Soap Box

Are they kidding me, or what?! I am having some frustration about our country's fiscal issues. I know that nobody wants a repeat of the Great Depression. I get it. But I just heard on NPR (yes. I listen to NPR. Every chance I get. It doesn't mean I am a liberal. It means I got fed up with network news a long, long time ago.) that the AIG bailout is being revamped and going to cost us even more and we have no say in the matter. Meanwhile, the car manufacturers want a bailout, too. Honestly, their request seems more legitimate to me than AIG. Do we all know how AIG got into the mess they did in the first place? By gambling, basically, on the mortgage industry. Go HERE for the fascinating breakdown. Anyway, my cynical theory is that the insurance lobby is so strong and rich that they can buy off Washington to give them what they want, like bailouts and tort reform laws and the like. I personally think it would not be the end of the world if a humongous insurance company went down in flames. Seriously, these guys took risks with mortgages, and they should know better, but we expect Joe Homebuyer to take more responsibility for his action than the corporation? I totally get the argument that these companies failing would be economic disaster for the rest of us. In fact, I have a good friend doing her PhD on financial markets stuff whom I would describe as a fiscal conservative who says the bailout is necessary. I am probably being simplistic, maybe plain ignorant here. But still. Doesn't it just seem wrong on principle?

Which brings me to the fundamental issue I have with this whole thing: our lack of pain tolerance. I have had three babies without using pain meds. I don't say this to put myself out as a superstar or anything, truly. In fact, the reason I prepared to labor with no meds is because I saw my sister get an epidural when I was at an impressionable age and I thought it looked so horrible I promised myself I would try to never do it. What I discovered having babies this way and observing others do it countless other ways was priceless. Recovering from an epidural or c-section (which epidurals sometimes cause because they can slow labor down too much) can be worse than going through the labor naturally and having done with it. Obviously each situation is unique, but there is evidence that your body can work much more efficiently without deadening pain meds. It's hard work and seriously uncomfortable, but no one is expecting a spa vacation when they go to have a baby, right?

Back to the economy. Maybe if we just let ourselves work through it without expecting a painfree recovery from this whole mess, it would be more efficient? Can't get credit to buy a car? Buy used, ride a bike, make your old one last a bit longer. And we would certainly never forget the experience, and we would probably work hard to see that it didn't happen again by not building up excessive debt and keeping a savings cushion for times such as these. Ditto with the big companies. Maybe they wouldn't get stupid with their money so much either. I hear all kinds of tragic projections about the dreary Christmas shopping season. Hellllooooo! Our overspending is part of what got us here! A dreary shopping season sounds like really good news to me! And when big, old, comfy companies like AIG find themselves broke, smarter, more conservative companies can rise to take over. A shake-up might not be the end of the world.