Finally easter pics. (warning cranky post to follow)
Well, it is election time again and I pretty much washed my hands of politics years ago. I never put much faith in politicians and feel like if they were going to make things better we would have seen changes fifty years ago. It is easy to blame peoples' problems on themselves when things are going great for most people and "the system" is working. But its not working anymore. In fact lately it is hard to feel like my families are not being persecuted by the system.
My brother and his wife moved in with my parents to save money for the second car that they need to live somewhere affordable in CA only to have their current car die on them. A week previous my poor sister-in-law lost out on a little piece of property, a small modest old farmhouse on a couple acres because a scummy bank accepted a cash offer at the last minute.
Now let me be clear. My family members are hard working individuals. I know for a fact that my sister-in-law's husband worked nights for a long time in addition to his regular job to pay the extra interest on their mortgage when their rate went up. My brother (who incidentally also has lost a plethora of houses to the infamous "cash offer" wealthy real estate investor) worked extra hours waitering and lived at home on a shoestring to pay off his college debts and masters degree. These are honest people in the prime of their life, starting families. These people are playing by the rules. And you can't say it's geography because they live four thousand miles apart from eachother. Both my brother's wife and my sister-in-law are frugal ladies who cook home meals and buy second hand. In the old model if you did these things, maybe you didn't get filthy rich, but you had security, comfort and knew that you didn't have to worry about the future.
It has been apparent to me for quite some time that this system of ours is quite broken. It hurts our families and it hurts us.
Oh for two acres and a mule.
Sorry for a whiny post. Elections make me cranky.
6 comments:
“There cannot be a nation of millionaires, and there never has been a nation of Utopian comrades; but there have been any number of nations of tolerably contented peasants.” GK Chesterton
Anna: I couldn't agree more. But forget your land and mule......someone will just come in at the last minute with cash.... And there goes your mule trotting off down the road.. I could go on and on about how " things used to be" but you said it so well I don't need to.
Love and kisses to everyone!
Ooma
Sometimes I really wonder if it's worth "playing by the rules", but if we don't, then who will? It's hard, and it's frustrating, but I think that there are more people out there like us than it sometimes seems. :)
Anna, I love the Easter dresses! Did you make them? Adorable!!
Its the same her in the Uk.....everyone is struggling!!Things have changed so much in the last few years!!! Love your blog ....
I don't know. If you were African American in the US it didn't matter how hard you worked, red lining would prevent you from buying most homes.
And at least we don't have bombs being dropped on us. Not to be all polly anna but really, I like to embrace this St. Augustine quote when feeling down:
"Bad times, hard times - this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times."
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