Singletary: Economic horror story not so far-fetched
By Michelle Singletary
Published: July 12, 2017, 6:01am
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It’s 2029, and the president says the United States will default on its loans and won’t join other nations in converting to a new global currency.
Treasury bonds that were once the gold standard have become worthless. Everyone is ordered to turn over his or her gold, including jewelry.
Overnight — literally — people’s retirement savings are wiped out.
The dollar has lost its almighty power at home and abroad. Inflation is soaring so fast that people spend their pay as soon as they get it. They can’t afford to save.
How would you survive in such a world?
That’s the question I kept asking myself as I read Lionel Shriver’s “The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047” (HarperCollins Publishers, $27.99). The novel is the Color of Money Book Club selection for this month.
It’s also an American economic horror story.
One of the novel’s lead characters is Florence Darkly, a Barnard-educated mother who lives with her teenage son in East Flatbush, N.Y. She’s barely able to eke out a living in this new world order.
The water supply is low, so showering is a once-every-few-weeks treat. Meat — any meat — is a luxury.
Florence’s two-bedroom home eventually has to accommodate 10 people, including her once-wealthy sister and brother-in-law and their three children, displaced from the home they could no longer afford.
Every trip to the supermarket “fosters post-traumatic stress disorder,” Shriver writes. Food is scarce and comes at a steep price. Cabbage, one of the more economical choices, costs $20.
I first recommended the novel for another book club I belong to, “Color Me Read.” I thought you might like to hear how a couple of the members felt about it.
• “As a science-fiction reader since grade school, I find it interesting how dystopian novels so often reflect our fears. This is the first novel to my memory that looks at dystopia after an economic collapse.”
• “The author’s portrayal of how easily our lives can be upturned by a financial crisis was humbling, frightening, all too real. Seriously considering whether I should be building a bunker in the backyard and stockpiling water and gold bars. Definitely renewing my passport.”
The Great Recession should still remind us of how financially tenuous so many of our lives are. It got bad for a lot of people. Homes were lost. Jobs once seen as secure weren’t. Retirement plans were upended.
Think about it: Your access to good and affordable health care is just a job loss away.
The recession may be over, but economic uneasiness abounds. During one of my recent online discussions, an older couple with $1.5 million saved fretted they hadn’t saved enough for retirement.
With that backdrop, is the future Shriver imagines really so farfetched?
Have you been following the news about Venezuela? There are frequent riots because of severe food shortages. Electricity and water are being rationed. The country’s currency is nearly worthless. The situation continues to deteriorate.
I’m a fan of scared-straight apocalypse fiction. The horrors of what can happen remind me to stay humble and to avoid being so self-righteous in my ability to manage my world — my money. I’m a good saver. But what if it’s not good enough? You can plan for only so many financial emergencies.
So I ask myself: Have I built up a community of support wherein we could lean on each other?
Have you?
I’m hosting an online discussion about “The Mandibles” at noon Eastern time on July 20 at washingtonpost.com/discussions. Shriver will join me to take your questions.
