Acknowledging the man in the mirror
By the end of last week, I was forced to face an ugly but undeniable truth: I’m a chump.
Not uniquely so, thankfully. I’m just one among millions of chumps. But there’s one thing that can be said in our favor, which is that despite our chumpness we’ve maintained a clear-eyed grasp of reality. We’re not deluded. We know we’ve been played for chumps, and that there’s not a thing in the world we can do about it. For now, at least.
Actually, I’d prefer a term a little more noble than “chump,” but what else can we be called? After all, the financial industry, which played a key role in getting us into the worst economic mess of the past 80 years, has been bailed out. The homeowners who overextended themselves, and thus played a vital supporting role in the meltdown, have been bailed out. The domestic car industry, which grew too fat and sloppy to compete when it had to, has gotten billions in bailout money and now wants even more. Our elected officials, who are supposed to guarantee the prudent use of our tax dollars — but whose time mostly seems to be spent earmarking, fundraising and pandering — approve bailout requests with such speed that no single one of them can tell you where all the money will go.
All of those groups failed at their jobs or failed to live within their means, and all of them now are being saved from the consequences of that failure. In contrast, the chumps — those of us who lived in houses with mortgage payments we could afford, tucked money away for hard times, took modest vacations, saved for retirement and kept our spending under control — now get the bill.
Don’t take this as a partisan rant. A Republican administration started the process of helping the guilty dodge their consequences, and a Democratic one carried it forward. The nation isn’t divided along political lines these days. Instead, everyone is either a contributor to the economic mess or a chump.
The things being done now to restore health to the economy are necessary, but only in the sense that action is usually better than inaction. Anyone who asserts confidently that the economic package now in place will work is a fool. Conversely, anyone who asserts confidently that it won’t work is likewise a fool. Fact is, this problem is so large and profound that nobody fully grasps it. All we can do is tinker with the machinery, pulling levers here and priming pumps there, all while hoping we accidentally stumble into the right combination of fixes that brings the engine roaring back to life.
Eventually, things will be stabilized. And that’ll be when an even knottier problem presents itself. Everyone will be prosperous again, but the chumps will be no more prosperous — and possibly even less well off — than the gamblers, greedheads and deadbeats who are now being bailed out. The chumps will realize there’s no premium for playing by the rules. It’ll be clear to them that their labor and dutiful citizenship was seen by others merely as something to be exploited.
The last time that happened, a revolution followed. Then, as now, the ruling establishment failed to gauge the angry determination of the average American chump.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:05 am
yessir! nail on head. right on the money. I’m a chump too! and you know what I may start NOT playing by the rules. I’ve worked hard my whole life and I’m not going down with anyone else’s ship. It’s now all about me. Screw the politicians, the CEO’s and the banks. way to go mr. dan
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
Major chump here. I actually lived below my means for 30+ years and saved enough to retire in my early 50’s……or so I thought. I’m very forunate that I could go back to work and a job was waiting for me but it is harder for me to explain to my ten year old son why being frugal is so much better than being a spendthrift.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 am
I don’t really understand what I’m supposed to do with the stimulus money once I get it… is this where I’m supposed to spend, spend, spend to support business, or is this where I pay ahead on things like credit cards? What, exactly, is the point of it all?
I’ve been pretty out of touch with the latest, but it sounds like my family will be getting $1,000 (it’s $500 for each adult, right? anything for kids?). Honestly, we’ll probably stick it in our shrinking savings. Am I a bad American?
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I don’t think we are getting any of that money.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
According to what I’ve read, if you make less than $150k (couples) you will notice a reduction in your federal deduction to your paycheck resulting in about $10 a week more money in your check. Now, if you don’t get a paycheck, don’t expect any help.
And, while I agree with Dan in principle — historically prudent citizens are getting the shaft — it should be noted that some population of individuals who spent more than they made have been shown little mercy. While some reckless people may come ahead (It will truly be outrageous when some eventually profit from it) figuring out how to game the system ahead of time would have been impossible. The lesson to your children is that reckless spending is still reckless. There will be very few (if any) prudent people who get totally wiped out. While there will apparently be some portion of irrational consumers who make us feel like chumps, many people who chose not to play by the rules are probably sorry they did.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Well add me to the chump list… And I’ll have to say to anyone that is a chump like me, you will stay that way because you have a conscience, you have worked hard and went by all the rules, while the greedy figured out how to scam hard working people.
I have to praise Gearino for doing such a topic that I am sure has been on the minds of a lot of hard working honest people lately but no one wants to mention.
I am also glad that Gearino is not like other journalists like Peder Zane that are trying to show how
politically correct they can be for the N&O’s publisher and McClatchy.
Maybe Zane doesn’t want to be one of next job cuts.
Take a look Zane
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Chump! Oh… at first I thought you wrote Chimp and I was going to be the first to denounce you. However, I see you wrote “chump” and now I will denounce myself for even thinking about chimps.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I’ll be seeing the stimulus money…. in a 65 percent reduction of my COBRA. Pretty big deal for an unemployed guy.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:54 am
You’ve touched on something that has been vastly underplayed — the seething anger of Joe Chump. It’s been largely masked by the lampooning of all those Republican Dr. Nos and the over-dramatic gasps about Rush’s call for a failed Obama presidency. Them what are damn angry about finding out Righteous Citizenship has been a sucker’s play tend to get lumped in with the above.