This is a rant post. Not sure where it is going.
Let’ face it, we continue to live in tough economic times. Since the 1980’s, people are not as comfortable as they once were. Incomes continue to decline for the average American. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer. Now, companies want to keep employee hours below 30 to avoid having to pay into the new Healthcare laws. Unemployment is higher than what is being published in the papers, since many people have stopped looking.
Poor economic conditions breed social issues
President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I am not a social issues kind of person. I really don’t care how people live their lives. People need to follow the laws of this country. So, if we collectively agree that stealing is bad, we should not steal. I believe in secular government and do not believe that religious practices have a place in public education. If you want to practice religion, do it at your church, mosque, temple or religious school, whether you are Christian, Muslim or Jew. I don’t care.
It’s still about the economy
All the problems in the world today are the result of our economy of scarcity. As the population grows in the world, resources are being stretched. It is what drives anti-semitism, racism, ethnocentrism, religious extremism. Scarcity breeds the extremism. As individuals, we are victims of some other group who are taking more of their share than what I should be getting. It is so much easier to blame someone else than to look in the mirror.
So, what to do about it?
There are some things we can do. In the United States, we have more going for us than we give ourselves credit. Warren Buffett is bullish on the United States in the long haul. Let’s take a look at some of the tough things we could do right now:
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Congress needs to seriously consider the Simpson-Bowles recommendations for deficit reduction.
It is a bi-partisan idea that combines new taxes with major spending cuts. It’s all drastic. If we are serious about righting our ship, let’s get serious about doing something about it. The debt issue is a big one for us and needs to be addressed. It even has its own wikipedia page.
Citizens against Government Waste have found 4 easy waysto cut spending. Congress should get on it because they are common sense things.
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GM pay and GM jobs are not returning
Face it, GM pay and GM jobs are not coming back to the levels they once were. That era is over. We need to come to the realization that in some areas of our economy, we are starting over.
When Flint, Michigan’s lumber industry waned at the end of the last century, some Entrepreneurial guys played around with the horseless carriage. They started a company called Buick. Then, Billy Durant had an idea to build a big automobile company and formed General Motors. While his name is still relevant in Flint, I don’t think people recognize his contribution and guile of what he had really done.
I am sure that the people in the lumber industry lived through tough times while the local economy changed to this new industry that would change the world. They were starting over and the automobile industry led the way. We are starting over and we need to encourage the next wave of Entrepreneurs to find the next big idea to lead the world.
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We are an Entrepreneurial country!
I am a broken record on this topic. This country was built on the foundation of Entrepreneurship. We always have some winners and we have some losers. It is the core strength of this country that makes it so great. I talked to a prospect who hailed from England. His business targeted small business owners. The US market by far was more attractive than England because the number of companies that incorporate here was 5 times more than England.
Not everyone is born to be an Entrepreneur. It’s a game of winners and losers. That being said, tough economic times requires us to consider alternatives to getting a job. There are still a lot of segments of our economy that need services or could use some improvement. Some services that are being delivered today could be done differently.
Entrepreneurship and not Government is what will help us get out of our mess. Entrepreneurship history should be a part of our educational system. Politics is great, but commerce is what built this country. Our titans in business and entrepreneurship should be the heroes our kids should emulate – not pop stars.
Ok…I am done with my rant.
