The relativity of recovery, is our economy going in the right direction?
We are all weary of hearing about concurrent financial woes and economic crises,
which seems to be like a wildfire reigniting when the slightest of winds reach
it. Once again there is Euro-trouble and Germany faces off against Greece in a
troubled negotiation of a deal to make Greece into something many will say has
not existed for hundreds of years, which is a prosperous state with a lowly
leveraged debt ratio present on its balance sheet.
So if we had
the same troubled headlines 7 or 8 years ago, why are these troubling headlines
back into the world’s media of today? Politicians all over Europe will argue
about Greece’s heroism in confronting corruption, change, unions, etc… but the
reality is that Greece’s failure to conform to “market expectations” in its EU
bailout deal is down to three kernels. Changing international market conditions,
unrealistic EU demands/critical errors in judgement and of course a clan type
culture in Greece, which is currently dominated by endemic corruption, nepotism
and greed. In short, I believe the downplaying of Greek cultural attitudes to
austerity and the resulting positions of powerful grassroots people and groups
has set Greece up to ‘fail’ despite the best of intentions to the contrary. If
you don’t accept something is inherently wrong, you will never attempt to fix
it. A sad but true fact that has left me wondering, if we are doomed to repeat
such impacting mistakes with such gleeful enthusiasm, what hope to we leave for
our children’s children who would be better served receiving an economic future
that is at the very least headed in a sustainable direction?
A profound
question we all should consider even if the world does keep on turning and we
see a continuance of what was in what will be. On that note, if we value a
sustainable future for our children’s children, here are some points of consideration
for that golden tomorrow:
Intuitive Bias. We make too many decisions of an impacting nature
based upon our intuition (summary of our past experiences). What needs to
change is us in terms of what we
bring from our past; relying less on past outcomes and more on learnt lessons we gleaned from our
experience, applying them to decisions on present day problems for better future
outcomes.
Think outside of the box, as creativity knows no
limits. We are bound by
the rock we live on, which leaves us with a limited amount of resources we can
pass onto the next generation. What is without limit is the horizon of our
mind’s eye so thinking outside of the box in a limitless search for better
solutions will positively enhance the impact our limited world will have on our
children’s children.
Think collaboratively. It’s not a given for everybody to think
collaboratively, but what if we all tried? For if we think collaboratively, we
share our vision with others and they with us to a common purpose and outcome. After
all, it’s not just our children that will benefit from our collaboration; it’s
our neighbour’s children too!!
Greed is a vice that our children’s children will
pay for. There is no
sustainable future in overarching greed, for it’s a parasite that bleeds the
life out of a sustainable future. A leader who could take all but decides to
delegate the success, reward or even kudos to his team sets a standard that all
should follow at all levels. By embracing community and sharing success, we reach
to those less fortunate today giving them a hand up, who just may repay us
tomorrow when they are donned with a ‘lucky break’ and want to be kind like the
guy who help them out when they were at rock bottom. In denying over arching
greed, we allow ourselves to be lead by purpose and share our humanity to
common outcome.
True genius is knowing nothing but wanting to learn
everything. Its hard
suppressing ego and realising that the more we learn, the less we know. It’s
one of the hardest hills we have to climb but when we do, we become stronger
and more balanced in quantifying our true place in the universe along with
gaining a clearer vision for the path ahead. Vision is a critical factor in
creating a better tomorrow and is a capability within us all. We just need to
dig deep to find it. When we do, it’s
amazing what becomes possible!
Learnt lessons as an aid. We don’t have all the answers and will
continue to make mistakes, but if we embrace a sustainable future as the
objective of today’s labour, then we will take our learnt lessons from the
past, incorporate them into our decisions and plot a future free from past
mistakes so that our children’s children will enjoy an outcome better to what
we received from our fathers. Deploying learnt lessons allows us to evolve on a
sustainable path once we keep the
longer-term view in focus.
It’s a huge ask
of any one person to “change tomorrow” and one day, one person just may with
exceptional vision, ability and courage. However, what will impact tomorrow
with much greater efficacy is our communal commitment to a sustainable future
where our children’s children will inherit a better economy, culture and planet
from us along with the responsibility for continuing the journey started by
those who have gone before.
Credits/Sources:
Pics;
Credits;
“Public Domain”
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