Leave it to Beaver
Funny you should make this post. We were just discussing this with some friends just the other day.
Let's step back in time.
First we had the great depression kicking off the 1930's. Every middle class american did whatever they could to provide for the NEEDS of their families. This included selling a bag of apples on the street corner if necessary.
Next we saw America's involvement in WWII. Everything was rationed. Victory gardens flourished out of neccesity. Families knew the had to use things until they wore out. Nothing was was thrown away.
At the end of WWII, there was a mass exit from the cities and suburbia was born. Families moved to the suburbs and chased "The American Dream". Everyone wanted the house in the burbs with the white picket fence, the station wagon, the fridgedaire, the built in swimming pool. Oh yes, the was living the American Dream. Fathers could no longer pay for this on a single income. Mama soon started entering the workforce to finance this American Dream.
We saw an explosion of credit, excessive commercialism, and the beginning of the lost of family values and morals in our country.
Throughout the 1950's, we saw the massive explosion of sub-divisions, the birth of the shopping malls, and everyone had to keep up with the Jones'. Status and image became more important than living the frugal live of the previous decades. Moral fiber began to degrade and the young of American began the journey of being misguided without the constant re-enforcement of morals and ethic from their parents.
In the 1960's we were launced into an unpopular war in Vietnam and our youger generation began to rebel in full force. We started becoming a nation of consumers rather than producers. We lost the rail system that build the rapid expansion west of the Mississippi River and everyone had to have at least one vehicle to get around. Shopping malls began to flourish and people began to find a new, trendy way to purchase goods.
In the 70's, the American Society was in termoil. The fabric of American standards began to erode away. Business became all about maximizing profits and rewarding shareholders rather than providing quality products and services. We saw rapid increasing in oil prices. Cost of goods began to rise significantly. Pop culture was driving the opions of the younger generation.
During the 80's, we saw massive loss of jobs in America as corporations began to realize that they could maximize profits by producing goods overseas. Financial institutions began to give credit to anyone how wanted it. Our business schools were more focused on continued growth and profiteering. Small farmers were being bought out by big business and we saw a radical shift on how food was produced in america. The local dairies began to disappear. Families began the quest for instant gratification and disposability. The first of many Big Box Stores was launched with the advent of WalMart. Small family businesses began to struggle due to consumer shift to the one stop shopping offered by the box stores.
During the 90's American began to see housing loan criteria being relaxed. More and more people were now able to buy their first home and settle into the American dream. Two income families were the rule rather than the exception. Pre-packed dinners and microwavable meals became the standard dinners fare. We began to see the lose of the middle class as more and more businesses began to produce products in 3rd world countries. Banks continued to offer credit and people began to use credit in mass to purchase those material goods to feed their wants rather than thier needs. We became a society that was all about getting ahead at any cost without concern to consequences. Service type jobs became popular because we shifted from producing to consuming and every felt they were entitled to all the good things in life that their credit line would allow them. People began eating more and more meals outside of the house. The media bombarded us with the populat messages of status and image and people wer on the quest to gain this staus and imagine even though it was well beyond they means.
As we entered the new centry, reckless spending became the norm. Big box stores exploded in suburbans all over America. The working class took a serious nose dive. Mom and pop shops dried up and closed their doors. Impoted goods far exceeded what we were producing in America. China began to enter their industrial revolution and began to own more and more of the Amrican debt. Community banks began to disappear as the big banks continued on their journey of making risky loans to countless American. Credit lines were skyroketing and people began to buy essentials on credit. Consumers were digging themselves deeper and deeper in debt without any way for getting out. People began to default on loans.
The cumulative effects of greed, instant gratification, and the quest for status and image lead to the recent massive finincial crisis as more and more Americans were losing their jobs, and had no means of paying their bills. Credit began to dry up, but the government came to the "rescue" by offering bailouts and social incentive they could not fund. They were taking care of the huddled masses on credit and this credit continues to grow.
As we progress through the 2010's, we will see a rapid exceleration of the downfall of American society. Goverment handouts will begin to dry up. People will continue to struggle to find jobs that no longer exist. Corporate greed will explode as business executives continue in their pursuit of getting their piece of the pie. Cost of goods will skyrocket and more Americans will enter the ranks of poverty with no way out of it.
They only way, to get through this next decade is for people to see the danger signs of the times ahead. People will have to see the need to return to the simple times before the Great Depression and get back to the basics. That is exactly what we are doing today.