There are a lot of problems and that's a very good thing.

William Shakespeare’s famous quote from Hamlet, “When sadness comes, they come in battalions, not a single spy,” is particularly relevant today.

All the news seems bad. Negative numbers are huge. Human devastation seems immeasurable. Every government seems to have lost control. Debt is twisted at the individual, corporate and government levels.

This glass looks almost empty. It is not!

Grow seeds of opportunity from the depth of the disaster. Just as Mother Nature’s wildfires remove overgrowth and allow fields and forests to regenerate themselves, so do the opportunities that arise from social and financial collapse. The elimination of the sick system gives entrepreneurs and reformers the opportunity to fill the essential void.

Throughout the dynasties of history, dictatorships and tyranny rose and eventually declined. They are usually replaced by much better ones.

The violence of the French Revolution allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to transform France into a warrior nation under his dictatorial rule. His “Waterloo” allowed the state to develop into a modern, democratically governed republic. The Habsburgs of Germany, the Hohenzollerns of Austria, and the Bourbons of France all enjoyed the wealth, power, and comfort of royal rule before being placed on a mountain of historic junk.

Hitler of Germany, Emperor Showa of Japan, and the communist dictator of Russia all collapsed and were taken over by a democratic government with a modern and more open style of governance. Their oppressive rule has led their population to decades of war, hunger, and social despair in a disastrous manner. Something much better has joined their brutality.

As the market evolved towards new technologies, if the business evolved and did not regenerate, the business had historically expired. Ice delivery in the first half of the 20th century was replaced by mass sales of refrigerators. Manufacturers of carts, whips, buggies and bicycles have disappeared as cars have been developed as an affordable means of transportation. The acceptance of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulbs has significantly reduced the need for thousands of local candle makers.

As the automobile industry developed, there were hundreds of nameplates that produced niche vehicles. Most car makers such as Packard, Stats, Essex, LaSalle, Duesenberg, Austin and Cord can compete with newly developed tastes, technologies, economies of scale and mass production technologies pioneered by big names such as: Because it wasn’t, it grew, stagnated, and died. Alfred Sloan, Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler. General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler have become huge with huge profits, international distribution and large marketing programs. The rest simply disappeared, leaving few memories.

Today, “Big Three,” Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors are all staring at the Grim Reaper. In other words, Shakespeare’s Hamlet quote: “Their sorrows are here and they are in the battalion.” All the mistakes that management and workers can make harm the commercial institutions they make and often repeat. The wrong choice of model, lack of awareness of the ultimate problem of the fuel economy, boring styling, strangling union labor rules, and poor perception of the “Big Three” are three, two, or one. child. It seems very unlikely that they will continue to exist as independent entities.

Many consist of potential losses to one of these iconic car makers, or all to the United States. Still, the domestic automobile manufacturing industry is booming. Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Honda, BMW, Toyota and Nissan have all built factories here in the last few decades. Volkswagen has announced plans as well. Each of these manufacturers incorporates targeting features, styling, and benefits into their machines that the “Big Three” did not identify. They also all built factories in a “labor rights” state with minimal union impact. While these foreign companies pay good wages and offer competitive benefits, they are not bound by esoteric and unproductive labor rules. They do not face the legacy costs of pricing domestic manufacturers’ models at such high retail stores.

We are all affected by the global financial fire. The future economic welfare of citizens, industries and governments around the world is intertwined and is determined by how those who have caught us in this turmoil drive us out. I use the pronoun “us”. Because we are responsible for almost everything.

House foreclosures are skyrocketing due to stupidity and greed. People today are certainly anxious for what they don’t need or can’t afford in developed countries. Some people should not own a home. They cannot afford the maintenance, insurance, down payment, or taxes associated with owning a home. A couple with one child and a monthly income of $ 3,500 shouldn’t have tried to buy a $ 400,000 home with four bedrooms without going down with a subprime loan. Like lenders, mortgage brokers, and buyers of derivatives with which this loan was packaged, they were fools.

The banks and insurers that bought these esoteric mortgage derivative vehicles have historically been extremely profitable and depressed like flies. Northern Rock in England, ING in the Netherlands, Indy Mac, Country Wide, Wachovia, and Wam here are just a few of the powerful financial institutions that are currently closing, merging, or selling assets. Insurance giant AIG has been acquired by the government. Lehman Brothers, one of the most venerable and respected investment banks, has been closed by the government. Merrill Lynch has been sold to Bank of America.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were beaten for their role in promoting the credit bubble that led us to this cliff. Congress is looking for a scapegoat that has passed a law that spurs Fannie Mae and Freddie May to make suspicious loans to untrustworthy borrowers. Many of our saints want to see “perpwalks.” I agree. But I’m sure the real “perp” won’t walk.

The problem is endless and seems daunting. They are coming “in a battalion”. Nevertheless, we prosper from the opportunity to overcome this, hopefully learn from it, and fill the gaps opened by systemic failure. The stock market seems to offer a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to profit from the sharp losses caused by the panic caused by the credit collapse. Powerful and agile financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and State Street have emerged to fill the void left as a result of the disappearance of hundreds of businesses.

Individuals must make more careful purchasing decisions. The 84-month and 96-month mortgages are gone, making it more difficult to buy a luxury car. Buying real estate requires a “game skin” in the form of a down payment, which benefits homeowners and lenders. Credit cards are harder to obtain and lower credit limits.

Everyone can use this swirl as an opportunity to see their actual needs and wants. Living under your own means may even make a comeback.