Fiscal responsibility / what is it good for? / absolutely nothing
Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?
The recent news about deficits and national debt could be enough to plunge me (and the economy?) into a deep depression. The only cheery thought that remains is that I am not Bill Clinton. If I were, I think I'd be slitting my wrists right now. Just imagine it: eight years of hard work, and it's all been washed down the drain within two years of your leaving office. Not that I blame Bush for all of it. What I do blame him for is being so fucking oblivious to it. If the Bush budget doesn't demonstrate clearly that this administration is in Don Quijote land on economic reality, I don't know what will. I guess when you're that rich, it's hard to imagine that there are actually people who are affected by a bad economy. Instead, they march to the rescue of those brave Americans who will have to put off buying that yacht because of all those dividend taxes they have to pay.
This does hit close to home, as I've been dealing with my own fiscal responsibility issues lately. I imagine that my situation is pretty similar to most people's my age (just about 30). Between school loans, a car loan, and credit cards, I am almost $40 in debt. This is actually quite minor compared to, let's say, a mortgage, which where I live (Boston) will run you about $500K for anything that's not a hovel. Still, I have found even the modest goal of paying off my credit cards within a couple of years surprisingly difficult to accomplish. Especially since I have no savings to speak of, so quitting a job, taking a vacation, or any other unexpected expense has me slipping back into the debt trap. The ironic thing is that in the past couple of years I have been making more than enough money to live on. Maybe that's why I am feeling the weight of debt so keenly.
All this talk from the Bush administration that deficits don't matter has made me think though. Am I foolish to try to get out of debt? Should I accept that debt is as American as apple pie, and I'll never be free of it? If I'll never be free of it, is all this talk about "the land of the free" just a bunch of bull? Are we slaves to the corporations? Is this the Matrix, where as soon as we come of age, we are saldered to the teat of credit and fed a false reality where happiness is an expensive car? Sadly, it sure looks like it.
Oh, wait, not all is lost. I have some of my 401K invested in dividend-bearing stocks. That means that in 35 years, when I begin cashing it in, I should be all set! Oh happy thought.
12:34:33 PM 
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