Economic Personal Responsibility

[robert]

Recently I’ve been hearing more and more about how weak the economy is and been hearing politicians from all parties say that we need an economy that works for everyone. What does that mean? Is that possible? How do we attain that?

I’m not an economist, so I’m not going to get into whether there are indicators right now that show if the market is slowing or not. What I am going to talk about is how interesting the phrase “we need an economy that works for everyone” is.

The fact that phrase exists; means that the economy doesn’t always work for everyone, but it always works for someone. Over history the economy has proven to go up and down. Here in the U.S. we have some sort of a “recession” every 20 years or so. Should we be trying to change the economy to work for everyone, or should we be trying to figure out why the economy always works for someone?

In our minds we are working hard and doing what we need to do to pay our bills and support our families; so it’s easy to put the blame on someone or something else when we fall into hard times. But why are you more affected by fluctuations in the economy than someone else? Instead of putting blame on something you have no control over, wouldn’t it be smarter to educate yourself about what those that aren’t affected as much are doing differently than you?

In this wonderful country, you have the freedom to do whatever you want. You have the choice to be rich and the choice to be poor; living the life you want or barely making it; increasing your knowledge or maintaining your current level.

Experts have said that knowledge as a whole doubles every ten years. How does that compare to the rate at which your knowledge is increasing? I believe the reason why many people have troubles in certain economic situations is that the economy changes at a faster rate than their knowledge changes. They often get stuck in an old way of thinking, that use to work, but it’s no longer the best for the current time.

Why be the person who is falling behind when you have the choice to gain the knowledge that keeps you in personal good times, no matter how the economy is doing?

[freedomproject]

Originally Posted by robert

I believe the reason why many people have troubles in certain economic situations is that the economy changes at a faster rate than their knowledge changes. They often get stuck in an old way of thinking, that use to work, but it’s no longer the best for the current time.

I totally agree with you Robert. The economy is all changing at an aggressive rate and it will continually change at that rate, if not faster, because of the change in technology. And if people don't make the commitment to change with it, they are going to be left behind.

The problem is that, like you said, people cling to old ideas. The can change. The education is out there for them, people just lack the motivation and the initiative to take change. They would rather sit and home and watch television than learn something new.

I think the real problem behind change is fear; fear of failure, humiliation, acceptance. People are to afraid to change because they don't want to fail and be humiliated in front of their friends and co-workers. They want to be accepted and to that, they don't want to be different from everyone else.

So if people don't know how the handle their fear, then they will never be able to handle change. They will always be to afraid to change with the economy or anything else for that matter.

[layla17]

Both of you present good points. I think it's difficult for most people to change with the economy as saving and such isn't necessarily a whimsical task. It's hard to gauge where the economy is going to be in the next few months and many economists can be completely wrong with their predictions, so finding some sort of solid ground to base a decision on is nearly impossible.

[fred333]

That is a great point. Nice post too.

[VIG_Ruddell]

I was thinking of something the other night. I think the problem with our society is that we are a "have it now"society. That means in my eye that when something is worth working for people don't want to work for it. Everyone wants results now and can't wait. They want the one things that is going to bring tons of traffic to their website or that one real estate deal that they can use to get a little extra money each month, or that one business venture that will bring them instant cashflow. And it could be because they have old styles of thinking. "Go to shcool, get good grades and go get a job. That what our family has been doing for years and thats what your going to do." That is simply not enough anymore.

And there is a solution to this problem. BE GREEDY, but in a good way. Find out whats in it for you and go for it. With a little greed, you might have that drive, that motivation to put down the television remote after work, pick up a book, and apply what you know. Just think about it, whats in it for you. Its not going to come over night, but if have the desire, you persist and persist until you get the desired results, it will come.

But to answer your question Robert, the economy will never work for everyone. I don't think its possible. That is because of the people in this country. Not the people who run the country, but the people who live here. Not all, but most. A lot of people are never going to change. For whatever reason, their scared, they to lazy and don't want to do the work, they won't change. And out tax systems favors business owners. It really does. And most people know this but won't take the action to change to have our system benifit them. And I don't think that is ever going to change because people don't want to change.

[VIG_Ruddell]

Ohh, and one more thing. Their is a recession going on, i just refuse to be a part of it. haha