For those, like me, who are confused about money

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I’m no financial genius.  I do know that no money is bad.  Enough money is good.  Excess money is wonderful, though rarely ever happens to me. Please see the first sentence.  When someone comes to me and needs to borrow money, if I have it, I give it, usually with the understanding that I’ll never see it again.  That’s kinda stupid, right?  Giving money away?  When I do it, it’s stupid, and I’m incredibly naive.  When the banks do it, it’s sound financial policy.

Now you see why I don’t understand economic policy.  Banks make no sense to me.

Luckily for me, my friend Dennis Kucinich sent me a link to a video that will help.  I thought I’d share it for those of you who are as lost as I am.

Watch the 47 minute ‘Money as Debt’ animated documentary you can find here. This is a useful, though by no means definitive, introduction to the topic of debt and the monetary system.

In the e-mail that came with this link, Congressman Kucinich also said this:

Here is a very quick explanation of the $700 billion bailout within the context of the mechanics of our monetary and banking system:

The taxpayers loan money to the banks. But the taxpayers do not have the money. So we have to borrow it from the banks to give it back to the banks. But the banks do not have the money to loan to the government. So they create it into existence (through a mechanism called fractional reserve) and then loan it to us, at interest, so we can then give it back to them.

Confused?

This is the system. This is the standard mechanism used to expand the money supply on a daily basis not a special one designed only for the “$700 billion” transaction. People will explain this to you in many different ways, but this is what it comes down to.

The banks needed Congress’ approval. Of course in this topsy turvy world, it is the banks which set the terms of the money they are borrowing from the taxpayers. And what do we get for this transaction? Long term debt enslavement of our country. We get to pay back to the banks trillions of dollars ($700 billion with compounded interest) and the banks give us their bad debt which they cull from everywhere in the world.

After reading this, I no longer feel like a financial idiot.  No sane person could make sense of this system.  Actually, isn’t this something like the money laundering I see on movies about crime?  And isn’t that a bad thing?  Silly me.  I lost my head.

The Palin Mess

In theory, Sarah Palin should make me very happy.  A woman running for the number two office in the entire USA can only be a good thing, right?  Wrong.  Sarah Palin is totally unequipped for the office of vice president, to say nothing of her qualifications to be president of the United States.  While I’m sure McCain’s campaign named Palin to the ticket to attract women  voters, the move just managed to anger most women and expose McCain’s true view of women.  What this pick tells me is that for McCain, women are interchangeable.  Since they are interchangeable, let’s pick a pretty one so she looks good in pictures.

I can understand that McCain needed to find a young running mate.  He’s my mother’s age while Obama is my age.  While my initial reaction to Obama was that he was too young (too inexperienced, really), I’ve realized that someone with a forward-looking view would be an asset right now.  Obama and I are cusp babies–depending on which definition we’re looking at, we’re either the last of the Baby Boomers or the first of Generation X.  Either way, we blend qualities of the two groups, and I think that’s a good thing.  We have some of the responsibility and idealism of the Boomer generation tempered by the pragmatism of Gen X (and Net Gen, who are our kids).  Sarah Palin is younger than me and Obama, but not by much.  She’s one of the cusp babies, too.  And she’s one that hasn’t managed to pack a lot of the kind of experience she needs into those years she has lived.

While I’m not a political supporter of Governor Palin, I don’t think she’s a terrible person.  Granted, she had some trouble sticking to a college to get her degree, but she did get one.  As a college professor myself, I know that college is not an indicator of intelligence.  Some very bright people don’t shine in an academic setting, especially people who think out of the box.  The list of super bright people who didn’t shine in college is long and well known.  And my BA is in English and journalism, and I started as a reporter, so obviously that can only be a plus in my book.  But I’ve become one of the people watching her who feels totally sorry for her.  She’s been thrust into a position she is unequipped for, and she’s floundering.

