Posts Tagged ‘United States’

Are We Conditioned To Be Victims?

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

An an interesting dialog via Twitter this morning with @RobMcNealy has lead to this post, in discussing if we are truly conditioned to be victims, and what exactly we are victims of.

It started with a RT by Rob McNealy, “RT @z3rr0: I’m tired of hearing people cry about the economy. Stop letting life happen to you, and get out there and take control.”

Me: “the key is empowering people HOW to take control – many are unsure of how to break out of the box”.
Rob: “You can’t “empower” others, either they get past their fear and act or they don’t. That’s an internal will/confidence issue.”
Me: “so people either know it or don’t and cannot be taught how to take control? interesting”
Rob: “Some people can be *awakened*, but sadly too many people are conditioned to be victims and will never come around.”
Me: “I like your choice of “conditioned to be victims”, and it’s very true too. Thanks for the dialog on this.”

I agree, especially in the United States, people are conditioned to be something, to be someone. By who? School? Parents? Government? A combination? The problem I see is, we are taught that we are each our own person, our own individual early on in school. Then, as we progress through higher grades, we find that unless we fit a certain mold or pattern, we are told we won’t be successful. Is that really true? That by stepping out of the norm we won’t be successful? How does that relate to economies?

Take an inventory of your “personal economy” is it suffering like the national economy? What are YOU going to do about this? No one can give you a “bailout” in your own personal economy. Sure, you could get $1500, even $10,000, but it’s likely that you will still be having personal economy issues, financially at least, as long as you are dependent on someone else providing everything for you.

The thing is, personal economy isn’t just about money. We have physical, emotional/mental and spiritual economies to factor in as well. If any one of these is being controlled by others, we have no way to break out of the box, to move forward and to improve our own personal economy. We have to take our mental economy and change the viewpoint to see the potential. We have to decide we are going to act, use our physical, mental and spiritual economies, no matter how weak, to propel that action. In the end, the goal is to use our immediate personal (mental, physical, spiritual) economies, ones that should never be controlled by anyone else, to build the personal financial economy. Make sense? That building can come from finding a new job, finishing college, starting a business or anything where you “choose” to be where you are and are NOT afraid to change it when necessary.

Take control of your life, your personal economy and gain an independent spirit that this country allows for. Then, maybe you will find opportunities – whether in a company, starting your own venture or whatever the result may be. You can then say, you got out there, took control and improved your own personal economy – financially, physically, mentally and spiritually.

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The New President: Obama

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Today, I wish to take a minute from tech, from web development, social media and all that and post some thoughts on the events of today since America just received her new president.

There are many milestones that President Obama has simply steam rolled over and made a reality for this country. The first Black president, the fact he didn’t come from tons of money, etc. He captured the American people and they voted him into his position. A position that means he is the leader of one of the greatest countries of all time, a position that requires he bring VALUE to it. Not just any VALUE, but POSITIVE VALUE.

The events of today are meaningless unless POSITIVE VALUE is brought to the American people, this country and the world by the new President. I say that not discrediting the fact that President Obama is the first Black president, as that is a milestone that has been needed for far too long, but as with anything I look at: race, sex and religion all aside – the amount of POSITIVE VALUE he brings is what will change this country, not his color, not his sex, and not his religion.

Negative value, my friends, will take the country backwards, first Black president or not. Time will tell how the change of today will shape the country and world. And in everything each of us as an individual, as a local community, an online community, and country do, we create some form of value. Value that is either positive or negative. Many say Bush brought negative value, many say Obama brings positive value. Again, time will tell the true value that Obama brings to the country and to the world.

I feel probably the most unfortunate thing I have seen is that so many people herald this change and I have gotten the sense that they feel immediate results are going to be realized…and the new President said himself it would take time. What happens if major change doesn’t happen in 6 months or even 12 or 18 months? Do the people who so fervently wanted this change, the people who interact at the speed of the Internet and social media in today’s constant changing country have the patience to wait and see the value, whether positive or negative? Do they have the ability to stand behind their choice? To stand by their beliefs no matter the change and value brought? Or will they quickly back-track, change their mind, change their heart and move on to the next election and try again? Much as they do with their business interactions, social media interactions and offline personal interactions? Ex-President Bush suffered that – from leading a country and having approval ratings skyrocket after the attacks in 2001, to becoming the “worst” that has been in a long time. Oh how fickle can we the people be. Back-track and change beliefs because it is the “popular” thing to do….it’s what the Jone’s did, so we should to.

One thing is certain – change is here. Let’s hope it brings POSITIVE VALUE to this country and the world.

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