The suburb I live in was always considered a decent place to live. Although I’ve always hated my town based of its overwhelming abundance of trains and auto parts stores, most people who live here are happy with it and my friends from the city describe it as being “cute”. But now, it seems that every time I drive around in my area, I see yet another foreclosed house that had been occupied just a few days earlier. Similarly, a more-affluent suburb I often shop in is now littered with vacant storefronts, even though just two years ago, that town’s shopping district was thriving.
When I was in high school, we all whined about the bad economy based on high gas prices and low interest rates, but back then, everyone I knew was surviving just fine. Now, I know of businesses that have shut down rather than continuing to pay the rising cost of renting space. With the increased cost of living expenses, most middle-class citizens are now agonizing over how they’ll ever come up with enough to cover their next mortgage payment or the upcoming round of property taxes. Everyone I know who is looking for a job isn’t finding one. And some of the most hard-working people I know are facing foreclosure.
So between the lack of jobs, the inflated cost of everything, the government’s increases in taxes, and the fact that banks are becoming less and less reliable, where are we supposed to go? It’s not about whether or not people can afford a vacation anymore. The middle class is shriveling as a growing percentage of the population has nowhere to live, no work to be found, and no money for food. Does the government really think that rather than creating jobs or lowering taxes, the solution to our economic problems is for everyone to just die?
At one time the economy was the consumer’s friend. Back in the 1990’s, if you had enough money to put a little away in the bank, you were rewarded with a reasonable amount of money in interest. Longer ago than that, back in the 1950’s, shoppers were given S&H stamps every time they went to the grocery store, which they could later use in order to receive free household items. Perhaps you could argue that expensive restaurants and specialty stores do the same thing now by giving regular customers free birthday dinners and buy-10-get-one-free punch-cards. But when the economy’s bad, the first things people give up are those expensive services, whereas grocery shopping is a necessity for everyone.
Maybe the experts think the reason why consumers can’t be given a break now is because the economy is bad. But doesn’t it instead seem that the economy is bad now because no one is given a break?
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