My Economy Doesn’t Care Who’s President
October 23, 2012
“It’s the economy, stupid. ” Bill Clinton’s campaign coined the phrase back in 1992 and successfully defeated Bush 1 by focusing on economic issues. And judging by the 2012 presidential debates, American political players are still narrowed in on the economy. One blames China for a lagging economy, the other agrees; one blames the poor, nobody blames the mega-rich money hoarders.
All the attention paid to “economic recovery” this and “recession” that fails to consider a few things. Humans, more and more, are creating our own economies based not on how much money we can stockpile in the bank or how many 2-story houses and SUVs we can buy, but on how our earning and buying align with our morals. Humans don’t do things just to make money, like so many businessfolk and politicians seem to believe and would have us believe. There is a renewed interest amongst us human beings in bartering, reusing, DIY, repurposing, and recycling products that doesn’t give 2 shits who is or isn’t POTUS.
My friends and fellow humans truly interested in progress are going back to small-scale, in-house production for a variety of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with earning a buck. We are growing our own food when possible, turning our yard space into garden space, and brewing our own beer because it makes us happy. And then we share with our friends because that also makes us happy. We are repurposing grandma’s old dress into new baby clothes and pillows and stuffed toys because handmade is better than store bought. Always. Objects with a creation story last beyond the material expiration date and have value beyond a number.
What’s more is that humans care about the Earth. Because of our increased awareness of unresolved environmental problems, we are cutting our purchases of disposable crap. We are choosing, instead, to buy lasting or buy used, and we are returning to systems of trading and bartering. We are also buying local, so that we don’t use as much gas \ spend as much money on gas. We are looking up videos on how to fix stuff on our own or with our children, and we are helping other friends in our community with services they might need FOR FREE.
This black market economy has not been an accident. While we humans – my generation especially – were accused of being apathetic, uninformed and lazy, we were actually re-wiring an old economy to work better for us. And we’re not just employed\ unemployed workers or confident\ unconfident consumers because democracy is not a business. After all, this is ours. Call me idealistic but my vote isn’t about the economy, and I don’t even like the word ‘stupid.’
October 23, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Call us Generation Exchange.
October 25, 2012 at 9:04 am
ive sat here and tried to think of something to reply with but the best way to put it is bravo on this!! i just wish i was more self sufficient that is my goal this year, im going to try and not just grow veggies and can them but im going to try and suck it up and go hunting…we will see i have never killed anything! not sure why i went off on that rant haha
October 25, 2012 at 9:36 am
oh, wiline! if you do go hunting (deer, i assume), you must tell me all about it. i went a couple of years ago… i just tagged along, no gun, but it was an intense experience for sure.
October 28, 2012 at 8:01 pm
I shot a deer about 4 years ago and helped gut it, it was pretty interesting and I would so do it again!
October 29, 2012 at 7:42 pm
so how upsetting was it to kill it? my friend says if it doesnt die quickly thats when its upsetting just wondering if you came across the same thing
October 29, 2012 at 8:06 pm
It didn’t bother me at all actually… it didn’t take it long to die.
October 25, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Perhaps if you had a clue about how our economy works you might have an educated clue on why you should give a damn about who the leader of our country is and what affect his policies have on each of us.
October 25, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Seems to me like we’ve had to go down the road to McMansions, mega stores, and a million and one products we don’t really need to get us to the point where we appreciate doing it ourselves. Thanks for a thoughtful post. Congrats on being FP.
October 25, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Thank you for pointing out what can be difficult to see in a world of endless advertising and pointless messaging.
We are the economy. How we define wealth is up to us.
If the 1980′s were the decade of Greed is good, the 2010′s will be the decade of less is more.
Thanks for your post.
October 25, 2012 at 1:15 pm
II hope this is truly the case brother.
October 25, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Agreed
But everybody not thinker like you my dear. Their many countries who are known for cheap labor like China , India , Pakistan etc . These countries are responsible for High Population which they cannot afford . So people who have little money or skills , they don’t to sell their time , skills and money for low profit rate in their own country so they look to west like USA , England , Netherlands inveterate .That create competition and extra burden on other country people but it is main reason to recession and inflation. Rich people are aloof from big cities and constructing new cities and factories to earn on very high by buy our time and skills on very low rate. Everybody is responsible for inflation and decrease in prosperity .
