Local Happenings?

So I think Buster is back saying I don't write about anything interesting anymore and don't talk about local happenings.

Problem is, I just don't have the fodder I used to have.  Bend Blogs is apparently extinct.  The Source has turned into a pretty useless rag since H. Bruce left, written by people who have lived here for five minutes.

The Bulletin can actually be impressively straightforward sometimes, but more often than not they don't delve into things too deeply.

What do I think?  I think the local economy -- and the national economy for that matter -- have been manipulated to large extent.  Thing is, it's working.  This is manipulation on a grand scale, lasting not weeks, or months, or years -- but decades.

And if it works, it works.  By the time the consequences of being manipulated might take effect, the situation has already changed, a new manipulation has set in, and it carries on.  Sure, someday it could collapse of its own weight, but we humans are pretty clever when it comes to survival.

For instance, I never thought downtown Bend would empty out.  I thought the momentum we had going for us would bridge us to the next upturn.  I think that is exactly what happened.

The housing market recovering, with houses actually going up in price.  Well, that's obviously bullshit but if it works it works.

I certainly have had enough instances in my own business of "fake it until you make it." 

It works. 

Bank of the Cascades is another example.  While not a big bank, I still think it was given more time and help and excuses than would be normal in other eras, but they probably have been able to right the ship.

I'm not even sure that's wrong, even if it offends my sensibilities.  

So I think we're back to the normal B.S. that has always existed and will always exist.

Even if it's fundamentally wrong, even if you believe in the long run there will be hell to pay, it's stupid to fight it. 

They've filled in the cracks with putty, put on a fresh new coat of paint, and while the underlying structure is weak it could be decades before anything happens.

By then, who knows what the situation will be?