8/30/2020
It’s been just over 3 weeks since my last blog. Been busy, but that’s not much of an excuse. I’ve wanted to write several times, but have you ever noticed you want to do something; call, write, go, and the only time you really want to do it is in time being taken up by something else you need to or have to do? Ever notice? Is that poor time management? or is it an absence of concentration? or am I the only one who ever has this problem? Hmm, not worth pondering, is it?
We’ve had a couple of tremendous business months, both locally and in the development company. Record breaking sales in several stores which is not a surprise to us in a general sense, but flies in the face of an overall attitude we all see about our nation. Wait!….Don’t listen to politicians! Rather, talk to people about how everything is going in their lives. It’s important to note: politics is pundits and demagogues meddling with the people and production! And no matter what they try to tell you, they don’t know how things are, really are.
In 1979-80-81, inflation was at double digits, loan/mortgage interest was at double digits, and unemployment was at double digits. (Not the whole 3 years, but during that time.) See if you can find anyone who lived through that and ask if it was as bad as today. I lived through it, lost a business, had to then live with a debt that took years to clear, moved my family more than once, couldn’t find a job like I wanted, all those things you can imagine. But, we made it, we didn’t panic, we didn’t roam the streets or pick fights or get shot or thrown in jail. We just made it through it all. Hard times? I suppose. Crazy times? Looked that way some. Did it stay that way? No. Did the politicians cure it? No. How’d we get things back to normal? We just worked through it, did what we were supposed to do, loved one another and loved our lives —in Christ! With Christ! And as best we could figure out —for Christ!
The Big 3 (bold letters above) are not even a factor today. In those years, I never would have thought we would be in the prosperous nation I see today. What has changed? Well, not people, we haven’t changed. there is the same percentage of sinners today as there has always been. Which means we all fail to live up to the righteous standard of the Lord God of the Universe!
So, what did change in these last 40 years? The prevailing interests of the people. For the better? Naw, just for the sake of change. People didn’t like inflation, bankers didn’t like outrageous interest, and the nature of man is to work, not stay idle. Does that sound overly simplistic to you? Well, it shouldn’t sound that way. You see, we are all natural man first and we want what natural man wants. And when we see a thing which fits our wants, we go after it. When mortgages were 14-15%, I was asked at a bible class if I thought the rate would ever lower again. My answer was treated without high regard, it was something like this: “who cares? America is so spoiled it will pay whatever the going price is to get what it wants—and that includes a house mortgage if they want to buy a house!” And they did pay the high mortgages until market forces began to lower them. Once mortgage loans got more than 3% lower than the high, people began to re-finance their homes. Guess what, % was lower, but certain “points” were added upfront so that the balances were higher and the banking industry was once again the winner.
Reagan’s change in the governance brought inflation down over the next 3 years to a level that has proven very manageable (yesterday’s news indicated it will rise again soon, though.) Then, of course, unemployment went down to the 5-6% range which was also considered “manageable.” By the end of the 80s those 3 indexes were hardly ever mentioned, the banking industry had gone through yet another crisis (no more “savings and loan” institutions, a whole lot more nation wide banks), inflation numbers were seldom heard, and unemployment was about 5-7% which most people thought was normal. We elected a president who said, “Read my lips: no new taxes!” Then, of course, taxes rose.
From December, ’76 till May, ’78 we were back living in Danville, IL, the only job that came along was me going back to work for the same man I had previously worked for. By then, he had built an enclosed mall, some shopping centers in other cities, purchased some apartments, owned a video game room (remember those?), and a bakery. The carpet store had moved inside the mall and needed management. I was hired to do that, but soon after that I was managing all those businesses. He also owned a bank in a small town in Indiana. Holy Cow! he had been busy! We then built a small restaurant in the middle of the mall (in the mall corridor) and had a variety of specialty wieners brought in from the “wiener capital of the world”—Kenosha, WS! They were really special and the glorified hot dog stand did well.
Then, the boss announced he was going to run for Congress. Yes, he did. He was going to run for Congress. Guess who had to learn and be in charge of all the monies spent, report it to the Federal Election Commission, and go with him everywhere he went to get it off the ground? Me. (And I have to tell you, it was always interesting, mostly exciting, and truly was a mind-blowing experience!)
Our district in Southeastern Illinois had kept almost the same boundaries since the early 50s, as population centers had stayed the same. We had an old worn out “pol” who was serving his 11th term as our Representative. People around where we lived didn’t know him at all. Yet they were paying him to be their man! So, my candidate boss and I went to Washington, D.C. to pay him a visit. Not just him, we saw many Congressmen and some Senators, as well. How very interesting. I can’t wait to write more about this so today may begin a few days of short blogs about this and other experiences. Hope I don’t bore you.
Thanks for reading, the Elder.
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