I was out in America in February and was shocked by the amount of repossessions happening over there. In fact there was a programme on the TV about it which was really interesting.
Their economic recession started to hit in the latter part of 2007 and if we follow the US (which we do in most economic things), then they are about a year in front of us. Normal working and middle class people who have lost their jobs and subsequently their houses, are now living in was is termed as 'Tent Cities'. These are growing communities that are inhabited by people who have nowhere else to live. These Cities have started up in Tampa, Sacramento and two other places (I cant remember their names). The programme interviewed some of these people, and at first, if you judged them on how they looked, they looked like 'down and outs'. However, once the interview progressed and you listened to these people speaking, you at once realised that they did not have a substance abuse problems or anything like that, they were educated people who had lost their jobs, homes, cars and had in fact lost everything. They had to live in these 'make-shift' houses because there was nowhere else for them to live. (The programme did not go into the monetary detail of each family, so I couldn't make out if they had over-extended themselves financially or not, but if they did surely it is the banks fault for letting them borrow so much money).
They interviewed several families. One poor devil was a widower with five kids who had lost his job and home. Another couple had grown up children, but had both lost their jobs and then their homes and cars and could not bring themselves to even tell their grown-up children where they lived because they were so ashamed. Another woman was so determined not to loose her house, she started renting out rooms, so as she could keep it. This solution seemed to be good as it helped out another family at the same time - but she did have a big house!
What worries me most, is that this is (supposedly) the richest country in the world and these people are eating out of dustbins and living in tents. Why are we not aware of this? Is this propaganda? Has it been on TV or in the news and I've missed it? I've asked other people here, but they have not heard about what is going on over there.
So what happens to our little country in the meantime? In a year's time are there going to be people ending up in 'Tent Cities' and eating out of dustbins too? I love my country very much, although It appears to be run by blatantly incompetent fools most of the time, who love to keep us all dependent, docile, and ignorant. I also love America very much, indeed it has been a second home to me during my life, and it upsets me to see such a wonderful country in such a dire circumstance. I think Barrack Obama will be a good president (and it's so nice to see a young, good-looking president for a change), but to be frank, he has got his work cut out for him. And Mr Brown, what are you going to do to stop us from sinking into this hole? I await your answer sir, but I shan't hold my breath.
OK, that my two pennies worth!
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