What will it be when it's over?

There's a huge outcry right now, because a lot of non-profit and support services are being axed in the wake of the economic crashing. I'm not sure how I feel about it. A large part of the jobs that have been lost here have been either directly or indirectly attached to the oilfields, and now that work there has all but evaporated, the massive flow of cash that this province has been awash in has likewise disappeared.

The fact that benevolent, first-line services are the first to suffer the axe is telling in that it's been largely the flow of petro-dollars that has floated these services. In essense, we've been privileged because we have oil.

It's essentially a tiny microcosm for the world at large. I'm not functionally intelligent enough to add up all the ramifications for what's happened to the global economy. I'm not even remotely intelligent enough to figure out the long term effects. But I can honestly say that as money gets tighter, more and more services that were either funded directly from, or sponsored by, big business are going to be cut.

That also means government services are going to be cut, because - here especially - so much is paid for by petro-dollars. Royalties, taxes, and tariffs on petroleum pays a large part of things like health care and post-secondary education.

That means a lot of the nice things we've had, the steps forward we've made in the last few years, it's all very likely going to be wiped out. Or downsized.

All of this can be attributed to living in a bubble.

Now that it's burst, everything come tumbling down.

And I find it amusing that we've been complicit in the function of the economy, yet when it all falls apart, it's the government's job to stimulate, boost, and resucitate the economy.

True, the government has a role to play. But no Harper or Obama is going to provide a magic bullet. We're going to have to get our hands dirty.