Why Claire Berlinski Is Like GM
(Or how she learned to stop worrying and love her debt.) In City Journal, Berlinski, who lives in Turkey, writes:

I used to wake up in the middle of the night, here in Istanbul, wondering how I'd pay my bills. As I've noted in City Journal, the demand for foreign news is shrinking. The wire services provide coverage from Turkey at low operating costs. To be honest, I also spend a lot of money on things I can't afford, like my cleaning lady. She's been working for me for five years and has three kids, so I can't fire her. If I go down, she'll go down, and so will my landlord, the guy who sells cleaning supplies to my cleaning lady, and the Iranian refugee who does my odd jobs. The ripple effect on the local economy, in other words, would be calamitous.

Then I saw the great news about GM's success and I stopped worrying. Because GM and I are in the same position, and things seem to be working out splendidly for them.

You see, about a month ago, I asked my mother to bail me out. I knew she'd do it. She's done it before. She sent me money she's been saving toward my retirement. I resolved to stop spending money on stupid things. (There was really no excuse for that lamp, Mom, I know. Sorry! In my defense, I was sure there was a genie in it.)

With my mom paying my rent, I've been able to charge less for what I write and stay in the black. Voilà, I'm selling a cheaper product (for now) than Reuters and AP. That will teach them where to stuff their "good investment decisions" and their "economies of scale." I fired the guy who does my odd jobs--it was painful, but it had to be done. So, congratulations to me! I'm making it in this tough business climate, with a little help from Mom. America's back! And if I'm broke again in a year, I'll hit her up again. (Don't forget, Mom, that you really have no choice: no matter what you do, I'm still going to be a huge financial drag on you. If I fail, I'll end up coming home with all my cats. You don't want me sleeping on your couch, do you? And you sure don't want to see what my cats would do to that couch. Antique, I believe it is?)

All of this is, alas, a perfectly accurate description of my financial life. The reader may wonder about my mom's wisdom in going along with this plan. That's between me and her--she loves me, and it's her money, not yours. The money that went to GM was yours, however. And I suppose you must love GM as if it's your profligate kid, because surely you could not be so credulous as to believe these reports about the spectacular success of the bailout.