The Roaring 2010s?

I shopped at Target on December 15^th.

So far, nothing has happened. But that does make me part of the group of 70,000,000 of us who’s financial identity may have been violated.

Maybe that’s a little melodramatic…but I’m just starting this melo-drama…

See, there is a thought I’ve had for quite a while; a general mistrust of banks.  When the banking industry faced the crisis in the late 00s, I had this thought. When some banks proposed charging a per-teller-transaction fee for walking into “your” bank to conduct a transaction, I had this thought. When Busta Rhymes rapped about stacking your paper in 1999, in preparation for the Extinction Level Event (a/k/a the New Millennium), I had this thought.

Why am I keeping my money in a bank? 

What has me thinking this thought now isn’t the known “Target Security Breach” as it’s now titled…it’s the fact that there are a couple of other people who have found fraudulent transactions on their debit cards, who did NOT go to Target during the affected period. And I do know someone who had their identity stolen some time ago…it is a pain to deal with and correct…a time-consuming, frustrating, arduous pain where you’re forced to take financial sacrifices through no fault of your own.

And I ask…why? When did we become so anti-cash? Everything is so plastic now, and so…traceable…and so…hack-able.

And so…maybe it is time for me to stack my paper. Hoard cash under my mattress or bury it in tin cans in my backyard. 

Except that this sounds vaguely familiar…

…oh yeah, the Great Depression. THE Great Depression. One of the theories about what may have triggered the Great Depression, or led to it, was the failure of the banking industry; when people panicked and flocked to the banks to pull their money out. Kind of what I’m proposing up above. Except that I really don’t want another Great Depression.

But are we headed there, anyway?

“Economically, the era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures…accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home team and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic stadiums….The spirit of the [era] was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. The [era] was a decade of increased consumer spending and economic growth fed by supply side economic policy, [with proposals] to reduce the national debt, reduce taxes, protect farming interests, and cut back on immigration…and the rolling back of income taxes on the wealthy…As the average American in the [era] became more enamored of wealth and everyday luxuries, some began satirizing the hypocrisy and greed they observed…What historians have identified as "business progressivism", with its emphasis on efficiency…reached an apogee in the [era].”

That sounds pretty current to me…except that the above are excerpts from Wikipedia’s article on the Roaring ‘20’s. I’m not intending to go into an in-depth historical analysis, and I’m sure that there may be some political biases in the portrayal of the Roaring ‘20’s, but I can’t help but think… 

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." – George Santayana 

I hope we’re not headed towards another Great Depression. I’ve often written about how as a society, and as a human race, one that is interconnected, we need to support and uplift each other, and how sometimes it seems as if we’re getting caught up into the daily grind of trying to keep up. One of the anecdotal outcomes of the Great Depression was exactly that…people were forced to work together and pitch in to help their families and friends and communities. And when World War II rolled around, the nation was (again anecdotally) united towards once cause…the war.

I don’t want another Great Depression, or another World War, to come along to make us all unite.

So, I suppose I won’t rush to the bank and pull out all of my cash...at least yet. But something needs to change…lest we forget…and then…