Does it look this bad to everyone?

[Maggie Kay]

I have been reading the news about the US economy, oil prices, housing, global warming and politics. I have had friends talk about what they see as a "perfect storm" of bad situations coming to hit the US this year. Our family situation is stable financially but not by any means cushy. I have concerns that in the coming layoffs, there will be many TGers who get laid off more readily than other workers.

[AmberTG]

Well, in the Great Lakes area, that's already well underway. Up here where I live, the area's been in a depression since the 1980s when the big iron mines all closed. There's almost no industrys and mostly low paying jobs, so for us, it's nothing new.

[Lisa Rose]

I'm ususally an optimist but with the state of world affairs I think SGTHTF (sh*ts going to hit the fan) sometime real soon. The company I work for has cut their purchasing budget in half expecting sales to do the same.

I think we're going to be very close to WWIII before things start to get better. In the long run everything levels out but in the short run a lot of people can die.

[Maggie Kay]

I think though that the employers might take this as reason to let go anyone that they don't like. This way there is no way to pin it on discrimination. It was so for the "undesirables" in the companies that I worked in before I started to work for myself. Then again that was some years ago and now maybe employers really do care about a diverse workforce.

[Teresa Amina]

Back in the late '70s the "Survivalist" industry really took off due to a similar mindset. People were hoarding gold and silver coins, buying assault rifles and finding somewhere to wait out doomsday. Doomsday came and went and here we are, still kicking. This "perfect storm" may be just a created illusion to manipulate public thought and behavior.
"There shall be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet"
As Amber said, here in Michigan it's been bad for a long time, and in spite (or because) of a pro business former governor who ruled for 12 years in the '80s and '90s it just went from bad to worse anyway. The employers took their marbles (and tax breaks) and went away mad. California is just the latest on the hit list. Hang Tough!

[obsessedwithpantyhose]

38 yrs in mich i know all about how screwd up that state is economy wise,, my family still live there but they all have jobs that r in demand so things r goin fine for them,

the housing market is in the toilet across the country,, but give it a few yrs and it will come back,, no need to panic YET :2c:
actualy if u can swing it now is the time to pick up an investment property, rent it out till the market comes back then sell it,, u could probly make 100,000 if ur lucky

[Stephenie S]

Personally, the medical field seems pretty secure, but I hold out little hope for many other markets for the short term. I agree that our economy is unlikely to colapse completely, but we need someone in Washington who will lead and inspire instead of lie and steal.

Lovies,
Stephenie

[AmberTG]

Unfortunately, I think it's a bit late for a leader to come along and fix this mess, the lieing and stealing has been going on for at least 30 years, and now, Americans don't actually make much of anything in the U.S., we just assemble it here so that the big corporations can get around the tariffs. We're quickly becoming a nation of hamburger flippers and Walmart workers. Try buying a house on that income!
We the people need a different business model, one that the government can't screw up with their corporate greed.

[Kate Simmons]

I do believe 2008 will be a "year of change" in more ways than one. This is one reason I've been busy already doing things. Seems like my work has really only begun, being retired notwithstanding.:happy:

[Maggie Kay]

I sold my car and paid off all our debt. We sold off most of the stuff that we don't use so that we can move cheaper. Even though our finances appear stable, we are preparing for rampant inflation. My SO's employer who is in the engineering field says that they expect that the smaller firms to not have the cash to pay them in the next two years. They have a lot of locked in projects where the funds to pay for the projects has already been allocated. They know that after two years, the big municipal projects will most likely be very few and far between.
All around us cities and municipalities are facing dramatic shortfalls in their income. They will be laying off police and fire as well as many city employees while raising sales taxes. My city is voting to raise them by 1% . California is in a state of emergency with a $16 billion shortfall. We have been through years of service cutbacks so increasing taxes is about all they can do. Roads are increasingly not being repaired. New taxes will of course drive the economy further down. What a mess.

[Stephenie S]

Well, if we could figure out a way to stop spending 3 billion dollars (that's BILLION with a "B") a week in the middle east, we might be able to spend a bit more on ourselves. Like for schools and infrastructure. Or maybe healthcare for our vets and old people.

Ooops, we got a bit off any TG topic here, didn't we? How to relate this to the forum? Hmmm. Free healthcare for CDs and TGs? Mybe I better quiet down and make myself a nice cup of tea before I get myself into more trouble.

Lovies,
Stephenie

[Maggie Kay]

The spirit of the thread was how the downturn might adversely affect TGers. I suspect that the worse it gets, the more fringe folks will suffer. Anyone else think so?

[Teresa Amina]

No doubt if the employer has been looking for a good non-discriminatory excuse to get rid of a transperson a force reduction would be ideal.

[GypsyKaren]

I think if any employer wants to get rid of anyone for whatever reason, they'll find a way to do it, whether things are going good or not.

