The End Of The World - NOT!

Yesterday one of my colleagues stopped by my office and asked if this was the end of the world.
And she was serious.
This was a woman who grew up in a country that was racked by a brutal and bloody civil war. Later in her life she was comfortably settled in a Middle Eastern country that was invaded by a brutal tyrant. She literally had to escape and left her business and friends behind. Fortunately she was able to move to California and start a new life.
Today she has a thriving business with an international clientele of royals whose wealth is diminishing only marginally in the current global slump. Business is brisk.
And she's worried about the end of the world.

Personally, I don't think that it is the end of the world. We live in a consumption crazy country where billions have been spent on gambling, pet perfume, anti depressants, computer gaming, recreational drugs, porn and every tech product imaginable. $200 jeans, $50 mascara, $400 shoes, $2000 handbags, $4 coffees and $15 cocktails....have become the norm in our on demand society and the sense of entitlement is so widespread that we expect everything to be available at all times. This country is so wealthy that even the poor are obese and have plasma TVs with 150 cable channels.
So a correction is in order...and yes this is going to be a big one...and ugly...very ugly.
But the markets will eventually stabilize, housing will become affordable again, gasoline will be reasonable, insane clothing and accessory prices will come down and people will be more thoughtful about their spending. Companies will downsize and then rehire. Innovation in medicine and technology will happen. The earmark addicted - pork spending Senate will be voted out.
It's not the end of the world.

This video of comedian Louis CK on Conan O'Brien's show has been all over the internet. It kinda puts things in perspective. If you haven't seen it take a look.

Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy