Be Very Afraid: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay

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12. We won't be able to sell our home for a while for any decent price.

The house across the street is going into short sale (very sad, family broke up and one of the couple had major spending/debt issues) and the house next door is now for sale as the owner died in a tragic auto accident. His daughter makes close to minimum wage and cannot afford to keep it.

So we just concentrate on paying off debts and fixing it up as we like it--making it comfortable for us.

However, I live in the rust belt which has seen what the rest of the country views as recession for as long as I've been able to vote. I don't think we saw a boom as some cities like Nashville have (we have a similar population). However, I am grateful for living in a place so beautiful. I took my dog to a park with lots of trails to hike on and it was free to enter and she could run free--it didn't cost anything extra than what we already pay in taxes and the people I did encounter there were really nice, down to earth. Our property taxes are higher than most d/t our county's needs (I live in upstate NY) but our schools are very good; I'd say even our so-called bad schools are better than some you see in other places, they just have higher challenges--poverty and the PTSD children have from living in violent neighborhoods-- the teachers are well prepared and dedicated; the physical facilities are aging and could be much improved. The county seat -- Syracuse has financial problems like other cities do mostly related to pension obligations and other mandates and the fact we have had prior unscrupulous mayors who were not good stewards and put the city behind. Mayor Lee Alexander is one such person who did go to prison.

But we have seen major employers and industries leave and not come back. The most recent threat is Lockheed Martin leaving. Schumer convinced them to stay but for how long? Chances are they will bolt. There was a gun manufacturer who left to S. Carolina (not really torn up about that one). I'm convinced our county and city's future lies in new economy strategies and there are nascent organizations set up already to develop those. Instead of being in the same horrible decline and losing hope of things getting better, I prefer to frame our situation as one in transition. While Detroit may seem like the canary in the coal mine; it is more a cautionary tale--one that may surprise us in the end and be inspirational. Detroit's story is not yet ended.