When reading the assigned blogs, articles and websites dealing with the issue of the economic rescission and my generation I could not help but be sad. Our country is clearly going through an incredibly hard time, and the ever present economic crisis seems to be hitting everyone. Seeing some of the more direct effects this is having on my personal generation was devastating. I feel as though this can be attributed to a number of things, but I would like to focus the reason that I find most prevalent.
I find that our generation has fallen victim to the overwhelming amount of influences the current media has created. As a generation we have been flooded with new ways and outlets to spend our money- and now we have been given a way to spend the money easily, conveniently, and even if we don’t have it. The incredible powers of the credit card are driving our generation into a debt ridden group of youth that are controlled by big businesses. The way I see it is that credit card companies feed off of the youth who are coaxed into signing up for one of these plastic demons by the free tee-shirt or the incredible power to purchase. Media influences the youth to partake in purchases, and stores and online shopping networks make it easy and convenient to shop when and where you want to. Finally, the money the youth spend on these purchase get flushed back into the economy- but, when the youth don’t actually have the funds to pay for their purchase they build up debt and hurt the economy.
This is not to say that my generation, the millennials as they are called in some readings, are the cause of our current economic state, but rather that we have grown up not acknowledging how our consumer behavior has effected the economy. Now we as a generation we are facing the worst of this recession with hiked up school fees, higher loan rates and increased debt.
I think about my life as a consumer in comparison to that of my parents and grandparents. As I grew up my parents frequently reminded me that when they were growing up they did not have half as much stuff as I did. That could be a fault on their part for purchasing such items for me, it could be a fault on my part for desiring such items, or it could be a fault on the part of corporations who created these items. Whoever the culprit in this situation is, nothing can change our want attitude towards consumerism. This sort of ‘wanting’ comes hand and hand with our ability to instantly purchase through shopping outlets, credit cards and the way we were brought up.
I believe that the only way we can rise above this recession is to rise above and alter our practices as consumers. Whether this means not buying new shoes every season, or not charging your spring break on a credit card- I believe that changing the way we think about our purchasing power we can end the recession and ultimately live a wealthier life.
However, being the objective person I am I took the time to read up on what may not be so negative about this economic crisis. On a personal level I believe that this current economic crisis is a great learning tool for the future. When you think about it, until this crisis occurred we as a generation thought less and less about the economy and the giant impact we have on the market, but now it is essentially unavoidable. I feel as though the current crisis is a continuation of the economic circle. Our parents grew up influenced by our grandparents who survived the great depression. Their consumer behavior, their spending habits, and their understanding of a want versus’ a need were incredibly influenced by the great depression. We as a generation have not had similar influences and our understanding of consumerism has gotten out of control. Now we are faced with a crisis that is by no means as severe as the great depression, but is never the less an economic hardship that we will have to over come. This crisis will undoubtedly change our consumer habits and beliefs and will eventually lead to the reevaluation of our consumer behaviors. I refer to this as the economic circle because I hope and believe that this situation will influence our children as the great depression impacted our parents. These economic hardships offer a learning opportunity and a chance to become more aware of the reasons, repercussions and reactions they create and help society become more prepared for their almost unavoidable arrival. I can already see that this economic crisis is being handled much better than the great depression, and it is hard to believe that if the depression didn’t happen that we would have been a prepared for this crisis.
Additionally, the economy can be a forgiving place. I have just blamed the economic crisis on our generation- but research shows that this recession is in fact not totally negative for people under 35. In an MSN money article journalist Liz Pulliam Weston tries to pull the positives out of this crisis by debating that for people under 35 this is actually a good thing. The price of houses has dropped, and credit is so low that borrowing money is almost impossible. She also argues that because the price of stocks is so low, we should invest our money in them now with the hope of large sales in the future. On a personal level I question the legitimacy of these claims, but give Ms. Weston kudos for the attempted optimism.
To read more about the potential positives of this crisis I suggest you take a brief look at ‘The Student LoanDown’ blog and the following entry on international refuge for the crisis.
