Recession is make believe in Winnipeg

With little surprise, the streets were lined with eager bargain hunters throughout the Boxing Day bonanza. People lovingly escaped their homes in droves to support the many deals being offered by Winnipeg's favorite big box chains and boutiques. But wait... isn't there a recession? Aren't we all out of money?

Of course we're not out of money silly... they'll just print more. Few are immune to the sickness that is consumption, whether we have the means or not. Credit is a driving force for many of us, being the main reason we get out of bed in the morning. Because I owe, I must go and earn to pay for that which I need; such as the $1 singing X-mas tree, regular $28, that some bozo in Winnipeg faught over at XS Cargo. Phew... we can sleep easier knowing this prized retail gem is now in such caring hands. But really, do you realize that for many people debt is the one thing in their life that they can rely. Knowing that everyday that are enslaved to pay back what can never be paid back. Knowing that you never can results in further spending as we can all rely on the one ultimate insurance for paying down credit... death. A great book about the sick relationship we all have with debt is Margaret Atwood's "Payback." A great read considering today's economic realities and the behaviours of today's consumer.

Do we even believe in recesssion anymore? Can anyone born after 1980 in North America really believe that one day there would be no food in the grocery store or new tune to download onto their Ipod? How can we? Anytime the economy heads into a dire situation, the U.S. government just prints more money. Money is debt people because once its created and borrowed you owe interest. The imaginary cost to borrowing something that doesn't really exist. Yes... as identified in a favorite movie of mine Zeitgeist: the Addendum (you'll have to Google it people as the link hyperlink wouldn't work) 97% of the money supply is virtual, only 3% is in its physical form.

So, we can all rest easy knowing that the sky isn't falling. Spend people, add some room on your credit card, take that trip you've been dreaming about. As the saying goes "you can't take it with you" and you know - when it boils down to it - you really don't care about the generations to come... "you got yours baby and I got mine."