I'm a non-traditional college student. I had a decent job at Conseco LLC in Carmel for four years, and because of some idiotic moves by the CEO and Chairman of the Board at the time, Stephen Hilbert, the stock price sank from above $50 a share to below $20. People lost their 401(k)s and there were layoffs aplenty as the company started outsourcing its work to India. That was when I made the choice that has become commonplace in America for a lot of men and women feeling the crunch of a changing economy in a changing country that belongs to a changing global marketplace. I thought seeking higher education would give me an opportunity to succeed, but I feel more like Siegfried in Vegas, with my head locked in the jaws of a beast I never should have trusted. My dad grew up during the tail end of the Great Depression. Needless to say, he understands this concept.
I started college at the age of 28. I should be graduating in May and it couldn't be coming at a worse time. We're in uncharted waters. Since when does the president fire the CEO of a major corporation? The financial industry is in quicksand, and the only tree branch being extended to it is a bailout that no one is sure won't precipitate the erosion of American capitalism. I hear people all around me saying we've died and gone to hell - we just don't know it yet.
"We have no intention of running GM," President Obama said. That's a relief. Some of those who voted for Barack Obama with faith that he isn't the socialist revolutionary the Republicans claimed he is, are confused. If one was running GM, he or she might decide to fire the CEO and get someone else who will do things the way the person running the corporation saw fit. Thank heaven that isn't what's going on here, right? If the president planned to make such a bold move in such desperate times with a car company, logic dictates he would clean house in the banking industry. I don't see it happening. Slaps on the wrist will only accomplish so much. Some of these people are criminals. I'm not going to condemn them to death like some other citizens, but they might be better suited to exist behind bars in the gunship-gray hotel.
A lot of those people are the reason the car companies are failing, along with ridiculous prices, whiney labor unions, a product that has been substandard for years and a little spot on the map called Japan. Obviously, the automobile industry is just one industry. With very few exceptions, they're all having a rough go of things. The freefall has begun, and somehow the only parachutes belong to the greedy fat cats who own their own airplanes.
Ball State University is a nice place to be, but I should feel some sense of satisfaction and happiness that I'm nearing the completion of my education. Instead, I'm recoiling in horror at the thought of being once again cast out into the real world like a bear cub with no teeth. My dream of becoming a writer is already being deflated by phrases like "We don't have anything open right now," and "You want a paid internship, huh? That's hilarious! Who put you up to this? Was it Becky in advertising?"
We're in a dire situation with a lot of people huddled in their basements living off ketchup packets, waiting for the rapture and hoping heaven doesn't have a cover charge. Of course those people probably had to pick the locks because their homes were foreclosed upon recently and they've been reduced to lives of dumpster diving and squatting. I'm just hoping to find a way to make some cash before the whole country turns into one big version of inner-city Detroit. President Obama, you pined for this job. You told us we needed to hold on to the seat of our pants, hope for change and cast our votes in your favor. Well here we are. You've won. It's on. So I ask you, in the words of a Ball State graduate named David Letterman, "Are we having fun yet?"
Write to John at jrfrees@bsu.edu
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