The occasion of my first visit to the Soviet Union unfortunately came after there ceased to be a Soviet Union. I never got to see the old regime in its heyday, but, prompted by a friend to visit Russia in February of 1992, just weeks after the fall, I did get to see the first throes of post-Soviet life. A visitor to Moscow at the time almost immediately became aware of hundreds of impoverished women lining the streets and the main thoroughfares of the city. Given what is happening to this country's economy at the moment, (as of this writing, the Dow is threatening to go below 7,000, a 50% drop from its glorious 14,000 outing), I have begun to wonder if we will see here in the U.S. long lines of older women (and some men) selling their household wares in the streets merely to obtain enough cash to put bread on their tables. The Evil Empire fell in 1991. It seems to have take the "victors," presumably The Good Empire, (of late, The Axis of Good), to itself go spinning into an economic black hole.So far, there have been few protests, few workers have taken to the streets. Of course, there are often hints that it will happen from various of the talking heads on the media. Not alarm, yet. Just hints. As there are hints that our government is fully prepared for such an eventuality--a division called back to the states to be in reserve for issues of domestic stability, internment camps, etc. Just hints, but we have had in Guantanamo an off-shore dry run for what it takes to maintain such facilities, and I am sure that there is a line in the military budget to cover the costs.
One problem U.S.-style babushkas may have selling their wares is that most Americans are already drowning in (mostly China-produced) junk. So much so that Oprah has to have psychotherapists on her show to deal with crazed housewives who have taken every bit of space in their homes, attics, basements, garages with the booty of endless shopping excursions. Just about all of us have way too much stuff. Whoever has the most stuff when he dies, wins. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. A consumer economy. Have we ever paused to consider what that phrase means? An economy that is based on people buying a lot of crap. What do Mom and Sis do when they need to bond? What do we do when we are feeling a little depressed? What do we do when our electronic ticklers, our HDTVs, Iphones, Blackberrys, Xboxes, etc. have failed to satisfy? What do we do when professional sports (now somewhat cheapened as an experience by news that all of our heros have been doping themselves), amusement parks (redundant?) and cruises aren't cutting it? We go SHOPPING. Let's go shopping! Where are you going? I'm going shopping. Is there a town in China named Sha-ping?
Yes, the show is just about to begin. Where is Milton Friedman now that we need him?
