Not affected by financial crisis? Think again

We are facing financial crisis.

We know the big picture. It is the worst global economic condition since the Great Depression in the late 1920s. Different financial institutions are going bankrupt. Big businesses around the world are closing down. More than half a million Americans from different levels of management lost their jobs last year. Thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers have been laid off already. In the biggest problem facing this generation, all of us should be aware and knowledgeable about the current events. Brushing off the topic off our shoulders is the last thing you should not do just because you cannot yet directly feel its impact.

If you are not alarmed or even disturbed yet on what is happening globally, you better be after I share these things.

A lot of people have already lost their mental-health because of stress brought by the financial crisis. A company handling mental-health referrals said their calls related to stress due to current financial issues have doubled. Another institution offering psychiatric services increased in admission four times last year. More than half of them were related to financial hardships and foreclosures. It seems like that psychiatric service industry is one of the few businesses enjoying growth during economic turmoil.

Another disturbing issue is the killings of financially disturbed and hopeless individuals. The Huffington Post published that the number of suicides increases by two percent during hard economic times—such as Wall Street stockbrokers suicides in 1929, 9/11 tragedy, and today’s financial meltdown. One current event is a high profile German billionaire, Germany’s fifth richest, committed suicide due to financial fears. He left his family a suicide note mentioning his distress and helplessness of inability to do anything to improve his financial condition. He is reported as at least the third comparable suicide in the last four months. Another is a money manager in California who decided to wipe out his wife, three kids, and mother-in-law in a murder-suicide after losing his lifelong savings and job, reported by TIME October last year.

If you think that the poorest members do not feel the crisis, think again. Scavengers' earnings have even dropped to half or more because the price of trash they collect had also drop. This is because there is low demand of recyclable materials caused by halt in business operations especially of manufacturers. In Japan, the number of homeless increased even more as businesses laid off contractual workers. To make things worse, the homeless in Japan is in danger of violence. One teenage boy killed one by setting him on fire. The boy told the police that the paupers do not contribute to society just like cats and dogs.

Students do not easily identify with the people mentioned above because the impact of the financial crisis is cushioned by financial dependency from parents. Since most students do not have a direct involvement to the generation of income, there is a tendency to not care about money unless there is financial training by parents.

Financial security from dependency added by lack of hunger for news adds more to the indifference of students towards the global slump. Ladies and gentlemen, the hard times are not going to be over soon regardless of social status. We better know what lies ahead of us when we graduate.

The biggest news that creates fear among students is the increasing unemployment
rate around the world even for those who are from top notch students. This all started August 2007 and is not going to improve in years. One should not stop reading and listening for news because it is where we will find opportunities for survival in the future. Let us not allow the financial crisis a sense of helplessness, but rather cultivate courage and optimism to push ourselves to make the best out of a bad situation. Knowing the incapability of our government to provide decent jobs for its people, who else can we depend on but ourselves?

One is to start spending wisely. Though saving is now becoming the buzz word among consumers, we should bear in mind that we shouldn't sacrifice welfare and health just to save money. If you research enough, you will get value for money and increase health with the right kind of lifestyle which is simple and healthy. Cut on the drinking and smoking already. It will even save you a few years for your future grandchildren.

Another is cultivating the spirit of entrepreneurship. Since job opportunities is one of the biggest fears of our soon to be graduates, be the boss of yourself then. Though luxury items have been the first products to be hit by consumers' cut in spending, some sectors in the food industry reported to have increased sales because people are now looking for more value for their money. Offer products that will provide value for money since consumers have turned to be budget conscious than ever. Actually, retailers remain to be optimistic since they have become more cautious and resilient due to Asian currency crisis last 1997.

Students may not have directly felt the effects of the global financial meltdown, yet. However, there is a big responsibility on us to be involved in the current course of events. The global slump is not going to go away soon. By the time we graduate, we should know what to expect and arm ourselves with necessary skills and knowledge on how to survive in this economic turmoil.