And we thought 2008 was bad...

Are you one of those who believe the economy is on the right track? Getting better? Sticking up for Obama's policies? Do you like Geithner? Bernanke? Think our two party system has the answers? Well today's news is grim...and you thought 2008 marked the big bang. Think again. We are in for the longest slump of our lives.

While Wall Streeters hope that Facebook's $5 Billion IPO this week sparks investors to come back, the rest of us are reading pieces like today's CNBC report that the Euro Zone's jobless rate is the highest since the creation of the Euro or living what is mentioned in this month's Vanity Fair article "The Book of Jobs"stating that over 23 million Americans who would like to work full-time cannot find a job (including yours truly). Fact is the real income of today's average American family is LESS than what it was in 1997! There are 6.6 MILLION fewer jobs in this country than there were four years ago.

Here's what we know:
1. Bailouts do not work. Handouts encourage status quo.
2. People want to work.
3. Job creation needs to be our #1 priority.


In the above-mentioned Vanity Fair article, Joseph Stiglitz makes a number of eye-opening observations, among them that never, never, in the last sixty years has post-recession economic output remained about equal to the start of the recession after four years and never has the percentage of workers who are employed fallen by the amounts it has in the past four years.

Europe is failing, yet looking now for "bailouts", incredibly so.
China is angered, yet continues to grow.
We in the US are tanking.

These moments in time will reflect on our society forever, as future historians pour over data about the vast pervasive consumer obsession that created an unreal world economy.

The only way to stop this is to go on a global "diet." Handouts, begone.
Credit cards, limited dramatically. Eating habits, downsized. Just like the ration system during the wars, we need to find a way to feed our society but not bankrupt it.

The only way is to create a new world psychology. And fast.

Uncharted Territory

Time and the economy have pushed us into uncharted territory. According to this past Sunday's edition of 60 Minutes, over 16 million children are living in poverty in the United States, a quantity not seen since the very early 1960s. Families are living in cars, trailers, makeshift shelters in unprecedented numbers. There have never been this many unemployed for this long in our history. Families are forced to face their worst nightmares on a daily basis. I know-- I am one of the affected.

While I speak to many friends whose lives and lifestyles have barely been touched by the economy of the past couple of years, there are countless others who have felt the hardships. Children being yanked from schools because their parents can no longer afford their homes. Depression setting in. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, unplanned family moves, lay-offs, endless unemployment. Nuclear families are growing to include two and three generations under one roof. Urban Nomads are becoming much more commonplace, as people fight for survival and move to more fertile ground. Fertile for employment and a place for their kids to learn. Safe, secure. The US was once known as the country of opportunity. It is now a place for simple survival.

Have no doubt: we are swimming in uncharted territory and if we do not make course corrections very soon, we will drown. If our children continue to study without a global perspective, we will continue to spiral downward with no cultural compass. If we do not begin to re-build the infrastructure of our cities, and by doing so, employ masses of those currently unemployed, we will crumble. If we do not begin to harness the energy of our people, cultivate our resources, there will be no harvests to reap.

BUT there is good news: we have not yet drowned. We ARE able to swim. We ARE capable. There is still time to write the course and right the chart. Look around you. Stand up for what you believe. Do not take no for an answer. This is the moment when everyone needs to be counted.

Spend time in your children's schools. Write letters to your local politicians and make your voice be known. Spend time in a Food Bank. Give back and be a helping hand because only together can we re-build. Please.

Feeling Empty or Full This Year?

As we approach the end of 2010, we bid adieu to our first decade of this, the twenty-first century. And guess what, folks? WE MADE IT!  I guess that goes into the “full” category. My husband and I met ten years ago this month, so the magic of this past decade has not been lost on us. We made it this far. Yippee!

In no order of importance, this year has had its ups, downs and wacky turnarounds.

We remain in our town of South Pasadena, the home of the South Pas Tigers. Ten minutes from downtown LA. Thirty minutes from the Pacific. Fifteen minutes to the San Gabriel Mountains. Former home of the Ostrich Farm, where strippers from the 20s to 40s could find their plumes for coverage.

Our youngest, Michael, now a Senator at his elementary school, turns eight in January and is more convinced than ever that the elections of 2044 will be his year to get to the White House. It’s not too early to put your contributions aside for the first Jewish-Greek-American President. We’ll be counting on you. We know where you live.

Alex, our twenty-something son, has moved to hip Atwater Village where he and the lovely Andrea share a one-bedroom apartment that combines mid-century kitsch (think bobble heads of The Monkees on a shelf in a room with an Eames-like chair) with up to date electronics and very powerful speakers. He remains happily employed with thoughts of academia a fading memory from his past.

I, on the other hand, am thinking of turning to academia more and more. Professor Davis has a nice ring…But maybe not, as I have just gotten notice that I now qualify for my fourth (yes fourth!) federal extension to receive unemployment benefits, approved by President Obama. It was automatically filed on my behalf, as it was for the other millions of folks who have been downsized, marginalized, penalized and otherwise life-jeopardized since 2008. I can’t afford a low-paying job like teaching, when the Federal government continues to bail me out.

My better half, Nick, who began the year thinking we would be ending it in Prague, where he would be running a division of Europe’s fastest growing IPTV provider, is scheduled to have his thirty-fifth interview with the same company tomorrow. But he can only make it if the oil & gas company in Aberdeen can re-schedule his SKYPE interview for a COO position and if the Reuters IT team can put off the launch of the new system he has headed and if the non-profit stops calling to ask for his help with their website and if the darn Cub Scouts would only postpone their Den meeting…

This year, we lost our beloved Betta, Chester, who lasted three years longer than the average fish. We lost relatives and close friends. Cancer, homelessness, unemployment have hit those we love. The riots in Greece have put us on edge.

And yet…

We can’t help feeling full with a roof over our heads, a smile on our kids’ faces, fragrant lemons for picking all over town, the mountains beckoning and our friends calling from around the world.  My book series The Jelly Bean Chronicles continues to entertain kids and their parents.

All in all, we’ve felt empty and we’ve felt full this year. But one thing is for sure: our glass has not yet been dry. May 2011 be a year of comebacks. Heck, Sarah Palin came back. Eliot Spitzer has his own show on CNN. Even the iPhone 4 came back with a better version.

Wishing you and yours a very happy New Year.