We take a break from our regularly scheduled focus on the economy and current dire conditions to bring you this alternative perspective which may provide some fact-based optimism.
As of recent estimates, 91% of the employable population in our country is indeed employed. About 93% of all mortgage holders are making regular monthly payments, on time. The 6 million people in the U.S. that are intellectually gifted have not suddenly lost their mental capacities. Every day, the vast majority of us continue to contribute value, solve problems, provide for our families and behave as if tomorrow can be better than today. Today, the American people are completely awake and aware of how our elected leadership can directly affect our daily lives, which has resulted in the highest civil engagement of our citizenry in many decades. The time-honored values of frugality, industry, honesty and moral character are resurging. Families are counting their blessings more often. Showing gratitude for the little things is dramatically increasing. Good health has once again regained its rightful place at the top of the list of ingredients for achieving true wealth in life. People are reaching out to other people in need and offering assistance. Businesses are working with their customers and vendors to find ways to keep everybody in business. I even heard of a landlord offering a permanent and significant rent reduction, without being asked!
It appears that most of us are realizing that we are in this together and we have to put aside our fear-based reflexes in order to see the opportunities that are all around us. As Garry Ridge, CEO of WD-40, said to me, “These times represent the opportunity of crisis.” Garry means that we have the chance to rise to the occasion, improve ourselves, pick up the pace, reduce the waste, demonstrate character in the face of adversity, etc.
I’m reading the biography of Bill Cook, the founder of The Cook Group, a multi-billion dollar healthcare products company. He describes himself and his childhood friends as “Depression babies”, kids who spent their childhood during the Great Depression. My parents’ generation. These were the men and women who grew up with nothing, then fought in World War II, then created the most successful economy the world had ever seen, up until the early 1970’s. From the Dust Bowl to the Super Bowl, in a few decades. It’s no fluke that this generation’s accomplishments were so great, because their adversities were equal in magnitude. How many times do we have to learn these lessons? The answer is: as often as necessary.
There are differences in today’s world than in the hardships of the 1930’s. One is that we are bombarded with negativity in every aspect of our daily lives. We can’t escape the onslaught of fear-based information. We get the stock reports on our phones. The daily tragedies blare at us from the video screen at the gas pump. Every internet browser displays the latest doom every time we pull them up onscreen. Pundits pander their latest books and go on speaking tours, attempting to make money by spreading the prophecies of cataclysm. I know several people who have simply stopped reading the newspaper, watching the news or even talking about how bad things are. They simply get up, go to work, do the best they can do each day, try to help their family and friends, and focus on action, not on how bad it is.
In the realm of psychological counseling for people who have experienced a personal trauma, such as rape or assault, one theory of how to help them regain mental health is to ensure that the victim isn’t treated like one. If the therapist or family member jumps in and directs the traumatized individual, or takes care of them too much, then the person begins to relinquish responsibility for their own recovery and allows others to direct them. This promotes dependency and stagnation of development. And the person never resolves the conflict of having been dominated and physically hurt. The conflict is that they could not or did not take action to protect themselves, and so they blame themselves for the pain they suffered. However, if no one “takes over” their recovery, if they are treated like accountable adults who are fully capable of making their own informed decisions, the odds go way up that they will begin to regain independence quickly. They will find ways to take the action that will protect them in the future, and possibly bring justice to their assailants. It is through self-accountability and autonomy that adults remain free from victimization. And the key is taking action personally.
I am excited for what we are becoming, and for the gift of this crisis, as Garry puts it. It won’t be easy, but think what we will accomplish. Perhaps this young generation will become the Bill Cooks of our country, creating innovative solutions and awesome accomplishments that can forge a better world in the years to come.