During these economically troubled times (or so the media reports) I
find it hard to find evidence of this financial turmoil in daily life!
I
tend to read the Financial Times frequently as it helps me to fall
asleep on a plane, I read the Wall Street Journal to get an opinion
from across the Atlantic and I read the Economist when I feel
masochistic!
I read endless views, news and opinions on the
economic woe facing the world and I cannot transgress what is written
in black and white (pink and black in the Financial Times) to reality!
Is the world on the brink of depression, recession or simply facing
stagnation? Is the third world suffering increased poverty due to
higher food prices and are we about to face crisis in the UK and USA
due to the supposed higher cost of living, higher taxes and a shortage
of the Black Gold? I think not!
Looking into this: property has
been overpriced for many years in the UK so what is being seen now is a
readjustment to more realistic value! What the news fails to report is
that house prices are falling, not because of some mystical force but
due to the fact that demand has lessened due to media hype warning
potential buyers away! For many years, first time buyers have been
unable to get onto the property ladder or if they have managed to do so
through scrimping and saving (and family handouts) they will remain in
hock for most of their adult life! Now with property prices falling
(albeit a gnats whisker of a fall) it maybe possible for those starting
out in life to leave their parents domain before the age of forty!
Food
prices are increasing on media hype over an increased population, lack
of suitable farming land and increased costs of raw materials and fuel
needed to farm that land! In a nutshell I say "rubbish". The world has
sufficient land to grow all the food it needs and more! If the planet
was in real crisis, golf courses could be turned over to farm land,
those areas used to grow crops for bio-fuels (a pathetic waste of
arable land) could be re-utilised for food crops, people could stop
drinking beer and spirits (hops and barley) and such food items that
provide no malnutrition whatsoever could be banned thus providing even
more land for suitable food crops – like Pringles crisps, muesli bars
and most sugar-coated items for the local bakery!
Oil prices are
certainly rising; most likely due to speculation by investors but what
the media fails to report is that this might actually be a good thing
for the planet and not a disaster as is constantly reported! History
has taught the world one thing, that economic crisis stops the average
individual thinking about the future! This oil crisis has in effect
relegated to the dustbin the fact that the planet may slowly be dying
due to our continued use of fossil fuels! Environmentalists,
governments, business and the average person should be celebrating
these higher costs; this could be the opportunity many have been
waiting for, the true birth of alternative forms of energy; solar,
wind, hydrogen fuel cells and of course fusion!
Oil prices are
rising and the average person is finding it harder to afford to use
their car! I would like to take this opportunity to suggest that it
might be time for some people to get off their behinds and walk; share
a car to work, sell the SUV and buy a smaller car (hey, take a chance
and buy a bicycle) and stop complaining! Perhaps the media should
highlight this opportunity to help people become healthy again, perhaps
even to help people give consideration to their environment rather than
decry the cost of fuel! An angel dressed as the devil perhaps?
The
BBC recently reported that higher household fuel bills were seriously
affecting lower wage-earning families! A single mother of three was
then dutifully trouped out to give her sob story to the masses! She
said "I now pay 60 pounds a week on gas bills; I just can't afford to
feed my family"!
I live in a bungalow in Edinburgh! It is an
old house that creaks and rattles in the wind! It has no insulation
what-so-ever, the windows are single glazed and due to the fact that
the house needs to breath I have vents under the seriously holed and
mismatched floor-boards. If I lit a candle it would soon blow out! To
keep this house above-freezing in winter I have to have the gas-heating
on full blast, plus electric heaters in each room! I still have not
managed to break the forty pounds per week gas bill. In fact, if I took
my roof off and switched the heating on I still don't think my fuel
bill would be sixty pounds!
The poor single mother might
simply have to look no further than the dishwasher, the four mobile
phone chargers (one for each child and herself), the television in each
room, the video games, the espresso machine, the hairdryers, the open
windows and doors, the clothes dryer, the hair curlers, the patio
lights, the chiming doorbell, the Ipod, the game boy, the fish tank,
the electric guitar, the outdoor heated swimming pool, the micro-wave,
the Jacuzzi……… all those things that poverty-stricken people in Britain
seem to have regardless of the money they earn! Hell, even those on
state support have these things!
» left by Sandra E. Graham(2,240) Sandra E. Graham from Paragould, Arkansas, USA (141 days 20 hours ago.)
Great article, Leuan. There must be a slight difference between life in the UK and life in these 'good ole US of A's; because we (meaning lower to mid-lower class wage earners) and especially the elderly on social security are most definitely feeling the economy's thumbs screws a'tightening! I'm most certainly not an authority on the economy and any predictions thereof, but I can't help but feel that the rising cost of oil has started the chain reaction and never ending circle of 'if-I-pay-more-you-pay-more---and God help us all. Sandra
» left by Ieuan Dolby from Scotland (140 days 8 hours ago.)
