"Just think of it like the stock market being on sale"

"Just think of it like the stock market being on sale" is what one of my friends so ignorantly said to me today. I am not one to post about the economy or politics but when he said that I couldn't wait to sit down and type/vent.

He is an old high school classmate and we have somewhat kept in touch over the past several years. Today we were chatting and I commented on the crappy state of the economy. He proceeds to delve into the fact that it isn't really that bad and that people and companies deserve to be in the state that they are in because of risks they took. Do I agree that to an extent this decline in our economy is faulted by us? Of course! However, he seems to believe that if we just ignore it, then the problem will go away. In fact he thinks that people should take advantage of this market and begin investing. Now not that I don't agree that people should buy into the stock market when it is low (if they can afford it) but the fact is that most people can not afford to buy in at this point in time. With so many layoffs people have had to become responsible for paying for private health insurance rather than their work sharing in part or in all of that cost. So now people not only have mortgages that they can't pay (many because they took on more than they could chew to begin with and others because of loss of employment) but they also must shoulder the rising costs of health care. When I pointed this out my old classmate simply stated that they should just go get a job at McDonald's.

While I agree that people in an economy like this should look for employment where they can get it that still does not get to the core issue that even with a McDonald's (or similar) minimum wage paying job someone probably can not support a previously 2 income family with the cost of food, gas, etc.

It is just a bit annoying when most Americans seem to be buckling down a bit trying to spend a bit less and here is someone I know thinking that this is fantastic because ya know what? The stock market is on sale!!