Mmm…yay for alphas? 
And sorry about your 401k anyways…
Luckily I don’t have a 401k (or even anyone else’s well being on my shoulders) so I didn’t lose much money, and I won’t get fired yet since I’ve yet to graduate, but it does make me wonder about the future job market.
At least I know there will be plenty of people who need counseling in the near future. 
It sounds like I need to go learn about the Great Depression some more, figure out exactly what we’re in for…
Dont go into the weight loss industry, That will take care of its self. 
Now there is a Alpha light, sure its just one light but there will be more. People will unite and like I said when all those lights come together they will illuminate the world. If everyone helps even one other person. We will be allright. Just keep focusing on the light
Tisha
I think this is a big line of thought on a lot of peoples’ minds.
Is the economy bad? Yes. Is it going to get worse? Probably. How much worse? I don’t know.
But Tisha said some good things here (reps for you darlin’):
And I think OY is also on the right track with this (and reps to you too):
Now to any of you ladies reading this please do not take me wrong, because you can never fully appreciate the strength of the love and steady hand of a good woman, but I am convinced that a lot of the problems we are facing - economy and society in general - is that we don’t have enough men who really understand what it is to be a real man much less stand up and be one.
(Note: I know Tisha and Bella can tell you what one looks like. But know a lot of ladies in here are dealing with being married to or divorced from some guy who will not or would not be The Man.)
Good times are easy, but guys, we are going into hard times and now is the time to be The Man. Like Tisha said - the alphas are going to be The Man - or The Men - who lead, pull, push or drag people out of the mess. And it is time to stand up and be The Man. Now we have had some in-depth discussion about what does an Alpha really mean. And I think those of us who were here then came upon a general sort of agreement. A little research will find that discussion. Needless to say, it dealt with positive leadership not empty posturing in a bar.
Not all alphas are going to be the “great leaders” of society, government or business. But you need to be ready to lead and help where you are. And that is what I like about OY’s comment above. He is planning ahead. He is thinking about where he can step in and help - positive leadership, setting the example - where and when needed.
So it is time to set priorities - and Tisha aimed us in the right direction - and make plans. Stay calm. Stay positive. Stay focused.
And like OY said:
I don’t think it’s going to get that bad, but it’s not going to be pretty. In the long run things will be far better though.
Let’s look at the dot com bubble of the 90’s, as compared to the housing bubble:
If the .com bubble didn’t burst the internet would not be what it is today and there would be far fewer websites and almost nothing would be free: When programmers and web designers were making $150,000 a year and investors were throwing stupid money at start-up’s, and money was expected to pour in in buckets, where was it going to come from? Ultimately it would have had to come from people surfing the web. But, the bubble burst and the result is that there are millions of people eking out a living on the net, and you can find almost anything you’re looking for, mostly for free.
With the housing bubble at the rate it was expanding, if something didn’t happen, affordable housing would have disappeared and the American Dream would have been taken away from the generations of tomorrow (your children)!
Does it bother me that many people lost thousands or millions of dollars over the last couple of weeks? Of course it does. But, when those gains were at the expense of those to come in the future, I see the ultimate good.
Maybe I sound somewhat unsympathetic, but at 45 years old I’ve already seen the same thing happen to my generation. After the Great Depression, things did get better and the next generation prospered. I don’t have children, but believe that it’s every parents dream that their children do well and have a better life than what they had. This has been the case and held true throughout American history. With this generation the tide has started to turn and instead of doing better we are going back-wards.
We need to leave the world in better shape for those that come after us, and if that means suffering so the next generation doesn’t have to, then so be it.
There won’t be riots in the streets and I don’t see this as a precursor to complete collapse. I look at the economic situation as re-balancing of itself. It may swing wildly up and down for a bit, but it will balance itself out.
It was a long way getting to where we’re at, and a multitude of stupid decisions, greed and deception. We built up an incredible inertia, then ran it into a brick wall. The dust will settle, and we’ll pick up the pieces and rebuild, but it’s gonna take time.
