Bleeding Edge Technology

Tempted as I am to join the masses that have forked over their hard earned money to acquire the latest tablets or smart-phones, I think I will stay on the sidelines for the upcoming holidays.  I’ve learned enough lessons from past experiences not to fall prey again to the never-ending quest to be “cool” or to appear so. 

The increasingly shorter cycle of upgrades means that the cool factor lasts only so long and then you are left with yesterday’s hip - a ‘faded rose from days gone by’.  It is not the software upgrades that bothers me; it is the obligatory hardware ‘upgrade’ or, to be more exact, ‘wholesale replacement’ that is most worrisome.  What we pay for the shiny and new gadgets upfront belies the fact that there is a huge hidden cost when obsolescence is a mere 12 months away.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Luddite. To the contrary, I’m quite in tune and at ease with all things digital. I’m not anti consumption either – if you don’t have a cell phone and you need one, go and buy one that you can afford but make sure it will serve your needs (not your vanity) for a good three years at the minimum.  And don’t forget to look for one that comes with an easily replaceable battery.  The “smarter” they are, the more you’ll drain down the charge, and the more often you have to recharge, the sooner the battery will exhaust its useful life.

Bleeding edge technology carries with it a huge social cost. To keep us on the upgrade path, companies that design the cool gadgets have to increasingly move more and more of their production to low cost countries with weak labor and environmental regulations where more can be extracted at a lower cost.  They know that if each new generation of their product were to cost more, the rate of adoption of the new gadgets would be much lower.  With a mobile phone market nearing saturation (i.e. nearly everyone who needs a cell phone has one), the phenomenal number of iPhone 4S sold on the first day it was released was heavily influenced by the unchanged price and the continuing subsidies by the carriers.  As consumers, we all like the lower prices or more features for the same old price and what we don’t see, such as the loss of blue collar jobs, we can easily ignore.  We want decent paying jobs but we also want our toys cheap. 

It is easy to turn and point a finger at China for our economic woes but the social ills resulting from our demand for bleeding edge technology do not just stop at our doors.  The lower costs extracted by the manufacturers (or their masters here in the US) has forced suppliers in China to keep wages low and they can only do that by making their workers turn in longer hours and demand more output for the same pay.  It took multiple suicide attempts at Foxconn in Shenzhen, China, ending with twelve deaths to bring the plight of those Chinese workers to the world’s attention.  Yet, if the Chinese were to refuse to continue production under such poor conditions, the manufacturers could easily turn to another country where labor is still plentiful and life is cheap. 

The Earth’s population passed the 7 billion figure very recently and, abstract as that number may seem, it points us to the fact that we are ever closer to the possibility of exhausting the natural resources we’ve been endowed with.  Apart from the fossil fuels that are used to generate power for the production plants, bleeding edge technology gadgets often require the use of ‘rare earth’ minerals to produce.  The mining, refining and recycling of rare earth minerals have serious environmental consequences if not properly managed – toxic acids are required during the refining process and radioactive tailings are the by-products of the processing of certain rare earth ores.

As strange as it may sound, each new iteration of a bleeding edge technology product is proof that the prior model was imperfect and incomplete.  Our readiness to gobble them up despite the short lived sense of satisfaction demonstrates a new form of addiction – a need for speed, a need for yet another toy, another app, another cheap thrill, another bragging right.  We don’t buy a new TV or a new home stereo every year so why do we need to buy a new smart-phone every year? 

We are not more productive as a result of our new toys but we have clearly become more self-absorbed and more remote from one another.  Despite the prevalence of more and cheaper means of communicating with one another, we communicate less.  We’ve lost the art of being social and connecting with others.  We’ve turned to social media as a cheap substitute to meeting with our friends in person or spending the time necessary to get to know another person’s point of view.  We plaster our one sentence views on Facebook and we don’t care if others might disagree – we can always delete unfavorable comments.  We no longer seek to honestly discuss or debate the issues we face with the objective of finding common ground solutions.  We’re given to sound bites and we don’t take the time to fact check claims and wild accusations before we mindlessly pass it on to our friends. 

