New York Renovator

“Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of like, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” Victor Lebow, 20th century economist, about the American consumerist capitalism created in the 1950s.

Hat tip to Strawbale House for directing me to a terrific video called The Story of Stuff. This video is a MUST SEE! When I went to the site and saw that it was 20 minutes, my heart sank a little. But it is very much worth it, and the video is so well done that 20 minutes seemed like 5 minutes! Really, this is a must-see. In the video, Annie Leonard shows how our consumerist economy is wrecking countries, families, communities, and individuals. She makes the clear case about corporate butt-kissing by our government. It’s a very impressive story, and an eye-opener. And she also explains the conspiracy behind our goods– why we have to buy a new vacuum cleaner every 6-8 months, why we have to buy new shoes and new computers and new cell phones: planned obsolesence. And we cannot sustain such rampant consumerism for a long period of time.

This video details exactly what has been on my mind– and what I have been blogging about for a year now: that the materialistic consumerism is a direct agenda by government and business linked together; is unsustainable; and is fatal for the “serfs” (that’s us). This system is creating a serfdom where consumers, while thinking they have “liberty,” are actually slaves to a system that is eliminating their worth in the system when the resources have expired. We MUST return to community-based, sustainable living and local economies.

Really– give your children and grandchildren the gift of watching this video. I found a few teaser trailers to give you a taste of what the video is about.

I saw an interesting news article at CNN, Is Your Job Recession-Proof? Here in Upstate New York, most people can (and have) answered that question with a resounding “no.” We’ve seen not only a massive exodus of people leave the state, but a massive exodus of jobs. New York State is perhaps the most hostile for business, or we’re a close second to California. Excessively high taxation, high and stringent regulation, penalties for non-union and non-corporation businesses, and an extremely high cost of living are the main causes. It’s been building to a climax for nearly 30 years now, and the poor frog in the pan is almost cooked through.

However, there are some temporarily recession-proof jobs in the state. But they are all all government jobs. And government jobs are paid for by taxpayers in the private sector. When you have a decreasing population, a remaining population with fewer jobs and lower wages, and a high cost of living, the schism between cushy government jobs and the working people is overwhelming and totally unsustainable.

So it is with this knowledge that I read the CNN article. Their list of recession-proof jobs is as follows:

1. Education –we’ll need more teachers, says CNN; we’ll get only more administrators, says Mrs. Mecomber. Education jobs are 100% funded by taxpayers.

2. Energy sector –oil, gas, and geothermal industry, and more engineers. Taxpayers pay for research and some corporations get government support/bail-outs.

3. Environmental sector –engineers and scientists for research into “green” technology. Again, research is heavily funded by taxpayers.

4. Health Care –nurses, technicians, etc. Health care is already bankrolled by the states; should it go national, expect a collapse of the economy, not a boost. Like P.J. O’Rourke said, “f you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”

5. Security –border patrols, police, Homeland “Security” jobs, etc. These are 100% taxpayer-funded jobs.

Now, there are a lot of jobs in the private sector that belong in that list. But by and large, education, environment, health care, and security are mainstays of governmental jobs. I do not see how on earth that jobs can continue to grow in the government, with wages and perks going higher and higher, while the taxpayers are suffering job losses and extremely high cost of living. Taxes are continually going up, and taxpayers are going under. You’d think that there would be a clarion call for government to shrink in size, and build a new policy toward encouraging small business. Nope. Everything is going to China or India, except government jobs. Oh wait– some government jobs are going there, too, because fewer and fewer taxpayers are able to support the great big behemoth that is U.S. government and all its bureaucracies (not to mention all the perks, pork and taxpayer-funded cruises).

I don’t see how this kind of economy can sustain itself in a capitalist economic system. Of course, I don’t think many in government want a capitalist system anymore. Doesn’t this type of economy they are pushing on us look a lot like fascism?

Thanks to Attempts at Sustainable Living for the CNN news story.

Couldn’t believe me eyes when I woke up to see this headline at the New York Post: LOST SOVEREIGNTY: Oil-Rich Fund Eyeing Foreclosed U.S. Homes. American mortgage brokers have been shopping– shopping for foreclosed American homes– on behalf of “sovereign funds” like Abu Dhabi, Norway, Singapore, and Kuwait. Unbelievable.

There’s a new land grab starting in America.

Foreign money, which up to now has focused its attention on investing in iconic commercial real estate - like Barneys New York and the Chrysler Building - is now moving to scoop up tens of thousands of discounted foreclosed homes across the country.

One sovereign fund, said to have earmarked $29 billion to purchase foreclosed residential real estate, recently hired a West Coast mortgage broker and is starting to search for bargains, The Post has learned.

The search, which is being carried out, in part, by Field Check Group mortgage consultant Mark Hanson, who was retained by the broker, Steve Iversen, is concentrating on single- and multi-family REO (real estate owned) homes, or homes that have already been taken over by the mortgagee.