Karen Starlene :star:

[Sejd]

It looks like I am the hopefull one on this issue. 28 years of marriage (which has been good) have wtihstood the challenges of me coming out as a femme. That was my biggest worry which now seems less of a problem - my luck. The world as a whole, our situation nationally looks grim I agree, but I am hopefull for positive change and new thinking. I also don't agree with the statement that transgender people are being laid off first. I don't think our sexuality has anything to do with our performance and any boss knows that.
It is true that we are in for a down turn, but we will ride it out and survive. It's a new year, let's face it with courage and hope.
hugs :love:
Sejd

[Wendy me]

i don't see CEO'S of companys sitting there and thinking we are not doing good let's lay off the transgender people frist... truth is it's a numbers thing were you fall in what you do...

[Kate Simmons]

The spirit of the thread was how the downturn might adversely affect TGers. I suspect that the worse it gets, the more fringe folks will suffer. Anyone else think so?Yes Maggie, I can see the potential for that. I also agree with Sejd though. The more faith we have in ourselves and the more self assurance, our determination to be true to ourselves will show through. It also has the potential to make us stronger in the end and it's hard to keep a good man or woman down.:happy:

[Wendy48088]

I think things go in cycles.

Hate to say, but the U.S. had a good run after World War Two up to about the '70's. We got some economic wealth that wasn't real based on the Dot-Com and Real-Estate speculations of the '80's and 90's. Now that much of our manufacturing has gone overseas and we now have H1B visa workers here willing to work for much less than native-born Americans, and now thatall the debt that people took on based on value that really wasn't there (home re-financing, etc.) is going to have to be repaid, etc., things are going to get tight for a while. I will say that in my not so humble opinion many Americans have gotten fat and lazy and greedy - not at all like the generation that went through the Great Depression and fought in World War Two. And we are a more divided nation and a more divived people since those times alsos.

The rise and fall of nations and world events go in cycles. Recent history in the last century - WWI / Great Depression / WWII / The Cold War with the Hot Wars of Korea and VietNam / etc. What will this century bring? In my opinion, we're probably due for another major economic depression and a World War coming up...

Time and World History go on. Those survivalists were right, just the timing was off... Always a good idea to be prepared in case things get really wierd for a while - and be able to get by with a lot less if one has to...



Back in the late '70s the "Survivalist" industry really took off due to a similar mindset. People were hoarding gold and silver coins, buying assault rifles and finding somewhere to wait out doomsday. Doomsday came and went and here we are, still kicking. This "perfect storm" may be just a created illusion to manipulate public thought and behavior.
"There shall be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet"
As Amber said, here in Michigan it's been bad for a long time, and in spite (or because) of a pro business former governor who ruled for 12 years in the '80s and '90s it just went from bad to worse anyway. The employers took their marbles (and tax breaks) and went away mad. California is just the latest on the hit list. Hang Tough!

[Scotty]

The IT field is good on jobs but it's not like hte Dot-com days where your time was flexible etc etc, it's a lot more like the old school way - money matters...

I believe that with a democrat in office we WILL see some higher taxes, inflation etc but that it'll hold out. I think we're past the get rich quick times...

Yes, statistically the dems raise the taxes a bit more, but I'm speaking from an economics (macro economics) point of view, not a political one.

[Maggie Kay]

I have read that historically, after every war where the U.S. participates or starts, there is an economic recession or depression shortly after. This is apparently because, we pay for our wars with borrowed money. Then dial in the credit crisis, the high level of personal debt that we are carrying, skyrocketing oil prices, the loss of the middle class in the U.S, the effects of global warming and you have the elements of big time problems.

I am really wondering if Americans can sit back and take these blows time after time and not get really angry. One article on NPR ( National Public Radio) said that personal wages now are lower than they were in the mid 1970's. So how can we expect what is left of the middle class to be loyal consumers as they increasingly run out of borrowed cash? In the last seven years, much of the economy was fueled by cheap second mortgage money which is now generally not available. With most consumers carrying over $5000 in credit card debt, (now running at 20-30% interest since the usury laws were dropped in the current administration) where are these folks going to get the money for the economy? Recent changes in the bankruptcy laws locks the majority of debtors out of debt relief. The fees that are levied by CC companies for late payments are exempt from bankruptcy and they can go as high as the CC companies set them.

To top it off, can this economy go on without a manufacturing base? Where is wealth being created? Not here. I see massive upheavals coming and fringe people often become targets when "normal" folks can't contain their anger.

Check out these recently released documentaries on DVD:
Maxed out.
The Corporation
The End of Suburbia
Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room.
Why We Fight
The Future of Food
An Inconvenient Truth
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Bush Family Fortunes
A Crude Awakening, the Oil Crash

If even half of what they say is true we are still in deep trouble

[Kate Simmons]

Expect a lot of crazy things to happen beginning this year. It is the beginning of change. Try as many will, it will be found out the old paradigms no longer work and anything can and will happen as the old state of things begins winding down. We should all expect the unexpected and being adaptable will be the key to success.

[Sejd]

One thing I know for sure. If we all have to go into the woods to survive, I want to be on Salandra's team!!!
hugs
Sejd