The Scene and Herd

I was reading some optimistic economic forecasts (off warren kinsella’s last post highlighting optimistic economic forecasts) and I swear, if the economy is in an upswing by mid-2009 my faith is shot. Or rather, my faith is unflinching.

What I mean is, I have seen some of the most terrifying newspaper, business section and magazine covers in the past few months. They’re all like, black with swear words (because now that the world is ending, do whatever you want kind of thing) and I kept on having these surreal moments, telling myself “when you’re destitute and everything sucks you’re going to remember this day and the newspaper cover you noted a little too casually when you went to buy milk in the morning from the corner store. You didn’t even buy a copy!” 

Does nobody understand that my generation is so pessimistic, that when we read gloomy economic forecasts we assume no one knows what they’re talking about so we end up, by comparison, really optimistic? But this time everyone was like, “no, seriously guys this time it’s real. We’re in the shit” and  everyone I know was like, “maybe this time everything really is going to hit the fan” and we let our guard down and got worried and went with the crowd, freaking at Harper and pretending to put money into an emergency savings account? (Of course, we need that money now! haha)

If the economy is in an upswing by mid-2009, no one of my generation will freak out about anything, ever. Because, 2009? What were we getting so upset about? 

Thank you (I’m talking to, I don’t know the media I guess. Or the official opposition) for making us into the apathetic mass you, evidently, are dying for us to be. Ah, it’s so nice to be us. Nothing bad ever happens. Things are looking up. 

I think I’m going to become a Conservative. Conservatives are nice and positive. And steady, like the economy.

I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. After a week without internet, I return online obsessed with my income. So I’m either checking charity village and craigslist  incessantly or I’m online-paralyzed, too cash guilty to indulge myself with poli-blogs…
The last thing I remember is leadership hysteria and a Toronto Star cover quoting Ignatieff threatening the PM to FIX IT!!! It was thrilling. But despite my disconnect, it feels like things are calming down and I’m so happy to have my cds and a kitchen again that all I want to do is hang around making soup and bread (with the bread maker I took from my parents’ house) and watching the whole last season of LOST (two and a half days…I had a cramp in my arm by the last episode. Thank you 2Q video for the great rates).

But I want to come back. The thing is, I’m different than I was two weeks ago. I look at politics differently. 
Now, the economic meltdown is affecting me! I seriously never imagined. I believed that I was immune because no global economic trend has ever had any bearing on my life. But my boss says to me “I don’t think you’ll get any work because of the economy…” and totally blew my mind. Tuition, minimum wage, health care…these things affected me but didn’t affect me because they didn’t interfere with my relationship with goat’s cheese and wine (for example). And now these are sort of the only things missing from my life. Because I can’t afford them. Because of the economy. 

So I’m going to be looking at politics and poli-blogs through a different lens. I’m sort of like, a citizen now or something. I’m a citizen who is worried about the economy. I’m a concerned citizen with an agenda and a few tangible yardsticks. Goat’s cheese and wine for example.