Are we as Americans so infected with our own self loathing that we can't see past the ever-present need to instantly gratify our personal desires without the thought of what may happen as a result?
The way society seems to be going, I think that I have to answer yes. It's like we're children who don't want to listen to our elders when they tell us that the stove is hot, but we think that we are being smothered buy rules we didn't get to choose and must touch the burner on our own because then we'll know for sure that it was hot.
1. We were warned by those who have gone before.
2. We think that what we were told can't possibly relate to our current situation.
3. We get burned.
Take these "bailouts" (or as the PC Police might say "Potential Community Re-Investments") for example. These huge global companies, either through poor management, governmental oversight, and even forced negotiations with Big Labor, find that they are "too big to fail" businesses that are on the brink of doing just that, failing.
1. Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac made bad loans. People who have no business getting loans accepted them. Hundreds of millions and tens of billions of dollars were lost.
2. Government solution... Give them more money.
Really?!? How about we treat alcoholics with more alcohol. Or, oh I know, lets get convicted child molesters free kiddie porn.
We completely ignore sound financial principles because we don't think that our specific situation could ever be corrected by tried and true practices of the past. We won't use "red ink" in schools because we don't want to hurt someones feelings. We have trophies for everybody that competes because "there are no losers".
Well, America is losing. Companies that got bailed out are failing again and they stand poised to get even more. The bottom line is that this country is headed down a very dark and dangerous path and I am scared. But I do have faith. I believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The solutions are not easy, and I don't claim to have them all. But I think that together we can uncover principles that when followed will prepare us for the storm that is coming. Stay tuned, please comment, we all know that there are problems. Lets work together to test the solutions and I'm willing to bet that we can come up with some good ones.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
6 comments:
Please keep your comments as clean as you can. I will ban for offences as I see fit. If you Poke, expect to get poked back, If you can't defend your stance, then you don't have one and deserve to get poked. Remember the main point of this blog is to get us all talking. You do not need to offend or humiliate to get your point across. Sarcasm is expected, but it's not the rule. You have been put on notice.
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Jon, you raise a good point. Even small good steps make a difference.
ReplyDeleteJon, I agree with much of what you say and feel, especially working in local government, too--the dialogue needs to happen, and if more people really gather to talk and understand, then they can move forward to analyze and generate solutions. Corporate buy-outs are shameful and pathetic, but we the people are actually allowing this to happen....
ReplyDeleteIf more people took it upon themselves to be more accountable and take action, no matter how small, and move away from sitting back waiting for the government to give them everything when they can go and get for themselves, we'd be light years from where we currently are. But, it's going to get much worse before it gets better.
And, I have to say this is HARDLY a partisan issue--BOTH parties are to blame, both full of opportunustic and pure selfish greed; I feel our system of a 2-party system is both CORRUPT AND BROKEN and failing the people. I'm hardly conservative, I'm hardly liberal, I'm both moderate and level-headed (well, most of the time!!)....
Thanks for putting yourself out there, my friend. Martha Rae has spoken :)
You know what I want? I want a country where the president gets more press than his wife wardrobe. Although, given the current president, I think most people will benefit more from news about the wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can agree about the benefiting more about news of wardrobes, I think it's just another sad commentary about what society deems important--that clothes and celebrity social happenings are much more savory to the public than politics, current events, or other things...again, until people start changing their reactions and behaviors and tolerating this garbage as "important", then the lowest common denominators will always prevail. Hence the news about the President's wife's wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, I can't begin to explain just how much I don't care about the First Lady's wardrobe. But then again it is my blog so let me see if I can.
ReplyDelete1. Count the total number of stars in the Universe and multiply that by the total number of atoms in the Universe. Now exponentially increase that by itself to the power of Pi (no not the good kind of Pie, the bad, mathematical, evil kind of Pi). you should have about 1.82% of just how much I care. NO NO NO!!! Look how much I care! 0_0
example number 2... I don't care.
So, to sum it all up... Green Gloves! are you kidding me?
jumping on this band wagon rather late I have to echo martha rae's opinion. both parties are indeed to blame both stand in the way of actually getting anything accomplished too busy pointing their fingers at the side while stuffing their pockets full of dirty money trying to keep every one looking else where. both parties have sat on their rumps for far too long sitting pretty while not actually doing anything useful heaven forbid they do anything that might make this country progress.
ReplyDeletewe are in deed building more hospitals and employing more ambulances than just putting up a freaking guard rail at the top of the mountain that every one is driving off of.