then you have manage your own. Congress passes TARP, a bill that will keep the economy from immediate collapse but puts the U.S. deficit much higher. Then you find out that it was full of pork. A stimulus bill is created and passed by both houses in spite of not being read by all of those voting on it because it wasn’t finished until twelve hours before the vote. You are told that it was so important it could not wait but later you discover that besides being loaded with pork; most of the money won’t be used for at least a couple of years.
Finally, the economy really hits home when you come to the realization that you have so little control over your own destiny. You can only cut expenses so much, you have to try and make ends meet on unemployment which is half of your former income and you find out that the Speaker of the House spends an average of $1,000 a month on food and beverages served aboard the jet she rides back and forth to California; it’s your tax dollars she is spending.
You join other angry taxpayers at Tea Party meetings to discuss how to get your employees (Congress) to do your bidding and hear you and your fellow Tea Party attendees called a lewd sexually suggestive nickname (Teabagger) by news commentators. You feel invisible when Tea Partiers converge on Washington and although the BBC reports their numbers at approximately two million CNN and the other main U.S. networks say there were “ten’s of thousands”. The White House spokesman said, they weren’t even aware there was anything taking place on the Washington Mall.
This how I feel, insignificant, invisible, and in an untenable financial situation that I feel must somehow be my fault yet I can’t put my finger on what I did wrong. Meanwhile those in charge of running the country are putting it farther into debt and thumb their nose at people like me. Entertainers and news people laugh at people like me while they earn more in a month then I ever have or ever will in a year. Every decision I make, no matter how small or insignificant, feel like it is a matter of life and death.
Knowing that I am not alone gives me courage. There are so many people in my position and we have started to come together and we can’t be ignored forever. The worm will turn and people who are in power now will soon be gathering in the unemployment line wondering what went wrong.