In the Beginning

Three months after President Obama was inaugurated as our 44th. President, many things have changed and unfortunately many things have stayed the same. It’s difficult to find the good in all the news that is constantly streaming on line, on the 24 hour news channels and in the few print outlets left, but there are glimmers of hope.

Applications for loans have increased both for homes and for small business. Stimulus money is beginning to flow to projects across the nation and there are reports of a few wise and compassionate corporations and municipalities that have chosen to scale back rather than lay off. (City of Kent Employees agrees to pay cuts to save job - http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ken/news/41692792.html and Costco - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008996669_nolayoffs07.html ). So how did we get to where we are now and what is to be done by regular people, working 9-5 jobs and trying to raise our children to have lives at least as prosperous as their parents? I think it began decades ago with the creation of ‘reality’ based television programs and the beginning of when people could become famous for doing nothing other than being famous.


In the beginning there was ‘Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous’, followed by in depth profiles in magazines featuring the homes of celebrities with their fleets of luxury and vintage cars housed in garages large enough to house The Brady Bunch and Partridge Family combined and the race was on. Unlike the golden days of celebrity worship in the 40’s and 50’s, the new age of aspiring for riches was omnipresent and seemed attainable, even if it meant maxing out your credit cards and leveraging your future and your child’s future to do it.

Flash forward 20+ years, add deregulation of the mortgage and credit industries along with a blind obsession with more, bigger, better and ostentatious consumption and you have a financial and moral crisis unlike any before. Add to this mix a steady stream of ‘reality’ TV depicting the rich and famous, contestants vying for the chance to become rich and famous and non stop offers on the internet and late night TV to get rich by following a few simple steps and also passing on the names of every friend and family member in your rolodex.

We were no longer content to have a little 3 bedroom 2 bath homes on a little lot, close enough to schools and playgrounds. We had to have marble, granite, hard wood and tile throughout, bonus rooms, recreation rooms and kitchens with islands and eat in dining and formal dining, so builders and developers built to suit the growing wants and demands. We were no longer content with a car big enough for our family, but had to have one that was bigger and grander than anything on the block, with no regard to the price of gas or the interest rates we were paying. Of course, banks and credit companies were more than willing to comply with our growing appetite for living beyond our needs and our means.

I once read once that we in this country don’t have a housing crisis, but a crisis of expectations. But I don’t blame only the consumers, I blame the people selling and companies that actively sought to deceive people into believing that constant consumption was desirable and anything to the contrary was almost un-American. I also blame the anti-regulation crowd who actually expect us to believe that financial institutions have the ethics and incentives to keep the consumers best interest in mind when there are large bundles of money to be made.

So what can we do to counter and reverse history today? We can reject consumption for the sake of consumption. We can reject people who believe in and promote conspicuous consumption be it our favorite movie star, athlete, neighbor or business associate. We can pass up the magazines that celebrate public figures for the number of cars sitting in their opulent garages and for the number of homes they own. We can stop watching the inane reality shows that encourage people to compete to ridiculous ends for the sake of winning millions or for more objects to fill up our homes. We can start instead celebrating and honoring people who serve – our children in schools, patients in hospitals, seniors in our homes and retirement facilities and our veterans who gave the ultimate service of country. In short we can return to valuing character and excellence over bank accounts, square footage and horse power. After all, if we’ve learned nothing from this current financial crisis, it’s what’s really important – integrity, responsibility, service and compassion. Everything else is subject to fluctuations in the economy and can be wiped out by one corrupt and eager business man.