The impact on our consumption is affecting everything, from how it is now hip and trendy to be frugal to how companies (and people) are thinking more local. The downside is our economy – jobs, families, homes, healthcare, education, everything. Our government can not do everything for us, nor should it, AND, nor should we expect it to.

Our founding fathers realized that the greatest challenge in our experiment in government was to carefully balance our new freedoms to build and create ourselves against the need to protect and care for our country. The assumption was that government should not get too big, else we fall prey to corruption, and increasing forms of government control.

I believe you are correct, in that we have a long road ahead of us. We can either forge a new path, take the road less traveled to make all the difference in the world, or, we can try to save what didn’t work simply because its “comfortable”. I’m not for change that is just for change sake, but I am for thoughtful and reasonable new approaches to our new condition. Unfortunately, so far, none of that is happening yet – its partisan politics, as usual, on all sides!

Mark Cummuta´s last blog post..Gag Me with a Contract: These Software Licensing Tactics Should Be Illegal

It means a great deal to me that you have weighed in on this post. It’s been interesting to push in this direction and uncover how real folks are being with the situation.
I agree that action is key, and to that I’d add action rooted in caring.

As a nation, so many of the choices that have been made seem to have lost the sense of responsibility to anything more than our own narrow interests.
As citizens, we cannot afford to let that example let us off the hook.

A friend once told me that he had realized that every successful person he knew did only two things — talk and move. I’m doing my best at working on getting those right.

I agree that satisfaction and happiness wasn’t ever found in spending.

Liz Strauss´s last blog post..REACHING OUT – EDUCATION & COMMUNITY

I had the same observation last week at both Circuit City and Home Depot. While at Circuit City – I thought that the discounts we not really a deal at 10 to 30% – not enough for me to trade cash for toys. I recall thinking that “Circuit City is going out of business yet there not really clearing the shelves at the modest discounts – do they have a disconnect with their situation?”

I would also say that for me as a consumer – changing habits or addictions are hard – until you reach a point where the fear or pain of not changing is greater then the fear of the change. – I didn’t buy any discretionary items!

Can inspiration come from feeling disturbed and a little spooked? Well, why not? I have an inborn faith in the little light that shines out from our humanness.