The Lost Dreams

The Lost Dreams
We have seen small towns away from big cities fade away. It could be loss of population, or the town is away from main interstate highway or nature played a role in bringing the towns ruin. This time however, it is not the small towns and distant places that are degrading. Like many small towns, hopes and dreams are lost in the big cities. What we saw in small towns are being felt in cities all over America. Jobs are disappearing, homes are vacant and hopes are lost. Suddenly, it came a time where the price of housing stops going up and the same lenders devalued the value of the houses thereby decreasing the credit line of mortgage owners drastically forcing people to pay their debts from other means. Incomes from jobs could not support a debt payment that was meant to be taken care of by speculative real-estate market. Too much debt, little income and speculation forced people to bankruptcy. The result is what we see now; empty parking lots, for sale signs, and out of business buildings. Finally, our innocent belief of business as usual is challenged, like an orphan we felt abandoned by the system. We are questioning everything as well as soul searching for better tomorrow.

Success in American life did not need a secret. All one have to do was listening and following the proven knowledge to participate in the American dream. The dream is based on a simple formula of “a job, credit line, and a house". A house is a residence, investment and a guarantee of economic security. In the last few years however, the meaning of a house turned upside down. It became a liability rather than an asset. It lost its primary meaning of security and residence. The house literally became a burden instead of a pride. Signs that say bank owned or foreclosed became the new identity of houses. In some areas, people’s belongings including children’s toys are thrown out of the door while the homeowners are sleeping. People’s faith is shattered; trust in the system is gone (Pearson, 1991, p.78). The same thing is happening in the larger real estate area. They may not have signs of foreclosure on the side of the door but they had everything else that is a sign of deterioration. Businesses had gone bankrupt, or moved somewhere. Customers are scarce, and parking lots are empty. The place once it used to be full of life is now vacant. What had happened?

The answer is not that complex. It is simple. People never owned their houses until it is completely paid. Houses are sold on credit to be paid off over several decades with one goal in mind for the lender, higher income in the form of interest. The total interest payment usually ends up more than the principal does at the end of the term. It is designed not to be paid off instantly. Marketers and bankers made sure the concept of owing house is an instant profit or sometimes double the price of the house within a few years. Lenders sold hope. Customers borrowed money against their mortgage. It was their ATM (Money Central).Twenty or thirty years of payment on a mortgage were not that bad. However, lenders were not satisfied with that. They wanted more. They start packaging old loans into securities where they can sell it piece by piece. People are left with mortgage debts for the house they lost. We cannot continue any longer business as usual (Campbell, 2008, P.67) threshold.

The house that was once a residence as well as an investment to the owner becomes an investment instrument where it can be sold and traded on the market without the knowledge of the owner. That is why we see empty parking lots, empty gas stations, and empty office buildings everywhere.







Reference:



Campbell, Joseph. (2008),The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Bollingen series XVII. 3rd ed.



Novata: New World Library.

Money central. (2007, February 19). The housing ATM rot is just the beginning. Retrieved, November, 14, 2009, from

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/TheHousingATMRotIsJustTheBeginning.aspx



Pearson, Carol S. (1991), Awakening the Heroes Within:

Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform our World.

San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.

