Who should we believe…left wing or right wing. Newcomers or Established ones. Optimists or the Pessimists. Aren’t these really the question we are asking ourselves and our loved ones on alomst a daily routine? Is it almost going so far that we are avoiding to listen to the news, even when they aren’t bad news?

It was about time what have happened in the United States in regards to banking bancruptcy, falling Dow and the rest of the financial turmmoil. The system which is practically build on debt and the intention to build more wealth on debt.  There is no other country in the world, which looks at your “credit history” and defines that your are a reliable candidate for getting another loan, even when you have already established 33 other lines of credit through credit cards, cars, home equity, Sears, Macy, etc, etc, etc… This was so different what I had experienced in other countries I had lived in – you actually got only money borrowed from a bank, when you did not have had any debt. And god beware when you have had at anytime a glitch in your re-payment history – you were doomed, the credit lines would be immediately cancelled and you have time to pay back everything in 30 days – if you like it or not.

The United States and it’s population is in a state of shock. A shock which brings up for a majority of the “typical” American population the fear and question ”what if I can’t afford any longer the next upcoming Denali Truck”, “what if I can’t get the newest HDMI Plasma for the Super Bowl”, “what if the Johnston’s find out that I can’t get this traveling season to Aruba”, – doesn’t it seem home made and obscure, what we are actually afraid of to loose or not be able any longer to obtain?

There is a lost of the senses in our society, which had showed us in the past what really is important. It is not the new black-in-black SUV in the drive-way, it is not the Consumer Report rated “Best Pick Plasma TV”, and it is by far not the 5-day Caribean Cruise.  We are acting like little kids, whose toys or lollipop was taken away. Believe me life goes on, even when you are in jeopardy to loose everything but your loved ones and your life.

I still believe, from the bottom of my heart, that the U.S. is one of the greatest Nations to live in and to workfor. It is so much easier to make it happen and to create the “American Dream”, when you follow Sir Winston’s words ‘Never, never, never give up”, and I know that when you focus on the skills you have and the drive which gets you up every morning that everybody can make it through these tough times. It is not my intention to brag her, but I experienced on my own how great your Nation is.

With one suitcase and two boxes of books (which I could not leave behind) I started my journey in the States. Marginal English knowledge, no American degree and 4 weeks after September 11th…there was no question – I can do it and I will make it here in the U.S. Not eligible for any Social Security benefits or unemployment compensation there was no way to ask for others help. I (or in your case YOU) will be able to master crisis when you focus on yourself and try harder than the others. That is what America is about – Try Harder and Do It Better than the rest…

…to be continued