Where We Were Four Years Ago

[Plaid Adder]

Since I am thinking about doing The Immoderator III at some point in honor of our first Obama/Romney debate, I went back and took a look at The Immoderator II. It was instructive.

We really have forgotten where we were four years ago. Yeah, everything is all stagnant and doldrummy and unemployment remains high and whatnot. But looking back at that piece I felt all over again the sickening sense of panic created by the economic cataclysms of 2008. I mean we were going to bed not knowing if our banks would still be operating when we got up in the morning. The D word lurked behind every conversation. A huge amount of money was being moved to SOMEWHERE and we were supposed to think this was going to make everything OK even though nobody could really explain why. When that first debate between Obama and McCain took place, we were still in the middle of the explosion and we had no idea where the shrapnel was going to fall.

Are we better off four years later? My gut and my nerves think so. I'm stressed out and perpetually out of money and suffering from the malaise that all of us "middle class" people who are running on fricking hamster wheels trying to make enough money to maintain a middle class lifestyle feel...but at least the explosion is over and I'm not coping with free-fall induced nausea.

It was bad four years ago. It was REALLY bad. We have repressed how bad it was beacuse it was that fucking scary. And why was it bad? Because for eight years Bush let the plutocrats do whatever they wanted. There was no effective regulation, no effective enforcement, and all the guys bundling bad mortgages and trading derivatives and shorting companies were out there making money for themselves while creating anti-value and nobody stopped them. And although they always seem to feel like these bubbles will go on getting bigger forever, they always burst. Someone eventually figures out there's no money inside the bubble, and the whole shiny surface goes pop.

Yeah, I wish Obama had closed Guantanamo. I wish a lot of things. But here's one thing I know: you put Mitt Romney in charge, and somewhere between four and eight years from now there will be another crash. Because that is where unrestrained capitalist rapacity always eventually leads. And that is clearly Mitt's platform.

Anyway. Try the experiment. Go look back at something you posted four years ago today. It will the fuck out of you.

The Plaid Adder

[RevStPatrick]

1. I remember one particular weekend 4 years ago...

My wife and I are always up on the news, and there was one item that scared the shit out of us.
I don't remember the technical specifics of it, but the basic premise was that the following Monday, if some particular thing did not happen, the banks would stop overnight lending to each other. If that were to happen, it would make it difficult to impossible for ATM transactions to occur.

Now, at the time, I did not particularly think it would get that bad, but hey... you never know. We went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of rice 'n beans, and other cheap and easy stuff that we could cook in large batches. Our thinking was that if nothing else, we would be able to feed many of our friends who were unable to get cash out of the ATMs.

It didn't come to that, as I expected, and the food did not go to waste. We actually donated much of it to a local shelter a few weeks later for Thanksgiving, so it was all good.

So yeah... Even though my standard of living has gotten worse since Jan.20, 2001, I am certainly better off now than I was four years ago.

[Rider3]

2. Definitely better off now

My husband is a land surveyor. For the past 5 years, he waited day-to-day to see if he had work at the company he's been employed at for 25 years. We are lucky that, even though they can't pay him his full 40-hour week, at least they are still picking up his insurance. He recently had his first full, 40-hour week! Although he may not work every day, I definitely see that things are picking up and building has now started up again. This has been a very good indicator that, yes, things are improving. No one could fix this mess overnight. I'm just grateful we're starting to go in the right direction.