Wow, what a crazy time we are going through. We are at war, going into a recession & changing presidents. I think Obama has his hands full, and if he can pull this off, I have that much more respect for him.
Anywho, I think it's cool I happen to be in econ right now. I don't know a ton about the subject (as is reflected by my grade!) :P However, I am getting a better feel for things than I would were I NOT in school right now. (Otherwise, when the news gets too sad, I shut it off.) Anyway, we watched a tape last month where the theorist thought we might go back to the standard of living during the American Revolution. I honestly don't think I know what that even means.
I mean, considering the amount of $ I make, I think I live pretty simply. For example, I could afford a lot nicer house, and we don't even have cable (just internet, which we're both in tech...). Of course, I have a small car loan & student loans, so if the sh*t really hits the fan, it could be scary. I just feel like young Americans aren't willing to live within their means anymore. Young couples live beyond both of their salaries instead of just living off one & paying off loans. Trust me, I'm not judging individuals. Heck, I make twice what some of my classmates make, and I still haven't paid off my loans. I'm not even close on my student loans! It's like you just accept that that is a normal monthly bill?
Anyway, I really hope that we don't cut back on education, but I'm already seeing student loan lenders tightening down. So, if you are poor you don't deserve a good education? Won't that just make things worse?
While the tone of this blog may seem negative...writing it makes me realize how blessed we truly are. People are worried about their retirement, but in other countries people worry about their children dying from starvation. Maybe this tough time will make us realize that "things" are not our priority, but rather people. I think depression-era folks got this, and my generation may get a reality check. Have the economic predictions made you re-assess your priorities?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
Did you vote today? I did. I know early votes were at a record high, but I was out of town last week. That also means the week before my trip was crazy, trying to catch up so I didn't have to take my work laptop on vacation.
There is somewhat of a thrill, however, in voting on election day. Despite the rumors, the lines in my precinct were non-existent. I felt a little guilty not researching the local issues, so I didn't both voting for most of them.
I am hoping to keep this blog fairly neutral, but how exciting is it that either way, history will be made today? (hopefully it won't stretch out like the 1st Bush election, ick!) We will either have the first woman VP, the highest ranking woman in our federal gov't's history, or we will have the first African American president. For awhile, Hillary even had a good run of being the first female candidate on a major ticket. Even though she was not my favorite, I hope it is still indicative of progress. I think living in Austin, we take open mindedness (is that a word?) for granted, but I'm constantly amazed at how backwards many Americans are...
For example, there are still so many people thinking that "we are in Iraq, bc Iraq did 9/11"...ugggghhhh, try again! Of course, there is also the nuclear arms theory. I believe when we invaded, the UN had marked Iraq as the 42nd most likely to arm...obviously, nothing was found, and in the meantime other countries DID develop programs...but by then it was too late to back out...was a good way to get us to back the war though, eh?
So, if you are reading this blog, I would guess you either stumbled upon it or are thinking of starting a CLEE program in 2009 or 2010. In that case, you probably won't have a presidential election while you are doing your masters. How has being in school affected this election for me? I admittedly have had less time to track the issues, projections, etc...My beliefs made one of the 2 candidates the obvious choice for me, however, so I am not too worried about that. As I mentioned before, it kept me from tracking any local issues. To be fair, I would've been way more focused on the presidential race, anyway. I feel like this is an election we will be telling our grand kids about! This probably lowered my pre-election stress, too. ;)
By the time you read this, you should know the outcome, but I wanted to capture the excitement & anticipation I am feeling at 9:26pm CT on election night!
There is somewhat of a thrill, however, in voting on election day. Despite the rumors, the lines in my precinct were non-existent. I felt a little guilty not researching the local issues, so I didn't both voting for most of them.
I am hoping to keep this blog fairly neutral, but how exciting is it that either way, history will be made today? (hopefully it won't stretch out like the 1st Bush election, ick!) We will either have the first woman VP, the highest ranking woman in our federal gov't's history, or we will have the first African American president. For awhile, Hillary even had a good run of being the first female candidate on a major ticket. Even though she was not my favorite, I hope it is still indicative of progress. I think living in Austin, we take open mindedness (is that a word?) for granted, but I'm constantly amazed at how backwards many Americans are...
For example, there are still so many people thinking that "we are in Iraq, bc Iraq did 9/11"...ugggghhhh, try again! Of course, there is also the nuclear arms theory. I believe when we invaded, the UN had marked Iraq as the 42nd most likely to arm...obviously, nothing was found, and in the meantime other countries DID develop programs...but by then it was too late to back out...was a good way to get us to back the war though, eh?
So, if you are reading this blog, I would guess you either stumbled upon it or are thinking of starting a CLEE program in 2009 or 2010. In that case, you probably won't have a presidential election while you are doing your masters. How has being in school affected this election for me? I admittedly have had less time to track the issues, projections, etc...My beliefs made one of the 2 candidates the obvious choice for me, however, so I am not too worried about that. As I mentioned before, it kept me from tracking any local issues. To be fair, I would've been way more focused on the presidential race, anyway. I feel like this is an election we will be telling our grand kids about! This probably lowered my pre-election stress, too. ;)
By the time you read this, you should know the outcome, but I wanted to capture the excitement & anticipation I am feeling at 9:26pm CT on election night!
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