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Monday, December 28, 2009

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.

11 comments:

SMJohnson said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
James Thomas Shell said...

Had to delete Sj's comments about whatever, because of his use of would language, if he would like to repost in at least PG-13 language, then it will be left up here.

Call me an idiot, but at least do it in language that is not offensive to others, especially children.

Bradley Scott said...

James, this is a very great story. I agree greatly with your article! Something about your articles seem to light a fire inside me for the people who are never heard. Stay well my friend through this holiday season. Bradley

Anonymous said...

Ok Hound. Warren Pollock is a far-right lunatic nobody, and this "hero" stuff is rubbish. As for your comments: you're right that the current healthcare "reform" is a giveaway to huge for-profit industries. Did you support government provided insurance, or god-forbid, single payer which would actually bring costs under control? You're flat wrong about social security, and the hypocrisy of you deficit scolds after the disastrous Bush years is astounding. You want to whine about deficits when we're trying to recover and the answer is to stick it to the poor via "entitlement" reform? Great idea! We have more wars to pay for! We need to harness some of that tea-bagger fury into the real problem - the corporate takeover of the government and the huge disparities of wealth in this country. Read Shock Doctrine. We don't need to starve the beast (how clever!), we need a progressive movement that demands that government work for the people, not corporations and the super-rich. And we need the destruction of the evil, intellectually bankrupt Republican Party that has been wrong about everything.

James Thomas Shell said...

I appreciate your opinion, but I can't validate it.

I'm getting ready to rail against the Corporatocracy-Oligarchy, but my friend you need to find some balance in your life. You are one of those people that think they are outside the box, but you are firmly inside the box with that pop culture, MTV, kumbaya, Ariana Huffington, George Soros, Bill Mayer junk.

When it all collapses around you, you are going to be screaming what about me and they are going to be laughing, "What about you?" as they do what they have always done and live their "Me First" lifestyles.

I am a big fan of Old school single-payer, as in the old model before government and corporations got involved. I like the idea of people paying for their own healthcare. When the whole system got convoluted is when the paradigm shifted to the thought that someone else needs to pay for my healthcare and that is my right. At the same time they keep on smoking, drinking, and carrying on every other vise known to mankind.

When we get this country back to setting up personal responsibility and at the same time helping out your neighbor, then we will be getting somewhere.

We are living in an impersonal, socially unacceptable country. I don't want to tell everybody what to do with their lives. I don't want to control their every move. Yet, we have people on the left and the right that want to do just that.

Like you seem to espouse, you seem to be obsessed by the Republican versus Democrat paradigm. You seem to have an overreaching vested interest in the political gamesmanship that is currently going on -- to the point where you can't control your temper.

The type of gamesmanship that is killing our economy and stealing our freedom.

You see I am right there with you when it comes to the out of control corporatism that has taken over this country. But, it is is firmly entrenched in both parties. What is being done to change it? We still have lobbyists, still have earmarks, still have Goldman-Sachs running treasury, still have a vested interest revolving door between the public and private sector. Administration Changes, Democrat-Republican paradigm shifts as far as numbers in political control. Yet, nothing has really changed. People are still looting the treasury and filling their pockets. All at the expense of America's Future.

No, maybe instead of jumping all over Mr. Pollock, you need to look at the meaning of what he is trying to say. It is doubtful that you even spent a minute studying (looking at the video or reading the info) what he was saying. Your whole summation and a rant seems to be grandstanding about why you hate Republicans.

To that I would have to say, I can't help you there. I am a Republican in the form of Abraham Lincoln and I don't like today's Republican party. They aren't morally bankrupt, they are spoiled county clubbers who don't understand how the middle class is suffering. They, like the Democrats are their own worst enemy.

The Democrats are the party of the morally bankrupt. When has a member of that party ever called out one of their leaders? Party comes before everything, including family and country.

