I will trade wheat for sheep

You know, I've kind of passed from the panic-stage about the whole financial mess, and have entered a sort of bemused fascination. What is going to happen to society as a result? Could, possibly, something GOOD happen, rather than something bad? Maybe a scaling-back, a realization that we don't need giant houses and a new car every three years and a huge wardrobe? (Oh, yeah, I realize some people live like that now, by choice or by circumstance. But the overwhelming cultural "norm," at least as Madison Avenue presents it, is that if you're not a LOSER, you get new cars every few years. And you buy your wife a diamond for her birthday. And your kids have every new toy that comes on the market. And you know? That's not how I was raised. Not even as recently as the 70s. My dad drove his cars until they were literally not worth fixing any more, then bought a new one - and paid cash for it if he at all could. And we got one birthday present - ONE. And I think the only diamond my mom had was in either her engagement ring or her wedding band.)

I've got the news on in the other room and am half-listening. One of the commentators seems to be saying that if you're not buying stuff on credit right now, you will probably be OK. That's me. I realize that that's rare, and I'm uncommonly blessed to be able to provide for all my needs (and some of my wants) out of the monthly salary I make as a professor. (OK: the one thing that might be concerning would be what would happen if student loans went away. Our enrollment would probably drop a lot, and some of us could get RIFfed. Then again, I have more seniority than a couple people, I teach several classes that no one else in the department currently could teach, and if I had to, I'd accept a part-time slot [provided they dropped the expectation that I do research, committeework, and advising]).

Okay, I admit I'd be a little sad if credit cards went away. I loves me some Amazon, as you all know very well. And I adore nothing more than being able to decide I want to make some kind of project, and go on line, and find a yarn or a fabric or whatever that would be PERFECT for it, and be able to have it sent to me. But the truth is? If credit cards went away for a while, I'd survive. I have enough books. I have enough supplies. I could manage by paying cash for groceries and medication, by just planning to have enough fives and twenties on hand for the day-to-day needs. After all, it was not that long ago that only a few rich folks had credit cards...I don't think they were common at all before the mid-70s; I don't remember my dad using them much.

Maybe this won't be so bad. Maybe we'll go back to an economy that's more cash-based, where credit isn't used for so many things. (I once saw a bank advertising that people could take out loans for a vacation. That seemed very wrong to me, but then I grew up going on "vacation" in National Parks and visiting relatives, so my family did "vacation" on the cheap). Maybe people will learn to be more content with what they have, rather than constantly chasing the next thrill.

Maybe, even, there will be some kind of underground barter economy spring up (hence my title, an allusion to Settlers of Catan, for the uninitiated). Those of us with talents or skills or even good strong backs might be able to get some of what we need or want by trading. For example: I know how to knit. Perhaps I might be able to, I don't know, get vegetables from a small-scale farmer in return for providing him and his with winter hats. Or when someone's house needs painting, a crew of friends get together, Amish-barn-raising-style, and all do it together - with the promise that when each person's house needs painting, everyone will return to do theirs.

(I realize that this could lead to problems with cheaters - and given the experience I've had with people volunteering to do things and then crapping out on it that seems a real possibility - but maybe in a culture like the one I'm describing, cheating is so frowned upon - as in "fail to show up to help once, and you're cut loose, without help from others" that the whole barter thing could work.)

I don't know. In some of my more musey moments, I think maybe a different path than what we're on would be interesting...a path where people valued people and experiences rather than mere stuff, where having skills like being able to sew or being able to repair small engines or being able to grow and grind grain are valuable things that are important to your survival and that of the community, rather than just being hobbies or some kind of odd thing you do.

I admit, I can be very Pollyanna that way. Very good at imagining the "good old days" without the bad of no antibiotics, no plumbing, racism, child labor...all of those things we're lucky to be rid of (or mostly rid of) in the 21st century.

But sometimes I contemplate a world that's slower and quieter, where people do more stuff with their hands and brains and consume less and worry less about money. So I don't know. Maybe this isn't the "beginning of the end," as some are making it out to be. Maybe it's a "beginning of a new beginning."

After all - Thomas Jefferson didn't have American Express. I bet Ben Franklin didn't buy his house slippers on credit. We've lived differently than we do now before, and we are smart enough to figure out a way to live differently again, if it comes down to that.