BigDog Speaks

Oh yes, I ran out and filled up with less than three dollar a gallon gas. I still had half a tank of more expensive gas but I didn't want to miss a bargain. Now that we are seeing gas in a range we can almost stand, it is bound to change. The greedy folks who control the gas won't be happy with the reduction in profits and will certainly find a way to jack them up, again. If you notice things going on around us you will hear the word recession bandied about quite a bit. You don't here the word deflation, the opposite of inflation. If deflation begins, companies begin reducing prices on goods to the point they are not profitable and begin to close down. Production cost exceeds sales and companies can no longer afford to pay workers, doors close. It begins as a trickle and becomes a torrent. It is a scary word that nobody wants to hear, or use.

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Recession is easy enough to spot, people are spending less, they cut out the non-essentials and cut back where they can. Stores already know that the Christmas rush this year will be anything other than a rush and spending, ergo sales, will be off the norm. Profits, if there are any, will be small. The world as we know it has been given a reality check and it bounced. Keeping up with the Joneses has become more like surviving with the Joneses. Excessive debt in most households and little, or no, money to fall back on gives new meaning to feeling the pinch. Many households are struggling to survive, others have collapsed. The economy is in a tailspin called recession, a hair width away from deflation. However, the bailout was a step in the right direction, another may be just the shot we need. As individuals, there is Damn little we can do to change much of anything, we are locked in to whatever happens. As individuals, we CAN grow some of our own food, reduce our consumption of goods, tighten our belts and hang on for the ride. This is not a time for panic, it is a time for cool headed, rational thinking. The world has changed, accept that. The world has corrected what we have been unable to correct. Our perspective is being forced back into a time that existed long ago when credit was NOT a way of life, savings accounts were. Christmas clubs were used to save money for gifts and most purchases were made with cash. You know what I am talking about, real money, not plastic. We are going back to that, kicking and screaming perhaps, but, back we go. This is not the end of time, this is the end of the everything on credit era. In so doing, we get back a little more of our individuality, a bit more control of our lives, and our independence. We CAN grow food. We CAN reduce our excesses. We can regain control of our lives, free of the anchor of plastic money that tied us to a sinking ship. All this turmoil, is a good thing. We are getting our lives back.