Unfortunately, there are no magic bullets to put an end to the problems that have been slowly building up through decades of a consumption focused economic model.  

The introduction of the concept of a Carbon Tax (which is different from Cap and Trade) is possibly a step in the right direction. At a minimum, it will help make the true cost of any product more evident.  However, adoption and implementation of such a concept will take more than a herculean effort to bring about.

Some countries have consumption based tax systems known as either VAT [Value Added Tax] or GST [Goods and Services Tax] which are or can be made into progressive tax systems to help account for and offset the hidden social costs of products and level the playing field.  Progressive taxes work if it is put to good use.  Singapore is an example that comes to mind.  It levies multiple layers and forms of taxes on car ownership (see insert) but that has allowed the country to put into place one of the best road network and public transportation systems in the world.

It is great to have the most up-to-date technology but we must not let ourselves be seduced by it and let it turn into an addiction that will bleed away our future or, more accurately put, our children’s future.  It is time to press the pause button on upgrades and reflect on the destructive side of our consumption behavior and our addictions.

Dare to Dream Again

Like millions of Americans, I sat in front of my TV and watched transfixed as NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL. on its final mission on July 9, 2011.

In the 30 years since the shuttle program began, the frequency with which NASA has been sending shuttles into space has, not surprisingly, dulled the sense of expectation and excitement around each take-off. Success, after all, when repeated often enough becomes the norm.

The success of NASA’s shuttle missions is probably its biggest thorn-in-the-side as well. Space is no longer as big a mystery as it once was. We’ve landed man on the moon multiple times and we’ve sent unmanned space-crafts to Mars and beyond. We’ve captured images of a billion stars and celestial bodies millions of light years away. We’ve learned enough to demote Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf-planet, smaller than Earth’s moon. As a consequence of the regularity of our successes and discoveries, we have lost the sense of wonderment and the desire to conquer new boundaries in space. The fantasies of Star Trek like space voyagers and adventures no longer speaks to new generation in the same way as it did to ours. Space adventures, like old playthings and story books, will fade into the past.

Over time, our quest to win the space race (with the Russians) evolved into more than just putting a man into space or landing on the moon. The space program gave our mathematicians, scientist and researchers purpose and opportunity to test new theories, new designs, new materials, and new medical research, and as a result, it allowed America to develop technologies that have given it the leadership position in science and engineering.

No other nation that has sent a man into space has launched a reusable spacecraft as beautifully designed and as versatile as NASA’s space shuttles, and, given the economic uncertainties around the globe, it is quite unlikely that any nation will in any time soon. Sadly, with the US national debt about to hit the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling by August 2, 2011, it is also unlikely that we will come up with a replacement to the shuttle craft anytime soon either. Our political leaders can’t even agree on investing in infrastructures on the ground so it is hard to imagine them getting their minds around something as abstract as space.

When we are told on a daily basis that social programs that have been put into place to benefit the elderly or the poor have to be cut, and raising taxes are out of the question, how can we imagine our political leaders finding the funding to save the space program?

If there is no space program, where will our next generation of new, cutting-edge technologies evolve from? What will happen to America’s leadership in the field of science and technology?

People around the globe send their children to study in US schools in the hope that they will be able to gain some of that scientific knowledge and know-how. They want their kids to be immersed in culture of diversity in America and to soak in the intangibles that make America great – the ability to think outside the box, to come up with unconventional solutions, to push the boundaries of what is possible, and to find success out of failures. More than just the educational credentials, they want their kids to acquire the American daring and belief – the relentless pursuit of faster, higher and better.

