Wake Up America

Contrary to what some TV evangelists preach, America is not the "chosen land". We are not blessed to have milk and honey flow from the tap whenever we want. We have become a nation of spoiled kids who think that everything we want is owed to us and we whine and cry if it is not given immediately.

My parents were, maybe, the last full generation to know that if you want a house, a car, a vacation, or even a new pair of shoes, you had to work and save and when you had the money you could make the purchase. When I graduated from high school the bank would not set up a checking account for me unless I had a job and a savings account with enough in it to cover bad checks. When my kids graduated from high school they could get a credit card with a $10,000 credit limit with no job and no collateral. Is it any wonder we are a nation with a huge deficit? We are a nation of debtors.

But those days are fast disappearing. And although it's going to be a bitter pill to swallow, I believe it's a good thing. Average salaries are going to get smaller. The housing market will not recover for a long time and more people are going to have to rent or share housing. Credit will be tighter and people will be forced to save for large purchases. Does this mean that our standard of living will go down? Sure. But who ever said we were entitled to a higher standard? A person's standard of living will be tied to their willingness to work to raise it. And they may have to accept work that is not as high paying and prestigious as they would like. So be it. As I said before, who ever said we are entitled to high pay?

Climbing down from my soapbox
David