The Big Surprise

Are you at all surprised how relatively easy things work out? Not for people in foreclosure and being chivvied from their lodgings by the stalking Banks; they have it tough... but they are in a minority... only a couple million. But for the rest of us glorious bastards, it isn't too bad:

BP dumps millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico... relatively benign. No  biggie; microbes are eating faster than we can seep it out into the water.

Trillions of dollars of asset value disappear in 2007 through 2009... no biggie. We aren't really feeling it, are we?

Get Ready for the Big Show.

Once the spending stops and the stimuli dry up, the balance sheets will - actually! - balance!
We shall feel the effects of the trillions lost.
The Great Impoverishment. ( I think of it like a very large hot-air balloon: we came up a couple trillion cubic feet short of propane to keep the balloon filled; we used some "free" extra propane we made up on the spot, but now we can not continue doing that, and the balloon size is going to shrink considerably... and my life, a spot painted on the surface of the balloon, will shrink also.)
So far, we've been in denial. What are the five stages of death... using "death" as a metaphor for "total impoverishment"?

1. Denial—"I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."
   Denial is usually only a temporary defense for the individual.
2. Anger—"Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"
   Once in the second stage, the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy. Any individual that symbolizes life or energy is subject to projected resentment and jealousy.
3. Bargaining—"Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."
   The third stage involves the hope that the individual can somehow postpone or delay the inevitable.
4. Depression—"I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
   
5. Acceptance—"It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

We are sort of all over the place with these babies.
Since we have defined well-being as "having wealth", we are in for a tough time, except for the wealthy 5%.
I really hate writing posts like this, but we have to start now figuring out the rest of our lives, and it is not going to be like it was ever again.

--