I was one of the people who said “bring it on” some time ago. Like the OP said, we were not wishing for it, just anticipating it, and hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible.
It’s not that I want to see anyone suffer — not at all — but that we need to get beyond this debt bubble and finally land in a place where people will be rewarded for WORK (not gambling, schmoozing, and financial alchemy).
None of this had to happen, and I was writing letters to politicians and law enforcement agencies years ago, trying to do my part to stop the insane lending practices that brought us here.
Agree with the OP who said the “service economy” BS was one of the first red flags. Then, we morphed into the “finance economy” which made even less sense. We were on a downward trajectory many years ago (I believe 1982 was the genesis of our problems, as credit began its massive expansion).
BTW, I know a number of people who work for govt, and can assure you they are NOT safe. Right now, there are a number of hiring freezes, pay freezes and lots of discussions about possible lay-offs. Some cities may scale back fire and police services as well (closing stations or rotating skeleton crews from station to station, downsizing crews, among other things).
NOBODY is safe, and no investment is safe, IMHO. We are all gamblers at this point, hoping that we can just tread water until this thing collapses and we can rebuild from scratch.
You are right, SDR. What the govt is now doing will absolutely make this recession/depression worse. No rules, no plan, everyone in power seems to be flying by the seat of their pants right now. Very scary, indeed!
