Let me take a closer look at the happenings that prompted the slump of the world economies. I'm no economist, I'm no 'shrewd cunning business magnate'. All I have within me is the common man's view of what is happening around him. A penny or two of my thoughts on the great downturn.
'Man is a social animal'. These words have been drilled into us since we were two feet tall. Careful analysis proves one fact about this statement. 'Society rules'. Man grows into HIS society, his thoughts and deeds labelled using standards that are specific to his society, his surroundings. And these surroundings differ from place to place, from country to country.
Down south, from where I learnt the basics of survival in today's big bad world, a man is judged by his assets - the land he calls his own, the cars he owns, the respect he commands amongst his peers, colleagues and subordinates. This mode of judgement is slowly undergoing a radical change. We now are transitioning from this rather 'primitive' mode of judgement to judgement based on the amount of money a man spends! Based on what I've seen about the onset of the recession, it is this attitude amongst the 'post-modern' westerners that has resulted in noone around having money for anything! With people earning in the thousands, spending by the millions, shortage was bound to surface. And with more and more people joining the bandwagon, the shortage was sure to cannonball from a small fluctuation in the world markets to a major crash!
As mentioned earlier, we Indian's are in the phase of transition. Transitioning from our age old soceital influences to the western world's definition of status, of money and respect. As far as I'm concerned, we're lucky to be transitioning now. That way, we've been affected enough to tell us that our way of gauging a person was much better than gauging him by his 'expenditure'. And since it's the transition, we haven't been affected to the extent that the wild-wild-west has been.
All this has changed me. It's come at the right time, I tell myself. I know it's actually easier to spend via credit cards! It's easier to take loans and get things done. But the damage that all this causes? How far am I ready to put my finances at the mercy of a financial conglomerate which decides how much I should pay them for the money I owe them? Yes, financial organizations do prop me up when I'm in a financial mess, but if I decide to live within my means when I have the dope, maybe I'd never have a financial mid-life crisis!
I dont know how far I'll be successful in reining in my expenses, though. The shine of a new best seller at Landmark still entices me to make one last swipe. Weekday blues almost always prompt a swipe for the weekend bash to cool my nerves. Karting still sends adrenaline rushing through my veins (although I'm no good a driver). The aromas of KFC and McD tickle my nostrils and make me pay for my overt affection for hot chicken.
Now, thinking about these temptations, 'cost-cutting' seems a far way away. But the example the world has set before me in terms of the Great World Recession has lessons for me that I must learn. The lesson of financial independence, the lesson that the west may not be the place to go.
In the hope that I stay true to the traditions of the society that was, which respects bank balances, not credit card bills. In the hope that I live life independent of financial troubles and messes. In the hope that I'm able to do justice to my chicken friendly taste buds while staying within the confines of my earnings, I sign off for now!