The sad part is, that instead of learning form the mistakes and not letting it happen again, our children’s children will probably see the same thing happen in thier generation.
And the Boss has made some good points.
The economy will get worse and we do need to step up, set priorities and be men, and in the ladies cases, women! We had plenty of good years and stretched the rubber band till it snapped. For that we’ll suffer for awhile, but the ultimate goal should be to leave the economy and the world in better shape than what we came into, and insure that the next and future generations have a chance to prosper.
Wow, okay I see what you guys mean. I guess I just need to worry about getting my degree atm. If the university goes bankrupt, I’m SOL.
Don’t worry. If you decide to get the degree, then you will get it. Might not finish at the same place you started, but you’ll get it. And there are online options. The University of Phoenix is, i think, the biggest online university and has bachlor and masters degree programs.
Just decide that is what you are going to do. The greatest powers in this life are decision, belief, and imagination.
There is ALWAYS a way to get the life that you decide to have. It may however, take it’s sweet time about gettin’ here.
“So it is time to set priorities - and Tisha aimed us in the right direction - and make plans. Stay calm. Stay positive. Stay focused.” - bosshank
Some of the preparations are pretty simple practical things. If you need a medical or dental proceedure, do it soon. If the car is going to need repairs or tires, do it soon. If you have bills you can manage to pay off, do it soon. If you have been thinking about planting a winter garden, do it soon. If you’ve been thinking about learning to make cheese or beer, do it soon. If you’ve been thinking about (fill in the blank), do it soon. Oh, and remember the flu shot too.
Preparation is a no lose proposition. Like stocking up on hurricane/earthquake/blizzard supplies. Even if it’s not used for an emergency, it’s useful to have around anytime.
“Good times are easy, but guys, we are going into hard times and now is the time to be The Man. Like Tisha said - the alphas are going to be The Man - or The Men - who lead, pull, push or drag people out of the mess. And it is time to stand up and be The Man. Now we have had some in-depth discussion about what does an Alpha really mean. And I think those of us who were here then came upon a general sort of agreement. A little research will find that discussion. Needless to say, it dealt with positive leadership not empty posturing in a bar.” - bosshank
Might be good to repost some part of that out in the forum and start the alpha disscussion again, before it dawns on them why we’re talking about leadership.
“There won’t be riots in the streets and I don’t see this as a precursor to complete collapse. I look at the economic situation as re-balancing of itself. It may swing wildly up and down for a bit, but it will balance itself out.” - mark-in-dallas
I pray that you are right. I agree that the economy will balance itself out when it is finally allowed to find some equilibrium. I sincerely hope that i am wrong about the rest.
This can not be limited to business/financial failures with massive unemployment. Already inadequate social services are being cut back now by state and local government everywhere with huge deficets, some of them on verge of insolvency. A few local governments in california are beginning to declare bankruptcy now. As unemployment accelerates so will the demand for social services just as the tax base income of governments falls dramatically.
The primary responsibility of local government is health and safety. Not just police and fire protection. Mental health and medical services. Water and sewage treatment. How about restuarants and food processing plants virtually without health inspections. Or maybe garbage collection once a month? In some places, even those with jobs will end up with a pretty miserable exsistance.
Complete collapse? No. Think of it as more like rips and tears in the social fabric. Some places will manage to hold their social support systems toghther by strength of will and a bit of luck. Some won’t.
Riots? By the end of this coming summer, there will areas with large numbers of unemployed people thrust into situations they never expected, that they don’t understand, and worse, that they see no hope of escapeing. Once a month garbage pickup would be enough to set off riots in some places. Will they be widespread? As much as anything else, that probably depends on how hot and/or dry the summer is.
Undoubtedly some genius will say we could privatize all these services. Just who would actually get those services? The poor, the unemployed, the hungry, would probably only get the services of the riot police.
The next question will be how long will this last? I don’t really know, but i can tell what will happen before we are allowed to implment the things that history has shown will lift us back to prosperity. I want that to be my next post. Let’s see if i can work up nerve to actually explain it.
