If labor and management continue to think that only management has brains, then, yes, the American economy and standard of living will go down the toilet. The keys are working in collaboration and being flexible. You no doubt have ideas about how your job can be done more effectively or how your company could offer new products or services. Smart management listens; dumb management insists that only the folks in offices know anything. That's an old habit of management. Employees also need to get out of some old habits. People cannot expect careers like their parents had 30-40 years at the same company, doing the same thing. Companies do not have the loyalty to employees like they used to. Those of us in Generations X and Y have learned that our careers are up to us. If we donÂt like the deal at our current employer, we go elsewhere. Or find another line of work. Or work for ourselves. Or move. Obviously, some jobs and some personal situations lend themselves to that better than others. I think people are far more likely to have multiple careers in the future. IÂm on my second career after 20 years in the workforce. Most of the folks I work with did something quite different before they got here. I fully expect I will have at least a third career. IÂm not sure what it is yet. I just know that the odds are high against my retiring as a computer geek with my current company. Too many years and too much can happen between now and then. There also is a danger to being the "low-cost producer" -- and smart management knows it. Maybe the Chinese and Indians are providing skilled labor for less right now, but someday soon, it may be the Vietnamese and Afghanis. Or Liberians and Sudanese. "Made in Japan" used to be a joke. Korean cars used to be a joke. Companies will have to be more nimble. If a product becomes a commodity, where only price is the differentiator, then theyÂll have to change businesses frequently. If they can add services to the product or sell a better version of it, they can continue to make money. To try to get this discussion back on topic, look at ChryslerÂs PT Cruiser. ItÂs a Neon with a different body. It is different (but in a useful, friendly way), decently built (not great, but no major failures), sells well (at one point people waited in line to buy one), has inspired competition (ChevyÂs HHR), and has enabled Chrysler to charge (and get) way more than anyone would have paid for a Neon. ItÂs not that the PT is such a great vehicle. But it was appealing enough to make Chrysler some money with a car that, frankly, was nowhere near the front of the pack -- or the cheapest box out there. Now the 300C is the hot seller. In a couple of years, theyÂd better hope theyÂve got something else in the wings. To think they can make PTs and 300Cs and money for the rest of company history is crazy. ThereÂs a time to move on. Here it is.

Okay, I've been reading this thread and not responding to it b/c I don't want to have it come out wrong. I can't keep quiet any longer. I agree with many statements above. I would like to say these things: If you haven't already filed bankruptcy-DON'T do it. Your husband is like a child and you are not teaching him any good sound financial responsibility by bailing him out all the time. You've bailed him out 2x already and then signed for a loan for someone who has no credibility. Doesn't pay bills and loves to spend....HELLO that was not a smart move but you have to move ahead...can't look back. You guys created these debts you have to pay them. Your biggest expense next to your mortgage is your student loans....in almost all cases they can't be discharged. So you will still end up having to pay that. You've already stated you need your cars, so you'd be keeping those. You have to pay back your 401k loan...So basically you'd be trying to file off your 60k in CC and your SBA loan? Good luck.....you are going to ruin your credit....for a very long time IF you even get your bankruptcy granted with the new laws, you still may have to pay some of that back. What happens if you file and then have poor credit, no credit cards and then your water heater goes, or your furnace? You have no cards to pay it, no savings to pay it and no money to pay it. So you skip car payments to pay it then can't catch up and car gets repo'd and you have no way to work, lose your job, lose your house. Sounds extreme but it could happen. There are lots of people that are ONE crisis away from poverty and homelessness. I would set a budget, stick to it. Kick DH a$$.....if he's a photographer, start going to bridal shows get some clients offer better package pricing. Brides are bargain shoppers, if you have the best price and great photos you are hired. Hit the road and take photos of things when he isn't working. Enter photo contests w/cash prizes. Put your name out there. Free advertising is everywhere!!!! Stop crying over it and FIX IT!!!! Also, if you can sell stuff.....like 10 chairs to buy 4...then be smarter with the money. Sell 6 keep 4 and pay some bills. Take ALL the cards away from DH and give him a weekly allowance and that's it. If he's unhappy with that let him know that he did it to himself and needs to learn the hard way. Money doesn't grow on trees and the credit tree just got cut down. NO MORE MONEY......no more excuses. You made these bills now you have to lay in the "bed of bills" for a while. Once you recover from this you will feel a sense of relief and feel like a better person that you "took the bill by the horns" and paid everything down. You did the right thing and not the easy way out. Anyway, I'm all fired up, I hope this doesn't come across as insensitive. It's time to put your husband in his place and if he's not on board then he's got to find someone else to take advantage of financially b/c it's not gonna be you.

Hi Sophie! I knew you would be all over this like white on rice. I keep hearing that LL is still having money flow problems because of all the lawsuits against them. I think it will take a few years to get all of those cleared. They have a handful of class actions waiting for rulings as well as dozens of individual lawsuits in the pipe line. I don't think LL will weather storm....but we shall see.

Of course one would be disgusted with the situation and the truth that where boys and men congregate this keeps happening. It is very easy to point fingers at institutions that do not have eyes at every gathering. The place to look is the culture that created the pressure to look the other way, shame the victim or just ignore the signs. These boys also had parents and good Patrol leaders. I want to know why the healthy adults did not come to the aid of these boys, and I want to know the impossible; how to keep children safe from predators. Bankrupting an institution is not going to do that. The experience of Scouting in my family, going back several generations was positive, for that we were blessed, it's that simple.