So it’s been awhile since I’ve put up a post and I think it is due to the fact that nearly every second of every day is already spoken well in advance.
Another reason I think I’ve been not posting as much is because I really figured out why I even have a blog: I really don’t care how many people read it, I think the real reason I even have it is it allows me an avenue to truly, indiscriminately express my thoughts on everything that’s going on around us. It allows me to purely express my opinion on things, not having to worry about taking others opinion into the equation of what I will say or do.
Looking all around, it’s hard not to see signs of the hard times we’re going through, whether it’s cutting back on family vacations or not eating out as much, it’s hitting us all pretty hard. However, through all the doom, gloom, and end of the world scenario’s being decried by all the Chicken Littles out there, I think there are some valuable lessons to be learned:
1) Responsibility is something that we all need to learn more about.
One common theme I see between all the AIGs and Bear Stearns of the world is that the people who were controlling our financial futures were never responsible to anybody because there was no way any of this stuff could go wrong. You know, my high school gym teacher once taught us about this, about how if you were in a room and there was a wallet full of money and you knew nobody would know that it was you, would you take the money? That’s called integrity and I think we all need a little more in our daily lives.
2) Just because you think you’re “entitled” to some kind of lifestyle does NOT give you the excuse to cheat others just to have it
I swear to God if I hear one more person say “You can’t live in Manhattan on $500,000 a year” and complain about that, I’m going to rip my hair out. So you can’t afford to live in Manhattan on $500,000? Leave Manhattan. You won’t be able to afford your child’s private tuition? I went to a public school and (knock on wood) I turned out alright. Going to a private school does not guarantee success, hard work and dedication does. Can’t afford that nanny? Do your own damn laundry and hey, spend some time with your kids while you’re at it. If I EVER made the argument that I should receive more money at work because I need to keep my current lifestyle even though I thoroughly suck at my job, people would laugh and say, “Well, sorry son, that’s not how the real world works”. Well guess what, some people think it is.
3) Don’t spend money on things if you don’t actually have the money
This one really gets me. Over the past 20 years or so, Americans have effectively shrunk their annual savings rate to zero, even going into the negative territory for a couple of years. Who says you need a nest egg in case of an emergency? Pssshhh, if you get in trouble, just borrow against your house! Home values will never go down, it’ll always be there for you! Yeah. Right. Yes, this is America and we do live in the greatest country on Earth; however, that does not mean you should go buy a $300,000 home if you make $25,000 a year. Our eyes got too big for our stomachs. What’s that called again? Oh yeah. Irrational exuberance. You know what’s funny about all this? There was only a handful of Ivy League economists who said that they had no idea whatsoever that this home bubble was going to burst, yet my mom had the common sense to sell my grandfather’s old house because, in her words, “We need to get the value out of this before the bubble bursts”. Huh, who knew my mom could be an economic forecaster. It’s common sense people.
When Congress, led by Ronald Reagan, pushed it’s foot on the proverbial pedal of de-regulation, that tends to accelerate the effects of free market capatalism, making the booms and busts much, much bigger. Considering the boom we just experienced was a big one, well look where we are now. How a company can have $30 of debt leveraged against $1 of actual capital is beyond me, but then again, I don’t make the big bonuses to be retained at these companies because let’s be serious I’m not “top talent”.
You know, that top talent that effectively did what no other nation could ever hope of doing: bringing the world’s lone superpower to its knees, bringing our American Experiment dangerously close to an end.
Vero Possumus
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