A Helping Hand

I was looking at various current events around the web and I came across a video. There was an auction for foreclosed homes, and something very generous happened. A woman whose house was being put up at the auction was sitting on the sidelines crying. Another woman came up to comfort her. After talking about the situation for a while, the woman decided to take action. She purchased the house without seeing any pictures of the property, merely believing the other womans word. She handed over the house to her. When asked about her act of kindness, and why she did it, she stated, "Because people need to help each other".
Such generosity is not often seen at the person to person level, especially from a stranger. I found it remarkable how caring and generous this woman was. She was not worried about the risk of the home possibly being foreclosed again, she was doing what she thought was right. When we talk about idealism in class, I think of a society where everyone picks up each other when they fall down. This happening in the real world makes me think that idealism can work. The woman was not thinking about the risk, but the benefit of providing someone with a second chance.

McCain Embraces The Underdog Status

Recent polls taken by CNN show Obama with 49 percent of the national vote, and McCain with 43 percent. McCain does not seem to mind being behind as of now, he stated, "I love being the underdog. You know, every time that I've gotten ahead, somehow I mess it up". When asked his opinion on Palin's effects on the election, he said "I could not be more pleased". It seems that he would not be terribly disappointed if he were to lose the election. When he was asked about the possibility of losing he said he doesn't think about it. Later in the interview with McCain regailed some of the details about his life, "I've had a wonderful life...I'm the luckiest guy that you have ever interviewed and will ever interview. I'm the most fortunate man on earth, and I thank God for it every single day".
McCain seems to have a new attitude on the presidential election. He suggests that no matter what happens, he won't mind because he has had a very wonderful life. His wording did seem a little egotistical, perhaps, but the point is that he is both idealistic and optimistic about the election. He is idealistic in the sense that no matter what happens, he has a great life in Arizona to go home to, and that he is so lucky for his great life. As far as I've seen, this is a new side to John McCain. Maybe he's preparing himself for the worst and lessening the blow by appreciating his life.

Bailout Plan Put Into Action

The 750 billion dollar bailout plan is starting to be put to use. The Bush administration plans on investing 250 billion dollars into the failing banks in order to get them on their feet. New policies are also being made to insure non-deposit accounts, or business accounts. Lending between banks may also be administered to chip away at the credit situation. Some people feel that there is not a specific plan, that the government is trying random things to solve the problems. Other feel that they are addressing effects of the financial situation, not the problems. Something I found very interesting, the U.S is offering an unlimited amount of money to the banks of the E.U, Switzerland and England at a fixed interest rate. It seems sort of odd to be lending money in a state of financial crisis.
It seems that the U.S government has attempted to solve the financial problem with many different angels. FDR was a believer in experimentation when he tried to get America out of the Depression, so maybe some good will come out of all this. The stock market did go up roughly 1000 points today, but we are still down nearly 30 percent on the year. We'll see what happens.

European Economy in Crisis Too?

Today I came across an article that seemed strikingly familiar. The U.S is not the only place having economic troubles. Germany is now in a potential state of meltdown, as many banks are on the verge of failure. Iceland also is in trouble due to its credit situation, and Britain may have to step in to pick up some slack. In Germany, many large players in the economy have already collapsed, including the Hypo Real Estate Company worth some 49 billion dollars.

As I read, I stopped and thought. This seams almost too similar to the situation in the U.S, and ironically it is happening and the same time. I re-read the article just to make sure that it was, in fact, about the failing European countries. It goes to show that we can learn from our past mistakes, including economic issues, regardless of where they were made. Currently, many Europeans are at risk of losing their life savings as so many did during the Great Depression. We'll see what happens when the banks re-open on Monday.