The American sense of national pride and shared sacrifice once propelled the nation forward at break-neck speeds but it is quickly being overtaken by a number of developing Asian countries. It is not surprising that they are the ones currently with a strong sense of national pride. With determination, investment and sacrifice, they have put into place superfast trains, ultra-modern airports, and broadband Internet capabilities that far exceeds what we have in the US.

America’s lead position in science and technological advances will continue to ebb unless we dare to dream big again and the American sense of individuality is matched by a sense of unity and strength. Our desire to do well individually should not and must not diminish our sense of need for doing well as a nation, a collection of people with a common purpose.

Great leaders lead the way by setting goals and by being able to inspire the nation into imagining the future and investing in that future. America’s leaders cannot afford to be short-sighted, focusing only on the near term. America’s leaders must dare to dream again. They must be bold enough to imagine what future looks like and they must be able to explain the investment and sacrifice needed for the nation to arrive at that future.

The Best Thing A Teacher Ever Taught Me

Recently, one of my sisters forwarded me an email with an interesting story about a dinner conversation between a CEO and a teacher.  The CEO, trying to make his point that the problem with education is that students are taught by people whose highest aspiration is to end up with such lowly paid jobs, turned to the teacher at the table and asked her what she made.  Instead of giving the CEO a dollar figure, she turned the tables on him by listing the things she would ‘make’ her students learn – hard work, sacrifice, responsibility, determination, to have a questioning mind, etc. - and concluded that in doing so, she would ‘make’ a difference in the world when they turned out to be doctors and engineers and even CEOs.

It is a heartwarming story for those who have (or had) a teaching role in schools, at home, or elsewhere, that what they do has a significant impact on the society we live in and in the world of tomorrow.

The story caused me to reflect on my own education, particularly the teachers who made a difference in my life.  Teachers who had not only imparted knowledge but also the love of learning as well as an approach to learning that would be useful even after I was done with school. 

In high school, I struggled with two subjects: advanced mathematics and the Malay language.  I dreaded attending the classes because I could not relate to what the teachers were trying to get across.  It seemed to me that my math teacher was talking to the blackboard every time because, if he was talking to me, I had no clue what he was saying.  The Malay language teacher would bring up one ancient Malay poem after anther, reveling in the beauty, structure, and rhythm of each when it should have been evident that the class, which was entirely made up of Chinese kids, did not have a sufficient grasp of the language itself.  I dutifully took notes of what I did not comprehend, doubting that I would ever get close to understanding the subjects.  The following year, I had new teachers for the subjects and suddenly everything that had been seemingly incomprehensible the year before made sense.  How did that happen?  What changed?  The magic of their teaching methods cleared the fog in my brains and I was able to grasp the logic of advanced mathematics and the complexity of prefixes and suffixes in Malay. 

When I was in college, one particular lecturer stood out.  She told the class that she didn’t want us just to study hard but she wanted us to study smart.  She started by teaching us to look for the underlying logic and reasoning behind each topic.  She helped us relate what we’ve learned to real world examples so that the lesson wasn’t just purely academic.  She taught us to analyze exam questions before attempting to answer them.  She taught us to look for the different parts to a question, the total score possible for each part of a question so we didn’t spend too much time on a part that fetched only a few marks.  She gave us a feel of the kind of answers examiners would look for and what gets us points and what won’t.  More than just the tactics to learning and passing exams, she taught us see the big picture and not be always stuck in the details or waste valuable resources in trying to be perfect.  She knew that most of her students were not from rich family backgrounds and we had to be smart about getting through our coursework and exams. She understood that the end goal for us was not just to pass exams but to get a good job that would hopefully help us realize our goals in life.

Once I started working, I quickly learned that whatever I had learned in school and in college was but a tiny dot at tip of the iceberg.  I had to learn the business that the company was engaged in.  I had to spend long hours pouring through numbers and contracts and processes.  It was an exciting time and it was rewarding when I was finally able to apply my knowledge to my work, using it to improve processes, organization and, ultimately, profitability.  For all those wonderful experiences, I will forever be grateful to those teachers in my life that taught me everything I know and instilled in me the love of learning new things.

