Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics How will the financial crisis develop?

I can't speak for anyone else but as for me I'm not breathlessly excited in the least. Ms. Mickey and I had plans for Paris in March, that's gone. I had plans to retire one day, that's not looking as peachy as it was 6 months ago. I'm now working hard on a big garden because it may be we'll need it. All things considered so far I'm a lucky sumbitch - so far. That said, I'm losing sleep because I'm afraid that by the second quarter of next year I'll have to let some people go. One of my brothers was doing quite well until recently and now may have to file for bankruptcy. One of my children and her family are just barely hanging on. We have friends, a chef, a newspaper reporter, a business owner and more who are all unemployed. Arizona, where I think everyone on earth owned a second home, is in deep, deep debt, somewhere perhaps on the other side of 1.5 billion. I know of only one person who has sold a house here in the last year.

The bailout is a goddam scam beyond comprehension. I don't see things getter better for years. We haven't hit bottom yet in the US. That will happen sometime next year. I can't imagine. Like the lyrics to a Cowboy Junkies song I long for the days when "a quart of milk was still a dollar or even when a quart of milk was still a quart."

My guess, Ardy, is that many of us are doing what we can to cope and to prepare ourselves for the hard times to come. I will be absolutely giddy if I'm wrong about the future.

For the time being I'm trying to live in the moment. Hell, I'm not that materialistic a guy, though I have a lot more crap than I need. I've been "broker than hell" in my adult life, after a divorce many years ago. I made it. It was tough at times, but when things get like that you cowboy up and walk on. It took years but I made it. I'm not worried about me. I'm most concerned about the people I love and the dark horizon ahead.