Austerity Measure

We are currently in the midst of a financial crisis.

Not just the banks, squandering away our savings on risky ventures, or the government borrowing from other governments in order to lend to other governments, but we, generally and specifically, are up shit creek.

For years we have been spending more than we earn, subsidising our lifestyles with loans, credit cards and overdrafts in a twisted game of economic Buckeroo. Did we think this would go on forever? Did we think we would never have to pay that money back? Money that was never ours in the first place.

So the bill has finally landed on the doormat, the catalogue man is at the door demanding his money and we stand, empty handed claiming we can't afford to pay.

Bullshit!

Our lifestyles have been bloated out of proportion, blurring the line between want and need. It has become too easy to have things we shouldn't be able to afford on our meagre salaries and feel that we have earned them. We gripe about an increase in council tax, something that pays for the collection and desposal of our rubbish, the maintenance of street lights and roads, yet we pay £40 a month for Sky, so we can watch reruns of crap we didn't watch first time around.

We NEED to pay the mortgage, light and heat our homes, feed and clothe our kids, however we CHOOSE to shop at Next and Sainsbury's rather than Aldi and Asda. We WANT Sky + with movies, a 52" plasma and a fortnight in Spain every June.

There is a word that describes us: spoilt.

The truth is we could live cheaply if we wanted to but we are addicted to everyday privelages that our grandparents would have considered gratuitous luxuries. Yes, we live in the modern age and have access to these benefits, our wages are tenfold those of our forefathers who struggled to feed a family of nine with nothing but a ration book and two threadbare hens. We are strides ahead of our grandparents and still feel we have the right to complain, strike and riot (many dropping a day's pay to do so) because no matter what percentage of the collective debt is our doing, we will stamp our feet, pout our lips and refuse to pay a penny of it back.

I have gone from feeding and clothing two on a double wage, to three on a wage and a half, to four on what barely amounts to a single wage. I shop at Aldi, clothe the kids in George and occassionally reach for a needle and thread rather than replace. I plan, I budget and more importantly, I think.

My advice to the masses? Quit bitching, grab and oar and start paddling.