Depression

Well, the cat is now out of the bag. Paul Farrell, a columnist with the digital edition of the Wall Street Journal is making a persuasive argument that a full blown depression will be descending upon us in a few years. The article can be found in the Rock Trueblood web link on this page, in the 19 November column. In the modern passion for numerology the WSJ columnist lists thirty reasons why an economic depression is inevitable for our economy by 2011, and they make unsettling reading.

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The long and the short is that the bad habits that brought us to this pass haven't changed among financiers who are still burning up taxpayer dollars in the profligate ways they burned up their investment capital. Add to that the fact the government bail outs aren't helping and as the rescue efforts fail government is sinking into veils of secrecy,always a bad sign.On top of that there are thousands of lobbyists who are pushing agendas tat almost certainly have no good outcomes for taxpayers. And finally we have a government pushed by a nation that has no interest in tax increases. Everyone it seems wants to avoid pain, and avoiding pain will make the recession flop into a depression and then the pain will just get worse.

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A lot of people still think the Great Depression took place one afternoon in October 1929 and from there all was bleak despair. Actually the depression took several years to bite, with bank failures leading the way in a gradually increasing cascade, and the stock market dropping, holding its own, dropping some more and so on over about three years. It was a pattern not so very different from our own. Deflation is taking hold now, assets of all kinds are up for sale, prices are plummeting and we want more government help at all levels. Add to that world wide insecurity as the enormous consumer engine of the US buying power fizzles out and unemployment is spreading across the planet as fast as a California wildfire.

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I have no idea what is coming but if it is a depression I have no idea either how to prepare for it. One of the lessons I have learned from this current recession/depression fiasco is that even being able to predict in some form what may be about to happen doesn't mean ordinary people can figure out what the hell to do about it. By this stage we are pretty much trapped in our lives, unable to sell our homes, unable to change our jobs, unable to save much cash... and what little we have salvaged may yet vanish in a spiral of inflation or a poor investment choice. This crisis engenders a very uncomfortable feeling of helplessness in me.

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It seems impossible to imagine a future as constricted as that period our grandparents lived through in the thirties, but if it does come to pass I trust we will find new and cheaper ways to cheer ourselves up as we get done what has to be done. It does rattle one's cage to read such discouraging stuff in the Wall Street Journal. I plan to enjoy this civilized 21st century life, in moderation, for as long as I can.

A Piece Of Royalty

Royal Street jogs its way across Old Town from Amelia Street to South Street and the block I like is off United Street:

Temple B'Nai Zion marks the spot on United Street where one block of Royal Street branches off:And on the other side of the street a guest house marks the corner with a particular paint scheme and plants:

Royal Street looks narrow enough to be a one way, but it isn't even though there are all too many large SUVs filling the streets of Old Town:

At the other end of the block the street jogs and becomes Amelia Street, a sharp and interesting turn marked for whatever reason by a plethora of tall trees:I took these pictures on my recent early morning ramble around Key West so the sunlight was streaming low across the city and it gave a particularly lovely light to the street.

The home above is obviously not yet being lived in for the winter but it is still a little early for most winter residents to show up in town.

Conch housing in all its splendid variety, old and new, wood and stone. And the more modern styles, the 1960s or 1970s perhaps? With those splendid car ports:And of course there are the picturesquely dilapidated next to the Yuppie renovated:

And if a dartboard needs a home it may very well find one on a nearby fence:

People in Old Town tend to get a bit proprietary about "their" parking spaces, the ones in front of their own homes especially in winter. You'll see people sticking buckets, saw horses or even trash cans in "their" spaces to reserve them until they get home. That's what I thought when I saw this trash can but it was in the driveway just waiting for a date with a trash truck:But there again if one walks the streets of Key West there are tons of things to see, homes dart boards and...feet?These feet definitely weren't made for walking, but I like walking the streets of Key West.