Joker: "...You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all, part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos"

So I'm driving home, and my brother tells me that apparently Iceland declared bankruptcy. And I was like whaaaaaat?

Ok I may have been like whaaat, but I knew why. America's economy is in a huge recession, and thanks to globalization and capitalism, the rest of the world is also feeling huge effects, and not the positive kind. (I just think it's funny that capitalism is biting us in the butt, nothing against it)

This made me think, things are bad. REAL bad, and they're getting worse.

I have friends whose fathers lost jobs because of the recession. But at the same time, I have nothing more to complain about than the fact that gas is too expensive (You know you do it too).
And it's not just me, a lot of people I talked to are saying the same thing, that it sounds like we should be freaking out, but it's not really effecting our lives. This is also from a friend whose father was recently laid off from an American Motor Company. I mean everything else is still going on, life is still going on, and chicken little isn't running down the street screaming "The economy is falling ! The economy is falling!"

But you listen to the news, or go online, and you're like
"... Hmmm where is that guy (or chicken little) that should be running down the street screaming, and then everyone else goes like: Oh. Hey ! Great Idea!" (Only for chicken little, no one believed him, BUT this time Gosh Darn it, we will)
But there is no mass panic, it seems to be contained to wallstreet, wherever that is. Notice the sinking feeling you get by reading this excerpt from BusinessWeek:

"Searching for a way to describe the current stock market meltdown? Call it the "Panic of 2008."

In the past century, the world has seen countless financial crises, economic downturns, and market crashes. But the last major event to be called a 'panic' was the Panic of 1907.

If ever it were appropriate to revive the term "panic," this is the time. The day-after-day declines in the stock market are unprecedented...

Normally even falling stock markets take a break from time to time, as the vultures swoop in to pick up stocks at bargain prices.

But now, the market's psychology is anything but normal.

Every time the stock market rallies—as it did on the morning of Oct. 9—"there are tons of sellers everywhere," says Dave Rovelli, managing director of equity trading at Canaccord Adams. "People just want out."...

By contrast, Subrahmanyam is more convinced the markets are behaving irrationally. It's not as if we've had a nuclear war and "real" assets were destroyed, he says... "The real, nonfinancial base of the economy is still fairly strong," he says—far stronger than during, for example, the Great Depression... (Random note: It's good to have some positive, but still it would be better to NOT have to come to a situation in which we have to compare to the Great Depression of all things)

"Financial panics don't last forever," says ING's Gendreau..."Either we're going to go into a Great Depression, or some of these assets are trading at very attractive prices," he says. (Again, not helping with the Great Depression thingy)

So when might this downward spiral end?

Because of our flight-or-flight instincts, Subrahmanyam says, "things are very quick to crash." But "the recovery takes much longer."

"The market ultimately reaches a bottom," says Georgetown University finance professor Reena Aggarwal.

By its nature, a crisis is a time of uncertainty. It could be months before we know whether markets are crashing because of irrational fear or because of real economic problems. And that's scary."

So yeah scary. So WHY aren't we yelling down the streets running? And why aren't we forming torch carrying mobs (granted we wouldn't know what to burn, I mean seriously, where is the Stock Market, the newspaper?) Is it because we're too civilized for that now? Hah. I wish (no seriously I do). I think the reason is stated in one of the best movies ever by the creepiest villain ever-Nobody panics when things go according to plan.

That's simply it. (ok MAYBE among other things). But still, during the rest of my drive I realized that it could be the reason(and now i'm convinced it is) why there is no chicken little (even though i love the little guy, I mean who wouldn't. So Cute and panicky). We're being informed, and told what to expect, it's still going according to the plan and rules of the stock market, and our beloved capitalism.

That's all. Wow that was boring..Promise it was so much more interesting in my mind. And I was all like "Whoaa I'm a genius"

Oh and have you guys seen the latest in bumper sticker fashion? Which apparently seems to be only in Michigan?

"Out of Job Yet? Keep buying Foreign!"

...ouch...I have a Toyota...I'm scared to approach these drivers thanks to a study by Colorado State University ,drivers with bumper stickers are more likely to be aggressive and confrontational.

-------------------------------------------------

Batman: What did you do?
The Joker: I took Gotham's white knight, and brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push.
[laughs]