For my new Followers, I’ve written a about my entry into the Blogosphere!
I started writing my Blog in May of 2012, 5 yrs after the beginning of the Financial Crisis of 2008. No, I’m not counting deficient, I merely time the start of the Great Recession, with my Business cycle. In June of 2007, after signing another 5 yr lease with Merit’s landlord of 30 yrs, I knew we had entered a recession. Just like the recession of 1992, Merit’s phones stopped ringing.
It was the end of scheduling and planning for contracted work. Almost like death by a thousand cuts, we were asked to recalculate all our yard ages, then we were asked to reduce our charges by 5%. Next we were told what our customers wished to pay. After 35 yrs with some customers, customer service was no longer anyone’s priority. The bottom line became our customers’ wish and demand. Take their pricing or leave the business.
Being me, I tried. I asked my mechanics to work with me, I couldn’t give up, nor could they. Was I happy, no way. But being a business woman, confronted with challenges, I was determined to stay in business and turn the Economy around for myself, for my workers, for the Veteran Community, for everyone. Since I worked by day, I started writing at night or whenever I had a free moment. I don’t like others dictating terms to me. I lived by my own standard of ethics ,” I won’t look in your pocket and no customer should look in mine”. A win win in negotiations was something most of us had valued. My good friend and developer Henry Schreiber and I would always negotiate a deal. Neither one of us thought an anemic deal was a good deal. So we dealt fairly with each other and everyone else. We had old fashioned ethics and integrity . If I quoted a bad deal, I lived with the deal. My word was my bond. So I was really pissed when I had to swallow my pride and profit for the ” new Masters of the Universe”.
The Banks were bailed out as all of us on Main Street suffered. I became aware quickly, that we were entering an era of bubbles , man made disasters and short term thinking. I reasoned that the folks who got us into this mess, couldn’t have been too bright. If they were, they would have planned for the ” bust”. In retrospect Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, knew what was coming. They had been preaching about derivatives and calling them weapons of mass destruction for 10 yrs. I listened but did not hear! I had no idea, when they said events would get ugly, what did it mean. Well now I know!
I set out on a quest to educate everyone in the process, knowing that one person knowing both the reasons and solutions for the crisis is not enough. We all have to understand the Financial Crisis of 2008 and it’s effect on the American Banking System , because we are all effected by it’s subsequent collapse. Look around you and you can see the devastation of the Middle Class as noted by these activities:
- Mortgage Foreclosure
- Student loan debt
- Poor credit rating
- High interest rates on credit card loans
- The evaporation of loans for small businesses
- The loss of manufacturing
- The rise of the financial equity business , the new “Masters of the Universe”
- No money for infrastructure at any level
- Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan becoming homeless, committing suicide, surviving injuries beyond comprehension . Poor medical care
- Under employed workers earning low wages.
- Rise in food stamps and poverty levels
- Limited buying power
- Unequal justice for both African Americans and Hispanics
The list is long on suffering. Short on workable solutions to end almost a decade of wage and job declines. That’s when I knew, these people, who got us into this disaster were not so smart. Like the Emperor ‘s before them, they had no clothes. Stripped naked by the recession, I could finally see others clearly and I knew I was their equal. Not in money, but in smarts. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, I have set out to reason with the adults of our Fair land. When that proves useless, I will capture the hearts and minds of our youth. The status quo is not acceptable to me, not when I see the possible. But that’s not enough for me either, I want everyone to see the same dream of success. One person can lead the way, but many must follow.
I present my ideas to you. , dear reader, as thoughts for debate. We don’t have much time , 2016 is our drop dead date. We should have one voice and one wish list, because, like it or not, Politics effects Us all. This time around, we want a Goldilocks government to protect us from the whimsy and risky behavior of others.
Let’s finally have a dialog. Let’s finally talk to our families and neighbors and all 300,000,000 get on the same page of the same program. I started by trying to change my world and in the process, as my journey evolved, I hope I am changing your World for the better, also. Knowledge is indeed power. We have choices, you have my voice and Politics effects us. We’ll get the life we deserve when we work together in pursuit of that life . My happiness is your happiness, we are connected. It’s never too early for a New Years resolution! I propose that this is a year of commitment to ourselves and each other to over turn the status quo and finally begin to Resurrect the Middle Class. God Bless you.
“the heart and pulse of the Middle Class”