GREED$

How did we get to this economy meltdown? Think about it. How long ago did your house assessment rise beyond belief and everyone started to sell their homes. Did anything happen to make the house and yard that much more valuable? No. It was the greed of our neighbors testing the economic waters to see if they can make a huge sum of money for nothing. The house next door to me was sold 3 times in 5 years and the price tripled, along with my home assessment.

It all started out with the end of World War II when every families goals were to buy a home, settle down, raise a family, and provide more for the children than the parents had. It was the family economic goal. But the savings went aye with the credit card and "keeping up with the Jones" became a greed for more "stuff". Marketing ideas presented new products and models every year and persuaded everyone they "needed" or "must have" them.

I grew up lucky and had whatever I desired. Stereo, records, my own phone line, clothes (even though they were bought at Etons instead of Eljos), and any other desire was fulfilled by a man making a small salary with long hours. I did not want until I saw my friends getting better things than I had. Then I decided I had to have them too. Peer pressure. Keep up with the Jones, and I didn't even know it.

But I also qualified for credit early, so I got loans, credit cards, and accounts at many stores. Over extended, but I didn't care because I was getting more stuff. Piles of stuff. Stuff I didn't need or even after a year or two, want.

So I decided (after almost two bankruptcy's) to go back to the old adage: "Pay As You Go".

Imagine. Only buy things you can pay for with CASH. Only spend the money you have.

But now that we are in this ecomomess, how will the Stimulus Package help us?

Will it help the roads we built in the 50's to expand the cities to the suburbs and beyond. But now they are 50 years old and pot holes are the norm, with rusty bridges and narrow 4 lane highways. No one in the 50's expected the volume of traffic these cement threads carry.

And the electricity wires. Growing evermore stress from the simple light bulb to computers, refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, and all the other necessary appliances for the 20th century. As generators continue to blow up every hot summer, can the ancient grid perform for the future.

Communication has grown from the dial telephone with a 5-digit number to the hand held cell phone.

But water....WATER, is the infrastructure that will bring us all down. Over 100 year old pipes, with more stress of waste water, storm water, fresh water. If this goes, there will be riots in the streets. Imagine the smell from a disrupted sewer system. How quickly can we go back to the caveman level?

Check "Blueprint America" and look up "Liquid Assets". Can we survive?

But we are just greedy for more creature comforts and we'll get out of this and be able to buy more and more in the future. Right?