Hi dyske I've seen some friends losing their jobs, and recently when I take the kids to school I see a lot of unemployed dads huddled together, encouraging each other.
On the whole we personally haven't really been affected, money-wise we're still ok, though my lecturing work looks like it's now dried up. We have been affected by this depressing mood that's been pumped out by the media, though I've noticed of late that the BBC seem to be less alarmist and more soothing, though this feels increasingly false, and the news analysis feels increasingly superficial. Personally this whole crisis has made me more critical of the news and I try to inform myself much more than before. Generally life (in south London) appears to carry on as normal. People I know (mostly families) have been consciously cutting back, most of them took their annual holidays in the UK this year, and very few can afford to fly abroad. I think people feel the worst is over now, and this is what the news is telling us. I agree with you that we are probably in the eye of the storm and worse is to come, and that we are not being told the truth. I think we've all mostly bought into the story that the crisis was somehow a natural disaster - a global crash - that couldn't be averted and so it's no one person's fault. So while people may slag off bankers in general, they don't really blame them personally for what has happened, and there's no real anger. Maybe we have bailed them out, so we're effectively paying to put their kids through private school, but we don't know this for sure so best not to say. Great that my poem has got some discussion going on this! dave 2009/8/24 Dyske Suematsu <[email protected]>: > Has it really been bad for you? If so, what have you experienced personally? > > I've been asking everyone I know around the world what their personal > experiences are with the current recession. ALL of them described some bad > experiences of their friends but NONE of them said they themselves suffered. > The general consensus is that they can feel it to some degree, but feel > disconnected from how things are described in the media. > > It's like how non-New Yorkers felt about 9-11. All they saw was what they > saw in the media. Supposedly something horrible happened but they had no way > of confirming that it's not Hollywood special effect. Many people had to > come all the way to New York just to see the vacant lot in the financial > district. They literally came to see nothing. > > Personally, I feel like the Dotcom bust was much worse than this credit > crisis, and other people I know have agreed. > > But a 20-something girl in my office space told me that when she was hanging > out with 10 of her friends, they realized that 6 of them lost their jobs > recently. This is what I was expecting for everyone around me, but I only > know a few people who lost their full-time jobs. I'm 42 and most of my > friends are around 40, so it might be that only the younger generations are > suffering. > > Ironically, New York appears to be shielded from this recession even though > we triggered the whole recession. The real estate has gone down here too, > but nowhere as bad as other states. Believe it or not, I hear that some > neighborhoods are still going up! > > Either way, recessions are good for art anyway. When the economy is good, we > become lazy, and nothing truly creative comes out, because it's better to > keep doing the same thing to make money. > > My own personal take on the economy is that we are in the eye of the storm. > > I would love to hear other people's personal accounts of the recession. > > Best, > D > > - > Dyske Suematsu > 419 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor > New York, NY 10003 > http://dyske.com > Phone: 646.723.3943 > http://twitter.com/dyskes > > > On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 12:29 PM, dave miller <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> relax >> phew! >> cor blimey! >> the recession is over! >> >> It's been so bad - do you know it may actually have been a depression! >> >> But now >> Baby we're on our way to the moon! >> >> Oh yes it's been hairy over the past year >> and TV has been pretty depressing. >> But now there's mass jubilation and dancing in the streets >> fuelling gains on the FTSE >> and house prices are going back up. >> >> There's a remarkable upturn >> It's noticeable >> A surge in confidence among professionals >> Optimism >> Speculators and investors are getting ready >> Bankers bonuses are back! executive pay is up! >> >> Now we can dream about getting jobs again >> of going back to work >> We can hope for some of that famed trickle down >> To buy one of those big back 4x4's >> that we always wanted. >> >> On the other hand >> Please dont tell me it's phoney or it's a sucker’s rally >> or that economic pain has been merely delayed by massive government >> bailouts >> or what's coming is bigger and badder >> the mother of all meltdowns >> blood and thunder ... >> >> Maybe they're all lying to make it seem better? >> Maybe it's just an attempt to sucker in our money before a big dump by >> insiders? >> I just dont want to hear that >> I don't think I could bear it. >> >> Do you think it might be? >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
