West Coast Wending
These last three
weeks, I’ve been to four different states in the U.S.,
which has given me an even wider perspective of how
Americans are coping with the economic downturn in
their communities.
In Northern
California, the move to secede from the rest of the state
is obvious. The “State of Jefferson Chamber of Commerce”
has adopted a good chunk of Interstate 5, for instance.
In the
Portland, OR area, several of our friends told us they were
just grateful to have jobs, and another who doesn’t like
the look of things at his company is interviewing
elsewhere.
In Washington,
some semi-retired family friends related that their income
is down 40% due to the drubbing they’ve taken in their
investments. Another buddy had a job interview the day we
came to see her and her family. The medical clinic where
she works as a pediatrician is a victim of budget cuts and
will be closing this month.
There sure
were a lot of homes for sale in Juneau, Sitka and
Ketchikan, AK. It’s also clear that tourism is a huge part
of the local economy.
I would love
to report on what I saw and heard in Victoria, B.C., but
our ship couldn’t dock due to high winds.
We saw
amazingly few out-of-state license plates on this road
trip. It looks like this summer most people are opting to
stay closer to home.
And, sigh, in
three weeks we were on vacation, nothing has changed about
the imminent insolvency of our great state of CA, the sixth
largest economy in the world. Back home, my husband has a
high chance of not having a job come Christmas, as his
company is being bought by another. My kids’ schools are
announcing a dizzying amount of painful cuts.
It’s about at this point
that I need to slap myself hard and snap out of this
self-pitying malaise. No one is starving in the streets. I
saw mountains and valleys full of natural, largely
sustainable resources. Rivers, fields and an ocean full of
food. Water and sky full of potential energy. A literate,
highly-educated populace. A strong infrastructure of
well-maintained roadways, communications networks and
buildings. And, as bad as our medical system is, we can
still get to a doctor if something’s wrong.
Simpleton
Solutions is for the creative, hard-working and hopeful. We
may lament what we can’t change, but dwelling on it just
wastes energy. We look ahead to what’s coming, so we can be
nimble and ready to adapt to new circumstances. There’s
always something that can be done. As I harped on for
months, I recommend the following:
- Get out of debt, especially debt that adjusts to inflation.
- Set aside a fund that can cover at least six months of expenses, preferably a year.
- Stockpile non-perishable food.
- Grow a vegetable garden. (The U.S. has been a net importer of food since 2005!)
- Keep a large chunk of your wealth in non-monetary assets that can appreciate above and beyond inflation.
- Put systems in place to become as energy and water independent as possible.
- Make revenue streams for yourself. (This can look like anything from taking in a renter to keeping bees, to giving haircuts to neighbors....)
- A dollar saved is at least $1.50 earned!!
There’s something I can do. I feel much better now! Don’t you?