Keep On Floatin'

So the Great Stimulus of 2009 seems moments away from becoming a reality, and while I heavily protested the initial Bank Bailout from last year, this one I'm more keen on accepting, and possibly even supporting, at least in part. Oh sure, I may end up being supported by it, so I suppose I may be a bit biased in that regard, but my main gripe with government spending is not the amount, but rather the location. Tax cuts for the rich are bullshit, giving money to failed business models is bullshit, and privatizing profits while socializing losses is bullshit. Funding various welfare, education, and health programs are not acts in such a vein that join the dung with the proverbial steer. I'm not here to argue or prove any of this, that's just like, my opinion, man. So, while the details of this particular Super Tax Spend Thing have yet to be released, I do know that it provides several provisions for the increase and extension of unemployment benefits, as well as some sort of relief to COBRA insurance costs. As a user and abuser of both, I like this. Particularly since monthly COBRA payments for myself alone are less than full coverage car insurance for 2 people with 2 vehicles that aren't terribly old, this may help a great many people. Some may bitch about people sucking off the government when they should be out working, but for those that make such an argument that hold positions in power, this is simply grandstanding because they know that at the end of the day the unemployment benefit extension simply amounts to what welfare always has been: Riot Control. Our ranks continue to grow, and if the soon-to-be masses are not placated, the status quo shall be a-changed. In years past this opiate was dosed in the form of a mountain of credit cards so that people could get all the Stuff they wanted, but those days are gone, hence we're all on the dole lest we become angry gun toting raw red meat eating motherfuckers.

Anyhow. My personal/immediate economic barometer for how things are progressing usually comes in the form of the bimonthly gatherings of one particular circle of friends. Last week was someone's 30th birthday that also coincided with an '80s Themed Partay. Now, to be completely honest, I fucking hate themed parties. I think that if your party is already assumed to be so boring that you need to remind someone to have fun by giving them specific activities to prepare for engagement thereof before so much as anyone has waltzed through the door, the entire affair is borked from the outset. That being said, we had an absolute blast. I never thought that 3 hours of '80s-Centric Pictionary would be so much fun, but it really was. Oh sure, we always have fun around this group of people and knew a good time would be had by all, but we both thought this round might be a little, you know, fruity. It wasn't. At all. Even the Gummy Bracelet Trade that took place at 1:30am, with the majority of participants being relatively sober, was a pretty god damn rockin' good time. So, while there were no roundtable discussions about the economy, I did engage in a sidebar conference or two. Layoffs and pay cuts have become the norm (though not the majority), another foreclosure was added to the list, and even a few bankruptcies are in the midst. Oh sure, nobody is out on the streets going hungry, but living arrangements have shifted and plans have changed. As I said the other night, 2009 is going to be a year to make due as best you can. Of course I think that 2010 and beyond will also be of the Make Due variety, and no, not until "things come back" or some other miracle cure, because I think we are at the start of The Great Downsizing. 10 years from now, we will no longer be a society who buys new cars every 2 years while owning several bits of property here and about on average middle income salaries. The days of credit wastrels are waning fast, and once they are gone, will not come back for several generations. Much like the 1920s were to the next 50 years, so will the 2000s be for that much longer. But rather than playing Kreskin and possibly failing miserably, perhaps I should move on to my more immediate point.

The government needs to step in and keep the masses floating. Reluctantly, I was able to adjust The Family Budget to fit this here predicament we found ourselves upon, and if others have not done so yet, they will be forced. Since I never went gonzo with my previous salary we didn't even have to move, but if something worse would happen to our monetary situation, we could easily rearrange our living situation into an apartment or possible love-in with a friend and/or relative. However, provided the gubmint continues to provide a few pennies here and there, a life of slight inconvenience is much preferred to one of absolute horror. If social programs continue to prop up those first effected by this mess, we will all be able to ease into the next phase of life without too much difficulty. Programs such as Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, WIC, and other social subsidies simply cannot afford to fail right now. Wall Streeters worried about their bonuses being cut this year won't give a good god damn about them next year if they cannot simply walk out their front door without being raped by the huddled but no longer cowering masses of torch and pitchfork.

Oh yeah, here is my dress-up version of the 1980s, which honestly, isn't terribly different from how I look every day anyhow: