Economic Recovery? No Thank You (Carolyn Baker)

[Tace]

Carolyn Baker

April 18, 2009 (CarolynBaker.net) -- Some economists and a president declare that there's a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, and that sometime in 2010, we'll begin to see a return to normal. The stock market bounces up and down, and pundits opine that the worst is behind us. The market has remained in the seven- or eight-thousands for a couple of weeks, so perhaps they're onto something. Maybe it was all a bad dream, and the worst recession in the history of the United States is waning, and the Second Great Depression that I and so many other astute observers were forecasting will never actually manifest.

What if it's true; what if this isn't, as Richard Heinberg says, "a recession that never ends"? Do I enjoy seeing throngs of homeless people gather in tent cities, live out of their cars, or simply roam the streets and back alleys of America in search of whatever crumbs of sustenance they can obtain? Do I take some sick pleasure in skyrocketing unemployment rates or burgeoning bankruptcy filings? What if, once again, empire triumphs over adversity and reclaims the level of prosperity its citizens enjoyed in the '90s? What if the likes of Nouriel Roubini, Gerald Celente, and Peter Schiff are proven to be paranoid nut jobs who really need to be on antidepressants? How much egg will I end up having on my face, and will that actually confirm that Peak Oil and climate change are bogus theories that have nothing to do with economic well being?

I give little thought these days to whether I am "right" or "wrong." I stopped playing King on the Mountain in the sixth grade. I don't even like board and card games; they're too competitive for me. My resistance to the prognostication of Pollyanna economists isn't about their winning and my losing. Rather, something more fundamental-yes, cellular, occurs in my anatomy when I hear that the last two years of economic agony was merely a blip on the radar screen of the capitalist business cycle-yet another momentary whack from Adam Smith's "invisible hand."

I cringe when I hear the words "back to normal" because of what that means to me. "Normal" means hordes of Walmart shoppers stuffing cars and SUV's full of plastics from China and driving off to their suburban homes to devour or display them until the current fix wears off and their shallow, meaningless lifestyles demand yet another "mall injection."

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/wnt-original/news/economic-recovery-no-thank-you-carolyn-baker.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. A great article. This is dead on. nt

[4_TN_TITANS]

2. True nuff...

The country needs fundamental direction shifts. The lessons of doing without from the last depression lasted for a couple of generations, it needs to happen again.

[DemReadingDU]

3. Carolyn Baker asks: What is 'Back to Normal'?

Is "Normal" hordes of Walmart shoppers stuffing cars and SUV's full of plastics from China?

Is "Normal" homeowners wearing several tons of house debt on their backs as they travel by car to jobs to maintain mortgage, taxes, insurance, and upkeep?

Is "Normal" parents working 80 hours a week?

Is "Normal" slamming down more McDonalds Happy Meals chased with Red Bull and Prozac?

If all these are "Normal", is that recovery?

Great essay!