“The economy will get worse and we do need to step up, set priorities and be men, and in the ladies cases, women! We had plenty of good years and stretched the rubber band till it snapped. For that we’ll suffer for awhile, but the ultimate goal should be to leave the economy and the world in better shape than what we came into, and insure that the next and future generations have a chance to prosper.” - mark-in-dallas
Aaamen.
OoohYahhh
The Map Is Not The Territory
If I put this off one more time…
A pot of strong black tea just isn’t going to do it this time. I’m having a hard time getting this out. This time i’m pinning my hopes on burbon, P73, and P84.
That and the fact that i do have a responsibility to tell you what i see. Pheromones, Androtics, and PheroTalk have changed my life. All for the good. I know there several hundred active members (and maybe thousands of past members) who’s lives have also been changed for the better here. A huge personal power has collected here. You are the kind of people who can change the lives of the people around you. You deserve to know at least some of the road ahead. I know you will use it to help the people around you.
Let’s start with the good news. The way out.
First I should give this caveat; These are the things that need to be done to end this depression. This is not how to do them. I have no idea how this could be implemented, nor do I care. In fact, getting involved in that discussion would impair my ability to see strategically. I can tell you this, these measures will probably have several false starts. This depression will not end until all of these things has been done very clearly and forcefully.
First; Massive public works from every level of government for every purpose imaginable, from roads and bridges to music and theater. (BTW: the cities with most live music available to average people will be the least likely to have civil unrest.) During the ‘great’ depression unemployment reached 24%. We should prepare for public works programs that employ a minimum of 20% of the working population in the developed countries.
Banks must go back to banking and nothing else. Deposits, loans, and currency exchange. No invesment. No speculation. No business with any company that holds an ownership stake in that bank. (Bankers and investment houses will complain loud and long. The rest of us will probably find it refreshing.)
Government will need to guarantee any and all small business loans up to X dollars. (I like $500,000) The countries that implement this first will be the leaders in the new economy after the depression.
Central banks the world over need a coordinated effort to put more money into circulation. This will require issueing galactic volumes of new currencies. And be commited to continuing to issue currency. When the first sign of recovery come then reduce to issueing just massive volumes of currency. I know that many people will object to ‘printing’ money. Their objections are valid. Many of the consequences that they predict are valid. The problem is that the result of not issueing currency will be much worse.
There are a set of mileposts that we will need to pass before the federal reserve bank will begin to issue money of a volume sufficent to make a difference.
I’ll get back to you with a milepost post in the morning.
Sounds like I’ll be moving back to the SF/Bay Area. Plenty of live music there. I planned on it anyways..
I’m looking forward to your follow up.
I agree that the government needs to start investing money back into our own country. We can’t expect to “fix” others, when we are broken ourselves.
The Map Is Not The Territory
Jeeez,
My theories are falling apart faster than i can put them together.
What i’ve told you so far hasn’t changed much and is probably still true. (unless it was all wrong in the first place.)
Where this world’s economy going is completely unknown. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before.
This all so new, it’s hard to tell whether it’s good or bad. It is just completely different.
I believe it is very possible that this began as a planned managed event, intended to enrich the already very richest. The plan has gone awry. This situation is now as managed as wind whipped brushfire through a canebreak.
The world markets are now devalueing all the world’s currencies and commodities simutaneously. This is completely unpredicted by anyone’s economic understanding, as far as i can tell.
This has all become so unexpected and unpredicted that anything possible now. There is at least an even chance that current economic events could be a short path to advancing the welfare of our planet.
Right now, more than ever, anything is truly possible.
OoohYahhh
The Map Is Not The Territory
I’ve been thinking about it. I know what to do.
Sit down. Wait.
OoohYahhh
http://smilieshq.com/smilies/rolleye0012.gif.
Jeez, Mushroom Man, it’s been a while. When I came across this I couldn’t help but think of you. 
Bella