"Have you no human consideration?" "Show me a human and I might have!"

Is the current global financial crisis a security issue?

...Obviously yes. Let's look at it from world, national, regional and individual levels.

World: Money, as the saying goes, makes the world go round. The current crisis doesn't mean that there isn't less money (in fact, it means there is more "money" as in little slips of paper) floating around...it means there is less money being, on a day to day basis, traded between firms and households, households and firms, governments and firms, governments and households and households and governments and housements and governholds and vice versa. Conveniently, my macroeconomics class is currently beginning our discussion on money and banks, so, thanks to Prof. Willoughby, I can provide you with this lovely quote: "Foul cankering rust the hidden treasure frets/But gold that's put to use more gold begets" (William Shakespeare, ripped from Venus and Adonis). So, when trade occurs, more money is created...and not because of mints being printer happy. Thanks to everyone in the world thinking OH NOES WHERE IS OUR MONEY, trade is decreasing, and this is a security issue on a global level because lack of trade equals lacks of stability equals increase in risk of conflict. Bam.

Nation: The United States is in a recession. Screw what the economists and politicians say, I say it is in a recession. With our stock market deciding it wanted to be a roller coaster when it grew up instead of a stock market, the financial institutions in the U.S. are on a ride that they paid for, but didn't really enjoy. Once again, a quote: "Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for a bumpy night." (Thanks, All About Eve). If our financial institutions are getting motion sickness, the rest of us, on seeing the mess, are getting sick too. Sick people don't really promote the idea of "security". We can't protect our assets when our assets are in a system that's in cleanse-mode.

Regional: Being from California, the economy is SERIOUSLY MESSING STUFF UP. People are being unemployed left and right, the housing market is in shambles, various parts of California are on fire (yeah, that's pretty normal, but don't care, goes in) and we have a Governator. If that's not screwed up, I don't know what is. Since California also happens to be home to one of the largest immigrant populations in the U.S. (hello, Mexicans and Hmongs), unemployment has a large effect on how people interact with each other. Interactions, in the job market, can go awry.

Individual level: My money situation, meaning in general my family's, is in a state of flux, as is probably everyone else's. Personally, when my money isn't stable, I don't feel secure, and when I don't feel secure, I may make rash decisions in hopes that it makes my situation better. Rash decisions are not, often, secure decisions. A whole bunch of people making rash decisions = security issue.

To summarize: The global financial crisis of the here and now is a security issue because when people, nations, whatever, aren't sure about what their financial situation will look like from the day to day, they simply don't feel secure and may do stupid things in the name of "best interest."

...And SIS Gateway is done. ...Whoo!