By: Thinking Outloud

Thinking Outloud — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:28:18 +0000

As usual there is a disconnect between what we may know or anticipate happening and having the where-with-all to actually prepare or do something about it. For a while we have had an “eat, drink and be merry” attitude while riding a 14,000 DOW and inflated home values. The problem was that we forgot (or didn't want to remember) that the second part of the verse is “for tomorrow we die.” There is a reason that the vast majority of Americans who actually have some money in a 401K or other vehicle leave the handling of it up to some “expert”; they don't have a clue how to handle it themselves. To expect them to 1) REALLY care enough to stop watching tv and take some time to learn how the market works, 2) be knowledgeable enough to understand where the market is going and 3) be wise enough to be pro-active in protecting their investment is just asking too much. That's what our government is for! They will look out for us. They know what is best. Isn't that what our government has been telling us and wants us to believe…and in fact we do believe? Have you been listening to the debates? Now the Fed is perched to grasp the banks to “rescue” US from THEIR failure. And in doing so, the few that are really pulling the strings are profiting wildly. NOTE: Good `ole Mr. Buffet made a cool $8B in 30 days this August/September (not that he's the problem, God forbid) so someone is benefitting by all of this noise.
Anyway, to expect the “masses” to actually be self governing and be able to take care of themselves is to expect too much. For years we have been blanketed by the “mushroom principle,” which keeps us in the dark as dung is shoveled on us. The sad part is that we have become comfortable there.

Comments on: Sometimes Economic Predictions Come True

By: Thinking Outloud