Author Douglas Rushkoff, on the so-called “credit crisis” and talk of bailout plans:
… [To distract us from the real problem, the government provides us with] “wink” reform: stuff that’s supposed to make us feel good while reassuring the speculators that their interests will remain paramount. A few hundred dollars mailed to every American family creates the illusion that government is lending a helping hand, but this money is not redistributing anything. It’s being taken from the same people who are receiving it, in the hope that they’ll just pump it back into the system at Wal-Mart or the Exxon station.
Rushkoff’s short article does a very good job of explaining, in plain English, the real origins of the economic uproar. Better yet, it reminds us that there are things each of us can actually do to insulate ourselves from the crisis as much as possible, including:
- buying local
- living within your means
- refusing to by anything on credit
- depending more on yourself and your friends than on companies and institutions.
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