Fading Out

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.

Homes Or Houses

Homes are NOT meant to become investments, but places we all can go to shut out the world, invite friends and family to, and to make our own.

If you use your house to make money, then what are you really doing?

From my perspective, you are taking a place others would normally make their own, put some dreams, some memories, some work, some beauty into, and selling it because you have no commitment to your own “home base” or community.

How many people go back in their memories to home? They remember the neighbours, good or bad, they remember the holidays there, they remember the schools that they went to and they remember the way kitchens smelled at dinner time.

With our society now, it seems all of us have learned to expect instantaneous results, instant answers with the internet, instant meals from the freezer to the microwave.

Homes are not built instantaneously, they are products of work, design, time, and dreams from several people until we live in them, adding our own dreams.

Putting our houses into the category of investment makes them hollow. They never really become something we work toward enjoying, living in, making messes in, fighting in, loving our pets and family in, but just boxes.

For me, buying a house is more. I want to have some place where I can put my own design on, plant my own trees, flowers, veggies around. I want to have a place where I know I can go when people annoy the hell out of me, and I can shut the door.

Homes are where I can make some messes without the glaring eyes of bosses, or others who would sneer or make rude comments.

Home is where I can walk around in whatever I choose to, regardless of fashion.

I wonder if kids raised in families constantly on the move ever really earn or find a place in this world they can trust, can relax, can truthfully just be themselves in.

Maybe this is why some people would dump seniors on the street, so the houses the older people live in can be used for greed and callous disregard.

Seems to me there is a real sense of impermanence to a lot of our living now, a real sense of anything and anyone being disposable if it inconveniences us.