We’re mired in one of the deepest recessions in 70 years. Unemployment is up. The stock market is down.
But hey, look on the bright side, that long line at the $9 salad place downtown should start to recede any day now.
If you’ve lost your job, this recession might as well be a depression. I get that. But so far, even if we have to endure furloughs or freezes or cuts, 93 percent of us in Colorado are still employed.
So today, for just a moment, let’s banish the gloom of these dreary economic times and embrace what just might be the bright sides of the recession.
First, I think we’ve successfully averted that Social Security meltdown everyone was so worried about. Or at least should have been worried about.
With the value of our 401(k)s dropping faster than the value of a Jay Cutler Broncos jersey, baby boomers and Generation Xers won’t be able to afford to retire at 65. Or 70.
Maybe not even 75.
We’ll just keep on working, year after year, and pouring more of our tax money into Social Security. We’ll help keep it afloat as we begin to siphon off what’s ours.
And, lucky us, we’ll avoid the boredom that can sometimes accompany retirement. Who can be bored when we have all those people to greet at Wal-Mart?
With this recession, we also might stave off whatever ills await us in Al Gore’s post-apocalyptic global warming world. To save a few bucks, we’re conserving more energy. Turning the lights off when you leave a room or turning down the thermostat saves a few pennies — and it might help save the Earth.
And, thanks to the recession, construction costs are dropping. Maybe RTD can finish off FasTracks without hitting up taxpayers for too much more money.
Perhaps we’ll even become more self-reliant. Rather than paying someone to cut the hedges, we’ll do it ourselves. Trips to Home Depot will become more common than letting our fingers do the walking as we look for paid help in the Yellow Pages.
At our house, we find ourselves outside more often, enjoying Colorado’s natural beauty. We’ve made more trips to city and county parks that we’ve already paid for through our taxes, rather than doling out cash to see another Disney remake. (You’ve seen one race to Witch Mountain, you’ve seen them all.)
This recession has even caused Americans to do the unthinkable: Save money. The national savings rate, which had dropped to zero just a few years ago, actually jumped up to 3.6 percent in December.
That hurts an economy driven by consumer spending, but ultimately it helps the financial health of the country.
Speaking of health, many of us are learning to cook at home again, and brown bagging it more often for lunch. That has to be good for a country with an ever-expanding waistline. (Unless, of course, you consider that fast-food joints, with their enticing dollar menus, have seen an uptick in this downturn. Not much of a bright side there, unless we’re short on contestants for “The Biggest Loser.”)
Heck, this recession could even save the next generation.Most Americans now think their kids won’t be better off than they are, but what if we changed our definition of “better off?”
What if this recession makes the next generation tougher, healthier and more realistic? What if they’re forced, by an economy based on real numbers and actual dollars, to live within their means?
What if they decide to stick close to their family, so they can help pull each other through the hard times? What if they learn to value the dollar, and not plastic?
Well, then, I’d say that next generation just might be better off than us — the ultimate bright side.
Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com
