Is the Glass Half Full?

Does this economic collapse have an upside? I hesitate to even go there because of the perceived insensitivity to those who have lost their jobs in the middle of the Christmas season. But even forest fires do have a cleansing effect.

First of all, what’s happened has been necessary. The Wall Street whizbangs were flying too high. There was no accountability for bad loans. These are lessons that needed to be learned.

And many of our captains of finance and industry needed to be shocked out of their comfort zone. The economic calamity is having the effect of hastening the death of failing enterprises, or if not that, forcing those in charge to rethink what they’ve been doing. If there had been no economic meltdown, the automakers could all continue with business as usual for that much longer. I used to be in newspapers,, and we’ve all known for a long time how much that business has to change. But now it’s really do or die, and for many, it’s too late to do.

What about all those people out of work? The immediate prospects are dire. But for many who lose their jobs, it’s a new opportunity. To do what, most of those out of work don’t know right now, and that’s an uncomfortable place to be.

A friend of mine who was a newspaper editor quit the position in a huff about a year and a half ago. He was angry about the way the corporation was doing business and how it was treating its people and its customers. He spent the next few months on his blog bashing the company. But this doesn’t put food on the table, so he took some real estate courses, got his California license and is now a Realtor. You’re going to say, not such a good time for that business, either. But people always need places to live, and while home prices are down, sales volume will pick up as bargain hunters move in. He admits that if you told him 18 months ago he was going to be in real estate, he would have laughed pretty hard.

Somehow, I have faith that the harder these hard times are, the faster we’re going to get through them – and the world will be a better place for it on the other side.

There, now I’ve said it.