There’s an old Chinese proverb that goes, “Give a man a fish and he will have food for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  Keeping that analogy in mind, the best thing that a teacher ever taught me was how to fish.

It is unfortunate that teaching and class sizes will be impacted once the Federal and State budget cuts come into effect.  We can all try to pass the buck and push the cuts onto someone or somewhere else but there is no denying that we can’t have what we can’t afford.  My hope is that the cuts will help spur us towards more intelligent ways of teaching, helping our kids learn how to fish rather than just giving our kids a fish.  After all, education does not stop at the school doors.

Budget Battles

Let’s face it – even if the US is not faced with a looming deficit and at risk of defaulting on its debts if the debt-ceiling is not raised, Congress should still be debating what the nation is spending its revenues and resources on and how to extract the most out of every dollar spent.  Congress should never be complacent, as they have been during the years of economic growth and prosperity, about the inefficiencies and bad policies we see at every level of Government. 

The results of the 2010 mid-term elections carry with it a clear message: the voters are tired of the same-old, same-old.  The Independents, tired of having to choose between two sides that have become so similar that it is hard to tell them apart, voted in a whole new bunch that ran on the message that they want to change Government.  Indeed, some of them ran on pretty extreme messages but it seemed that the risk was worth it, if only to stir things up and get the fat cats out of their seats to start doing something to right the ship.   

If we could rise above all the rhetoric about the numbers and who would be to blame if the government was shut down because no agreement on the spending cuts, we would realize that the real issue lies in complexities of our laws, layered on year after year, creating bloat and inefficiencies everywhere, sucking up precious national resources.  As the saying goes, “a dollar is a dollar”.  We want to be spending it in smart ways that generate more economic activity which in turn lead to job growth and revenue, and not in paying for duplicative or unproductive processes and administrative structures.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform conducted a study and came up with a report in December 2010 which we should all examine and build on if we are truly serious about what needs to be done.  It is not a perfect document and dissenting views are clearly enunciated but it is a good start.  The report proposes various changes encompassing:

• Discretionary Spending Cuts
• Tax Reform
• Health Policies
• Other Mandatory Policies
• Social Security
• Process Reform

It is a must read for anyone serious about the debate on our nation’s fiscal health.  You can access it at http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/

In every area listed by the Commission, we need a ‘Reset’ button to push for rationalization and simplification.  Complexities lead to loopholes, creating an unfair advantage for those who cleverly exploit the loopholes and a gross disadvantage for others.

We need a Reset button for our tax laws to account for the shift in economic and political dynamics we are witnessing around the world.  Asia is fast becoming the biggest consumer bloc and our survival and success will depend on how adept we are at meeting the challenges ahead.  To that end, our tax laws must be redesigned to incentivize job creation, especially in the export of goods and services.  We need incentives that will help make the US more competitive in the global market.  We already have some of the best institutions of higher learning, a well-trained workforce, excellent design and marketing skills, and fertile entrepreneurial breeding grounds especially in new-age technology.  Yet, our existing laws favor the off-shoring of millions of technology jobs to other countries.  We need our lawmakers to help bring about the re-creation of those jobs in the U.S.   

We need a Reset button for our defense strategy and our national security.  We can no longer afford the price of being the world’s sole policeman.  Recent events in Africa and the Middle-East have shown us that any change towards a more democratic world must come from within.  We need to be smarter about how we screen passengers at security checkpoints across the country.  We cannot afford to layer on more and more scanners, personnel, and checks each time that Al Qaeda threatens another attack on the US.  The Department of Defense spending has more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, ballooning from $300 Billion to just under $700 billion, and that number excludes Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs costs.   

