Social Commentary of the Day
Commentary Part I: I found this article to be interesting, especially given some of my "childfree" motivations.
Commentary Part II: There's a reason they're called uggs. As in, ugh... why would you wear those? ;) Uggs could be cute, but with blue jeans (i.e. how almost everyone around here seems to wear them)? Far be it from me to understand/critique fashion however... Fashion trends are generally incomprehensible to me (and also a waste of time... and money).
Bonus Points: Analyzing Part I and II and relating them!
Commentary Part III: My dream would be to see all of the technological efforts made toward developing more destructive weapons focused instead on innovations that would benefit humanity.
Commentary Part IV: I saw an Internet pole a few weeks ago that was asking whether people felt the current financial crisis is the worst ever. The results were that 40-some percent felt it was, 40-some percent felt it was not, and the remainder were uncertain. What do you all think about the situation?
Everyone on my f-list is relatively young. As a rough guess, the average age of my f-list is probably around 24 or so. I think that makes it difficult for us to judge financial matters too well. In the first place, financial savvy is not a characteristic that I would immediately associate with people under the age of about 30 or 35. :} Of course there are exceptions, but do people at younger ages really pay that much attention? I didn't really start paying attention and learning about such things until I was on my own and realized, "Hey, I'm taking care of myself now... I better get some handle on these things, 'cause no one else is going to take care of it for me." :} However, I still do not feel particularly experienced (though I feel I have an above-average awareness for my age).
Another fact is that being young by definition means that someone hasn't experienced a ton of things. In other words, my view of the current economic downturn in comparison to other downturns is limited. Most people have probably heard of the Great Depression in the early 30s even if they haven't studied it in depth. Hearing about it or studying it is different from living it, though. My Grandparents were alive during the 30s, but even their perspective would be somewhat skewed since they were children. I imagine their perspective might be something like ours will be if there is a depression 70 years from now.
When I think of the Great Depression, I think of runs on the bank, people selling apples on the street for a few pennies, that photo of the impoverished woman and her children. I think of how resourceful my Grandpap is, how he saves a lot of stuff that might come in handy later, and how he gets by in often unconventional manner for the sake of frugality.
Then I consider our current situation. Pretty much everyone has a TV, cell phone, personal computer, gaming console, digital music player, etc. Instead of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage", it's almost like "overpriced microwave meals in every freezer and an SUV, midsized sedan, and a H.D. Twin Cam 110 in every garage + recently paved asphault driveway". I guess I'm probably a bit biased with my austerity-loving agenda, but to me, there seem to be tons of luxuries readily available to people these days. Is the economy out of wack? It surely seems so. Is this the worst financial crisis ever experienced? I have a hard time seeing that it is, at least in its current form...
Okay, I'm done... at least for now. :}
~GD
Commentary Part II: There's a reason they're called uggs. As in, ugh... why would you wear those? ;) Uggs could be cute, but with blue jeans (i.e. how almost everyone around here seems to wear them)? Far be it from me to understand/critique fashion however... Fashion trends are generally incomprehensible to me (and also a waste of time... and money).
Bonus Points: Analyzing Part I and II and relating them!
Commentary Part III: My dream would be to see all of the technological efforts made toward developing more destructive weapons focused instead on innovations that would benefit humanity.
Commentary Part IV: I saw an Internet pole a few weeks ago that was asking whether people felt the current financial crisis is the worst ever. The results were that 40-some percent felt it was, 40-some percent felt it was not, and the remainder were uncertain. What do you all think about the situation?
Everyone on my f-list is relatively young. As a rough guess, the average age of my f-list is probably around 24 or so. I think that makes it difficult for us to judge financial matters too well. In the first place, financial savvy is not a characteristic that I would immediately associate with people under the age of about 30 or 35. :} Of course there are exceptions, but do people at younger ages really pay that much attention? I didn't really start paying attention and learning about such things until I was on my own and realized, "Hey, I'm taking care of myself now... I better get some handle on these things, 'cause no one else is going to take care of it for me." :} However, I still do not feel particularly experienced (though I feel I have an above-average awareness for my age).
Another fact is that being young by definition means that someone hasn't experienced a ton of things. In other words, my view of the current economic downturn in comparison to other downturns is limited. Most people have probably heard of the Great Depression in the early 30s even if they haven't studied it in depth. Hearing about it or studying it is different from living it, though. My Grandparents were alive during the 30s, but even their perspective would be somewhat skewed since they were children. I imagine their perspective might be something like ours will be if there is a depression 70 years from now.
When I think of the Great Depression, I think of runs on the bank, people selling apples on the street for a few pennies, that photo of the impoverished woman and her children. I think of how resourceful my Grandpap is, how he saves a lot of stuff that might come in handy later, and how he gets by in often unconventional manner for the sake of frugality.
Then I consider our current situation. Pretty much everyone has a TV, cell phone, personal computer, gaming console, digital music player, etc. Instead of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage", it's almost like "overpriced microwave meals in every freezer and an SUV, midsized sedan, and a H.D. Twin Cam 110 in every garage + recently paved asphault driveway". I guess I'm probably a bit biased with my austerity-loving agenda, but to me, there seem to be tons of luxuries readily available to people these days. Is the economy out of wack? It surely seems so. Is this the worst financial crisis ever experienced? I have a hard time seeing that it is, at least in its current form...
Okay, I'm done... at least for now. :}
~GD