Disingenuous

I had a post half written about the economy fuss when someone called wanting to see the house. We had one hour to get the house in showing condition so off we went, cleaning, wiping, vacuuming, dishes… As we were getting shoes on to go out & read in a nearby coffee shop, the power went out. Great way to see the house, or not. The place we were going to go also had no power so we went up the street the other direction & fortunately that place had what we were looking for (chai, two hot chocolates, & comfy chairs for the next hour or so). We got home, no power still. Someone else called wanting to see the house, said he’d give us a fifteen minute call, never called, never showed. Oh well. No power.

P went off to his concert & eventually the girls & I went in search of dinner somewhere other than the usual haunts. Epic fail. We ended up at the local haunt which ended with M2 dumping a half full cup of root beer in her lap as I was signing the bill. At least we were on our way out anyway. Power was back on by the time we got home, but the little girls took a bath by candle light anyway. Well, parts of it. I insisted the light be on during the hair washing event.

Anyway, before all the distractions, the gist of the post I was going to write was that I think there’s a certain level of disingenuous (& ignorant) rage about the bailout based on a fundamental misunderstanding of credit and the role it plays in the economy. I understand how frustrating it is to have debt & need to resort to credit to get by, but… if you want to continue with the privilege of having credit available to you, it seems like it’s a foregone conclusion that, one way or another, bailing out the folks who provide that credit when their (your) debt-load is causing them to fail (though, granted, they gave credit to people who should not have been getting said credit…). Said without comment on whether *this* bill that passed was the right one to start moving us towards a more sustainable economy & financial system… My guess is that it’s a stop gap measure that will absolutely fall short. I think there’s a pretty substantial disconnect with one’s credit and where, exactly, that credit comes from and how it works & what happens when one lives beyond their means.

There’s so much wrong with the economy & financial situation in this country that’s way beyond my current understanding that I don’t pretend to have any answers. It’s just an observation. And perhaps an indication that I’ve been watching/listening to too much Rachel Maddow. I think I have to add her to my list of tv boyfriends.