Back in the seventies when I experienced some unemployment, I discovered that a recession is when other people lose their jobs. When I lose my job, now that is Depressing, and when I run out of pogey... now that is a major Depression. Perhaps if those who caused the financial problems were to be fired... with severance proportional to the success or failure of their company...
On Nov 5, 1:22 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Depressed as a Nation? 80 Percent of Americans Believe That We Are in a > Recession Right NowAccording to a brand new Gallup poll,80 percentof > Americans believe that we are in a recession right now. Of course the > government insists that the recession ended quite some time ago, but > apparently the message is not sinking in. Not only that, most Americans also > do not believe that things are going to get better any time soon. According > to the Gallup poll,61 percentof Americans believe that the economy will be > the same as it is right now or will be even worse one year from now. Two > years ago, only 35 percent of Americans felt that way. Talk about pessimism! > So are we depressed as a nation? Have too many people been reading > theEconomic Collapse Blog? How do we account for such strange numbers? > Certainly there are some areas of the country that are still doing quite > well. If you live in an area that is closely tied to the federal government > (Washington D.C.), the big Wall Street banks (New York) or corporate America > (Silicon Valley, etc.), then you can go out on the weekends and find packed > restaurants and mall parking lots that are overflowing. > But most of the rest of the country is really hurting. > Tonight, there are millions upon millions of Americans that won't sleep well > at all because they are trying to figure out how to get back on their feet. > It can be really tough to keep going when you have been searching for work > for years and still nobody will hire you. If you have a family, it is easy to > feel like a failure when you have to look your spouse and your children in > the eyes day after day knowing that they are depending on you. > If you have never been through it, then you should not mock those that are > depressed because they cannot find work. Losing a good job and not being able > to find another one can be an absolutely soul-crushing experience. > So why do 80 percent of Americans believe that we are in a recession right > now? > Well, it is because that is what itfeelslike for most people. > For example, a reader identified as Carol recently shared the following with > us....My unemployment ends the end of December, yes, I will be one of the > 99?ers, one that did not sit at home and eat potato chips, drink soda and > watch TV. I have no health insurance, I support myself and cannot afford it. > I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last fall. Not to mention, > degenerative disc disease, and osteoporosis. But I have continued to pursue > work and regain employment, despite my health. I have no other choice but to > fight and PRAY!It amazes me at the stupidity of the general population, who > still have their heads in the sand. The majority have no idea what is > actually going on in our country on the political or economic side.What would > you do if you found out you were sick, you had no job, no health insurance > and you were rapidly running out of money? > Please pray for those that are out of work. You never know when it will be > you that needs some assistance. > For those that still believe that the economy is doing "great", let's review > some of the cold, hard facts....46.2 millionAmericans were living in poverty > in 2010.The number of Americansliving in povertyincreased by 2.6 million last > year. That was thelargest increasesince the U.S. government began keeping > statistics on this back in 1959.14 millionAmericans are officially > unemployed.6 millionAmericans have been unemployed for at least half a > year.8.8 millionAmericans are working part-time because they cannot find > full-time jobs.Only63.5 percentof all men in the United States had a job > during the month of July.Zero jobswere created in the United States during > the month of August.Median household income has fallenfor three years in a > row.49.9 millionAmericans do not have any health insurance at all.The > percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallenfor > 11 years in a row.More than45 millionAmericans (a new all-time record) are on > food stamps. > If you are still doing really well, be thankful for that. Don't use the fact > that you are on top of the hill as an opportunity to look down on others. > Unfortunately,as I talked aboutin a recent article, the U.S. economy > continues to get even worse. > It certainly does not help that we continue to see millions ofjobs shipped > overseas. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are proposing anything > that will stop the bleeding. > A lot of very skilled Americans are being put out of work by all of this > offshoring. For example, a reader identified as GlennA recently shared the > following with us....Yes, lurking in the shadows, that s been me. A > professional man with a master s degree in a technical who has not worked at > a full-time job with benefits since mid 2009. Spent my last 2 years with the > company offshoring to India all my team s work. I hear through the grapevine > that quality there has gone completely off a cliff, but profits are OK.Have > had only sporadic benefitless contract work ever since, and am now down to my > last few bucks.All of the horrible natural disasters that we have experienced > this year are not helping things either. As I have written about previously, > in many ways this has beenthe worst year for natural disastersin modern U.S. > history. > In arecent article for Newsday, Jennifer Wheary described the impact these > horrible natural disasters have had on many areas of the country that were > already facing tough economic times....But after decades of disappearing > jobs, declining wages and increasing expenses, this is no longer the case. As > a result, people across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, > Vermont, Maryland, the Carolinas, Texas and elsewhere lack the savings needed > to weather these unexpected economic shocks. Well before the spate of recent > bad weather, or the recent recession, millions of middle- and working-class > families were already under water.Right now, even the vast majority of > American families that still do have jobs are barely scraping by. At this > point, "financial security" is just a far off dream for most Americans. > So what are our leaders doing about this? > Well, as I have written about previously,the Obama jobs planis a complete > joke. It is really quite sad if that was his best shot. His plan would spend > a lot of money, but just like the last "stimulus plan", it would not create > many jobs at all. > The Federal Reserve has decided that it better jump into action again. The > Federal Reservehas just announcedthat it is going to sell $400 billion of its > short-term U.S. Treasuries and will use that money to buy $400 billion of > long-term U.S. Treasuries. The Fed is hoping that this will lower interest > rates on mortgages and home loans and will help to spur the economy. > So will this fix our economic problems? No, it will have even less of an > impact than QE2 did. But the Fed wants to at least appear as if it is trying > to do something. > The Federal Reserve has also pledged an "unlimited" amount of dollars to help > bail out big European banks in October, November and December. > It is quite frustrating that virtually nobody in the mainstream media seems > upset that the Federal Reserve is going to be showering European banks with > cheap loans. Apparently they must all think that this is a wonderful idea, or > perhaps they are just too preoccupied with talking about "The X Factor". > In any event, it does look like the global financial system may need some > propping up very soon. Yesterday, I shared 21 signs that the financial world > is on the verge of anervous breakdown. > Well, here are a couple more.... > Right now, corporate insiders are selling7 dollars of stockfor every 1 dollar > of stock that they are buying. > That is a very troubling sign. > Another troubling sign is that Moody'shas just downgradedthe credit ratings > of Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. > The last time we saw so much financial chaos was back in 2008. > We all remember what happened back then. > At this point, things are still so bad that 80 percent of Americans believe > that we are still in a recession. > So what are things going to look like if there is another major financial > crash in the coming months? > Will we soon see millions more Americans goingdumpster divingas they hunt for > something to eat? > Will we see even more tent cities start popping up all over the nation? > Will we see even more elderly people freeze in their own homes because they > can't afford to heat them? > Already, more than one out of every five children in the United States is > living in poverty. > How much worse can things get? > Unfortunately, they can get a lot worse. > If you think that Americans are depressed now, just wait and see what happens > after the next financial crisis. > This country is going to become unglued in a major way. > Buckle up and hold on tight because it is going to be a bumpy > ride.http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/depressed-as-a-nation-80-percent-of-americans-believe-that-we-are-in-a-recession-right-now -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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