Financial Recession, Emotonal Depression

Batten down the hatches, cull the livestock. Call in the debts, secure the loans. Reign in the excesses, there's a recession rolling into town!

The 'money men' are doing their best, so as not to worry us, especially just before Spendmas, not to fall over themselves as they tell us that, well, er um ... the economy's not looking as good right now, and for the foreseeable future, as they thought it would.

They've even nearly mentioned the 'r' word: recession! My dictionary describes a recession in relation to an economy as, 'a temporary falling off of business activity, less serious than a depression.' I couldn't have put it better myself, well I could of, but they wouldn't have printed it. The key words, for me, are 'temporary', 'less serious', 'depression'.

When I look around me as an inhabitant of the British Isles, I see people well dressed, well fed, well serviced, well travelled, 'well' whatever they want that life in Britain brings. They are awash with 'things', 'coisas' as they call 'things' in Portuguese. Whatever is happening, and is going to happen, economically in the British Isles, and already we are being told that banks aren't lending, houses aren't selling, companies aren't hiring and consumers aren't spending, the vast majority of people have too much of everything already. And there is lending, selling, hiring and spending activity going on. Just not as much as normal.

And isn't that what the recession is really about? It's a recession of profit for those who profit from businesses profits. A theatre company set-up in Scotland in the 70s was so named '7:84' as it was (and is) a socialist theatre company, and 7:84 represented economic statistics at the time that stated 7% of the population owned and/or controlled 74% of the wealth. If it was set-up today it would probably have to be called 5:90.

So this recession that's coming the British Isle's way, is a recession on the profits of 5% of the population who already own and/or control 90% of the wealth. And you know who'll pay, Mr and Mrs Average. Quality country, the UK!

But it's temporary, and not as bad as a depression. My dictionary defines depression as 'a natural hollow or low-lying place; a state of low mental vitality, dejection.' Seems to me, from an emotional (or spiritual) perspective, we're already in the midst of one almighty depression. A depression all the economic boom and spend, spend, spend ideology appears to have significantly contributed to.

The samba band I play in, Penrhythm, played a gig on Friday night to raise money for an orphanage in Ecuador. There were photos of the orphanage, looking like a place we'd keep cattle, and of the children, barefoot and in rags. There were messages from them, translated into English: messages of loneliness, hunger and loss. Yet their faces carried the warmth, humility and humanity that is all too absent on the faces of those who inhabit the 'developed world'.

Maybe a financial recession would be a healthy thing, if it could shake us all out of the emotional depression. And as Leonard Cohen says, 'may the lights in the land of plenty shine on the truth someday.'