National Stupidity Day
Several weeks ago I started writing a post on a common theme of mine, a pet peeve I suppose. I went off on related tangents and my writing got out control. I reduced, rewrote, and revised, but nothing worked. I'm starting over. It might take a few posts but I'll give it shot. I'm sure to write things I've said before. Every so often something happens in the news, or in my life, that gets me down on society, or myself. The financial crisis and my personal housing issues were the catalyst for this rant. My son came into the picture too.
I read my news online. I click on almost every headline related to the mortgage mess, credit crisis, real estate market, and the absurd federal bailouts. I have my personal reasons for keeping up with the latest economic news but I'm getting tired of the bad news and the complaining. I'm especially sick of the finger pointing......especially from homeowners in a pinch. It's not like someone held a gun to our heads when we signed our adjustable rate mortgages. The bind we're in is of our own making.
I realize declining home values, shady lending practices, failing financial markets, the increasing unemployment rate, and shaky economy have a role in our national problems. As individuals we have to look inward to find the reason were here, and stop pointing outward. Yes, there are contributing factors, but most of them happened after we signed. I said in a previous post, "everyone has a story." It seems we all have excuses too. The fact is, we miscalculated, used bad information, or were just plain stupid when making poor decisions three, four, or five years ago.
Americans are taking a lot of heat for this financial downturn that has spread worldwide. We deserve it. People in this country, those who didn't make bad decisions and live within their means, have a right to be bitter. These bailouts will hit them unfairly in the wallet. It's time we accept who we are. This country is nothing more than 250 million consumers. I'm one of them, guilty as any.
Every few years I have these experiences reminding me how flawed I am. Most of my mistakes are relatively minor but I've had some costly ones. I've changed jobs only to have the new position not work out. I've bought lemon automobiles. I never saved enough money. I failed in a marriage, got divorced, and screwed that up too. The divorce was the right decision, I just did it wrong.
In every case the decisions were mine. I look back knowing why I did what I did, but wonder why I was so clueless. Did I not see the potential pitfalls, or did I ignore them? Maybe I'm just not as smart as I thought I was.
I wrote one time about looking back every few years and thinking I was dumb when I was younger, but I have life figured out now. I stopped doing that long ago. I'm still learning, and I'm still making mistakes. It's humbling to realize how limitless our faults can be. If you could climb my poor judgment, you would need an oxygen mask before you reached the summit.
There are many Americans in bad financial shape. I can't help but think, if someone is healthy and working, they have no one else to blame for their situation. If they have a shitty low paying job, they probably lack an education or job skills. Who's fault is that? I've been in the same trade for nearly 30 years. I have skills and a good paying job. I still struggle financially at age 48. I blame no one for that. It's on me.
I can't speak for everyone, and I know some cannot admit when they're wrong, but I think we need to have a National Stupidity Day. Instead of making resolutions we don't keep, we stand up and admit all the big mistakes we made in the past year. We say it out loud for everyone to hear. It would be liberating to admit we're wrong, and maybe a little reassuring to see we're not alone in our flaws. We may even have a few, "Whew, at least I'm that guy. He's really stupid."
At the end of the day we all stand outdoors and say, "We're all stupid!", and then have a drink together. It's time we start accepting who we are instead of pretending we're something better, or smarter.