I had someone ask me how serious I thought the current fiscal crisis is, yesterday.  I said, “it depends. How big is your garden?  How full is your freezer?  Did you pick up that backup generator?”  And his answer was “Why? Do those things matter?”

Here’s the thing.  The last time the economy was in this kind of shape, around 70 years ago, we were a mostly rural population, with small family farms.  That meant that when there were no jobs, you still had your crops, and your livestock.  You may or may not have had electricity, but you probably had a fireplace, and a acre or two of firewood growing.  Your farm equipment mostly could be pulled by a horse, or a mule.  If you were in the city, you were likely in a manufacturing job. If you had money, odds were fair that at least some of it was tucked under a mattress.  If you heard about the problems soon enough, you could get at your money, in the bank…

Today, the population is urban and suburban, with very few people having as much as a garden, much less livestock.  Your money is so many binary digits, in the memories of the computers at your bank, mortage holder, credit card companies, etc.

If the economy tanks, like it did in the Great Depression, if you don’t have a garden, you may not eat.  If you don’t have a generator, you may not keep that freezer running long enough to eat the food in it.  If you don’t work in manufacturing, you may not have a job.

When everyone is scrabbling to feed their families, with no grocery stores open, no gas stations open, and no electric or Internet, what are YOU going to do?

What are you going to do, when the have-nots who have guns, come and take what you have, because you don’t have a gun?

What’s that?  You don’t think it could get that bad?  Well, Mike Cane thinks so, and the case he makes is very persuasive.  This is why we need some bailout package, and re-regulation of the financial markets.

Because without a bailout, the economy doesn’t just faint, it dies in its tracks! When the machines that hold the electrons that represent your money have no electricity, you have no money. And if no-one has any money, its going to be a barter economy, for those who have things to trade, or skills to trade.  Of course, with no Internet, those elite web mastering skills may not count for much.  

Mike Cane makes 16 points that should frighten you, and help you to see why some bail-out package is essential, even if the current bail out package isn’t an acceptable solution.