03.30.09

My Ramblings on the Relativity of the Recession

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:29 am by Administrator

I imagine that it would be difficult for anyone who has regular internet access to escape the barrage of news regarding our ailing economy.  I say “our” ailing economy because evidently, the economic crises has gone global, and it’s not just us here in the U.S. suffering massive job losses and failing banks and businesses, but also those in Europe are feeling the pinch.  Just yesterday there was news of the thousands of people in both Europe and in the U.S. who have rallied in protest of the bailout plans and the G20 summit, which is supposedly designed to meet to discuss and find some sort of solution to the current financial crisis.  The main slogan of those rallying in protest was that we (the people) do not want to have to pay for your (big business) poor financial decisions and investments.  Certainly that makes total sense to me!

But then just to think how we all got into this mess is unbelievable.  Especially considering I’ve been reading and hearing things like there isn’t even enough printed money to pay for the current trillions of dollars of deficit, let alone there isn’t even that much gold to back any of it up even if we were back on the gold standard.  And it makes me think of how so much of this is has been contrived.  That is, dollars and cents on a piece of paper (i.e. our bank statements) are just numbers on a piece of paper or a computer screen and have no gold backing.  The wealth of our nation appears to be only an illusion.  The other day I watched Madonna’s movie, “I Am Because We Are.”  I have mixed feelings on that movie , however, one thing that was pointed out in her movie was that a great deal of the population of Malawi lives on less than $1 a day.  Now I find that statement a bit misleading in that the value of $1 is relative.  If a peasant had his own farm and lots of crops, so what if he lived off of less than a $1?  His belly would be full.  Course, that’s doesn’t appear to be the case for the people of Malawi, but the “idea” of the relativity of money is what I’m thinking of here.  I recall reading once that during the Great Depression of the 30’s here in the U.S. that there were some extremely poor people who didn’t even realize that there was a depression.  They always had it hard.  The ones who really suffered from the devaluation of money are those who lived by it.  I mean, if a person didn’t invest in the stock market, for that person, what difference would it make if the stock market crashed?  I’d say, not much.  Same with the person with no retirement accounts.  For that person, who cared if the banks failed?  As far as I see, it’s the individual productivity of the land that is more important.  If we are able to have a place to stay and land to grow our food, how dependent would we really be on money?  It would be nice if more people would consider the benefits of bartering.

And this brings me back to what I noticed in the Philippines.  The Philippines is considered a third world country, yet it has a lot of goods and food.  Granted the salaries in comparison to ours are relatively low–i.e. an average employee might earn about 2,000 to 3,000P a month, which would be equivalent to about $42 or $63 U.S. dollars.   And I’m talking about a white collar job held by a college graduate such an accountant.  Employees of other jobs like retail stores and fast food vendors would naturally bring in a lot less.  Yet the malls and dining outlets are frequently full of customers.  While it’s true that if a person wanted to eat at luxury restaurants there (of which they have “many”), it would cost about the same as a nice restaurant here in the U.S.  That would “seem” to be prohibitive for many of the local Filipinos, but somehow they seem to manage and even have some wealthy people such as those who live in Forbes Park.  However, if you ate like the average locals, which are aka to some as the bakya crowd, it is a lot cheaper but still  plenty of food available.  At least from what I could see.  The vendors are all around.

So it remains a mystery to me how the people get around the monetary issue while at the same time it seems more apparent to me that the value of money is relative.  I have often despaired at the thought of some people being so extremely filthy rich while their fellow man struggles in extreme poverty.  Yet money only holds its value because we give it value.  That value is really subjective and pretty much pulled out of thin air.  Yet we, for the most part, play that game and thus enslave ourselves.  I think, for instance, of the blood diamonds.  People work in unsafe conditions to mine for diamonds and other minerals for what?  So the rich can wear them?  While it would seem to me that the equal amount of work on their own farm or family garden would likely produce much more satisfaction in terms of safety and a full tummy for oneself and his family.  The extremely rich use the labor of the poor and even set the value of their work.  It seems that the problem lies with the greed of not only the rich, but also the poor who strive to be like the rich.  The Bible tells us not to be respecters of persons.  That is, don’t treat one person better because he’s richer than another.  I’ve seen this commonly done.  James 2:6 tells us, “But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?”