Neither one of the parties are capable of winning elections these days. They just try not to lose. And that certainly can't be construed as idea generating or leadership.

harryhipps said...

It amazes me that the mere mention of government and what the gov't does and people square off into whatever partisan view they have. And at the same time we allow the gov't to be involved into more and more aspects of our lives. No gov't or political party is really about morality, compassion or "working for the people". Gov't is about the exercise of power and the raw police power that comes with the State. And it should surprise no one that they are ham handed and interested in their own power and welfare. Does it make more sense to look only at generalities and use a one size fits all approach or does it make more sense to let people be the custodians of their own issues and taylor solutions to the problems in their own back yard?
Love, enterprise, compassion, work, fulfillment and such come from people not institutions. When we get back to empowering people and not increasing the reach of government we will be better off.

Anonymous said...

Hound, why would anyone want you to "validate" his opinion? You want to tell me about "balance" in my life and what I think? Huh? And what the heck are you talking about with that "in the box" and pop culture nonsense? When what collapses around me? (You mean this country isn't in a state of collapse, thanks largely to 8 years of BushCo incompetence, stupidity, and corruption?) Your writing is so muddled throughout this blog it's hard to know just what you're getting at. Nonetheless, I look forward to your anti-oligarchy rant and don't necessarily disagree about the Democratic Party either. Sure,let's discuss the proper role of government - federal, state and local. But the principles of fairness, a social safety net (god knows y'all "red" staters use it and need it more than the "blue" states) and civil liberties shouldn't be in dispute. BTW, can you (and the 300+ million earning under $120k) really afford $10-15k for private health insurance that can be yanked at any time, and is ridiculously more inefficient than public insurance?

James Thomas Shell said...

I'm not trying to force you to balance your life. I am providing a suggestion. I've got a bit of a hard-headed streak in myself also, but I have learned to seek knowledge over the years. Opinion isn't meritorious unless it is based on a lot of research. That is a key ingredient in the equation of credibility.

My writing can seem muddled, but you keep coming back. If my thoughts are so invalid, then would you keep coming back. That seems muddled. I do thank you for coming back, because it makes me feel good that someone such as yourself skims over my literary thought process.

Personally, I'd like to see an end to health insurance. As a person with a Finance degree, I truly understand that it is a rigged gambling racket and yet it seems to carry more validation than Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Monte Carlo. I like pay as you go. It is always the best approach in life. Look at what convoluted finance schemes have done to the housing market. It's the same effect when you boil it all down. If it is understandable, then it is a good system and if it isn't then it is garbage that is lining someone's pocket. And the more convoluted the scheme is, the more likely some hoity-toity Wall Street schemers are involved.

I want individuals to be responsible and pay for their own healthcare. I'm all for poor people being able to get a form of healthcare from County and State Health Agencies. I pay for my own private health insurance. Is it fair for me to have to get in line behind people on the government dole.

I also want to see Insurance taken off of business's balance sheets. The only reason that was started in the first place was for tax purposes. Insurance wasn't reported as income, so the employee and employer could reduce their income taxes by subsidizing employee income through benefits such as health insurance. They also could get a cheaper rate for the employee, because of the pool of employees (group) to spread risks.

Then, because health costs keep rising at astronomical rates, it has become too expensive for employers to offer. Business (especially small business) are not the bad guys here. The bad guys are government officials, lawyers, doctors, pharma, and people looking for someone else to take care of their healthcare.

The only way to fix all of this is to take money out of the equation and those times may be just around the corner.

My grandmother tells me the story of how my great grandfather, who was a doctor, would go from house to house and people would basically barter for his services. No one was looking for magic pills and solutions back then, they knew that medicine was trial and error. It looks like the natural pendulum will swing back towards that direction over this next generation.

And yes, this is just my opinion.

Anonymous said...

no such thing as truth, only perception. There's something I actually agree with.

蛋餅不加蔥Amber said...
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Unknown said...
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