Once, someone described their relationship to me:
He tortures you some.
Then he gives a little.
Then he tortures you some more.
That’s pretty much the American economy. It’s the asshole. We’re its bitch. The periods of fattening are followed by lean years without a clear distinction. So towards the end of what is euphemistically referred to as a “prosperous business cycle,” people keep charging and spending and not paying it all back and then find themselves in a recession with less means to get by because there was no saving going on other than whatever retirement program they have set up through work.
It is a destructive relationship, because both parties are to blame. Business, Commerce, Advertising, Marketing…the corporate world is corrupt and the people complement that corruption with impulsive spending and not saving.
These gasoline hikes have been a much needed two-by-four upside the head for most of us. We have needed to awaken from the financial hypnotic stupor we’ve been walking around in most of our lives.