The world is ending as we know it. If you didn’t know that, there, now you do. Anyone watching the news lately? I quit am ready to quit watching the news altogether (which is saying something for a news junkie of sorts). Every day it is a relentless doom and gloom story of the world, or America, and lately, the economy, which apparently is waiting for a bailout of everything, everywhere from the government. From the economy, to President-Elect Obama, to unemployment and everything inbetween… so, in case you were unaware (because the news hadn’t told you yet) the world as you know it, is just about over.
I am about to start a three part process of ranting and rambling, so if you don’t want to read that, just look at the photos and forget the rest of it.
The Economy: is Doomed, or it is Just a Bad Economy?
Bad economy, bad, bad boy. You can’t turn on the news or the radio, or talk to anyone these days without someone mentioning how bad the economy is doing. I think we got it already. True, no one my generation or younger can ever remember a downside in the economy unless we are old enough to remember what Regan took over from the Carter administration (which I really am not), so I am not sure what we are comparing it to if you are 30-ish.
I understand things are not as good as they have been in the past, but come on, do you still have power going to your house? Can you still watch the latest American Idol on Fox or Dancing with the Stars on ABC or are those stations going out of business due to lack of viewers?? Last time I checked, our cell phones still worked, we have electricity, running water, have something to wear, something to eat, and most have a place to sleep. I find the comparisons to the great depression idiotic at best when we as American’s have more than most.
I mean really, I paid $1.89 for a gallon of gas a few days ago and according to the news, it will drop to below $1.49 before soon. A buck fifty FOR A GALLON OF GAS! We were screaming (for good reason) when it was $4.50 a gallon, but I don’t hear anyone (on the news) excited about the price of gas? It’s like we all got a raise if we travel more than 15-30 minutes a day by car?
Everything is Amazing, Nobody’s Happy // Video
Normally I don’t like to re-post already shown videos, but perhaps not everyone reads Ragamuffinsoul, so this video he posted from the Conan Show about sums up the sentiment with this generation (that is us, 19-45 year olds). Louis CK on “Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy”
On a personal note, our book business has been dismal. It brought in $1,013.10 in November in total REVENUE (not profit). Is that enough? No, of course not, but if it doesn’t work, so be it, we will do something else, but take one look at me and you will know I haven’t missed a meal in years. What ever happened to the inventive nature, the entrepreneurial spirit of this country to have confidence in saying, we will figure it out. Perhaps we are caught up in trying to figure out how to get a piece of a “bailout”.
You may wonder about the photo for this post. This was a photo I took after Deb and I finished a show in Houston back in 2002. It is $20,000, in cash (those are bundles of $1,000-$1,500 each, not single bills), we earned in 4 days, from working harder in a short period of time than we did at any other time in the year (some walked out with $100,000 and on up). It was a time in our lives when we worked hard, made almost no profit, and didn’t care how much money we had. We “tried” to not base our fears and anxieties on how much or little we had. Did $20,000 in 4 days make a difference in our lives? No way.
Why did I take a picture of it (besides being a photographer)? Because I knew it would be gone in a very short period of time and all that would be left was a photo. I think our expenses for the shows we did leading up to that show all but wiped out all of it and I don’t remember anything about how we had to spend the money other than this one photo we took the day we left the show. It was gone as fast as we earned it that weekend. Funny how when you have nothing you don’t have to worry about loosing it. Before the show, we had no fear of being robbed or having our RV broken into. After the show, we had to watch where we were, what we did because we had something of value for a short period of time.
Want Something Positive on the Economy, Listen to Dave Ramsey
Want to see a totally different perspective on the economy? Go read up on Dave Ramsey and see what he has to say. This is one of the biggest times of opportunity presenting itself and manifesting itself in more ways and forms than every before.  Let’s not dig a hole in the sand and bury our heads quite yet, right?
[stay tuned for part 2 and 3 coming up]
Scott Fillmer 
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