Hold on, folks, it looks to be a bumpy ride ahead!

Doesn’t it totally suck that the financial institutions which encouraged us to bury ourselves in debt and rely on them now turn their backs on us when we still need that line of credit? It’s not as if we did anything to cause them to lower the credit limits on our cards or stop the line of credit with which we buy the supplies to operate our businesses and supply public demand which in turn requires us to buy more supplies to satisfy further demand.

They’ve enticed us with easy money and a belief that the financial support was secure. That’s like telling a young girl…”Marry me, honey. You stay at home and I’ll support your every need. Don’t worry that you’re dependent on me. I’ll always be here.”…this, of course being said before thirty years together and the introduction of a new love interest. Uh, well, the analogy may suck but you get my gist? Perhaps both enterprises are a bit hopeful in the first place. Co-dependence is a hopeful endeavor from the outset and if there’s an unequal balance of give and take from both sides or mismanagement from the one in control, one side will always come out ahead with the other wishing things were different.

The US consumer has enjoyed…too well…a decade or more of false prosperity. We’ve foolishly and optimistically bought, spent, leveraged on someone else’s money and now we’re floundering because that money is no longer available to us. Where once we borrowed on tomorrow, we’re now going to be forced to live with what we have today. Our incomes, which are meager compared to our wants and desires, will have to stretch to cover our daily necessities as well as those debts created which we now become master jugglers to manage. Dave Ramsey, save us from ourselves! Watch our adult strides become your baby steps to financial security.

Wall Street and Main Street, as they’re calling the general populace, are intertwined as are the world markets and Wall Street. Banks fail, lending institutions tighten their practices, schools lose funding, mortgages default, small businesses falter, etc., etc., etc. Not only are we on Main St. America watching to see what happens, other nations do as well. Not only has the US consumer enjoyed a prosperous period, the nation itself enjoyed a major standing in the world’s market in part by being the leading importer from these nations. Emerging nations who once were dependent on the US are now finding an equal market between themselves. What happens to a nation which has corrupted the idealistic view the world once had of it and further diminishes its credibility and control with a failing financial market? Let’s hope our next leader is capable of reestablishing some measure of standing for our nation within the international community.

If we mismanage our household budget, should someone step in to bail us out? If we run our businesses with poor management, should someone else be responsible for correcting our mistakes and supporting us while we get back on track? Do we think the bailout will bring us back to where we were prior to the housing crisis, bank failures, and mismanagement of funds? It won’t. Will there be a monitoring system set in place in Washington and, if so, who will monitor those who are doing the monitoring?

Perhaps one good thing which will come of this crisis is the financial responsibility individuals will be forced to learn. There seems to be a “the world owes me something” mentality and what life comes down to for all of us is reaping what we sow. By our own efforts, we shall fail or succeed and the world doesn’t owe any of us one blasted thing. We’ve had it relatively easy. There are definitely unfortunate individuals in this nation, which is ridiculous considering how prosperous the nation has been compared to some others, but, for the most part, we’ve had it easy. The majority of us haven’t lived through a depression and have never had to do without a welfare system in place to buffer us. It may be tough on us for a while. We may not like the ride, but we’ll survive it and be stronger and smarter because of it.