Further signs of the deepening gloom: the candidate can’t shake it
Oh yeah, we know the Ugly Lie and Racist Pitch is all you really have to sell.
In February of 1986 I was in college. I was also managing an apartment complex. Though I didn’t know it then, we’d just conceived our third daughter. Nationally, that month, unemployment jumped up 0.5%.
No month in the 22 years since has seen such a rise in joblessness … until last month, it was reported yesterday. Think of it:
* The worst economy in 22 years.
* Adjusted for inflation, oil prices 33% higher than the all-time high set 28 years ago.
* The worst foreign policy quagmire since the Vietnam War ended 34 years ago.
* The worst violations of constitutional rights since Nixon resigned 34 years ago under threat of impeachment.
* The worst violations of the Geneva Conventions by any American president ever.
* The worst killer of American civilians ever, still free 7 years after 9/11.
And John McCain’s slogan is “more of the same, and more of the same“. The worst aspects of Nixon, the worst of Reagan, all rolled into the even worse George W. Bush.
Not. One. Original. Idea.
Let’s debate like Kennedy wanted to do with Goldwater 45 years ago. Let’s do like Lincoln/Douglass did 150 years ago. Nineteenth Century methods for Twenty First Century challenges.
Me? I’m a discouraged job seeker, working full time on the house I live in, in exchange for rent. I have utility bills due next week and zero money to pay them with.
And John McCain wants my vote.
Okay John, donate to my PayPal. I’m out of ideas, too. Vote for my survival. You got a tax rebate and I didn’t.
Go ahead, stimulate my economy.
Otherwise, get the hell out of my government.
Donate via PayPal
June 7th, 2008 at 11:04 am
All I got to say is come to Dallas/Fort Worth. They can’t find enough people to hire and our economy is booming! Unemployment here is unheard of. And it is a cheaper place to live with housing and apartment rentals.
June 7th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
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Sorry to hear about your trouble. How’s the solar market where you are? This year should be a real turning point, with fossil fuels hitting new all-time highs every day. You used to work in that industry, didn’t you, K?
Seems like they could always use an experienced, talented writer with knowledge of the industry & the issues. Advocacy, lobbying, publicity, PR, advertising, marketing, sales, corporate communications: The big boys are getting into it now. Is SunEdison anywhere near you? They’re going to be the Starbucks of solar.
One of the things that first attracted me to Obama was his victory speech right after the South Carolina Primary: He listed five top priorities, and one of them was solar: Specifically solar, not just “environment” or “energy” or whatever. Wall St is predicting that the cash-flow will reverse from Bush to Obama: Oil & defense down, alt. energies & high-tech up. I hear it has already started. The first, or biggest Chinese IPO was a solar manufacturer, SunTech. Euro-oilco’s BP and Shell have been in it for years, and now the ROCKEFELLERS are prodding Exxon to get into it, too. GM just dumped the Hummer. Toyota is going with fuel-cells. It takes time for a dinosaur to turn around, but if they don’t, they’ll go the way of the buggy-whip.
The most important thing is not to get down or hopeless, and not to allow media doom & gloom inside your head. The world, and the U.S.economy always manage a dynamic equilibrium.: When one thing is down, another thing is up. You just have to be ready to make the jump with it. It can happen much faster today, because of improved communications and almost full integration of markets worldwide: The upside of globalisation. Even if a lot of manufacturing has moved to cheaper pastures, the money & the brains, the markets and the experience are still here in America.
Get on board this train while it’s still moving slow: When gas hits $5/gal, consumers & businesses will be screaming for cheaper energy everywhere, and trying to save money any way they can. Electricity will be going through the roof this summer. Hot water is 40% of your electric bill. Solar hot water can cover 90% of that, and photovoltaic solar electricity can eliminate the entire electric bill. Once the Feds improve the tax credits, and we hit the tipping-point into a mass-market, the solar industry will be providing millions of jobs world-wide, helping the environment and the economy.
Don’t wait for the want-ads: Put together a solar resume & solar advocacy plan, and go talk directly to decision-makers at your local green orgs, utilities, State energy offices, solar manufacturers, distributors & contractors, advertisers & marketers, printers & publishers, and media. Sell yourself! You’re what’s kewl these days: Bushco & conservatism are OUT, Obamamania & progressivism are IN. We’re winning, dude. You can’t lose.
The main thing is to stay off your ass and be pro-active. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And depression. A lot of the trouble with the economy today is psychological. This too shall pass. The problems of the world, the economy, etc, are not your problems. Unlike those problems, yours have a solution that you yourself can do something about quickly and easily, by comparison.
I learned that from you, brother Hayden. I would never have survived my last big crisis if it hadn’t been for you and a few other good people. Thanks for that. This is your payback. Contact me if there is anything I can do. And check your email & PayPal.
The rest of you people, make a small contribution to this blog. Even a hundred bucks (dinner for two with drinks at Appleby’s or Chili’s these days) would help. Do it now. Thanks.
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