Old World Swine

Obama Economic Strategy; "Whatever"

The consensus is this, that we have to do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again...

"Whatever it takes...", and remember, we have written Beloved Leader a blank check by setting him up with a Congress stacked in his favor.

This includes Senior Class President Obama's economic bailout package for the abortion industry - otherwise known as the Freedom of Choice Act.

You'd think we might have learned by now, that when a president vows to do "whatever it takes" to protect us from something, this is not necessarily good news.

Addendum: Here is a link to the Fight FOCA petition web site. Sign up and pass it along to your friends.

Economic Query #2

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Continuing grim news on the economic front, as unemployment is up and everything else is down - in the cellar, even.

Once again, I'm curious about what kind of economic effects you may be experiencing in your own life. Lost income? Dwindling IRA? Business closing?

I ask because, again, I have personally seen no effect at all so far, except much cheaper gas.

In addition, I wonder what people may be doing to prepare for the possibility of a really rough economic patch, like a long recession (hopefully not anything worse). We are watching our spending more closely, and looking to economize a bit this Christmas. We've talked to the kids about maybe having to do without some of the luxuries we've been accustomed to, and the importance of working together if things really go south. I have plans to buy a used chainsaw in the next few weeks and - with my son's help - cut up a large downed oak on our property for firewood. If we get a lot we may sell some, but the plan is to stack and store most of it. I have to say, it's a chore I look forward to. Chainsaws are fun, and nothing says "home" like a fire in the fireplace.

Sweet Wifey is also looking at doing some canning. She's borrowed some equipment and, if all goes well, we may buy our own gear and try to make a habit of putting back some vegetables and fruit every year. Like home brewing, it's certainly seems like a good thing to know how to do.

An Economic Query

I'm curious to hear from readers on what kind of effects they have seen from the recent financial market chaos.

I already know that things have worked out badly for some people who work in the financial sector. I know the US auto makers have seen a great reduction in sales and are laying off workers, but I think that began some time ago as a result of inflated fuel prices, rather than being directly tied to the recent crash.

I ask because I hear and read every day that the sky is falling, that things are getting worse and worse, that we're looking at a long recession and the economy is in horrible shape. And yet, I drive to work every day and nothing has changed. The stores still have plenty of everything, the lights stay on. If not for the dire news stories, I would never be able to tell anything had changed at all.

The only difference I have personally seen is that gas is a heck of a lot cheaper which, honestly, doesn't tend to make me feel panicky or depressed. On the contrary,there has been a distinct lightening of my mood lately when I stop to fill my tank.

Just curious.

The Real Problem with our Economy

"Our society is so abnormal that the normal man never dreams of having the normal occupation of looking after his own property. When he chooses a trade, he chooses one of the ten thousand trades that involve looking after other people's property."

- G.K. Chesterton

Pope Pius XII on What the Poor Need from Us

From an essay titled Where Are The Poor by Dorothy Day, posted at The ChesterBelloc Mandate (which has just a ton of good reading, by the way);

'We cannot conclude without mentioning that the very best charitable organization would not suffice of itself alone to assist those in need. Personal action must intervene, full of solicitude, anxious to overcome the distance between helper and helped, drawing near to the poor because he is Christ's brother and our own.

The great temptation in an age which calls itself social--when besides the Church, the state, the municipality and other public bodies devote themselves so much to social problems--is that when the poor man knocks on the door, people, even believers will just send him away to an agency or social center, to an organization, thinking that their personal obligation has been sufficiently fulfilled by their contributions in taxes or voluntary gifts to those institutions."

The poor don't very much need to stand in line at a drab, soulless, fluorescent-lit government office and pick up a check. They need money, yes, but it would do worlds more good if this help came through a friend. This is how we help the poor - not by inventing this or that new program, but by making poor friends. Not by being concerned about "the poor", but by showing concern for a poor person. This is probably the only truly effective way of doing missions, too... by making friends - true friends - of unbelievers, whether here or in some distant country.