Up until a week ago, I had not seen much effect from all the turmoil here. There were few signs of anything really changed.
This week the news here was broadcasting an item about a series of condominium towers that are now in receivership because the developer from Korea had used Lehman Brothers for financing. The owner has now been put in the position of declaring bankruptcy with the sub-company building two of four towers.
The developer had created a company just for those buildings, so the permits, etc. could all be done with local authorities and laws.
Housing prices are still very high, and there have been few here even close to foreclosure, yet. I do know other cities around have seen a slight rise in foreclosure, but those numbers are still in the hundreds, not the thousands.
Linens and Things is the other company that has disappeared here. They were based in the US, so I gather the finance and company structure was weakened, then went under. Another sign that some companies went over the capacity for expansion and put themselves into a bad financial position.
I am still confounded by some of the business practices in the US. Take WalMart for example. They tried and almost succeeded to bust unionization here. There was one store they opened, which after the employees did get unionized, WalMart promptly closed. I know of some of the business practices that Wal Mart use, and here they are against the laws. Discrimination against women, refusing to pay for holiday pay, firing with no reason, all kinds of very bad business practices.
Personally I will NEVER spend a dime there. I have no use for any company that will deliberately abuse the public, the courts, the laws, and especially their employees.
Some of the companies that wanted to expand to this country found themselves in lawsuits both from their former employees and from the federal and provincial laws. Most who ran afoul of the laws closed their businesses instead of trying to live up to our standards. Minimum wages, tax, health care payments are all paid by every business here. I guess those who closed up shop did not realize that we are more “social” here, and our idea of the common well-being is much deeper.
With the disastrous down-turn in the US economy, I am still trying to figure out how on earth someone who is a parent, who has a child with a long-term medical condition like diabetes, can possibly deal with the cost of health insurance. It certainly gives me a stronger appreciation for the one man who started our “socialized” health care system. It may not be perfect, but from watching what others have gone through, even going without seeing any medical services because they cannot afford them, I shudder to think how this is going to work out.
Each person does have choices, every moment, to either get into the quicksand with those in trouble, or to stand on solid ground and put out a hand to help others get out of the quicksand. Mentally that means being strong, being able to maintain a healthy perspective, being someone who recognizes that we must take care of ourselves, otherwise we are basically useless to anyone else. Jumping into the misery, diving into the quicksand, is no help, and those who are in the quicksand will definitely NOT thank us for doing it. Strength comes from within our own beliefs, and support is something everyone will need at one time or another. If I have strength to spare, then I guess I “socialize” myself enough to help someone out.
If you see a theme here, yes, there is one. Socialization is something every society does, and I am confounded that some would see banking regulation, knowing what is going on in the financial world, as a bad or unwelcome thing known as socialization. Sorry, but I believe that all of us have to depend on honesty, and if greed is going to wipe out integrity and honesty in business, then regulation, socialization, is necessary.