Making the Inevitable Comparison

Just like the shopper next door, everyone welcomes the idea of being able to get the "best buy," or so to speak.

These days, people desire to get the most out of every dime that they earn.

The fragile global economy may have helped fuel this trend, but to me, it does have some good effects.
Say goodbye to impulsive buying, welcome frugality instead. When subprime bubble exploded sometime in 2008, thousands could not believe how vulnerable the US economy was along.

After having lived for decades in the confines of the comfort afforded by the strength and the privileges of living within the boundaries of the only "superpower" in the world, no one would have ever thought losing so much could actually just loom around the corner.
People lived in savvy homes. Shopping on weekends, swiping here and there were just nothing but walks in the park for most Americans.
They had become accustomed to the present comfort and luxury that were synonymous with the great American Dream.

And so, people from the different corners of the world envied how it was to be an American.
Thousands desired to be part of that great exodus and so more and more immigrants came in to partake of the prosperity that United States offered.

But little did we know, something else was brewing around the corner.
So now, Americans stand wiser after having learned, I hope, from the lessons, which, quite frankly, were hard learned.
It is never easy to drastically jump from a lifestyle of luxury into one that is characterized by utmost prudence and frugality.

Most Americans can still manage to buy new cars but some people would decide to, instead, drop the extra cash into the savings basket.
They learned somehow that nothing is permanent and that preparing for events like the "great crash" would be a very worthwhile endeavor.

Today, the United States still holds the title of being the largest economy, in spite of the market meltdown.
China with its more than a billion residents holds the second place.

The government may still be brewing economic policies to make sure that they get out of the danger zone in no time.
But there are signs that good days are about to come.
As fragile as it is today, every individual may pour in his or her contribution in building back the nation that they always love, or should I say, the nation that most people around the world love, for its austere passion for freedom and democracy that so define the ideals of the modern free world.