Heroes of the Future

I follow this gentleman, Warren E. Pollock, on youtube and on his blog, because I enjoy his in-depth philosophical discussions of history and current events, especially economic and finance issues.

The video above is excellent. He talks about the "Future Heroes," the younger generation born between 1982 and 2004.

He talks about a principle called something gained, something earned.
1) Remain true to yourself.
2) Find personal solutions.
3) Responsibility to yourself
4) Responsibility to others
5) Be your own leader - people follow the wrong leader. Relying on yourself keeps you from being lead astray.
6) Look far off in the distance

In being a leader and getting the message out about where humanity stands economically and socially.
1) Have endurance on telling the story
2) No such thing as truth just perception
3) Too few people have woken up
4) 2010 will be a year of "Social Consequences."

The Old World Order and Near Term U.S. politics
1) Be your own leader - We are electing people, because they are not the other guy and we are hoping for change. What we find out is that there is no change or they may be even worse.
2) Social differences don't matter in crises - the context of this era is that the Empire is in decline and our system is collapsing.

Personal Solutions - People of the past were able to scratch out an existence against amazing odds. They were a lot more independent than we are. They were less interdependent than we are.

1984-2005 - Culture wars (Unraveling Era) -
1) Unraveling of Societal direction after World War II - No direction at all
2) Maximum acceptance of individual rights
3) Angry moral arguments based on individual groups
4) Increasingly paralyzed government, public trust failing
5) Public mood changes after 9/11 and Katrina

2005 - ??? - Clash of civilization -
1) Totally paralyzed government
2) Real Estate and Credit bubbles
3) Public increasingly anxious over finances and world affairs
4) The rest is to be determined

Counting on the Hero Generation
1) Worried about trivialities like texting. They don't have much to say. They want money based on old assumptions and expect it to be handed to them.
2) We have to protect them as much as we can even if we have to give up our own perceptions and biases. We need to determine (be participants in) history and effect change. If we are passive, then we will end up being victims of history.
3) It can be very costly to play the "Hero."

Too great a sacrifice for our children - Repeating the history of the WWII generation
1) They will do great things (like the WWII generation was forced to do).
2) They will give their children peace and a higher standard of living (through sacrifice).
3) They could end up in war and pay for it with their lives.
4) Should we not be willing to make the sacrifice and not force it upon them? Drop the hotpoint issues, ideologies, isms, and misconceptions. Starve the beast (big government) and start asking questions. Be our own best leaders and heroes.

The Hound agrees with what Warren states above. We are setting the current younger generation up for failure. They are going to be forced to pick up the pieces of bad policies that they did not conceive.

Look at all of the third rails that politicians have chosen not to deal with, because they have chosen their career paths over leadership. I don't think the people of today can fathom the mindset of our forefathers, who conceived an idea of public servitude over aristocracy. What do we have today, other than an elected aristocracy, who in many cases feel like they do not have to represent the will of the public.

Look at the healthcare system. Everyone other than insurance companies, lawyers, and pharmaceutical companies are looking to lose on this deal, as it stands. Yet, the older generations only seem to be looking at the effects on medicare. What about the effects on 20 and 30-somethings, who don't go to the doctor much, but are expected to foot the bill for older generations. Is that fair?

Look at Social Security, the world's grandest Ponzi Scheme. Who amongst us feels that future generations are going to receive benefits commensurate with what they are expected to put into the system. There seems to be a pattern here. We have built our social and economic foundation around the model of a used car lot. Go ahead and take it home today and we'll worry about the details tomorrow.

The Current Economic Realities we as a country face are the greatest since its inception. It is ridiculous that no one cares about the ramifications of what has been done. When you start talking about the numbers people get this blank stare and then they intellectually shut down. To me that is where I start questioning my thoughts on an issue. If I don't understand the issue, then I start digging into it until I can resolve it somehow, otherwise I am unsettled. People you must wake up. You have been sold a bill of goods.

The debt that this country faces is not fair to future generations, who will not reap the benefits. This has become a matter of national security. We owe these foreign nations all of this money and one day they are going to come to collect. The future generations will have to be brave to maneuver through this elaborate mess left behind by decades of mismanagement and gluttony. They will be forced to make courageous decisions in foreign relations, while not having a position of strength to fall back on.

So it is time that we start getting our country back on the right track. I think much of what we are going through is what Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross labeled the five stages of grief - denial. anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I think our country has entered the anger stage and by the end of 2010, we will have met that phase full-on. In the next year and a half it will start sinking in and we will realize that elections aren't a quick-fix and no matter what we do, there will be a tough road ahead and by the Spring of 2011 we will enter into the bargaining phase.

I have been two steps ahead of the public on this. I am in the depression phase when it comes to our economy. I don't think people will wake up until its too late. People do not understand or care about economics and finance. That is what has allowed them to be fleeced. Look at all of the athletes who have been fleeced. It is the exact same thing.

If you do care, please spread the word, please speak up. All we can do is try to affect one person or a couple people at a time. If you want to take the first step towards what Warren Pollock is addressing, then it is time to step forward and speak up about what is happening with our economy and it is important that you lead by example in taking care of your own personal finances. Get out of Debt. We can't change things over night, but we have to start somewhere.