Is it Just Me?

OK I admit it. I'm a staunch conservative. I didn't used to be. Back in the mid-80's I fled a legalistic and extreme religious environment and spread my wings and swung over to a fairly liberal mind-set. That phase only last a few years. Once my rebellious anti-everything-I'd-ever-been-trained/taught mode waned, I began to pay attention and really examine the political world around me. I attended town-hall meetings held by my state legislator, I talked with candidates that went door-to-door and even started watching websites for current and wanna-be candidates. I started listening to talk radio and forsaking the typical news outlets which seemed very slanted to me. I worked hard to actually be informed. I didn't want to blindly follow anything anymore.

Well the news of late has really got me in a very defensive mode. I am starting to feel like I need to defend my personal property, my finances; my general way of life seems to be in jeopardy. The dollar is falling, rampant inflation is probably less than a year away (keep printing that money!). What now? What if I lose my up-to-now safe, well paying job? What would we do if our money became nearly worthless? How would we pay our bills? Buy food? Keep a roof over our heads? It seems that a lots of things I've taken as a given, may actually be in jeopardy. I'm turning 50 in about a month and retirement usually isn't far from my mind. Will I now have to work until I'm 70? Will I even have a job? Ah, so much to think about.

Should I buy gold? Silver? I most certainly want to pay off as much debt as possible, no question there. Debt is certainly a bad thing in our world's current situation. I don't' want to be beholden to anyone if I don't have to.

But man, do I still want to travel the world, spoil my grand kids, help out my kids as they start up their new families, be generous with my charitable giving. I really want that new computer monitor, new software, iPod Touch (thanks for the tip JD!), camera accouterments, and more. Oh and my tires need replacing, the yard is a disaster and needs new sod, and I need a new wardrobe. My house still has a lot of painting to be done and curtains to put up. I can see that I have a real struggle in front of me to curb my years of easy spending.

I've been very reticent about posting my thoughts on this; worried that some will see me as a conspiracy theorist or just plain batty with my concerns.

Too bad.

I am out in the open now.