Hi Sandra - I wrote a lengthy response to your comment yesterday but It seems that the Turkish Beer I am currently drinking interfered with its eventual posting! Not sure what I wrote in response at all! But............Oil prices have nothing to do with the current world crisis! Nothing at all! Other commodities have risen far more, the Chinese have agreed to a double figure increase in the purchase of iron ore! And this is nothing, various other resources have tripled! What is going on is simply a readjustment, as you say "if-I-pay-more-you-pay-more" so at the end of the day nobody will suffer from price increases. Those that are suffering are those that have gone into debt! I'm sorry but debt has always been a nasty business and for families and individuals it is never a good thing - might have looked good at the time but hey, that cookie always crumbles! What I've always been told is to never listen to the bank manager, never listen to an insurance salesman and yes, they are all better fibbers than I! So those families today that are in crisis are those exact same families that listened to these guys, simply to fit in within the cultural environment of materialism! I'm in Turkey just now - wow, I see a different culture here. Europe should welcome Turkey within to learn a few things! First of all would be social harmony, the ability to co-exist regardless of religeous affinity! My apologies for waffling on, I could go on all day = these three glasses of Efes Beer have gone straight to my head! Respond to this comment
» left by Robert Melaccio, Sr.(6,317) Robert Melaccio, Sr. (140 days 22 hours ago.)
Leuan, a good article and yes when you look at the materialistic culture of the west many like in GB and the USA have more then most. That still does not mean average people are not undergoing financial hardship, the loss of a home, financial ruin, no job, no income. While the nature of the majority is to want and consume, not all. Many worked and are working two jor three jobs, went to school at night, worked for all they purchased and strived to give their families and children. Did they need two TV sets no, or that iPod or cell phone, no. Creatures of the system. Yet rather then change that culture it has been severed with no warning. The difference here is the total elimination of a persons capabilty to provide for their loved ones overnight without provission. That is the sin of sins. Yet, in many individual cases it is a good thing because it demonstrates the useless nature of material possessions. However, at the core is that no one should be deprived the right to earn a living and provide for what we here in America understand as for the common good, to secure the peace and get this, the domestic tranqulity. That seems to be for only one class no matter where, the have! Good job though, good points.
» left by Ieuan Dolby from Scotland (140 days 8 hours ago.)
Thanks for your comment - much appreciated. As I well know constructive criticism is the best thing a writer can have after a pen (or a computer these days). But let me ask you one question: is domestic tranquility obtained by having a mobile phone, a dishwasher, etc? Or is domestic tranquility simply the ability to be happy with what one has? If a family has enough food on the table and a roof over the head is that not enough? I went to live in Tuvalu for two years. I took with me one bag, I left everything else behind. I had nothing so to speak yet I had everything - everything at no cost! Poverty or social inequality (as I think you mean) is brought about by trying to fit in with those around you ........... at the end of the day as long as we are warm, dry and well fed - and - happy - then nothing else should matter! (I admit this is never the case but in a ideal world it should be). From a different view point: the rich are not any happier than those living on the bread line are they? They may have good food, they may have warmth and security but are they any happier? SO, the mobile phone, the dishwasher, the gameboys etc, are self-inflicted money drainers, purchased simply to fit into an exisiting cultural environment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take that away and any individual and family in the UK can have anything they want - the government pays for all the food a and a roof over their heads so basically if they are suffering it is simply because of the materialistic goods they have purchased with a credit card that they should have never been given! Hard but true and yes, the current economic 'crisis' has brought shock but I regard this as a return to reality rather than an injustice! Respond to this comment
» left by rtm (140 days 5 hours ago.)
We can debate for days. You are a rare individual. Your points are execellent. The American Indians had it right, live off then land and take no more then what you need. That said, and for the most part societies are a product of manipulation, indocrination and what is peceived as success. Many have fallen into the hands of the manipulators, the greedy, the exploiters and their main job is to take what you have earned or worked for. It is the anti to the message of faith as we who profess to be Christians should udnesatnd. Now one point you miss entirely is the fact that wealth of itself is not anti religious, anti Christian or anything else. Wea re in fact encourged thatw e should prosper. It is however and here is the key, whatw e do with that weath to help our fellow man that is important. hey keep writing, very thoughtful insight. probably we could talk for days. best wishes. RTM
» left by Ieuan Dolby from Scotland (140 days 4 hours ago.)
Smile - I tend not to bring religion into my arguments - that opens up all sorts of mine-fields and with respect to the Turks (Muslim there-in) with whom I have the pleasure of staying with whilst in Turkey I best to keep my mouth shut! But you are right, "encouraged to prosper" is written into the code! Maybe the small print should have been read; "when it all falls down like a pack of cards don't complain and just thing of the "good ol days" whilst begging with the hand out! Hard? maybe, I apologize! Realistic more probably! Regardless, it does not matter as those who are middle to lower class (and I include myself) have no say in the world! As you have pointed out the manipulators (there-in the rich and wealthy) will always be rich and wealthy and the lower to middle class will always be the pawns! If I could do anything to make us all be like red-indians, nomads of the dessert, et al I would put my heart into it! I feel in this global industry (called the world) that we should take a look at our selves and perhaps try to return to self-sufficiency! I better stop again - I think the sun has gone to my head! As again you have said there is no end to the argument, points, etc but sometime, somewhere somebody has to start talking about it! Respond to this comment
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