Dec
10
True v. False Hope
2 Comments
Every problem is an opportunity in disguise – Deepak Chopra
As we near the end of the year and thoughts turn to new hopes and prospects for the future, I’m battling with the notion that it is nevertheless important to keep things in perspective… and perhaps poke a little fun at some popular notions… I wanted to turn my periscope in a different direction than usual and take a look at the difference between true and false hope…
False Hope: President Obama accepting his already controversial enough Nobel Peace prize award just days after announcing an injection of at least 30 thousand more troops into Afghanistan… less of a country than a random collection of fiefdoms (clans) who have never trusted an outsider, whether British, Russian or American, for very good reason… Incidentally, heroin production in Afghanistan is up, waaaay up since the U.S. arrived, and Obama promoting his predecessor’s old ”bombs for peace” argument just ain’t cuttin’ it for me. Funny how the doo-doo always smells funny, no matter how pretty you wrap it. Kinda feel sorry for all of my Euro friends, some of whom really thought American politics would be transformed for good… And yet, over 40 million Americans still don’t have healthcare…
True Hope: The world got ripped a new one in the last year with financial instability permeating every facet of life and the changes in our lifestyles becoming tangible… The Wall Street Journal talks about middle class people are walking away from mortgages on homes worth less than they owe, while the poor, who had just gotten used to cheap and easy credit, are now paying the price for the economic recovery… Fair? Well, sort of… If once most of us over-consumed on a regular basis, we now finally have an opportunity to be more strategic in the future and focus on separating our wants from our needs better. Surviving a few booms and now this recession has given me many good ideas for future investments. In sectors as diverse as real estate, automobiles and retail, one can always do well even if the market’s not… just look at second home resales, used cars and online shopping. So if you know where to look, there’s always money to be made… though money, as we have found out the hard way this year, isn’t everything anyway… perhaps that’s the true lesson to be learned as we look over at our loved ones and will our hopes for them to become true…
Tags
Business, Global trends, Politics
