If you don't have enough money to handle an emergency, you have an emergency. Go ahead and panic. Trade your car for a cheaper one, move into a cheaper apartment, stop eating out, sell your TV, and get an emergency fund.

If you're already living on toasted rats in a cardboard box, that's different, but if you've got unnecessary expenditures, you should really cut those out and get an emergency fund. To do otherwise is reckless. And you're cheating yourself of sleep and peace of mind.

This is a clear case where we see the idea that governments should represent the will of their citizens break down completely. Every power structure serves its own needs first. In areas where the interest of governmental systems and the citizens are in alignment, democracy can work - but when there is a conflict between the will of a power structure to extend its power and influence and the desires of the citizens, governments almost invariably choose to serve their own systemic interests.

Internet censorship is a dramatic example of this. Even in democratic societies with large majorities in favor of free communication over the internet, the internal imperatives of governments to monitor and control trump the will of the people, no matter who is in power. In the matter of desiring to be able to read everyone's email, the governments of the world are in nearly unanimous alliance against their own citizens.

The thing that always gets me is that "idea guys" seem to assume that "developers" can't get ideas, like it's a skill that only a select few can possess. Guess what? Everyone has ideas, and being a developer is great because we can actually build our ideas.