Hell No, You Did Not Pay Back Your Debt

In many parts of the world, economic problem is not new. In America, however, it is a different story. We had experienced short and brief unemployment and economic slowdown for decades. This time the recession is deep and unemployment number is huge and long. Recently, our economic foundation had shifted dramatically from producing goods to importing goods, from manufacturing to servicing, from expanding jobs to outsourcing jobs. This shift builds the financial economy that values borrowing and debt very high and discourages economic independency and sustainable living. The result is what we start to see now. Lost jobs are not coming back, under the current system jobs do not create huge profit for companies compared to selling and buying imported high tech junk. The problems we face now are going to stay here for some time.
For many of us, this is the first time to notice such a magnitude of job loss, economic problems relating to national financial system and long time unemployment affecting so many people in America. However the majority of world population experience economic problems daily. Economic problem is usually a problem of third world countries. The most broadcasted and announced human sufferings are those that include starvation of millions of people due to drought and natural disasters in sub-Sahara Africa. Thanks to the heroes who spent their money and time to bring attention to the generous people of the world particularly American people. Many people were able to eat and drink the help they received.
However, this time the economic problem is different from the economic problem we know. This time it is a problem not caused by drought, flood or civil war, but a problem created by sophisticated merchants. These globalized casino experts transferred real and non-real values of who we are into commodity speculation. Companies and banks find it profitable to trade and issue debt in the form of credit than to manufacture or produce products. In the process, as part of this wild scheme they turned people’s houses into an ATM machine, leaving many people out of their houses, jobs and pushing the country into recession. The damage to the economy and the people is so great most people have to seek from their friends and relatives. Once again, when brothers and sisters are out of work, out of many, the relatives open their hands and their hearts to help those who are in need. Those who lost their house are welcomed by the relatives to shelter with them, to eat with them, and to share whatever they have with them. These heroes of the recession sacrificed comfort and privacy for the benefit of others, while the “too big too care” gangsters reward themselves with billions of taxpayer dollars.
They claim they are paying the taxpayer debt in full. No, you did not. Because of your actions and greed, millions have lost their jobs, their houses, and their retirement’s worth in trillions. These financial gangsters are not willing to admit their mistakes or learn from their mistakes. We do not expect them to change their way of doing business. They are against any kind of change that may threaten their standing in the society. Preserving and maintaining their status at any cost is their priority. They have powerful tools a communication apparatus that promotes lies, deception, as well as promote anarchy and lawlessness against individuals and organizations they disagree with. People behind these ugly tactics are not stupid, they are smart, but for them, no matter how ugly the means to achieve their goal is, it is justified by the outcome they pursue.
Yes, these peoples are powerful but we should not feel hopeless. We know in the past when we face great problems, people of all kind rises to the challenge. Some even pay the ultimate price for the good of their fellow man. They understood the hills to climb, the aches they have to feel, the sweats their body has to release for each step of gain or success towards improving humanity.
They are smart, but they use their insight to add a little light to those with deem of hope, they are courageous but they do not use their courage to attack instead to protect others.
They are harassed, insulted, called out names, attacked, and sometimes killed. They know all these things will happen to them but they do not try to back off from what they believed for a second. Men and women such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr., did left us something good we cherish everyday at their expense. Many ordinary people who did not have super human power, or who are not prophets chose peace instead of violence, but suffered many losses. These heroes were ambushed in dark alleys and harassed in open fields. For every Gandhi or King, there are many thousands we do not know who gave up their lives for the good of all.
The financial gangsters may try every means available to them, including foreclosing houses, denying credits, bankrupting jobs, sometimes even inciting violence in their twenty-four hour cable news and wage disinformation tactics just to keep us in debt. That is not going to happen. We learn from our mistakes. We believe in working and earning a living. We control our finances. We discuss our differences peacefully with civility. We vote for our interest and follow ideals that bring us peace and unity. Mr. Gangster, we will not fail for your small print tactics again. It is shameful and dishonest for you to claim that you paid your debt. Let me ask you financial gangsters a simple question. Did you pay the millions of homeowners who are under water? Did you pay millions of people who lost their job because of your credit default swaps? Did you spend any time in prison for your crimes against the people?
The answer is “Hell No, You Did Not Pay Your Debt".

Technology Gone Crazy with the Letter "I"

A technology that changed little over time.
There have been patches of changes disguised as new technology since the integration of core products to bring what we call Technology.
•Hardware
•Software
•Processors
The landscape of computing has changed very little. The hope of groundbreaking innovation and transformation by small companies is not possible due to the bigger companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Intel’s Market domination.
Currently the Intel inside and AMD processors provide the basic frames of computing with little substantial change but with much marketing for over a decade.
Microsoft that dominates the personal computing software market dumps decade old programs by changing a few internals of application and visual colors based on the same graphical interface since the windows 3.1 going through periodic calendars on its office products.
Another technology leader Apple has gone crazy with the letter "I" in announcing new products. Imac,Ipod, Iphone, now IPAD .
I wonder what the next "I...something” will be and I wonder what the next technological hype in the “I “world will be?
Could it be another glorified telephone or calculator named “Itouch”?, oh well I prefer to wait and see. For now "Igaveup.