"Valleywag picked up a FriendFeed discussion between a few of us yesterday regarding the bailout bill within which Scoble blames 'people like [me]' for the coming 'breadlines'. It rings a little hollow considering where I’ve been on all this and where he’s been (i.e. nowhere), but it brings a much more important issue to the fore..." - Anthony Citrano

lol - Cee Bee

gotta have somebody to blame - right? - Marc Canter

Hey, it's supposed to be "Blame Scoble" not "Scoble Blames You." Hmmm, I gotta fire my PR firm. :-) - Robert Scoble

People like you? - Scoble, Alex Scoble

From the article: "So, all of you: call your legions to arms. Tell them a national emergency requires that they spend an hour a day seriously evaluating the American way of life, thinking critically about where we stand as a nation, how we got here, and how they might help in the rebuilding. This is not politics; this is hardcore societal bodywork." - Ontario Emperor

I've been talking to people at Fast Company and Inc here in NYC today. There are two problems. 1. The very real credit crunch. The Congress can get us out of that one, maybe. 2. Our fear. We're now all hoarding and preparing for the worst. I know I'm not spending money on projects that I was planning on doing (like I need to fix a shower). That too will cause harm to our economy and is something we can do something about, but, tell me how to get me over my fears and my hoarding impulse? - Robert Scoble

@Robert: Glad to see you're on a more even keel today. Credit will tighten but not stop. Things will get worse before they get better. I'd have to refer you to a therapist for the fear issue. I have faith that we're strong enough to get through it. The Bay Area survived the web 1.0 dot com crash. It wasn't easy (I was out of work for 11 months and had to go back to my old career for half pay) but ... we make due, we soldier on, we rebuild. Corny, I know. [edit] And a dose of lolcats ;) - AJ Kohn

AJ: oh, we'll get through it. We made it through the depression and the civil war (where we killed six million of each other). We'll make it through whatever comes next. I might have to bring my family over and sleep on your couch, though. Hope you won't mind. :-) - Robert Scoble

That's a small part of the current problem, Robert, for sure. But my goal with this piece is to move beyond this singular symptom (the financial crisis) and address the root of the disease. - Anthony Citrano

The root of the problem is that we are human. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

This is why I think we need to create a "couch for Scoble" room ;) - Les Zaldor

@Robert: Sure, come by! Not that I have much in my apartment and the 12 year old IKEA couch isn't too comfy. - AJ Kohn

@Anthony: Well written BTW. I feel like this is an opportunity to change the way Americans have been living - to stop living beyond our means and start living sensibly. And perhaps this creates an atmosphere where we speak up - loudly and boldly - when we see something going off the tracks instead of sitting back. - AJ Kohn

@AJ - thank you. That is exactly what I am hoping for. - Anthony Citrano

@Gregory I had a feeling you might like this post. :) - Anthony Citrano

Well thought out and written commentary. :-) - Mathew A. Koeneker

Robert, you get over your hoarding impulse by spending on things that lower your expenses over time. There is no shortage of those: Fresher produce (ie. locally grown), energy-efficient appliances, more durable clothing, etc. For your specific example (a shower), look into water-efficient shower heads. - Michael R. Bernstein

Those are all optional expenses. Won't be happening anytime soon, sorry. - Robert Scoble

Oil should start its well awaited decline towards $50 range - imran

Keep dancing around it guys; but, do know that we're dancing at the edge of a cliff. - Anthony Citrano

Anthony: I thought your ideas are good, but we're not ready for that yet. It's amazing to me that so many on Twitter and here (er, around the world) are just encouraging the total burning of our economy. So, I figure, we need to go through a year of burning. Burn, baby, burn. Hoard, baby, hoard. Then we can have a real conversation about what to do now and how to build a new economy on top of the ruins. In the meantime, hope your house doesn't get burned down in this mess that's coming. - Robert Scoble

Consumer Credit Outstanding: http://www.federalreserve.gov/release... - AJ Kohn

Yeah, I was talking to my mechanic yesterday ... he still feels that a bailout is for "someone else." I mean, yeah, we're *all* feeling the effects of high gas prices, but the effects of the "credit crisis" ... You'll forgive me if I say that "main street" hasn't felt that yet. So (to hack up yet another political quote) main street's quite ready to say "thanks, but no thanks" to that bailout for noone ... and let the markets spin for awhile. - Joel Bennett

32 days left - imran

@Gregory: Consumer revolving debt will top 1 TRILLION by the end of the year. I simply don't think anyone truly understands the effect of offering so many so much credit. - AJ Kohn

Nice to see people finally talking about the substance. I wrote an in depth piece today on the natural selection of a market recession. We can attenuate some of the acute pain, but we can stop the cycle of disruption. We ensured the intensity of the coming chaos by trying to forestall it. Now the deadwood has to burn. There is a silver lining. http://www.chriskenton.com - Chris Kenton from twhirl

Chris - thanks. I am not terribly optimistic that my rallying cry will do much - but here's hoping. - Anthony Citrano

Robert, food and clothing aren't 'optional'. Spending more for fresher food makes you healthier and increases your productivity, and reduces your future medical expenses. Spending more on durable clothing saves money on buying replacements. - Michael R. Bernstein

Catharsis has its own merits. :) People will listen when they're affected. Compared to the conversation I saw three weeks ago even after the initial crisis started, there's now a chorus. Keep up the cries. - Chris Kenton from twhirl

The initial crisis started well over 25 years ago, but I take your point. When and if they do listen, it may be too late. - Anthony Citrano

Anthony - funny picture!! hilarious!! ha, ha!! - Susan Beebe

The underlying issue isn't hilarious, though, is it? I wonder what percentage of FFers are bothering to actually read the piece... the silence is deafening. - Anthony Citrano

Thanks Anthony, this is a strong call to arms to invest our time in campaigns, issues and nonprofits. Have any favorites that you personally choose to invest your time in? - Jason Wehmhoener

Thanks, Jason. The ones important to me I keep on display on my "agitate" page: http://www.cosmictap.com/agitate... - Anthony Citrano

First Book looks interesting to me. I did a search on idealist.org for local nonprofits with a similar mission and came across http://www.bringmeabook.org/ - Jason Wehmhoener

I think a point that can be difficult to grasp is that there are other measures of a society's health beyond personal wealth. Finances are easy to express in nice simple integers, but the degree to which individual people will be able to weather the inevitable changes of our times has to do with a great many more dimensions than those determined by money alone. - Jason Wehmhoener

I was raised by teen parents who were by definition poor. However, my mother is a librarian, and I was taught that knowledge is power. She was right. I'm doing very well financially now, in spite of having dropped out of college as a freshman for financial reasons. - Jason Wehmhoener

@Robert - I missed your earlier suggestion that "we're not ready" to stand up and take personal responsibility for our future. That may be true, but if it is, it's heartbreaking - and we deserve what we get. - Anthony Citrano