A Plan for 2012
Here's what's new here in 2012.
Fact: We're still in the midst of the biggest economic and financial crisis of our lifetimes.
Fact: There's no clear path out at the moment.
Fact: Some say things are looking up; some that the world is ending.
Fact: Except for the rich and powerful, we're all kind lumped together facing whatever 2012 brings.
So what will 2012 (and beyond) bring? I don't know for sure - I wish I did. But I'll venture an educated guess. Here goes.
We're building up to the next crisis, maybe something on the scale of 2008 - or worse. Why do I think this? Because nothing that has brought us here has changed for the better - some of it has even gotten worse. And all the stuff the Administration, the Congress and the Federal Reserve has done so far just keeps kicking the can down the road. You can't just keep kicking forever. But to stop kicking the can requires serious decisions that will cause pain to many of us.
Politicians don't want to cause pain because they think they won't be re-elected if they do. So they dither. The Federal Reserve thinks they can avoid pain by "easy money" policies - the same policies that led up to 2008. So they dither.
Whether the next blow-up is like 2008, something worse, or maybe just the next in a series of mini-crises within the overall crisis, at some point we'll reach a point where politicians and the Federal Reserve will be forced to make the sort of decisions they need to make to exit this crisis. Or maybe the next crisis convinces us all to wake up and "throw the bums out." Or - and no one, most especially me wants this - we hit a wall and everything just kind of "comes completely unglued," another way of saying "collapses." In any case, I'm convinced that sometime in the next few years (2, 3, 5...?) a day of reckoning will arrive.
So what do we do meanwhile?
The thing is, this is no time to be emotionally swayed either by people telling you everything's fine or by people telling you the end is near. You need to be able to stand up, look around, assess what's going on and think for yourself.
Think for yourself is the plan for 2012. Use your reason and your common sense. Stop drowning in "information." The problem with all the information out there is that there's enough of to fill you up 24/7 - which leaves you no time to think. THINK! Don't be lazy. If for no other reason, think because you have to think.
The bottom line is things will probably get worse before they get better. Yes, they'll eventually get better. But first they'll get worse. And the problem is, none of us know how much worse. I don't think it'll be the end of the world, but I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet.
If you're not in the habit of thinking for yourself, either because you're lazy or you're a typical product of the American public educational "system" that has produced a few generations of pleasure-seeking, self-absorbed semi-adults who can't think for themselves, just make up your mind right now to change and LEARN TO THINK.
I'm convinced that by using our reason, our common sense we can get through this in one piece.
Oh, and one more important thing we'll need: an understanding of natural law. If you don't know what natural law is, it's time to learn. Our Founding Fathers understood it. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and - until fairly recently - most of our laws are based on natural law. To the extent natural law governs the thinking and decisions of our government and our courts, we will emerge from this crisis a stronger country and a more just society. And to the extent we do, our economy will eventually revive and begin to function as the engine that creates wealth - real wealth, not paper wealth - for ALL of us, just as it once did.
That's going to be our focus here for 2012.
Fact: We're still in the midst of the biggest economic and financial crisis of our lifetimes.
Fact: There's no clear path out at the moment.
Fact: Some say things are looking up; some that the world is ending.
Fact: Except for the rich and powerful, we're all kind lumped together facing whatever 2012 brings.
So what will 2012 (and beyond) bring? I don't know for sure - I wish I did. But I'll venture an educated guess. Here goes.
We're building up to the next crisis, maybe something on the scale of 2008 - or worse. Why do I think this? Because nothing that has brought us here has changed for the better - some of it has even gotten worse. And all the stuff the Administration, the Congress and the Federal Reserve has done so far just keeps kicking the can down the road. You can't just keep kicking forever. But to stop kicking the can requires serious decisions that will cause pain to many of us.
Politicians don't want to cause pain because they think they won't be re-elected if they do. So they dither. The Federal Reserve thinks they can avoid pain by "easy money" policies - the same policies that led up to 2008. So they dither.
Whether the next blow-up is like 2008, something worse, or maybe just the next in a series of mini-crises within the overall crisis, at some point we'll reach a point where politicians and the Federal Reserve will be forced to make the sort of decisions they need to make to exit this crisis. Or maybe the next crisis convinces us all to wake up and "throw the bums out." Or - and no one, most especially me wants this - we hit a wall and everything just kind of "comes completely unglued," another way of saying "collapses." In any case, I'm convinced that sometime in the next few years (2, 3, 5...?) a day of reckoning will arrive.
So what do we do meanwhile?
The thing is, this is no time to be emotionally swayed either by people telling you everything's fine or by people telling you the end is near. You need to be able to stand up, look around, assess what's going on and think for yourself.
Think for yourself is the plan for 2012. Use your reason and your common sense. Stop drowning in "information." The problem with all the information out there is that there's enough of to fill you up 24/7 - which leaves you no time to think. THINK! Don't be lazy. If for no other reason, think because you have to think.
The bottom line is things will probably get worse before they get better. Yes, they'll eventually get better. But first they'll get worse. And the problem is, none of us know how much worse. I don't think it'll be the end of the world, but I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet.
If you're not in the habit of thinking for yourself, either because you're lazy or you're a typical product of the American public educational "system" that has produced a few generations of pleasure-seeking, self-absorbed semi-adults who can't think for themselves, just make up your mind right now to change and LEARN TO THINK.
I'm convinced that by using our reason, our common sense we can get through this in one piece.
Oh, and one more important thing we'll need: an understanding of natural law. If you don't know what natural law is, it's time to learn. Our Founding Fathers understood it. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and - until fairly recently - most of our laws are based on natural law. To the extent natural law governs the thinking and decisions of our government and our courts, we will emerge from this crisis a stronger country and a more just society. And to the extent we do, our economy will eventually revive and begin to function as the engine that creates wealth - real wealth, not paper wealth - for ALL of us, just as it once did.
That's going to be our focus here for 2012.
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