Despair

No, not the Nabokov novel, though that is swell indeed (and not nearly as depressing as I assumed it would be), rather I speak of the feeling of hopelessness that one can succumb to at times of utter, well, despair. Yes yes, I understand that there is nothing I can do to help the current global economic collapse (outside of digging myself into debt like The Fed so desperately wants us all to do at this point), other than go through the motions of applying for jobs that dried up ages ago yet continue to rot like so much bad fruit on the Monster.com vine. So, as a realist to this entire situation, the feeling does not hit me very often, but at this current moment, I'm a bit depressed. My second unemployment extension is set to start within just a few short weeks, and while my billz are very thankful to have that wee stipend to help stave them off until the next month, it is a continually discouraging feeling that no, I am not in control of my immediate, let alone far away, financial future. Granted, after almost an entire year spent Without Job we are in a lot better shape that I thought we would have been when It First Hit The Fan, but that does not mean things are peachy keen. Not even close. So, here are some words of encouragement for anyone finding themselves in a situation similar to my current mental instability concerning the whole mess:

Things are still going to get worse.

All this crap about late 2009 seeing the end of the recession, housing bottoming out, government stimulus jobs coming out the wazoo, and other lies, are, like I just stated completely factually, lies. The root of the current economic problem is housing, and housing has a long way to go before it comes back, or even stops shitting itself to some degree. Since myself and Ze Woman are currently getting in the mood to buy a house (yes, even without me working, how smart is that?), I've been doing even more research than usual about such things, because apparently even though construction left me hanging in the lurch last year, I still cling to it for at least some form of daily entertainment. There are deals in the cheaper housing areas right now, a lot of them even. But in the mid-range to upper? Nothing doing. Yet. However, the days of looming Alt-A / Option ARM resets are coming (Google it for more information), and this will send additional shitwaves through the system that has already been wracked by the subprime mess. That means more job losses, lower home prices (by the way this is a GOOD THING because housing is still TOO EXPENSIVE), and all the other associated crapola we have had to deal with since early 2006.

Of course I think things currently are much worse than any of the powers that be are letting on, what with the banks that should have failed a year ago still being propped up by future tax dollars. We were told the bailouts would Fix Everything, but in reality they were nothing more than tools in order to Buy Time in hopes that things would Get Better on their own. They haven't, so either more bailouts are in store (while people will still stand for them), or perhaps Oblammer will be honest with the world and say "yeah, shits all fucked up," allowing the Zombie Banks to fall on their collective faces, allowing some form of new system to rise up from the stinking ashes. Not that he is the only that has to, as it seems nearly every other country in the world is equally fucked than the US, if not more so. We just happen to the be largest zit on the forehead. Either way, the current state of Almost Done is all bullshit, and we're in for a much deeper storm than most people let on.

Although it's not as though I've given up hope, no no. In finding a job soon sure, I continually doubt that will happen anytime soon, especially since the last time I got my hopes up for just that I went into a prolonged funk, but as for the fate of the overall populace? We'll be fine. Eventually. I'm not nearly as pessimistic as I was about this even 6 months ago, if anything I think this Great Downsizing may be seen as a Good Thing someday in the far future. I'm certain that the world will get through this and come through stronger, because we shall, for the first time in 75 years or longer, be able to shrug off that horrible spectre of Perpetual Debt, either by force or perhaps just by finger. Well, unless peak oil hits us in the face before somebody comes up with a viable alternative that is. Because if oil dries up before that, everything will be solved by mass extinction of the human race. Whee!!!