Once again, the holidays are upon us, and another year is just around the corner. I find myself wondering what milestone we have carved for ourselves this past year, and just what is waiting for us in the very near future.
Personally, it hasn't been a lot of fun for me this past year. I'm a small business owner, who hasn't had much money coming in. I can't compete with the bigger companies in my field, cost wise, because they get all their products out of China for pennies on the dollar. The retailers are scared of buying too much because they remember the bust of last year's holiday sales, and they can't afford to get stuck with merchandise that just sits in their storage room,... again. So even though the company is still up and running, this economy has, effectively, laid me off.
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It's not that I don't understand their thinking. I, too, find myself buying the generic versions of just about everything at the grocery store to stretch my shrinking budget. And the dollar store gets regular visits from me, with impulse items fewer and farther between. The current financial situation looming over us all these days, has everyone's gaze focused solely on the bottom line. We can't even think of growing or planning for the future, when all our energy and resources are just going to basic life maintenance.
As a result of little or no money coming in, I'm now in the position of having to deal with angry creditors who don't want to wait for their payments until things turn around (and they can get pretty snotty about it). No matter how many times I've explained that you can't get blood from a turnip, they insist upon harassing me daily about the subject, like I'm not painfully aware of what's going on. Consequently, I'm forced to learn some whole new phrases in the dictionary, like 'bankruptcy' and 'foreclosure'.
Now,... I'm in a position I thought I'd never be in. My generation was brought up by those who worked hard for the things they accomplished, and they passed those principles along to us. (Pull your own weight.) I've always played by the rules, paid my own way in life, and saved for that rainy day. But now, it's been raining for so long that my planning has all washed away, and I'm left clinging to the last vestiges of my former life with both hands. It's like being caught in a wave with a weight 'round your neck, and I truly don't know what's going to happen when this economy comes crashing in at the shore.
When I look toward Washington, D.C. with the many questions I have about how we got into this position in the first place,... I find no answers. I'm afraid they have long since forgotten just who they work for, and their historic spending spree just keeps rolling along as if none of this was really happening. They're living in a bubble of fantasy and old cliches, while the rest of us are drowning daily.
Recently, in an office supply store as I was looking for a weekly planner for 2010 (which last year I bought for $6, and now it sells for $10), I happened to chat with a fellow shopper. She was a retired 5th grade teacher, who was looking for some pretty paper, so she and her husband could print their own holiday greetings to save a little money. She was worried about the war and the economy (with it's effect on her pre-set budget), when I shared a suggestion a few friends and I had come up with one night, while discussing the subject.
Since our Congress is doing such a ineffectual job of handling things, we proposed that we just sweep them ALL out, and start with a whole new batch. However, we did come up with three basic - Rule Requirements - for our new representatives.
1.) "No one who has ever held a public office, would be allowed to run again." (Sorry,... been there, done that, and we've got the scars to prove it.) Besides, that job was never meant to be a permanent position. It was always supposed to be a 'public service' choice by an individual, after which they would return to whatever profession they practiced beforehand.
2.) "NO LAWYERS!!!" I'm afraid my recent encounters with the legal profession, have served to remind me that justice in our courts these days, has nothing to do 'right' or 'wrong',... it's who has the best lawyer. Unfortunately, our existing judicial system has trained this entire group of fairly intelligent people, to intentionally complicate simple concepts with wa-a-a-y too much rhetoric, salted with a generous helping of built-in backdoors and loopholes. (Attorney's Rule of Thumb, - "Always take 100 pages to say what would normally take 1.") We need to have people who can say what they mean in everyday language, so we can all understand what we're really voting on. (Our founding forefathers understood this principle, because the original constitution forbade lawyers from holding elected office.)
And finally,...
3.) "All of the representatives in the first few terms of our new Congress, will be women." Now, I know this may sound like some form of sexual prejudice against men, but think about it. Women are the natural caregivers of our society, and much less inclined to want to send their children off to war,... for any reason. They are more inclined to work together, to find solutions that serve everyone's needs, without resorting to violence and intimidation (and without the "mine's bigger" mentality we find pervasive in the global seats of government these days). Personally, I think our country (and the world in general), could use a great, big dose of compassion and motherly understanding from it's leaders.
The youthful looking retired teacher looked at me with a twinkle in her eye, when I stated the third rule. I could see her mulling it over in her mind, and when she finally spoke, she had a big grin on her face. "Well, they've certainly had their chance, to be in charge, for a long time. It might be interesting to see what we could do with our chance."
As I drove home, I reflected on our conversation, and it occurred to me that I ought to share this proposal with the rest of you. Everything starts with one simple idea, then blossoms out from there. So here it is in black & white, for all to stop and ponder. I think you'll all agree that we definitely need some changes around here, that's pretty much a given. So instead of trying to keep "fixing" a totally broken system, time and again, perhaps we just need to begin anew, with a completely fresh approach. You think about it,... and get back to me.
Of course, I'm not sure where you'll find me in the coming year, because my foreclosure fight is still ongoing, but you can leave a message for me on the evening news, or maybe your favorite blog site. If I start to hear of people discussing these new "Rule Changes", in offices or social gatherings, then I can rest knowing I've done my job in passing along a timely idea, and now it's out there growing on it's own merits.
In the meantime, wish me luck in my ongoing adventure,... and keep a bit for yourself in the coming year! (I have a feeling we're ALL going to need it!) HO! HO! HO!
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