The Shit Is Hitting The Fan

We’re finally starting to see awareness in the MSM that the current downturn might not be over by Easter. It’s still the minority opinion, but for the longest time it was damn near impossible to find the lone voice crying in the wilderness. I feel so bad for the people desperately holding onto their US stock portfolios, now cut in half from October 2007 levels.

While the news is full of stories about factory closings and layoffs, I think it’s another one of those cases in which it isn’t real until it happens to you. Then, of course, it’s surreal. There is nothing as desperate and lonely as slowly losing everything you have, the relentless calls from creditors, repossession of property, foreclosure notices and the inability to fix it, to make it better, to escape the hell that is insolvency. We went through it in the early nineties and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

In December 2008, every working day 3,100 homes went into foreclosure. That’s one every six seconds of the workday. Six hundred every hour. Oh, the humanity.

In December 2008, every working day 4,950 individuals filed for bankruptcy protection. That’s one every ten seconds of the workday. Over six every hour. Oh, the humanity.

In December 2008, every working day 26,190 jobs were lost. That’s almost one every second of the workday. Over three thousand an hour. Every hour. Oh, the humanity.

These numbers are just that, numbers. But every one of them represents lives torn apart, marriages shattered, childhoods scarred and a great deal of grief, anger and helplessness that never really go away.

I so hope that we as a people open up our hearts and homes and help those of us who get thrown under the bus by capitalism and hard times, and live through this decade of tough times as a better, more compassionate and thoughtful people. Dog willing.