The ‘feels like’ is usually right

Americans today feeling the pressure of empty bank accounts and maxed-out credit cards

When you look up the temperature on any kind of weather app you might have in your phone, it shows a variety of different things related to the weather. One of those things is titled “feels like”, which actually means that the temperature scale might say 91 degrees Fahrenheit but it actually feels like 100 degrees.

I wish we had such a scale for measuring the temperature and health of democracy. While I would love nothing more than to write about the state of democracy in Pakistan right now, I am, however, going to skip that topic and vent my frustration at the one democracy I know and came to love that may have many flaws but it is so mature that it can handle critique with a smile.

Every now and then, many of us living in America receive notifications from the Biden administration that such and such number of jobs have been added to the US economy and how America is doing better than before Biden took charge. Not sure who can relate with this advertised well-being.

During the height of the pandemic, President Trump had authorised what were called stimulus checks, to be sent to the American people in order to help them get by. Businesses left and right were being shut down during the pandemic. Credit card companies and banks had extended the billing due dates. Every industry was taking steps to make it easier for the American people to survive through the joblessness resulting from the pandemic.

Those stimulus checks were really boosting the economy and people were spending more than ever as far as my observation was concerned. Restaurants, malls and stores were full everyday with customers spending that money they didn’t earn to buy things they didn’t need. The housing and the crypto markets were booming. If you might recall, the Game Stop shorting saga happened during the height of the pandemic. Bitcoin and Dogecoin saw its highest and quickest pump during those very days. People had all that money coming in and they just wanted to spend it. I also took some liberty with my credit cards and traveled business class during those days. Amazing journey it used to be.

At the time, I had commented to many friends that it was a matter of time when this honeymoon would be over because the jobs lost wouldn’t return and these checks wouldn’t last forever. And that is where we are today after about 3 years. The economy is stagnant. The only thing moving up is inflation.

People are now taking hits. And some really bad hits. Americans are today feeling the pressure of empty bank accounts and maxed out credit cards. Credit card debt is over a trillion dollars in today’s America. A typical American household now owes about $10,000 to credit card companies. And banks are no longer giving extra time to pay the bills. The pandemic is almost over. It is now that people need help and more income to deal with this inflation. Bad timing.

So, when the Biden administration says that America is doing good and people are doing better under his administration, I really wonder if the man lives on Mars because where we, the people, live, things are a lot different than the case he is trying to make. Bad messaging.

And that, more than anyone else, would hurt his re-election campaign. Because people don’t live their lives in a world created by intelligent economists with their financial mumbo jumbo where they are told to derive their happiness and comfort from the numbers put online by their president. The heat feels more than the numbers. People care about their condition. Their spending has gone down. They travel less. They frequent the malls less. They eat out less. They spend more time working and less time relaxing. Biden is not going to be able to sell this in November 2024. He will lose. InshaAllah.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2023.

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