I was talking with a trusted colleague last night on Skype and we were batting back and forth what we thought would be the effect of the recession on the online business scene. I’m kind of a pessimist. Each time the credit crisis spreads to a new sector of the financial ecosystem the Fed dumps in money hoping to stanch the bleeding. Nobody in the US seems particularly alarmed that the UK had to nationalize one of its banks… the government took control of a bank. (isn’t nationalize just another word – gasp! – socialize?) The dollar continues to collapse and oil prices continue to rise. I know you think I’m just being a big commie for being concerned about this. I feel like I know enough to be scared shitless but not enough to feel at ease. And I know there will be a bailout. Industries get bailed out, individuals don’t. Those that made stupid mortgage choices will not be required to pay the piper – and the loan officers that convinced uneducated customers into loans they could never afford will never be punished. People seem so desperate to find some example of constant and ever-expanding growth. I’m all for abundance and attraction but come on. I don’t think it will ever get as bad as it did in Argentina where the entire banking system collapsed. But do you really trust the nation’s leading financiers to do the right thing for all of us or just for themselves?
This coupled with my complete and utter disgust at our Presidential election wear on me every single day. As we become willing torturers and nourish ourselves on the hateful fearmongering and war-profiteering of the smallest minds who knows how that will affect business.
I’ve said before that the entire reduction of online business cooks down to porn and casinos. I think that the entire reduction of offline industry boils down to bullets and prisons. I don’t think it matters who gets elected. No one is willing to dis-assemble the surveillance state that is being built up systematically and shifting it’s eyes from foreign nationals to citizens. The boundaires of constitutional rights continue to blur and no one seems particularly alarmed that habeas corpus no longer exists. You probably just rolled your eyes and called me a name. Or you have the defense that if you are’t doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry aobut – well if I’m not doing anything wrong then why do you need to watch me or track my online usage or my Tivo recording dhabits or credit card purchases or geographic incidence of purchase patterns.
So the recession that most economists agree that we are in will do two things to online business: bring in more desperate people hoping to strike it rich.
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