(Pas sûr que dans 2 ans elle va accepter ça comme preuve qu'elle aime les carottes).Alors voilà, les marchés rebondissent. Les gouvernements cachent la 'm' au chat. Et il en faut des 'tunes pour la cacher, dites-donc.
Mais je n'y crois pas des masses, personnellement. L'argent fait perdre la tête, il est vrai, mais je préconise de revenir au bon sens de nos grand-parents:
"On n'a rien sans rien" - donc les centaines de milliards qui apparaissent par magie dans les poches des états qui étaient déjà dans le rouge: méfiance ! Ca sent exactement le même type de magouille financière qui nous a mis dans ce pétrin. Du genre "regardez ma main, il n'y a rien? Regardez ma main, voilà de l'argent !"
"On fait avec" - trêve d'achats compulsifs ou thérapeutiques. Ca peut aussi nous faire du bien de se prouver qu'on arrive à faire sans, qu'on arrive à attendre, repousser, ou abandonner nos petites envies. Le relationnel, c'est ce qui est de plus riche dans la vie, et ça ne coûte pas d'argent.
"Tout peut servir" - le recyclage c'est gentil, mais ne suffit pas - il faudrait viser autant que possible la réutilisation.
"On s'aide mutuellement" - le troc des dons, c'est bien. Le troc des affaires aussi. Se prêter des trucs qu'on n'utilise que rarement, au lieu d'acheter chacun le sien. Ca va à l'encontre de nos habitudes individualistes, mais quand tu seras dans la dèche, tu seras moins fier...
"On raccomode" - on a pris l'habitude d'une société où ça coûte moins cher d'acheter du neuf que de faire réparé l'ancien (et 'ancien' peut se compter en mois !). Là aussi, il faudrait changer nos habitudes. Dans le pays des pauvres, le bricoleur est roi !
Voilà, mon grain de sel. Ne comptez pas sur les financiers et le politiciens pour nous tirer de l'affaire, ils pataugent dans la semoule.
(I suspect that in two years time she won't accept this as proof that she does like carrots).So here we are - the markets bounce back after soothing announcements. The world's governments sweep all the problems under the carpet. A rather expensive carpet.
I don't have much faith in these rescue plans, to be honest. Money makes your head go funny, apparently, but I think we should take a leaf out of our grandparent's book:
"There's no such thing as a free lunch" - So those thousands of billions which magically appear out of our governments pockets (despite the fact that they were already in the red) - beware! It looks very much like exactly the same kind of financial smokes and mirrors which got us here in the first place. Pouf! And a rabbit comes out of the hat. Watch carefully, because it could just as easily disappear.
"Making do" - let's stop that compulsive buying, or retail therapy. It can also be rewarding to prove to ourselves that we can make do without, that we are able to wait, that we can cope! Relationships are the most rewarding thing in life, and they don't (need to) cost any money.
"Nothing goes to waste" - recycling is good, re-using is better.
"You scratch my back" - helping each other out - I fix your computer, you fix my hair. Sharing our stuff to. Lending rarely used appliances instead of everyone buying their own. It goes against the grain of our individualistic habits. Don't wait till you're hungry to discover that no man is an island.
"You can fix it" - We've become accustomed to a topsy-turvy world where it's cheaper to buy something new than repair something old (where 'old' can mean just months). We need to change that habit too.
That's my tuppence worth. Don't count on the bankers and politicians getting us out of this mess, they're up to their necks in it and haven't a clue, I suspect.
Maybe you would like Tanzania after all :) I think everything you've covered here is the norm in Tanzania:
ReplyDelete* the government do diddly-squat to help the people out
* everyone makes do
* nothing (and I mean nothing) goes to waste
* helping each other out is the very fabric of the way the community exists (but it's not always what it's cracked up to be)
* fixing stuff is sooooo cheap here - labour is still affordable, so mending is cheaper than buying (although most people don't have a choice). Example: I can get a puncture fixed for Tsh200 (9.5 pence) :)