Commentary

Posted in: Commentary
Commentary: What's Wrong With a Little Whining?
By Mitch Traphagen
Jul 24, 2008 - 7:09:11 PM

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There is a bar and restaurant in Arizona that offers patrons a drink on the house if they bring in their foreclosure papers.  Not only that but the restaurant also offers a free ride to those who have decided to put off driving in the age of $4 per gallon gasoline.

The promotions are working - the owner reports that business is up.  While it is certainly clever of the owner, it is a less than attractive sign of our times.

In Arizona, one in every 201 households received a foreclosure notice in May - overall, foreclosures in the state are up nearly 120 percent from the year before.  The good news for Arizona is that Nevada is worse in terms of foreclosure rates -  while California and Florida beat them handily in sheer numbers.  Across the U.S., foreclosures are up 48 percent.  Many industry insiders expect that number will continue to rise.

The restaurant owner told Fortune Small Business magazine that he hasn’t yet had a customer bring in foreclosure papers.  The chances are good that he will - and soon.

Here in Iowa, we are somewhat insulated from such things.  Yes, foreclosures are up here but they are nowhere near the rates of other states.  In Iowa County, there was no real estate bubble to speak of - and, as a result, there is no real bust.  The unemployment rate in the state remains among the best in the nation at less than four percent and some local companies have gone begging for qualified employees.

Unfortunately, insulated doesn’t mean immune.  Many small businesses also report that sales are increasingly hard to come by.  More and more, people are putting their extra dollars into their gas tanks and grocery carts.

Former senator Phil Gramm made the news recently by calling Americans a bunch of whiners in terms of the economy.  There were suggestions that the economic slowdown is more in our heads than in the nation’s pocketbook.  On the first note, perhaps he had a point.  Over the years, we have grown fat and happy living off the largesse of our success as a nation.  It seems we expect more and innovate less.  But now, the times they are a-changin’ and few people in what remains of the middle class appreciated being called a whiner by a millionaire who doesn’t have to worry about how high the utility bill will run next winter - or where the money is going to come from for the next mortgage payment.

But that said, I don’t think a little whining is such a bad thing.  After all, whining could be what leads to solutions to our problems.  If we stand with steely-eyed resolve in the face of rising oil prices, saying, “You’re price increases don’t hurt me, Mr. Big Oil Company.  I can take this and more - bring it on,” absolutely nothing will happen except, most likely, Mr. Big Oil Company or Mr. Oil Producing Country will keep raising prices.  But if we whine and complain, eventually people will begin to build solar panel or wind generator farms and produce an affordable and efficient electric car just to shut us up.  The bottom line is, without whining and complaining, there isn’t a problem.  Oil and food have historically been bargains in the U.S. - now that neither are the bargains they once were, our complaining about it creates an opportunity for an innovator to find a solution.

On Gramm’s second point, there is nothing imaginary about rising gas and food prices, thousands of layoffs, rising inflation and a declining dollar.  But even here, perhaps there is also a nugget of truth.  Having an iPod, a big screen TV or even a job isn’t a God-given right.  Nor is having cheap gas.  If we want something, we have to work for it - that’s a lesson we have been forgetting lately.  In this rough economic climate, we have to get past the idea that we deserve something and once again embrace the idea that we can make things happen with hard work and innovation.  That is the American Way.

Many Americans are suddenly having trouble making ends meet - the run up in prices has been quick and steep.  Unfortunately, it’s probably not finished yet.  No one in that position wants to hear a millionaire lecture them about how things really aren’t that bad.  Things are bad, but it’s nothing we haven’t faced before.

So go ahead and whine a bit - whine about the price of gas or bread.  And then when you are finished, knuckle down and figure out a solution that works for you.  Also - remember to be grateful that we live in an area with affordable housing and good jobs.  While free drinks are likely always welcome, perhaps it’s for the best that the Stop ‘n Sip, D&P or PHAT Daddy’s aren’t offering them in exchange for your foreclosure papers.



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