Of course the American brokers are hush-hush about who they are working for.

A sovereign fund would have two distinct advantages over other investors - the depressed value of the US dollar makes the homes a bargain, and sovereign funds have deeper pockets.

So far, prices on bulk sales of REO properties vary based on location and are selling from 60 cents to 80 cents on the dollar. Hanson started out offering 40 cents on the dollar for about $2.5 billion worth of California properties owned by IndyMac and Washington Mutual but was turned down. The banks refused to comment.

Doesn’t anyone suspect in the slightest that the economy problems we’ve been having in this country have been manipulated to occur? Who is getting rich and who is benefiting from ALL this speculation. It would be one thing if a smattering of foreclosures were occurring– lots of homes foreclose, and lots of investors snap them up (see my post How to Create a Serfdom about that). But this is a HUGE, across-the-board failure in the United States (and in a few other countries). It is a purposeful devaluation of 1) the American dollar, 2) American ownership of property, 3) high taxation, 4) ethanol which has raised food prices and oil speculation which has raised gasoline prices and everything else, 5) the inability for Americans to make ends meet and make those home payments.

And when we have a crisis like this, who gets bailed out? Not the American taxpayer! Our country is being sold out right from under us.

Hat tip to Vulcan’s Hammer for cartoon.

Don’t do it this way.

That’s a humorous 1973 rendition. Made me giggle.

We’re actually thinking of building a small shed. We have one already, for our snow shovels and other junk like english saddles (kidding- no saddles here!)… but what I really want is a shed for a chicken coop. I think I am going to build one and keep chickens. My husband has been against chickens (he thinks we are not rural enough here), but the neighbors have horses. Food prices are getting outrageous, and I think we may move away from meat altogether and stick to fresh eggs.

This is just another step in the trail of more independent living. I’ve been wanting to start this for years, but it becoming a necessity now. Wages just are not keeping up with prices. Actually, here in New York, unless you work in some government job, most jobs are minimum wage or slightly over. It’s disgusting.

What are you doing to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle?

Hat tip for the video to Design & Style.

…fake it for real, would you?

A latest “news story” at MSNBC is about that “credit report” guy. I just want to go on the record to say that I HATE THOSE COMMERCIALS. Especially the one where’s he’s playing guitar dressed up as a pirate. You see, in the ad, he’s blaming himself for his identity theft– he may have been careless and all these horrible things have happened and now he has to work 3+ jobs to make ends meet and pay off the crooks. What irks me is that very, very rarely are we consumers “careless” about our identity information. Most of the time, it is the banks, restaurants, credit card companies, and other sloppy database mining companies that “lose” our information. I am so tried of hearing how it is MY fault that my bank account numbers and credit card numbers have been stolen (it’s happened to me twice already), when it has been the 100% fault of the database miners and credit card companies. GR!

But what’s silly about the ads is that the ads are for an identity theft company and their own singer is using a fake identity. All the stuff he sings about didn’t happen. And, according to Bob Sullivan of the New York Times, the ads are done by FreeCreditReport.com– which is backed by Experian, a major credit bureau. Argh! I hate stuff like this because it’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. If we want our information protected, shredding our papers just isn’t going to cut it. And it’s pretty obvious that the bansk and credit card companies are not going to help– they are still sending out all our information to their database miners, even to India! In order for us to be protected, I think we have to basically “insure” ourselves, like what Lifelock offers. They will insure any breaches of your finances up to a million dollars. And they will do all the nasty, painful dirty work and legwork if your data is stolen. I have had to do all that paperwork twice now, and it is well worth the $10 a month to make sure someone else does it, should it happen again. I like Lifelock. Take it from someone who knows– the banking companies are NOT looking out for you, but Lifelock WILL.

Interesting news from Bloomberg this morning: the second-largest U.S. securities firm is tightening the home-equity belt.

Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, told thousands of clients this week that they won’t be allowed to withdraw money on their home-equity credit lines, said a person familiar with the situation.

Most of the clients had properties that have lost value, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. The New York-based investment bank will review home-equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, monthly from now on, the person said yesterday.

I’ve never liked the idea of a home-equity line of credit. It’s risky for investors and it is incredibly risky for home-owners. It’s far too easy to spend into the indebted obscurity of a black hole. I would never, never, never get a line of credit for this house– it would gobble up every dollar and then demand blood. It is essential to have a budget and stick to it.

But this move by Morgan Stanley sends shivers up my spine. They are being secretive about their losses, but speculative estimates are upwards into the billions, most of which is unrecoverable.

The president and his cronies can toss flower petals all day, and say that the economy is “good” or “recovering.” But when you see the biggest and riskiest of banks and firms closing their doors and shutting down lending systems, it evokes bells and whistles that things are going down for a while. I’m as optimistic as any one, but it would be plain dumb to pretend that nothing is wrong and to keep spending, spending, spending like drunken sailors. Why oh why is our government the first to create the problem and the last to fix it?