As some of you may know, I was fired the Friday after Obama's inauguration. I find it ironic that just as things were looking up for the United States, things went to hell for me.
I'm hoping to keep this blog sort of quiet, and have a different focus for it. I'm not planning to send links to anyone, and I'm turning off commenting. I'm sure some people will find it, and that's fine. I think I'm writing this for my children or grandchildren, which is why I'll refer to events that are in the constantly in the news as if they're obscure. When you read, imagine you've picked up a dusty, moldering book in your grandparents' attic, and you learn something about your granddad's life you'd never guessed at. My main purpose is going to be a first-person, personal documentation of America's decline and the beginning of the second great depression.
Right now, the jury's still out on the depression. A massive, $700 billion stimulus package was passed a few weeks ago that's supposed to lift us out of this "recession" by the end of 2010. I doubt it will work. All the signs point heavily to the public digging in deep, and preparing for the worst.
Personally, I've never seen anything remotely like this. Massive, nationwide chain stores--the sort of businesses that seem far too large to die--are shutting down operations and liquidating their inventories. Driving down one of the main streets here in Madison, East Washington Avenue, is shocking. Block after block of closed businesses, space for rent, and boarded up windows. I heard on the radio this morning that Wisconsin's unemployment rate has shot up to 7.6%. A year ago, it was 4.9%. Everyday the news gets worse. Today, the Dow closed at its lowest since 1997.
I grew up during the Clinton 90's, which were a boom time. I saw the dot com bust, but it was a blip, and anyone with half a brain could see it coming. This... this is terrifying. I have no idea where the bottom could be. I don't think anyone does.
As for my statement about America's decline... the facts are plain. People like to scream that America is number one, but we haven't been anywhere close for decades.
- In Adult literacy, the US is tied for 17th place with (among others) Guyana. Moldova is beating us. (source)
- We are 45th in the world for life expectancy, trailing Macau and Andorra--two countries I've never heard of because they were never mentioned in my lousy public school education. (source)
- As of Darwin's 200th birthday (February 12th, 2009) only 39% of Americans believed in evolution. (source)
- Our infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 6.3. Countries with better rates: South Korea. Cuba. Slovenia. Malta. (source)
- We are by a very wide margin the world's greatest debtor nation.
- The big three auto manufacturers, once the greatest in the world, are now on the brink of bankruptcy. They recently went to Washington to beg for enough money to keep making cars no one wants. We can't even compete in a market we created.
- We are embroiled in two pointless wars which we cannot, or will not, extricate ourselves from. They are a massive waste of money and human life. Because medical technology has managed to save far more soldiers in this war than in previous ones, the cost of their benefits and long-term care will be staggering.
- The list goes on and on. I'll post more as I think of them, and as they occur.
That's enough for now. This idea has been brewing for a while, and the list of depression symptoms is long and growing daily. I'll have plenty to write about.
