Echoes of 1991

AUTOREVU (Halifax) -- The economy is in the toilet. Companies are starting to lay off more than ever. People are becoming very anxious about their future - myself included. In times of dread and worry, wouldn't it be nice to worry about what kind of Ferrari or Porsche you were getting in 2009? That's exactly the kind of thinking that many of the top CEO's are thinking. Are they wrong to dream about luxury items? Is greed a bad thing? Where are today's moral leaders?

Is it me, or has there been a huge moral vacuum building up in the world lately. Perhaps I'm crazy, but it appears to be a more evil, self-centered world than ever before. No longer is it good enough to earn a decent income; people are seeking other ways to selfishly satisfy their desire to have more of everything. I am guilty of this myself; who can resist buying a luxury item such as a thumb drive when it's 80% off? My goal this year and the next is to get out of debt, spend less and save more. We live in a heavily advertised consumer environment where if you admit to living on less, people think you are strange. Back in the 80's when I was growing up, people often got their VCR's fixed when they broke down.

Today, when a DVD player can be bought for under $20, who would bother to repair such an item? I remember when floor televisions would be used for 15 years at a time. Today those fancy flat screens last a mere 3-4 years. After that you have to spend money on either newer technology or an expensive lamp. Cars are the same way. Cars sold without ABS, EBDF, and stability control are a potential danger - my own car included. My car doesn't have stability control, but it does have ABS and EBDF.

Society is becoming addicted to immediate gratification. We'll do whatever it takes to get what we want NOW. Whatever happened to saving up and deciding later? Credit cards solved that equation. The average consumer debt load is $3000 on unsecured credit cards. The interest generated on these cards are so enormous that companies like Capital One are buying BANKS with the money they've earned!

If you had to leave every bit of technology behind except for ONE piece - what would it be? A car? Mp3 player? cell phone? PDA? Computer? Nintendo Wii? Xbox360? PS3? Think about that one.