After the Gold Rush

Sunday, September 28, 2008
I was thinking about what a friend had said, I was hoping it was a lie. He was speaking of folks losing there homes, and there savings, and much more. I was wondering where that was happening?

I live in a neighborhood where most folks own there homes. We're buying ours from a guy, we have a 'contract for deed', which means we don't have to deal with a bank. No body seems to be moving out around here. Is there a delayed reaction to the current crisis?

Anyway, all this thinking reminded me of Neil Young ( go figure, he's not a prophet but he's a damn good poet ). So here's a video that features 'After The Gold Rush', one of my all time favorites. That's because I used to live in a big city that was hell bent on building houses for refugees from larger cities.

Folks would sell their homes in Sacramento, or the Bay Area and use that money to buy a similar home in Reno for less money, keeping the difference for a 'nest egg'. Some of those folks used there money to buy a better home, and passed on the 'nest egg'. The short story is; no one was building homes for the people in Reno, or Eugene, or Seattle. 

That was all during the Gold Rush, and that's over. 

This video uses images from a bygone day to symbolize the transient nature of progress and development. Not to mention Eminent Domain.


Walk around your neighborhood, and count how many people are moving out of their homes. I have one neighbor who may be doing that soon, but that's because of all his doctor bills, and not being able to work. It's not fun for him, but it's reallity ( reality ? ). Let me know if you know anyone who has suffered from the crisis on Wall Street.


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