You know what the 700+ point Dow drop reminded me of? A kid having a temper tantrum. The Killer Joke (as Evelyn would say) is that if the “bailout” did go though today I think the market would still be down. What a bunch of doom and gloomers. The whole negative attitude is infesting everything. Like the gas run in Atlanta, this is a self-fulfilling disaster.

Christ, you read the news and you think that the majority of people are defaulting on their loans. Guess what? They aren’t. Do we have 30% unemployment? Nope. Come on people, Why So Serious?

Update: I was going to make the below a comment to Erin’s, but I thought it was better here.

There’s no question that this a world-wide issue. There’s so much focus on the USA, even though 5 large banks in Europe have gone under in just the last 6 months. (Including the one that bought ABN AMRO that used to own LaSalle in Chicago.)

I don’t discount that people are going through rough times, and I feel bad for your family, and the thousands like it. The trouble is that it becomes a very dangerous “slippery slope”. The negative mood infects everyone, from the bankers making the loans to the people just trying to buy a home or a car or whatever. The gloom is infectious, and very very dangerous.

I make light of the subject because we all, as a world society, need to take a step back and get a grasp of the issues at hand. We need to carefully evaluate what’s important and what’s not. I’ve lived through enough recessions and enough bad times (literally counting dimes and quarters to pay bills) to know that if you keep working hard and focus on what is important to you in life, that things have a way of turning around. It’s not easy, but it’s nowhere near impossible.

Is one big country/world bank going to solve anything? Nope. Are nationalized banks going to solve anything? Nope. And what do we do when $700 billion has been spent and the plan doesn’t work? (After 8 years of George, my reaction is to believe exactly the opposite of what he says.) Now we’ve saddled the next generation with even more debt, and I have no desire to do that.

Perhaps we need to look at things that are working in this world. Like micro loans. Like looking into the community (co-ops) and not big banks for funding. Those things work. Why? Because they are kept close to the community and don’t get bogged down by red-tape and 1000 layers of fees. They get money to places quickly and efficiently.

Let’s look for real solutions, move forward, and don’t get stuck in dispair. If people need help, by god, help them. Not with some big-bank-big-government bloat, but with “boots on the ground” action. There’s a lot of money out there, just waiting to be put to good use.