Her teenage daughter is pregnant.  Sure, I think mothers and fathers have some responsibility for that, but when all is said and done, teen age sex happens.  And even when using birth control, teen age pregnancy happens.  But this is more of a family situation than a national crisis.  How many presidents and vice presidents have had children with problems?

So these aren’t the reasons I am angry about the choice of Palin.  What left me shaking with anger was her infamous interview with Katie Couric.  The woman was unintelligible.  My initial reaction was “what are they thinking putting this woman out there?”  Then I got angry, then I just felt pity.  If my freshmen were that inarticulate in class I would pity them.  She’s a governor.

I’m not a Republican, but right off my head I could think of better choices.  The first that came to mind was Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country, and former administrator of the EPA.  If that couldn’t have helped McCain’s Green cred, what could?  She’s over 20 years older than Palin, but that still makes her younger than McCain.

What about Condeleeza Rice?  Obvious choice.  She’s smack dab in the middle between Whitman and Palin in terms of age.  She’s not only a woman, but black as well–that’s something that can neutralize the race factor in the election.  She’s another woman I want to support, but can’t, but only because our political philosophies are too radically separate.  But on paper, she’s perfect–Secretary of State, Stanford professor, very good looking, musically talented, daughter of a minister, no kids, so no embarrassing off spring.  Sure, she has ties to George W. Bush, but in terms of qualifications, she’s got it made.  If she became president, I wouldn’t panic.  I wouldn’t like it, but she could definitely pull it off.

What about Senator Elizabeth Dole?  She’s a little younger than McCain, but she’s got experience to beat the band.

So, hey!  I’m a Democrat, more or less, and I come up with three superlative women off the top of my head.  I actually came up with a much longer list, but most of the women I had on it were Democrats, so I had to immediately rule them out.  Last night we were discussing the Palin interview with Katie Couric,  and my son said, “Mom, you’d make a better VP than Palin.”  My only experience is the fact that I’ve lived in three foreign countries, but on paper, I have the PhD, I’m youngish, I started as a journalist.  With those details, I don’t look so bad, but I also know there’s no way I could ever have that job.  I have no administrative experience to speak of, my economics knowledge is sketchy at best.  Would I want to be VP?  Sure!  Could I do it.  No.

I don’t know what enticed Sarah Palin to say yes.  Power is seductive.  But because she said yes, I see that she lacks the judgement necessary to be in the Executive Office.  But McCain’s lack of judgement was infinitely worse.  Is he so foolish  or worse, sexist, that he thinks women are easily appeased?  Name a woman his running mate and we’ll flock to support him?

To me, this just tells me that the man is totally unqualified to lead my country.  And the woman he chose as a running mate is an insult to thinking women everywhere.

A Debatable Debate

Like the good American I strive to be, last night I watched the presidential debate between Senators McCain and Obama. I watched the entire thing; I paid attention; I often yelled at the screen.  If that was their idea of a debate, I’m no longer confused as to why this country’s citizens have disengaged from the political process.  No one said anything that hasn’t been said before and said over and over again ad nauseum.  I didn’t come away from the debate with a better sense of either man nor did I learn anything.  The only thing I came away from the debate with was the conviction that no one in American public life is willing to make an unscripted comment or to openly speak the unvarnished truth.

Before the debate even started I was annoyed because only two of the candidates were allowed into it, and there are more than two candidates running for president.  Also on the ballot are Ralph Nader, running with no party backing; Bob Barr as the Libertarian candidate; Charles Baldwin as the Constitutional candidate; Cynthia McKinney as the Green candidate; as well as seven other candidates for smaller parties, including the Socialist Party USA, the Reform Party and the Boston Tea Party.

Okay, so maybe that’s asking for a circus, not a debate.  But it would be interesting to get all of the candidates into one room at some point, and let people see what is being said outside the viable parties.  It might at least freshen the debate.  At the very least it would open the discussion.

