Recovering from a Bad Dream

Remember the American dream? A house, a car, an education, stable job, and a family. That's all one would ever need to acquire happiness. It may take a few loans and a mortgage to get there, but if we close your eyes and everything will be OK.

That's what we all did. We closed our eyes to the interest rates that bubbled and to the loans that take decades to pay off. We closed our eyes on the vehicle that was beyond our needs and the shoes that were beyond our means. Insurance and credit rating companies closed there eyes to overvalued homes and risky mortgages. We were all sleeping away.

The dream on Main Street turned into a nightmare on Elm Street.

We all know what happened after that. Lehman went down, Goldman went down, Merrill went down (or bought). And so did our jobs. Unemployment hit record highs. Our stock market went berserk. Big companies and small began to die off like fish without water. How could anyone buy anything when his or her job was in jeopardy if it were there at all?

Two years later, we are still waking up to a horrific chain of events. The stock market has its moments of stabilization, however the job market does not.

"Surveys" say numbers are starting to look good, though it could be a number of reasons. To name two - companies are laying off as much as before and many people are working temp jobs. But, unfortunately the unemployment benefits are set to run it's course (thanks Republicans!) Recovery isn't looking so great.

Though the government is looking to employee the jobless for various entry-level positions, will it be enough to kick start the economy? It will take a few years before we rebound and hopefully we have learned how to manage our funds. Of course that all starts with our leaders. Perhaps if those who control our monetary funds utilize the tax dollars (and we know there's not enough being generated now) in the best way, we would follow suit as individuals.

Everyone under the sun can fix or spin numbers in any way to support a claim or intention on whether or not a positive economy is making a comeback. How many people do we know that are unemployed? How many empty homes and vacant store lots do we see everyday? How much can we even afford to spend on lunch? So no, statistics don't tell all, but time will. And if we wake up from our dreams and nightmares, we'll see it clear as day with our own eyes.