Fear, uncertainty and doubt - the triumvirate that make up FUD seems to be the order of the day in the housing market and indeed in the country's mood overall.
I can't say that I blame people for being fearful about things, maybe about the future. I think the people who do the "Fear This" signs for the back of pickup trucks should do one with Senator Mitch McConell's picture on it. It's a scary thought that this guy is in any position of potential power. I try to find some small comfort in the fact that at least McConell isn't majority leader of anything yet.
Uncertainty about the future wasn't helped much by the recent elections. We now have the devil we don't know in power verses the devil we did know. Is there any more certainty about what Speaker Boehner might do than what we all saw Speaker Pelosi doing? Sure he is less likely to push through big spending bills, but is he more likely to push through a conservative social agenda or worse? I'm not sure which is worse - Pelosi and the Democrats picking my pocket or Boehner and the Tea Party Republicans picking my lifestyle options for me
Doubt about the future is hard to hide. every politician mouths the words, "America's best days are still ahead of her"; but, that's a tough call right now. I'm pretty sure that lots of good days are still ahead of us, but they will be days measured against a new and different set of standards. Many American would be hard pressed right now to state that they see their children being better off than they were, that they are handing the next generation a better place to live in than what they inherited.
The soon-to-be retired auto worker is handing the next generation jobs that start at about 1/2 what he made when he came into the plant. But, at least there are still jobs to hand off. Too many retired manufacturing workers can only relate stories about how great the jobs at the now shuttered factories used to be. Now it is the Sung Lee family in China that proudly sends the next generation off to work in the factory for a good wage.
So, FUD is the order of the day. FUD keeps people from buying that move-up house - how can you be expected to move up when you fear that you might be in the next round of layoffs. FUD keeps people from being mobile enough to go to where the jobs are - after all you can't ever be certain that you can sell your current home for anywhere near what you need to pay off the mortgage; in fact, I doubt it. And FUD is still keeping many on the sidelines because they doubt that we've bottomed out yet. Just because some economist clowns in Washington have declared that the Great Recession ended last year doesn't mean that it feels like it on Main St., USA.
So, what is the cure for FUD? Hope is the best medicine for this debilitating condition. Hope for a more stable environment. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope is built on two things - acceptance of the here and now and faith. If you can't accept the current state, then you don't have a foundation upon which to base your hope for a better tomorrow - you are still struggling with denial. And, if you don't have faith, then you have to face the daunting task of creating that better tomorrow alone. People with faith know that they are never alone and that gives them hope. So, what's the future for us all? I'm hopeful.
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