Future Optimism

“You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be alright
Alright Alright”

By John Lennon, Paul McCartney

The past two decades are a blur. We knew better and let this happen. Greed is the bane of our Capitalistic society. The combination of our Democracy and Free Market capitalism is the right balance but requires the checks and balances our government and constitution protects. It also requires that our souls and deep convictions guide our priorities.

Innovation and execution thru hard work is the back bone of our country the past 3 centuries and must be again. Our best and brightest men and women need to be encouraged and rewarded for building stuff, innovating, helping others and doing the right thing. There was a time when creating jobs gained managers and business owners’ respect.

The latest “market correction” is overdue. We need to lead. We need to demonstrate to our youth that “pursuit of happiness” doesn’t mean joining the latest hedge fund, being a consultant or investment banker or joining a big Wall Street firm to make the most money the fastest. The greatest rewards in career are being part of growth and organizations that build and succeed – great product, wonderful services, customer satisfaction – nurturing teams to succeed. We need strong financiers; it’s a noble profession, but not the only profession that creates growth.

This is not idealistic blabber. Competition is tough and should be. Winning in the market place counts – not by ruthless means, but by being the best and most innovative.

Let’s start by not letting Wall Street pay those obscene bonuses to every person part of the bail out. In commercial enterprises, when companies don’t succeed, no one receives a bonus and employees lose jobs. Don’t reward the mistakes. There is NO way that the banker or trader working a deal for a company should be allowed to make tens of millions when his client’s line worker can’t properly educate her children. That does not require government intervention, it requires common sense.

To the generation of “baby boomers,” encourage a young person to work to realize the merits of building things – over the long haul. This country is great. Our people are creative and fun loving and generous. Fight the “drug dealers” – those that feed us that the “narcotics” of greed and pleasure are more important than the merits of decency and doing the right thing.

Optimism for our future should be off the charts positive. This correction is great news as long as good and decent people that value “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” unite and take back our country. We need to do it everyday.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

Jack