I read in another newspaper the other day about how the two U.S. automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, which have been trying to convince the government that they need billions of dollars in aid to survive, are losing customers.

There’s been a lot of mumbo-jumbo from the talking heads about this economic crisis we’ve gotten ourselves into. The arguments are complex for why we should do this or do that. Listening to it all, though, I’ve been thinking that the real truth is pretty simple: What goes around comes around.

I’m not an economist and even though I took at least one college economics class (that I remember), I’ve never aspired to work on Wall Street. In fact, the first time I ever visited Wall Street was a couple of weeks ago. More on that some other time. Point is, I was taught how to handle money when I was a kid and I don’t have to be a financial genius to know that a lot of people have ignored the basic rules of responsible finance.

Getting back to Chrysler and G.M., it seems that, while they’ve been whining to the government about their need for cash – our cash, the automobile-buying public has either revolted or become revolted. Maybe both.

According to news reports, since the first congressional hearings on the auto industry in November, U.S. sales by G.M. and Chrysler have fallen a combined 45 percent compared with the same period the previous year. During that time, other carmakers’ sales slid only 33 percent.

By comparison, Ford, which has not accepted any government aid, saw its share of the retail car market rise for four consecutive months through January, the first time that has happened in 14 years.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, a survey released in March by Rasmussen Reports, a pollster, found that 88 percent of Americans prefer not to buy a car from a company taking government aid. By comparison, 63 percent said they wouldn’t want to buy from a company going bankrupt.

The numbers go on and on, favoring Ford, dissing G.M. and Chrysler. The point is, things happen when the public is awakened.

We’ve gotten fat, happy and sleepy here in America over the last couple of decades, since the last big recession in the late ’70s. Times have been pretty good and we’ve gotten sloppy, assuming that everything will work out to our economic benefit.
Our corporations have gotten sloppy, our banks have gotten sloppy, and our personal spending habits have too. And now things aren’t working out. We’re in serious national debt to countries, such as China, that we shouldn’t be obligated to. Our kids and grandkids will be living in the red. I read the other day that a baby born today owes $22,000 upon arrival.

The reason for a lot of this is that we’ve broken the rules our grandparents and great-grandparents lived by – because they had to: Don’t spend what you don’t have. Don’t lend what you can’t afford to lose.

Stupid banks have made a lot of stupid loans and it’s come back to haunt them. The problem is, though, they couldn’t afford to lose that money and now those of us who have tried to be responsible with our finances are the ones who will pay.

You’ve heard about the AIG revolt. Now you’re hearing about the car buyers’ revolt. What’s next? A bank revolt?
You know, if we all quit doing business with the financial institutions that are the biggest beneficiaries of the government handouts we’re all going to be paying for, it might send a message to the powers that be that we’re sick of all of this.