Thoughts

(July 2019 The great recession is in the past but many still live together after experiencing the advantages. Those who were hurt by the problems with the job market and high student debt still may live with family members for several years.) (2009)The poor economy is changing the way many people live their lives. For some, the positives may outweigh the negatives. Families are moving in together, with multiple generations in one household for economic reasons. Americans tend to be independent and want to live on their own but in some other cultures, it is normal for multiple generations to live together in a house. Multiple generations living together can have many benefits if they get along. 1. Sharing expenses. 2. Shared child care. 3. Senior citizens are not alone and are kept busy.Someone can help them if needed. 4. Many things can be shared to make life easier depending on the people themselves. 5. A supportive environment.

Economic Recession 2009

(June 2019 Update. I wrote this during the recession. Everything is fine again. The stock market is higher than it has ever been. Frugality is still a good idea since recessions tend to come and go. Many lives and businesses were impacted by that recession. Students who graduated with certain degrees, including technology and any of the social sciences or arts, were less likely to get jobs in their field of study. By the time the economy improved, their skills were outdated and younger grads got the jobs. For many, the damage was permanent. The job market openings went away temporarily, just a few years, but the increasing student debt did not and will probably contribute to the next bubble in the economy. Time will tell. On a positive note, Christmas emerged just fine.) We are being told our economy could fall into a depression. There are those who are so far in debt, minor changes in the way they live would not help. The housing bubble has burst and many cannot afford the homes they live in, that coupled with increased job loss at all levels. At 7%, that leaves almost 93% still employed of those who are not disabled, retired or children. That's pretty good. The stock market is going down. Not too many years ago there was a push for people to invest in their own private pension plans which are tied to the stock market in various ways. Even for people who own no stocks at all, the stocks affect their retirement accounts. It will go back up. The main people who will be affected by this are those reaching the retirement age in the next couple of years. The market will go back up but those caught in this time period may have to work longer. Most people are cutting back on their spending. We got into that pattern when gasoline prices got very high and the habit has continued even though gas prices went back down quite a bit, less than half of what they were. Gas cost so much, people quit going places, which meant they weren't shopping as much or doing anything else that cost money. Then there is the "Grinch" who wants to steal Christmas. People are buying less because of the economy. At the same time, the secularists, particularly in the public schools, are wanting to downplay Christmas and are working very hard at it. School boards are getting very testy and insulting to parents and others who want to keep Christmas and call it Christmas. They have decided to have only "winter" breaks and "winter" programs in honor of a season. Mentioning Christmas is taboo because somebody might get offended and this is a squeaky clean, no religious value system known as secular humanism. They will tell you they are the "State" and there is to be a separation between church and state. If there is no Christmas, there will be no Christmas gifts which will save everybody a lot of money and headaches. Poor children will not longer feel bad about getting less than other kids because nobody will be getting anything. Is that called socialism? We can get rid of whole industries based on the Christian celebration of Christmas. After all, who gives gifts for a winter non event or non holiday? Think of the economic havoc we could reek if the the masses did as the public schools assert is right. Nothing for anybody. I hope the anti Christmas crowd does not prevail, but it appears it will, since the majority of our children go to public schools that denounce God as a problem to them (they are state and Christ is church) and will grow up to believe that God only belongs in a tiny corner of their lives. Eventually society will fall in line and Christmas as we know it will fall by the wayside. It already is. No Christmas celebration as we now know it is sad but it is economical. We can still go to church to worship, to pray, to remember the birth of Christ and sing and even have a bit of a meal there. Gifts are not essential and never were, neither are the decorations, neither are all the special Christmas food and cookies and candies. So let the state run public schools kill the holiday and the economies surrounding it, all the while denying they are doing so. It's only winter now. I think it is sad and wrong, but there is nothing I can do. It is happening so slowly, nobody will realize this economic impact of the public school policy until it is too late.