But anyway, I watched last night, and both candidates managed to annoy me.  I realize that they couldn’t really answer the questions being asked because that might entail saying some painful truths that people don’t want to hear.  We can’t tell people what they don’t want to hear, can we?  It might upset them.

Isn’t it time to get upset?  It’s time to face some harsh realities here in the US.  We need sweeping changes in how government gets run if we are to get this country back on an even keel.  We can stand on a podium and point fingers, as both candidates did last night–they both agree that it’s the fault of the current administration–or we can do something.  Right now both men are candidates, so I know they don’t have as much power to act as they’d like, but they can tell us what they plan to do.  And really, both men are also senators, one of the highest offices in this land.  They already have a measurable amount of power they can wield.

Senator Obama, I get it that going into Iraq was wrong, that the war was conducted poorly.  I agree with you and have since March 2003.  I said before the invasion that we should let the UN do its job.  No one listen to me, either.  But we’re there; it’s a done deal. How do we get out of it with the least possible amount of damage and what is your plan for the future of the US in Iraq?  That was the question.  You never really did answer it.

Senator McCain, I know that you have been a maverick and have bucked your own party a number of times.  I applaud you for that because party politics are a bane to our government.  But what are you going to do now that’s different?  I did feel at one point you came out and said what you thought–time for a freeze on spending–but then it felt like you back-pedaled on that–oops, that was harsh.  Let me candy-coat it a bit.

So there are two more presidential debates coming up on October 7th and 15th and one for two of the vice presidential candidates on October 2nd.  Let’s see if between then and now anyone decides to make the debate worth watching by actually answering the questions and telling the truth.

A Different Ground Zero

Finally, after 13 years, I’m back to living in New York.  And while I now work close to Ground Zero, I also work within spitting distance of the new Ground Zero–Wall Street.  I came back to America just in time for a financial meltdown. I also got myself a ring side seat.

I work in the Wall St. area.  People are stressed, businesses are already closing.  My students tell me that their workplaces and their parents’ workplaces, many of which are service industries, are letting people go, cutting hours, doing anything to stave off going in the red.  My students are worried about their parents, about their children, about their futures.

I tell myself I’m in a recession-proof job, but that’s just something I tell myself to get through the day.  Mayor Bloomberg just announced a series of severe  budget cuts, and whaddya know?  I work for the city.  He says that city workers won’t lose their jobs, but he certainly doesn’t mean adjunct professors.  Not a field with job security.  I don’t worry overly much, but the threat is there for spring term.

I’m teaching all composition courses now, and I’ve taken as the theme for this term “An Historic Election”.  I have my students reading up about the election, paying attention to what’s going on, and thanks to the past two weeks, all hell has broken out.  I’m not forcing anyone to read any more.  They come in bursting to talk, needing to vent their frustrations, fears and anger.  Many of them realize that they started paying attention at the critical moment.

Every day I think of more and more I want to write here.  And almost every day passes without me even logging on to this site.  The sheer work of making a living is wearing me down, keeping me from having time to think and then to write.  A former colleague in Massachusetts had a theory that today’s college students don’t want to apathetic; they have no choice.  They have to work longer and harder to be able to afford a college education.  Being an activist is a luxury they can’t afford.  I’ve become much more sympathetic to his view.  Being a writer and a social commentator is something I can’t afford, either.

When I think of my quality of life in America vs my quality of life in Sweden, I truly have to question coming back here.  I can’t believe I’m actually writing that.  I can barely accept that I’m contemplating moving back there.  I try to remember how much I struggled being there, how hard it was to make it, and I almost think: stay put.  But then I remember that I have no health insurance and a need to see a doctor.  I think, gee, I had national health.  It wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing.

My husband is still waiting for his visa to come to the US.  It might be a year or more before he gets it so we wait.  We’re not the first nor the only to have to do this, but getting a visa to live with him in Sweden took a few months.  Of course, a lot more people want to move to the US than want to move to Sweden, but we’ve been married 10 years.  I think it’s safe to assume he didn’t marry me for the green card.  But while we wait, America crashes around me.  If he gets to come to the US, will he ever get a job?

