Fear Mongering Seems To Be Working

reply to post by seagrass

I think the climate of fear and uncertainty has impacted business. But not exactly how we think it has. Because people are afraid, to some degree, they're returning to the idea of living within their means. Many businesses were caught off guard by this idea, after decades of pushing the subliminal message that it was "the American way" to spend now and worry about paying later".

People are still shopping, still buying, just not with the reckless abandon they have in the past. People I know are buying Christmas presents, though maybe settling for what they can reasonably afford, not what the retailers say they need.

The auto industry has painted itself in a corner this way. People are choosing to keep the family buggy for another year instead of trading into a new higher payment just to keep up with the neighbor. And since the neighbor is reaching the same conclusion, the ego stroking anxiety is lessened for everyone except the auto industry.

Years of "brainwashing" by the retail sector is failing. You don't have to have a new Escalade to feel comfortable parking at the golf course. You don't have to have a plasma screen bigger than a king size bed to see the details of the Sunday football game. She'll know you still love her if you pass on a Christmas diamond ring with a stone the size of a goose egg. The retail market has the hangover from years of our drunken spending at their never ending party.

Yeah, there's some tough days ahead for all of us. But like anything worth learning, becoming a smarter consumer comes with a little discomfort. The retail sector would love to scare us all back into economic serfdom chained to a credit card by telling us the economy has to be jump started with more spending. But many people aren't buying, in more ways than one.

I hear you NG, I drove the same car for 15 years until it caught on fire due to mice. I had to endure my "friends" saying when are you going to trade that in?

I loved that car and it ran like a tank. (Ford Explorer) so I bought another one.
I think it will be good for people to actually have to cut back. I actually enjoy a few days without power. I enjoy going back to the older ways of my childhood. Pulling out the camp stove and lighting candles and lanterns is fun for me. I grew up on a farm so I know some of the ins and outs of self reliance. Maybe that is why I am not very scared. Our house is paid for. My car is paid for. I own most of my stuff. It is hard to do without at first, but our family had ups and downs all my life... good times, lean times... it was cyclic. I guess I am used to it.

reply to post by seagrass

Oh yeah. And it isn't all that harsh. Adversity builds character.

I don't know how many times I've gotten disbelief because I don't own a single credit card. In stores they speak slower and louder because they think there must be something really wrong with you.

But I don't get all those letters nagging me for money, so I'm the one that thinks they're crazy for trying to convince to spend money I don't have.

You and my mom would have a nice time NG. She doesn't either and they look at her funny too. She doesn't have a debit either, and once she was really mad when we went to a motel and they wouldn't accept cash. I guess for the dine and dashers, so she had to use mine. She has a big savings and lots of investments and real estate. Her house and car are paid for.. she doesn't look like a person with money. She wears her clothes til I tell her "hey mom? I think that is done, let it die...." She will use it for braid rugs... lol. Maybe I learned some of my thrift from her....
I call that stuff "fan mail".....I get lots of it...

Originally posted by NGC2736
Or are we all willing participants in this? Do we naturally take bad news and make it worse with our imaginations?

There is a delicate balance between being cautious and being paranoid.

But when those that have the ability, introduce false or grossly misleading fears into a society, it can create a panic state of paranoia that spreads like a cancer.

I have liked to use this example regarding worry. Lets assume your on a freeway. It has one lane.

With one hundred cars in that one lane, each of them going 60MPH

Each car being 20 feet apart. Each car moving at 88 feet per second.

You have 1/4 th of a second to stop should the car in front of you be stopped.

You are depending on 100 drivers. Who you assume are not drunk, asleep, putting on makeup, adjusting their radio, dialing their cell phone or driving erratically.

Your depending on 400 plus tires, all of which are fully inflated and reliable.

You are relying on 100 tanks of gas and that one is not going to run out

400 plus spark plugs and and pistons, all working correctly.

100 engines that have enough oil so that they might not seize up.

100 radiators with enough coolant that the car doesn't over heat.

Your depending on 100 drivers, all alert and fully functional.

No flats...

No random breaking...

Your hoping that not one of those drivers has decided he or she has a death wish and is going to crash you taking their own life in the process.

If I were to worry, about 100 cars in one lane on a freeway at 60 mph 20 ft apart, and all the possibles...I WOULD NEVER GET IN MY CAR!!...

Acceptable risk. Reasonable precaution.

Paranoia will destroya...

Peace


[edit on 15-11-2008 by HIFIGUY]

reply to post by HIFIGUY


Exactly right. very good way to visualize it.

Yet, the flip side is that one must be aware as far ahead of time as possible of any developing signs of danger. If you see the person ahead of you talking on the phone and swerving side to side, prudence demands that you give them a little more distance.

And it is that balanced approach that makes for a more rational existence, IMO.