October 25, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Great post. I think a lot of us are seeing how the money-driven culture of older generations, the culture that tells you if you don’t have products X Y and Z and the right kind of car, you’re not really living, has worked out, It hasn’t. And anyway, is life all about possessing objects?
I saw an ad on TV made by some kind of real estate agent advocate group talking about how young people don’t understand the value of owning a home. No, I’d love to own a home. I don’t own a home because, as a kid, I and most of my classmates watched our parents dig themselves into a pit of debt. Maybe we’ve actually got more sense than they do.
October 29, 2012 at 6:41 pm
agreed
If you see in Pakistan , people deny use technology. Mostly people are not familiar with computer an e-commerce , many people still prefer cheque then Atm and debit cards , Credit cards are very rare , not sending money through phone is acceptable but majority not trust.
Asean want to live in past , love old technologies and never want to change their style.
October 25, 2012 at 2:46 pm
glad we found out that to big to fail dosn’t work small might be a better idea
October 25, 2012 at 3:24 pm
I wish I had something smarter to say than amen.
October 25, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I love this. Honestly, the economy doesn’t have a lot to do with the president’s policies, like you said. The economy tanked because banks/people make bad decisions, take out or give out bad loans. Hello. *shrugs* I like the idea of defining our own definition of wealth, which will hopefully bring more people out of poverty than it makes more people rich and greedy. (Not all who are rich are greedy). Congrats on Freshly Pressed
October 25, 2012 at 5:34 pm
You had me at the title. I am a hobbyist woodworker, and proud to say it because I follow many of the same ideals other “humans” do who are trying to make the world a little better. I try to fix things and not toss them out, I make furniture from reclaimed wood, I make things that will last instead of being disposable. I even bring home my aluminum cans from work to recycle them. Patting myself on the back a little? Maybe, but your post made me do it.
October 26, 2012 at 9:22 am
The title said it all, lets just fix America! haha great post though, very informative and honest, congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
October 26, 2012 at 9:43 am
The title cheered me as well, and I agree. Our empire’s gotten so fat, literally and figuratively. People don’t even know the meaning of the word “economy”. Learning to own less, live in less space, reuse and recycle more, drive less by choosing to live near work, and owning a smaller, more responsible vehicle are easy ways to need less money. Needing less money means you don’t have to trade as much of your precious time for wages. It reduces stress and improves health and quality of life, allowing more freedom for creative and service pursuits. Living as a part of the environment, instead of thinking it’s something you must master, requires a process of learning. Thanks for urging people a bit further down that wiser path.
October 26, 2012 at 10:34 am
I am sorry to say it does depend on who the next President is! About a month ago I needed to buy gas and drove up to a gas station here near my job and was ready to start pumping and the attendant said sorry sir we are out of regular gas you need to pay for supreme. I wound up paying $4.75 per gallon. I was not a happy camper!
Do we really want another 4 years of poor economic management for a nation that now is no longer looked upon as an Economic World Leader.
A sad scenario has taken place in just a short time. USA’s credit downgraded. Unemployemnet around 8%. USA No Longer Looked Up To. I think it’s time for a change!
October 26, 2012 at 12:02 pm
I’m not sure how that depends on who is President but just FYI, gas here in Tulsa just hit a low $2.99. Come fill up!
October 26, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Thanks for the tip on gas prices in Tulsa.
Do you want your children and grandchildren to pay for a deficit of over 16 Trillion Dollars and continuing to rise. There has to be a stop put to this recluse spending that is taking place with US Government!
October 26, 2012 at 1:40 pm
I believe we are starting to move in the direction you write about not because of happiness, instead we are just now starting to see the costs associated with our economic growth of the last 60 year’s.
The economic choices we made are now coming “to call” so to speak, and we aren’t happy with the options we have, so we are starting to reimagine our options and are working on creating the structures that will start working for us again.