A New World

The financial crisis looms large in everyone's consciousness right now, and people are much more pessimistic about the next few years, but there are some silver linings in the cloud of doom that hangs over us. Here are ten reasons in no particular order to be happy about the future:

1. People will not be able to replace things as easily, so they will take better care of and appreciate the things they have. There will be less waste and more conservation. Maybe there will be more jobs in repairs, and companies will make things that are more fixable instead of expendible.

2. Instead of a tv, vcr, computer, sound system, and telephone in every kid's room, maybe there will be more books, and maybe the kid will wander into the family room in search of company once in a while.

3. People will visit libraries again to borrow books. Maybe they will even meet like-minded people there who also like books. Maybe there will be new societies of people who like to read.

4. Mom and Dad will have to say "no" to their kids more often, thereby improving their kids' chances of handling life's roadblocks with less fuss.

5. With less money to spend going places, families might stay home more and spend time together. Real homemade popcorn and an evening of Monopoly might replace an evening at Movietown 20.

6. Courtesy in the business world might stage a comeback. After all, if jobs are scarce, bosses (and patrons) will not have to put up with the rude guy behind the counter. There will be too many polite, productive citizens waiting to take his place.

7. Maybe school kids will stop thinking that labels are essential. Maybe the kid who has never been able to afford the hot labels will feel more like one of the "in crowd."

8. Perhaps people will plant vegetable gardens again. Think of the fresh air, exercise, comraderie, and good food that could result from that!

9. With energy costs on the rise, maybe people will be more interested in goods produced close to home, thereby creating new homegrown industries.

10. Since people will choose more carefully what they buy, workmanship and the craftsmen who create it will earn more respect.

Of course there are negatives to each of the things listed here, but why not look for something positive? For the past twenty plus years, we have been building a culture mostly based on more and more consumerism. The more we bought, the better off we thought we were; but were we really better off?