Like most people I had heard the phrase “House of Cards” but never quite comprehended the abyss of this phrase before now. Eight months back my company was ramping and gearing up for an unprecedented growth. There were record backlogs and business was growing at a pace so fast that it almost looked too good to be true. Shares of my company reached at an all time high. Then came the infamous credit crunch and if that was not enough to deeply bruise this industry President Obama made sure that the Business Jet industry is killed. It is so ironical that a visionary leader like him could not look beyond petty politics and see the impact his stand will have on this industry. General Aviation is one of the last few all American Industries left in USA and Obama is killing it in the name of progress and equality. The reasons for the fall can be debated but what has left me flabbergasted is the pace at which this fall took place. From 13,000 workforce last October it is coming down to 2300-2600 this July and that is unfathomable, quite like the growth. Last year around this time we were overwhelmed by the unprecedented growth and this year we are overwhelmed by the unprecedented fall. This is an experience I am faced quite early on in my career and this is making me even more cautious. With god's grace and my parents blessings I still have a good job, will still pursue my PhD and also got very well compensated for leaving this company. I love VLP, companies pay you to leave them but it is good only till you have an alternative.
I have this gut wrenching feeling looking around me and hearing the stories. There are immigrants who will be forced to go back to India because their visa is expiring. There are people who are forced to make the arduous decision of uprooting from their home towns and move to a new land, an uncertain life. There are families where kids are just born and they will be loosing their medical insurance. People will loose homes and everything is just so hard. Media makes such a big fuss about Detroit, they should visit Wichita now. I have been reading these stories for months now but it really effects you personally when you see it so closely. I thank god every second for blessing me but at the same time can't stop feeling lugubrious for the people whom this is effecting. What effect can the fall of house of cards have is what has left me in complete shock. All my life I have seen my parents saving and spending only within limits. I was taught to spend within my limits and somehow that concept is so deep rooted in me that the American Capitalism always made me uncomfortable. I use to always wonder that how are all these people able to live the life they were living and for me it was always important to have savings before I spend. I was never a huge fan of credit card spending infact I only have 1 card which I use rarely. Not a very American thing but my Indian upbringing is what has served me well. This experience has affirmed my believe that anything that sounds too good to be true is indeed too good to be true. This is not the end of American capitalism but I am hoping that it is the fall of house of cards. The effect that a fall of house of cards has on people's life is far more gut wrenching than the ephemeral boon.
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