A couple of months before my father passed away he asked me a question in one of our frequent chats on life. He said “Do you know when it’s enough?”. Knowing him the way I did and being true to the statement that “apple don’t fall too far from the tree” I responded that it is never enough. There will always be new obstacles to overcome, new goals to be met more battles to be won and glory to be celebrated. Shockingly, he disagreed with me. He said that we all need to know when we have enough and he asked if I would know when it was enough. I think we should all ponder that thought.
When we look at our world, our nation and even our little place under the sun in the Caribbean we can see that we have lost sight of enough. It seems that we are caught up in the awe of “more”. I often listen to people and what we complain about and how in our own way have been sucked into the “American Dream of Consumption”. We are in no way, shape or form as decadent as our continental counterparts but this mass infection of consumption which has consumed us, has to have a limit.
More is not synonymous with greed but it is certainly a close cousin. In American culture we are taught that it is never enough, bigger is always better and more is the calling of the day. When I grew up we had one phone in the neighborhood which we borrowed for emergency calls, now even our kids walk around with one. People lived in modest homes of 600 or 700 sq. ft, now the TV has a room that size. You were lucky to have 1 car per family, we can’t imagine not having our personal transportation big enough to carry 6 yet usually we are the only one driving. We used to have two TV channels, we have a 100 now and still can’t find anything to watch. More has not fulfilled us and our TV’s and the ever present message of the marketers constantly remind us that we are underachieving and we need what???? You guessed it, more!
We have been witnessing a significant change in our national economy that has and will continue to change the way we live and make a living. As our economy transforms from manufacturing to service it takes a higher level of education and a smaller amount of people to make money. Just as an example, GE makes more money from its financing operations than it does from manufacturing. Small hedge funds make more money than some countries while our minimum wage languishes at $7.25.
This transformation has left great disparities in income levels among the elite, the educated and uneducated. It has paved the way for hundred million dollar bonuses, personal jets and multi billionaires. While this has proven to provide tremendous opportunity for some it has proved disastrous for the American middle class. While we were at the mall or shopping at the internet the competition from has been doing its homework and wooing away our jobs with cheaper labor, less regulation, less taxes and more profits.
The one thing that the hungry belly of corporate America seemed to have forgotten is that somebody would have to consume all of the goods that were being made in Asia and other remote parts of the world. They seemed to forget that if they took the jobs, profits and salaries away from America there would be no one left that could afford to purchase all that was produced. What a conundrum!!!!!
We as consumers are not innocent!!! I don’t buy that we are completely faultless in signing on for mortgages and balloon payments that we could not afford. We cannot pass it all on to “the man”, that would be laughable, we are in this together. Our personal greed has created a populace heavily indebted and low on savings and personal worth. While people make more money they are no wealthier (real dollars) than they were fifty years ago. But fear not, the American dream has not been vanquished but we have to learn a new way of thinking and understand what is ENOUGH.
Balance is the key to life. Excess, is a path to certain destruction. As the American economy recovers we are not going to be allowed to go back to the mall and act like everything is going to be OK, it’s not. The first order of business is to move on our education system and recognize that education is a lifelong even and the preparation starts in the home, peaks at some college or trade school and is enhanced throughout our life. As such we need to make it as affordable and accessible as possible. Information is the cheapest and most accessible it has ever been but certification and validation by degrees has never been more expensive. Think about that. True public universities & Technical schools, at no cost must become a staple of our education system.
We also have to learn to live simpler and get away for the excess of consumption and debt. We exhibit this craving for more in every facet of our life from how much we eat, to how much we owe. Our lives are built around excess. This excess is killing us whether it’s in the form of obesity which manifests itself in diabetes, hypertension or the stress of how much we owe that drives us to bad decisions and ultimately more health complications. No matter how you live today eventually you have to face the music and pay the debts of your transgressions.
So build your house like you’re going to have to maintain it and pay the mortgage from your social security check and save like you won’t have social security. Enjoy life for the real things and real people not the electronic ones. Invest in your human capital in your professional and personal life because the returns on a good relationship are priceless.
We have to be concerned with our fellow human being. This is the basis of CIVILIZATION, a system of rules and culture for humans to peacefully coexist, a high level of cultural and technological development. “The accountants run the world”, I love this statement because it has to be true. It alludes to the fact that our decisions have become so profit driven that little else matters.
We have to bring integrity and concern back in to our corporate culture and recognize that while corporations are entities unto themselves, they are made up of people and their well being should always be a concern. Knowing that this pill will not be easily swallowed and it may take some time for that type of thinking to come around, it is the duty of government to make sure that its citizens are protected from the raiding that they have been experiencing in recent years.
A good lesson in enough is sobering for all of us. On a personal level, we have an opportunity in empathy. A chance to recognize that what is happening to our neighbor is but a minute away from our house. We have to look further than our own kitchen tables and realize that if we don’t pitch in and take care of our community it will ultimately lead to our own demise. Volunteer, donate and empathize for those less fortunate its make us human.
Our economy is built on growth and in the vast American landscape that may be OK but here at home we only have a little over a 150 sq. miles, we can’t grow forever. Think about that and ponder ENOUGH.
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