A friend recently asked me, "How is the economy affecting you?" I told him, I have two things going for me most Americans don't have:
1) I know how to work, and
2) I am willing to do "wit" (whatever it takes) to get the job done when working!
The marketplace is going to punish, without discretion, those that don't know how to work, don't appreciate work and who don't do wit--whatever it takes-- when they work. The punishment will expand until it disciplines all those not willing to work in order to get a solution. Work is the oldest discipline of the marketplace and the only solution to the current market place.
Our ancestors prided themselves on, and knew the importance of hard work and took pride in this accomplishment. Long days at work was the norm whereby men and women alike did whatever it took to get the job done! Work was appreciated, respected and expected. Over the last four decades or so work has become an ugly word in our culture. Since the late sixties and the psychiatric, "blame someone else", influence on our culture where the advice doled out suggests our parents were the cause of our problems, that all of mankind has some kind of "chemical imbalance" and our shortcomings and problems are inherited. Every human deficit is labeled a disease and popping a pill becomes the quick-fix to everything. Lowering levels of responsibility and increasing levels of blame extend itself to all sorts of other diluted solutions like no-money-down purchases, no-cost credit cards, get-rich-quick-with stocks, unconscious/blind faith 401k investing, no-money-down home purchases, and "I deserve what everyone else has regardless of my financial condition".
The current culture has forgotten the importance of hard work and personal responsibility as a solution to problems! Men and women alike look for easy quick-fixes to every problem and for someone else to blame. We have gone from a work culture to an entitlement culture. Work is the only solution to solving problems and increases an individual's sense of self worth and self respect!
The marketplace always disciplines those that will not discipline themselves. Individuals, businesses and entire industries are being punished for years of lowering responsibility levels, get-rich-quick thinking, blind investing, free credit, sense of entitlement and the unwillingness to work!
Predictions:
1) Companies and industries that can only sell their products by offering free credit to consumers will go bankrupt.
2) Individuals that don't produce far in excess of what is expected will find themselves in unemployment lines.
3) Companies that can not sell products in quantities great enough at prices high enough will find themselves perpetually undercapitalized.
4) Management that does not insist on and ensure that their people work to achieve targets will be demoted back into the work force where they probably won't be able to find a job.
The 20th Century psycho-babble doctrines of 'live in the moment," problems are disorders and solutions are quick fixes (like popping a pill) have failed us. We have become a culture of pill popping, deluded, debt- ridden, get rich quick, entitlement society where someone else is always to blame.
While it is convenient to blame earlier generations for our shortcomings, had we inherited their work ethic, their appreciation for saving money and not living beyond their means, we wouldn't have our current problems.
Work may not be in vogue, it may not be glamorous, and it may not be popular, but it is the ONLY thing that will get you through these times and it is the universal way to increase an individual's sense of self respect and self worth!
The "fairy tale" credit has disappeared, the Goldilocks economy is over, and blaming won't advance your financial situation. Maybe the drug companies will come up with new labels for your problems and then medicate you into further levels of irresponsibility. The new labels will be: "unemployment disorder", "compulsive entitlement disorder", "debt to income imbalance disorder", "bipolar spending disorder", "lazy-ism addiction," etc.
Get to work America and be willing to do whatever it takes to get your work done. You will feel better about yourself, you will be respected by others and you will survive the current economic situation!
Grant Cardone, Author of Sell to Survive.