Stages Of Grief

Where would we fall on the Kubler-Ross model, if we believed we (the United States economy) were a terminal patient? Everyday we progress forward with falling GDP, rising and perpetual government borrowing, rising health care costs and falling personal health standards, I wonder where we fall in the five stages of grief:

Denial -- well, most certainly we fall into this tranche 6 days a week: "The fundamentals of our national economy are just fine." "It's just a temporary slump, as all recessions have been." "Prozac and reality TV will keep our economy running, just you wait and see. You'll see."

Anger -- Maybe just two days a month we fall into this bucket: "Those fucking Indians and Chinese, stealing all our jobs!" "We need a 100% tariff on imported goods." "Why us?" "Aren't we God's chosen economy?" "Who's to blame? Goldman Sachs!"

Bargaining -- Only one day each month we try to cut a deal with said God, or as it would be, our government: "If only we could get another thirteen months of unemployment...we'll have jobs by then." "We only need another seven hundred billion more, that's all -- we get that next seven hundred billion and we'll make it out of this, just you wait and see. You'll see."

Depression -- Also only one day each month: "We'll never get out of debt, Suzy." "Our bills are just too high." "Why bother working when bankruptcy is our only option?" "We're just piling debt onto our grandchildren, they'll have nothing."

Acceptance -- So far, not a single act of acceptance has occurred: "We realize that living within our means is the correct thing to do." "Today we announce sever austerity measures that wi..."


Nope, not a single act of acceptance yet. We've still got a long way to go on our ride on the little grief trolley.