The Great Recession--which is technically over, economists insist--may be morphing into a broader epoch: the Great Humbling. Millions of Americans who felt prosperous just a few years ago are now coping with long-term unemployment, sharp cutbacks in living standards, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and a deep sense of failure. That could persist for years. "This is not like earlier recessions, where things fell, then they bounced back to where they used to be," says Dennis Jacobe, chief economist for the Gallup polling organization. "We haven't seen this before. It's the only time this has happened since the Great Depression."
I predicted last year on this blog that we'd see more of these heartwarming stories on how great it is to be downwardly mobile. I suppose it's fitting that the article's scene is set in San Francisco, my town, where plenty of wanna-be aristocrats enjoy slamming doors in the faces of people like me. The article gives Americans instructions on adapting to their new lifestyle as serfs. The only thing missing is a description of the proper length of a curtsy when addressing a millionaire, or a warning to avert one's eyes when being scolded by one's lord. It uses several classic sales techniques to drive the prospect (that's YOU, the newly poor) to "close" on accepting less from life . . .
"You'll really don't want to be successful anyway. Look how unhappy those business commuters are to be rushing to work."
"You don't need more than a few thousand dollars to survive."
"Think how much happier you'll be when you don't have to worry about what to do with your money."
There is a tiny kernel of truth in these very suggestive thoughts, which is why they're so effective as sales pitches. They have a natural appeal at some level that inclines one to agree just to be agreeable. Most people probably would be better off if they had less money to waste on materialistic lifestyles that deplete the planet's resources.
I am not most people.
These sales pitches sicken me. I'm not about to settle for less in life. I've had enough experience with hidden sales pitches - both delivering them and being duped by them - to see the manipulation. My bosses at major investment firms - all preppies who never had to prove themselves - spoke to me this way before they fired me and took credit for the work I had done.
I refuse to be duped. I will not succumb to this siren song. I will never settle for less. Civilization's progress depends entirely on people who refuse to settle for less. Get lost, preppies, before I vomit all over your stinking pedigrees.