INTERESTING TIMES

I haven't read the news, but just the headline sparks some questions. Do all those people who bought more house than they could afford and then lost their jobs get to keep their houses? Doesn't it make some sense to allow the economic contraction to force families to condense and become cooperative again? We have become so scattered and "independent" that we have no safety net anymore, except for the government, but is that how we really want our lives to be? Certainly a reduction in government payouts to the populace would cause some crises, but it takes some crises to change society at a fundamental level, and that is what is coming down the pipe whether we do it on purpose or wait for it to be done to us. We the people are bleeding our government which is in turn bleeding us. Won't be much left behind when the pretend money runs out. We'll have to figure out how to grow food again, how to barter for what we need and how to hibernate in the winter. Our bipartisan political system and the corporatocracy that runs it are not going to save us.

In an interactive map from Slate.
Here: http://slate.com/id/2216238/
Scroll down the page and hit the forward arrow, and it will play through the last two years. Blue dots are jobs gained, red dots are jobs lost. Put your cursor over a county and it will report the numbers.

See here scenes from the recession from the Boston Globe. It's easy to hear the words and all the media ranting about what is happening around the world. But the pictures bring it home. Construction stopped halfway. A thousand or hundred thousand applicants per job. Unsold products taking up acres of storage space. Frankly, I don't believe it when they say we'll be recovering in a year or two. I think this is the first big drop in a pattern of decline that will go for centuries. Here we go. Interesting times, indeed. There is nothing to do now but enjoy what we have....a beam of sunshine, a pretty flower, a hot shower, a good meal. Aren't we lucky? We still have internet. For now.

Far worse, in fact. Here's the headline: U.S. Employers Cut 80,000 Jobs in March
Third-straight monthly decline is largest in five years; unemployment rate climbs to 5.1 percent.
Unemployment Rate Jumps to 5.1 Percent

There are four sectors in which hiring is up: education, health services, leisure and hospitality.

The other day my Edward Jones financial guy blew some sunshine up my ass. He said "Whenever people start talking about recession it is usually about over". He is sure things are about to turn up again, that our economy is solid and this is just a blip. I don't understand how he can call himself an investment advisor. He says the recession is ending, I say the depression is beginning.
( Here's some of the bad news from The Washington Post )