New Year Blahs

New Year BlahsDecember 2013 was a depressing month. The weather was terrible; too much snow, too cold, and to top it all off Christmas seemed to ooze by before I even noticed. I was hoping January and 2014 would lift my spirits, but my hopes were dashed.A few days into January, I read a CBC news article about what to expect in 2014. I should have skipped it because it wasn’t inspiring at all. If you are a Canadian — as I am — you might not want to read what comes next.I fully realize that nothing is ever going to be the way it was when I was a younger man. The world has changed both financially and morally. I accept that fact, but I still hope for better times. I still hope to come across an honest politician. I still wish our political leaders would consider what is best for the people instead of just their own interests. That wish is doubled for business leaders, real estate agents, and everyone else who has contributed to putting us in the state we are in.The CBC article reported that in the span from, 2004 to 2013, the price of milk and bread has more than doubled. That in itself is bad enough. I don’t have twice as much disposable cash or income now, compared to what I had in 2004, but that isn’t what irritates me the most. What bothers me are the lengths some companies—especially in the food industry – go to hide the fact that they are raising their prices. What I’m talking about is the reduction of volume while keeping the same price; a slightly smaller package for the price of the older, larger package, or even worse the same size package with less content. The food industry isn’t the only culprit either. My wife bought some makeup the other day, and the actual product only took up half the package. The other half of the box had a piece of cardboard across it to stop it from collapsing. She bought two items. They were both packaged the same way, and the stuff was terribly expensive.Another point reported in the CBC article was that ‘young families are increasingly realizing that home ownership may not happen in their lifetime’. The average home price in 2004 was $226,353 while the projected average home price for 2013 is $382,200. That is an increase of $155,847 or about 68.8%. I am thankful every day that I’m not part of a young family just starting out in life. Their choices seem to be monster houses that are unaffordable to most, or 400 square foot condominiums which are equally unaffordable, and almost unliveably small. Properties are overpriced, but real estate agents still stage bidding wars to bump the prices up as much as possible. I glad I don’t have to play their games, and I’m sorry for those who do.The final point that stayed with me from the CBC article was that in 2004 Canada had a 1.4 billion surplus, while in 2013 we had an 18.7 billion deficit. Despite Steven Harper’s promise to never run a deficit, Canada has been in the red since 2008. I lived and worked through the belt-tightening that was necessary to get us to that surplus figure, but at least back then we had some hope that once things got better they would stay that way. Hope kept me going back then, and although 2014 looks bleak now, I suppose there is always hope. The markets correct themselves, housing bubbles burst, bad politicians loose elections, greedy business people go too far and things collapse, and the people who survive get smarter. They realize that overcrowded cities are not nice places to live, that accumulating more wealth than you can use is not a worthy goal, and maybe that old standby, honesty is the best policy.
For me, I hope that those few honest politicians and business leaders out there can influence some of their associates, and that 2014 looks better at the end then it does right now.