I am just puffing a little for the Huffington Post, which is helping me to see that understanding the problem of the US recession as it exists now is beyond my capability. However, since it is obviously beyond everyone else's capability as well, from Obama, Geitner et al downwards I don't feel so bad.

Every one of the big players has millions salted away, they will survive comfortably if they are forced to retire or use their talents to operate a simpler system - a system without the potential for organisations to grow beyond the control of government.

Small companies create at least 70% of the wealth in the West, why should millions of small owners be denied the right to continue in business because speculators higher up the cash chain have the power to switch them off?

Small investors lost their life savings because they allowed remote players to re-invest where and how they chose. Money well lost.

Making do with less

If people in the West generally are getting impatient with the rate if improvement in education and social justice, it seems to me that a study of the social history of this hemisphere would provide the student with a calming sense of perspective. Great wealth has always gravitated to the privileged few, but the percentage of assets/earnings grabbed by the rich does not matter very much any more.

What matters is the real level of actual misery suffered by the poor. That's not hard to agree with is it? It may be hard to define the terms, and the 'law' may refuse to try, but a lot of people are slipping back into poverty at the moment.

This is bad. Poverty is no joke, even if this is a very relative term, for he who slipped it is upsetting. All the more so because it was not 'positive' to prepare for the worst. Nor was it 'politic' for the government or its media to suggest preparing to 'cut back' was a good idea.

I have my own ideas about making do with less. Of course there are limitations of education, location, skills, tools, physical strength, that I have to work with, but you do what you can.

I plan to continue this theme with descriptions of my environment, personal attempts at 'Making Do', reflections on Corfu life, and images.

I invite you to submit your own experiences and any ideas on the subject of making do with less, and would like to receive your images to illustrate your comments. Hopefully photo images will be enhanced and trimmed unless you have done so yourself and let me know.

Links to contributors' blogs will be featured of course - but I am struggling with the technology at the moment, so advice is most welcome. To be continued.......