Americans need to break their sense of entitlement. I think one of the biggest contributing factors to our economic collapse was the feedback loop of consumers with a sense of entitlement and banks with increasingly lenient lending practices.
Americans feel entitled to own a house, buy nice cars, get a new HDTV, vacation time, sick leave, pensions, 401K matching, and a plethora of other things. Even if you have a job and work hard, this is not necessarily the case. No one is entitled to these things.
As a country, we should ensure that our workforce is the strongest in the world. That should be done through education and training. There is an argument that healthcare, at least preventative measures, should fall under this umbrella. We should try to ensure that everyone who wants a job gets one, but we shouldn’t feel entitled to a glamorous one.
We need to work harder, work together, and work with our government and employers. If we keep living beyond our means and bleeding our employers dry we will get crushed by emerging economies like India and China, who don’t have to deal with many of these issues.
The other day, my friend asked me what the difference was between Geeks and Nerds. I think we were trying to figure out what we were. I think we decided on Geeks.
I think of geeks as being part of a cynical, technically savvy counterculture of hackers, crackers, and gamers. Geeks are sometimes sort of cool – think Seth Green from The Italian Job or Justin Long in the Apple commercials and Live Free or Die Hard. Geeks like Family Guy, the Simpsons, and Chuck.
Nerds are people who are studious, highly intelligent, and socially awkward. It is very rare for a Nerd to be cool and they are not necessarily technically savvy. Imagine a physics professor who can calculate the range of a 7th century trebuchet without a working model, but can’t figure out how to send a text message on his Blackberry. Nerds like Star Trek, but mainly so they can try to figure out how to make faster-than-light travel actually work.
So are we past our prime? Why did the pendulum swing this way, and is it possible for it to sweep back?
We find ourselves in this mess from years of living in excess. A combination of denial, corruption, and shelter caused us to borrow more than we should. As individuals, corporations, and a country we spent money without a realistic plan to pay back our creditors. We never challenged our assumptions about how we were going to cover our debt. To compound the issue, corruption covered up the mess as best it could. We became overconfident and developed a sense of entitlement. We felt that everyone could own a home, a big screen TV, a new car, etc. Our lifestyle fed upon itself, but the cycle wasn’t sustainable. When the Dow was over-performing, we attributed it to prosperity, not inflated stock prices.
But hopefully we’ve learned our lessons. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Over-regulation is bad, but under-regulation is catastrophic. I’m hopeful for the future, because I feel that America needs challenges to reach its potential – and this is a hell of a challenge. If we can rally together, I think we can reach our potential and come out stronger than ever. But we have to work together and we have to act. A good plan executed today is better than a great plan tomorrow.
Here’s a list of 15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009. I feel bad for the 350,000 people employed by these companies, but perhaps we should let these companies go. I don’t mean to sound callus, but it might be best for the common good.
The economic crisis our country is facing will be exacerbated if we spread our resources too thin. Rather than trying to help every company survive the maelstrom, perhaps we should watch the weaker, less efficient companies collapse. Trying to save everyone might just lead to harder economic strife. No matter how healthy or frail the economy, competition forces the survival of the fittest. The byproduct is a stronger economy (or at least less crappy). Then the money we give to the surviving companies will go further toward solidifying their foundations. Some people don’t feel we should intervene at all, but desperate times do call for desperate measures.
For example, if Chrysler goes belly-up, then we can give Ford and GM 150% of whatever stimulus money we otherwise would have. Plus there would be slightly less competition. Former Chrysler customers might become Ford or GM owners.
I don’t think Blockbuster qualifies for any stimulus money, but as the movie rental industry moves toward the online, ondemand model, their brick and mortar stores are eventually going to be in trouble no matter what the economic situation. If they can’t adapt quickly enough, they why should they exist?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not rooting against these companies. On the contrary, I’d love to see them all rebound and become the drivers for a new healthier American economy. But that is just not going to happen. In the mean time, let’s not waste resources trying to bail them out.
You’ve posted a comment on MySpace that “sparkles.” (15 points)
You’ve posted a video of yourself using MySpace … on MySpace (15 points)
You got a new computer or upgraded because your friends’ MySpace pages were crashing your computer (25 points)
You created a profile for your pet. (25 points)
You know what TinyURL is. (10 points)
You’ve seriously considered writing an App for Facebook or MySpace (40 points)
This isn’t your first time taking this quiz. (20 points)
Twitter
You have a Twitter Account. (25 points)
You follow 2 or more times the people on Twitter than follow you. (10 points)
Number of Tweets did you made today (5 points each)
You have been in the same room with multiple people playing the same wordscraper, scramble, etc. game (15 points)
You have been in the same room with everyone playing the same wordscraper, scramble, etc. game (10 points)
You upgraded your internet connection to have a more enriching Facebook or MySpace experience. (15 points)
You wrote a quiz about Social Networking. (50 points)
Score:
How did you do?
0 - 50: How the hell did you even find out about this quiz?
51 - 150: You are an enthusiast, but don’t worry, you’re not addicted…yet.
151 - 250: The happiest day of your life was when Facebook incorporated chat so that you didn’t need to switch windows as often. You’ll want to keep an eye on this.
251 - 350: You have a problem. Step away from your computer. Go for a walk or something.
351 - 450: The windows on your computer are actually named after the ancient technique of cutting holes in walls in order to see the outside. Look around your house, you may even have one or two.
> 450: Immediately post your score as your status. Hopefully someone will put together an intervention for you.