The picture is bleak.

Tonight is the presidential debates.  Like many Americans, I will be glued to the TV.  I’ve already made up my mind about who to vote for, but I still have to see what happens with my own eyes.  It should be interesting.

In the meantime, I live in the shadow of Ground Zero, where seven years ago institutions were crashed and left in ruins.  Now we relive it on a metaphorical level, but the ones who “did this” to us were ourselves.

A PSA

How rich are you? >> I’m loaded. It’s official. I’m the 58,641,004 richest person on earth!

I’m feeling much better than I did earlier today. I was actually feeling sorry for myself this morning. Not any longer.

9/11/08 Impressions and reflections

It’s 8:46 AM, Sept 11, 2008.  Seven years to the day, to the minute, since the first plane hit.  I’m blocks away, sitting at Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Murray St. building, a school that actually lost a building  in the attacks when WTC 7 collapsed the fateful afternoon.  The streets around here–Broadway, Warren, Church–are full of police and fire vehicles.  There will be a ceremony starting now.  I have to teach, or I’d be there.

Lots of American flags on people’s lapels on the way in.  Memories flood back. I was in Geneva, Switzerland in 2001.  Sick in bed with a sinus headache when I got the call a little after 3PM our time.  It was my mom, calling from Oregon.  She’d been watching the morning news when she got up that morning and saw the second plane as it happened.

The memories of the rest of that day are sharp, clear.  My 10 year old son was home from school that day as well.

This is my first 9/11 in NYC since it happened.  I just saw Ground Zero for the first time in July.  I couldn’t look.  I couldn’t go there.  I worked in this area for years.  I loved walking through the WTC grounds.  My dad helped build them.  And because my dad died when I was only 11, the WTC was a tangible tie to him.  I always felt a thrill of pride walking there.  My dad was part of this beautiful place.  My dad was part of NYC’s history.

Later, 9:37 AM

Sitting in class while my students do planned group work.  Heavy atmosphere.  Students are a little down, too, I think, but it’s hard to tell in here.  This is a tough sell class.

My heart hurts.  Too much pain around me.  I can only shield out so much, and since I’m feeling it myself it’s in there already.

Later, 5:00 PM

After my classes today I walked down to Ground Zero.  Stopped first at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Church St.  NYC’s oldest Catholic church, it’s right around the corner from Ground Zero.  It used to sit in the Towers’ shadows.  There had been a ceremony there and a mass at 12:05, but I got there just as mass was getting out.  I went in to pray and light a candle for all souls lost that day and a world that was changed that day.  There were still many officers there in full dress, but there were also two K9 officers there with sniffer dogs.  A sad reality, but I hated to see sniffer dogs in a church.  I cried then.  It seemed like a rational response at the time.

Took some pictures, walked around.  Lots of people, quiet, respectful, police and soldiers in dress uniforms.  Firemen remembering their dead.  Shrines, conspiracy theorists, tourists.  But it wasn’t like a carnival, something I was afraid would happen.

During my second class today, alarms started sounding out on the street and students and I panicked momentarily.  Any other day we would have ignored it.

Stories came out–where we were that day.  Memories, sadness.  Goosebumps.  But we shared love.  Sounds silly, but I loved them so much, sharing with me.  Remembering the students I was with on Sept 12.  I still remember them all–the shocked and frightened American exchange students, the terrified Saudi students, afraid of retribution, the traumatized Serbian, Albanian and Middle Eastern students who had literally lived through wars during their childhood.  The frightened Europeans, sure that WWIII was going to break out.  We loved each other and made it through.

Love is the answer.  Cliche, I know.  Hackneyed even.  But it’s true.  Seven years later, the response in my classroom was love–maybe not for the terrorists, but for one another, for our families, for our city.  And that helps the hurt go away.

AWOL again

OK, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Such is life.

And I won’t post much, but today, I must.