I haven't been around here for a while- two years is quite a long time for me to go without ranting!
I had completely forgot about this place until I received an email saying that I had comments to check out so I thought I'd pop back and say hello!
Living in this country at the moment is like walking across a wire- dangerous, uncertainty if you will ever get to the other side, but more than that- a little bit exciting!
So we have the so-called Credit Crunch upon us, banks are failing left, right and centre, big bosses are losing their multi-million pound bonuses (shame isn't it?!) and yet consumerism is rife! The government, as usual, don't seem to know what they are doing and all the while I am getting on with 'normal' life without a care in the world. Why is that? Because fortunately, this credit crunch is not affecting me at all. I have saved money by changing supermarkets, I have lost 4 stone in weight (which is amazing and I am currently surfing this wave of content), I am getting hitched next year to the man I love and have loved for 14 years, and my kids are amazing! Sorry this all sounds a little bit gushing- but it's true!
But back to the ranting phase!
The credit crunch. What the fuck is going on? I was having a discussion at work yesterday about the financial situation we have found ourselves in and a chappy said that this all started when Northern Rock went down. Yes it did- but in their defence, it really wasn't their fault. Fact is banks invest in other banks who invest in other banks who invest in us. US, the general population. Northern Rock invested in a US bank who then stupidly invested their money in people who were able to take out mortgages that they couldn't repay. Because the consumer couldn't repay, the bank couldn't repay Northern Rock, who then were unable to give out loans/mortgages to consumers in this country. That's how it happened. Of course the news will make it into some well complicated thing that people can't understand- but that's what happened. Because NR couldn't loan out anymore and were not getting money back from the States- that's when they said 'Can we borrow a few quid'. Once the press got hold of that, that's when the shit hit the fan.
Queues upon queues of people withdrew money from them. The worst thing anyone can do is remove their money from a bank, because that's when it will collapse. Ho hum, too late now. The thing that I don't get is why our worlds money is based on speculation? It just smacks of Terry Pratchett. In one of his books (can't remember which one) there is a warehouse full of nothing in Ankmorpork, although you can see shadows of stuff hanging from the ceiling. This is called future warehousing. All I can say is: Remember Enron. I can see this happening all over again- but on a much larger scale. Another thing that I found shocking (and excuse the fact that I don't really know the exact numbers here) is that if you add together all of the world's money and then work out all of the world's debt- it doesn't add up. The world debt runs into several trillion pounds and there isn't even that much in the world! Fuck sake- how is that even possible?????
I am getting a little fed up with all the credit crunch talk. We can all do something to make things better. Fucking sack estate agents for a start because I thoroughly blame them for the state of the housing market. I bought my house some 7 years ago- but that's when it all started. Estate agents were illegally asking me to up my offer- even though I had put in the asking price. It was the same every time I put an offer in on a house. Obviously, the more they sell a house for, the better the commission. Estate agents are crafty bastards and should be stopped from making up numbers. My house is now worth more than double what I paid for it- ridiculous. I know bricks and mortar are supposed to inflate but not at the rate that we have seen in recent years. So many people can't afford to buy a house and renting privately is becoming desperate. Isn't it about time the government stepped in? Shouldn't they be the ones governing this mess effectively? I thought that was what they are supposed to do- but considering we have a prime minister that wasn't even voted in to office, maybe that would be too much to expect.
Salutations peeps, I hope to have something more to write soon
Luna Pixie
