I just read this – via the Deconsumption News Room Furl archives – about the selling of America.
The dollar, which began to weaken broadly in early 2002, has fallen more than 50 percent from its October 2000 trading peak against the euro. It recently has come close to hitting its record low against the 13-nation currency and is near a 26-year low against the British pound….And of course a weaker dollar means travelers to the United States from places such as Europe would see “sale” signs everywhere they looked…European buyers, she said, could, buy second homes in the United States in bustling cities or, for example, near golf resorts…”You can’t defend yourself. Your currency is worth less in an international arena, and we’re in a globalized world. You’re going to be up for sale. All U.S. assets are up for sale,” he said. (The Clarion-Ledger)
“You’re going to be up for sale”. That’s the kind of sentence that gives me gooseflesh.
My parents were just here, from Europe, and it gave them gooseflesh too. They brought their Euros and indeed everything was dirt cheap, but they didn’t go on a spending spree – they’re not that kind of people. Instead, they worry about what it all means. They worry about us, and especially their American granchild. Her country is up for sale.
That is chilling. I remember when my husband and I visited Scotland in 2005 and the dollar was stronger than the pound and it was great since we didn’t have much money (much like now, as a matter of fact) Then we visited again in 2000 and the dollar was already weaker than the pound.
I am afraid to ask how low the dollar is going to sink.
Isn’t it just these kinds of newsflashes and realizations that bring us down? The world of finance seems so far off, untouchable to us. We compost, we recycle, we reduce… but in the meantime some guy in a suit decides what’s for sale and what’s not (, what’s avaiable (corn, soy) and what’s not (fresh veggies, fruits, honesty…).
I am thinking I won’t write such entries anymore. I will write about the difficult, the negative, the desparate, but only if I can offer something small as a recompense. That will be the aim of this blog: in the face of certain men in suits, the salvation of our children.