When I first got here, USA was in the middle of a decline, people started to act ruthlessly indifferent, tolerance level was nowhere near acceptable or marginally receptive. That is the truth of life. When push comes to shove, a lot of people will kill to even breath another second of air.
Yet, besides all this, there was still the notion of the "American Dream". Cheap credit which does not exist for people like myself, I feel cheated by the system that sweet talked me into coming here. But, that is really just one of many things that is wrong. The fact that the sentence "You will be considered for funding" has been sung into my ears for two whole years, yet only the chosen ones get the cheese. That example in education system turns out to be representative of the country as a whole, despite many efforts to change. Well, mostly lip service.
What is the same. Simple, Wall Street. Banks can afford to pay even the least productive of workers fat bonuses where smart people need to slog in the area of science to get mediocre wage. Indeed, money attract flies, but the system's lack of proper regulation make it possible for the most obscene things happen. Now, the world has to pay for the greed of a few.
Today, Dow Jones sank for a third straight day, my equity fund made a 40% loss before I can pull out. Partly due to the indifference of my father's friend towards his friends and clients. After all, making money is everything he cared about. Losses made by my father and me, and many of his other clients, are none of his business. The banking industry has gotten way over its humanity and disregards the important pieces of business, customers and trust.
In my mind, these crooks should be severely punished and the banking industry heavily regulated. I do not know which model works best, but Singapore's less than perfect democratic stance for its favoritism of stability over freedom is what I believe many people prefer in times of need. Would you prefer freedom or a bowl of rice? Only those with money would prefer freedom. Before any argument is added, would you starve your loved ones for freedom? That is what I respect of many parents who worked through poverty to see their children succeed.
Anyway, if the "American Dream" is to continue, then a lot of people will suffer. To date, young Americans have a tough road ahead and the ones that created the situation might have been their parents. I'm not a parent, but I have not seen one who does not have a loved one. Even for an egoist, to ruin the future of others equates to ruining oneself.
The unfortunate thing about the current scenario is that house ownership is a top priority of US presidential candidates. Why? That earn votes. I definitely want a free house, but nothing is free. Most probably someone else pays for it. Why should someone else pay for it? I'm anti-luxurious unemployed benefits. Benefits is used to take care of needy people, not people who want to be in need. The abuse is ridiculous.
But may I say one thing. Why is someone living out of his/her means, living in a house that is worth more than a century of his current take home salary? Yes, its hard to give up one's dream house, but is that more important than the future of the nation? The fact that all the market is doing now is delaying the true bottom of the housing market. Excess supply meets near extinct demand. Since the house will be worth zero anyway, its more like a natural retribution on one's greed, except that "profits are personalized, losses are socialized". Unless USA can snap out of this cycle, take a step towards cleaning the mess, I, like many, believe that this "not" a "recession" will be comparable to the Great Depression.
"The Guilty Shall Be Punished". Unfortunately, that's not true, yet.
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