Talking To Myself

You may recall, back in January, at the inception of this particular blog, I stipulated that this should be a dialogue. Well, so far, I've been talking to myself. It's been a pretty one-sided conversation.
I have a lot of ideas, but I bet you have some too.
Maybe you disagree with me. That's fine. I would love to hear your views.
Maybe you agree but feel helpless and hopeless. Let's talk about that too.
What can we do? We can dialogue until solutions present themselves, and then we can act upon them.
As we speak (as I speak) factions in D.C. want to raise the debt ceiling.
To that I say, HOLY CRAPOLA! At this time, my personal finances are in a similar situation as the nation's. Raising the debt ceiling is not an option for me (except for shoes for work and auto repairs) In my uncomfortable debt to credit ratio situation, the last thing I want to do is use more credit.
As I oh-so-slowly nibble away at the debt I have incurred trying to survive since the big D, I am (also) slowly converting myself into a cash-basis personal economy. With such a pittance as my hourly wage, it is indeed slow-going. And yet, I know that it is a very worthwhile endeavor.
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be,"  I thought was in the Bible, but I cannot find it. Is it perhaps, Shakespeare? Whence ever it cometh, it's exceptionally fine advice.
The Bible does prohibit usury though. And usury is defined as undue interest exacted on a loan, or in the case of dire necessity, it prohibts ANY interest being assessed. If you notice, our economy has become based upon usury.
These are things that upset me most about our economy:
High interest rates
Advertising that 'creates' desires that did not heretofore exist
Consumerism as an acceptable way of life
The concept of a 'growth economy'
I will not be called a consumer. I am a citizen. I am a citizen who leaves a very small footprint. I compost, I recycle, I help wildlife when I can. All my pets are rescued animals. I am not a mall rat. I have changed my shopping habits. I buy only what I NEED. Food, socks and underwear only as the old ones wear out, dog food, replacement parts for stuff, medical necessities, and reference materials as needed. I am attempting to downsize so that I can live in a smaller place. Okay, I'm patting myself on the back for my diligent insistence on reducing, reuseing, repairing and recycling. Well, I did have a BIG SPLURGE this year already. I confess, I spent $4.50 on a bottle of nail polish. But did you know, that if you run out of shampoo, you can substitute bar soap or dish soap (not the dishwasher kind... the other stuff)?
Well, sorry. I do feel that these are important personal footsteps to take toward fixing things.
"If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be," is a favorite quote from a TV show when I was very young. If everyone planted a tree, recycled, composted and grew a few garden items, and maybe stopped watering their lawn, we would see a significant impact. People would also see reductions in utility and other expenses. Stuff is expensive. That makes me angry. Inflation is accepted as a matter of course. People laugh at old fogies who are shocked that gum is $2.18 when it used to be a dime.  Well hell yeah, it's shocking! Who needs gum anyway? Now that I have turned this into a rant after the example of the old fogies themselves, I shall sign off for tonight.
May Great Spirit Bless the Entire World!
Love and Light
Victoria