For me, it’s hard not to contemplate the financial crisis from time to time since every time I turn on my computer there is news splashed about regarding the recession and government bailouts.  The problem is, I feel like it goes round and round, and that things will not change because they have remained the same throughout the centuries.  That is, people just tend to be selfish, and for some reason, the poor (relatively speaking) always seem to look up to the rich for deliverance.  I’m thinking again here of the thousands of people who rallied yesterday against the government bailouts.  Not only did the people claim they didn’t want to pay for the mistakes of the large businesses, but the people were also asking for jobs and benefits for themselves.  So again, who are they asking?  The rich government?  Who in turn will tax them for those services?  It seems round and round to me.  People don’t want taxes, but then they want the government to care for them.  And do the rich care that their fellow man is down-trodden or poor?  I don’t think so.  Just consider the bonuses the AIG executives tried to pass out as soon as they received the bailout money.  Another example is an article I read while having breakfast in the Philippines. The article was highlighting the 10th year anniversary of the first Bulgari store in Ayala Mall in Manila.  The Bulgari executive of that branch told reporters that, “He had yet to come across [a client], who says that ‘I’m not buying anymore because of the recession.’”  Gee, I suppose knowing that millions of people are losing their jobs and homes doesn’t deter the wealthy from buying their diamonds.  And these are the types of people we admire and strive to become?  Are these the types of people (CEOs and other executives) we look up to for deliverance?

I don’t know the solutions, and apparently the media is not showing us people who have the solutions.  Maybe the media is blowing this more out of proportion than it really is and are just creating a panic like some say is happening regarding global warming?  Similar to George Orwell’s 1984 where one day the news would claim they were at war with one place, then the next day their news would tell them that they were at war with another place and peace with the previous place they were supposed to be at war with just the day before.  Some claim that this financial crisis is contrived and necessary to take things to the next step, which is a one world currency.

In the midst of all this recession, at least there is still plenty of food available.  Although we do need to be careful because planned famines have been perpetrated in the past.  Consider the planned famine in the Ukraine during 1932-33 where 10 million were said to have perished.  Some claim that the some of the starvation issues in parts of Africa also are a result of government planned famines.  And right here in the U.S. we have a bill, HR 875, being presented to regulate farming practices.  Some are afraid that HR 875 is the framework that will be used to make private gardening and self sustainability illegal. Argh!  I’d better stop there before I get myself all worked up. . .  For now I count my blessings that we do have food, clothing, and shelter.  And perhaps if we live simply, like the average person in the Philippines or the poor during the Depression of the 1930s, we’ll come through okay and hardly even be affected by the recession.  Our markets, though the prices of foods have increased significantly, are still stocked very well.  People are still out shopping and driving around as far as I can see.  In the Philippines, it was the same.  The morning I read the article about the Bulgari anniversary, I was having breakfast with many others.  There was no lack of food, and if the media were not shoving the news down our throats that we are in the midst of a recession, I would really never know.  My breakfast was just as abundant and yummy as ever. No hint of recession there.  This breakfast was westernized and Filipino mixed–rice, mushroom and cheese omelete, and longanisa (Filipino sausage).

Those tiny sausages are one variety of Filipino sausage called “vigan” longanisa.  They are very yummy!  I know it may sound funny, but these sausages don’t taste like the usual American sausages in that these are customarily dipped in a vinegar sauce.  I would say they have a more sweet and sour taste to them.

In addition to breakfast, the ambiance of the restaurant (Mary Grace) also allowed for one to be totally oblivious to any recession there might be.  Each table had little containers of water and flowers and different sayings of encouragement such as this.

I guess it all boils down to prioritizing and realizing what’s really important and trying not to let the media blow things out of proportion (relatively speaking).  Sure we need to prepare for the future, but also we should be anxious for nothing.  I’m also thinking along the lines of 1 Timothy 6:8-10,

“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Depending upon how one looks at it, a recession or even a depression may not be the worst thing that could happen here.  Could it be that looking to the government and insisting that government give us jobs is a snare and not much different than bailing out failing banks and businesses?  If the government wouldn’t give the big businesses so many perks and breaks in the first place, but give the average man a bit more freedom to do what he will on his land, perhaps the little guy could stand a chance to become self sufficient.  But even then, that would not keep the greedy men down, and therefore there will always be class struggle.  What was it again that King Solomon said? “Vanities of vanity, all is vanity and striving after the wind.”  I think it’s best not to let all this negative news get us down, but rather, as Paul wrote to Timothy, if we have food and clothing, we should be content.
Marlakins

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