We need a Reset button on healthcare and medical tort reform.  Healthcare providers today do not want to risk potential lawsuits and higher malpractice insurance and consequently they will often (especially if asked) prescribe all recommended tests and treatments regardless of whether or not they will be beneficial to the patient.  We need a rational quality of care that is determined by a panel of experts, not lawyers.  We need programs that encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. We cannot afford a growing population of expanding waistlines and higher incidences of obesity, including cases in the very young.  Beneficiaries of government assisted programs such as Medicare and Medicaid should be subjected to annual “performance tests”, monitoring their weight and waist measurements. If their deductibles and co-pays for medication increase along with their expanding waistlines, they would quickly join the pound-for-pound challenge on the Biggest Loser.

We need a Reset button on end-of-life care.  We cannot afford to confuse compassionate care for the dying with extending life artificially. Trying to postpone the inevitable outcome for the very sick and the very old while denying care to young children which will allow them to grow into healthy, productive lives makes no sense. The notion that we will be ‘killing grandma’ by rationing care is ridiculous when the alternative is to have grandma hooked up to a host of machines and tubes for feeding, breathing, medicating, urinating, etc., because we can’t let go. We’re adults and we must think and act as adults.  Advocating the notion that a logical plan for end-of-life care means ‘killing grandma’ is infantile.

We need a Reset button on our energy policies.  We need to end our addiction to oil.  Our dependence on foreign oil hurts us, making us subservient to oil producing nations and lender countries that have autocratic governments.  We need to raise taxes on gas-guzzling vehicles while encouraging more eco-friendly cars.  We need to revisit subsidies to big oil corporations.  We need to invest in new infrastructure that will help move our energy consumption towards sources that are renewable.  We need to expand our electricity grid so that we can bring solar and wind energy from solar and wind farms to the cities and towns across the country.  We need to invest in support systems for car-pooling and use of mass transportation.  The arrival of hybrid and electric cars are great but they alone will not make a significant enough dent in our total oil consumption.

We need a Reset button on government jobs, civil and military services.  We need to flatten organizational structures and end promotion and pay increases based on seniority.  We need to eliminate unnecessary paperwork, pencil pushers that add no value to a process, increase productivity through greater automation and move towards a self-service model through modern technology.  We need to consolidate departments that overlap in function and we need to eliminate outdated regulations that discourage businesses from setting up shop or expanding their operations in the US.  We need enforcement officers that are more attuned to the problems businesses face and who will help them meet regulatory requirements rather than act simply as a deterrent to lapses and failure to comply.

We need a Reset button on our policies on granting visas to bona-fide visitors to encourage in-bound tourism.  We have amazingly beautiful cities, national parks, and exciting man-made attractions.  We have museums and art collections that are the envy of many.  Tourism is a highly labor intensive industry and it will create jobs that will always remain in the US.  We need to end the levying of hefty visa fees and, more importantly, we need to end the discrimination against young, single women.  The trend, seen first in Japan and now around the world is for more and more single female workers with a disposable income for whom travel and shopping are high on their priority list.

There are many more Reset buttons that can be added to the list.  However not a single one will be in place if our politicians continue in their game of ‘chicken’ and care only about their ego and political ideologies rather than the nation’s needs.

We are living in a fast changing world and systems and processes that worked well in the past may not be sufficiently adept in meeting the needs of today. Lengthy budget battles year after year distracts us from looking at what we need to be doing to positively influence America’s economic future and its role in a freer, more global and more democratic world.

A Race To The Bottom

There is a new paradigm in the halls of power and the best description for it is “austerity”. 

In the aftermath of the housing bubble and a near complete meltdown of the global financial system, Federal, State and City governments are faced with a sudden and sharp decline in tax revenues juxtaposed against a surge in prolonged unemployment and an increasing demand for government assistance.  

With a sustained recovery still uncertain and debt loads at unprecedented levels, it is not surprising that lawmakers, governors and mayors are clamoring to reduce spending in government programs at every level, especially those categorized as ‘discretionary’.  There is no denying it, the prize is bigger than just a balanced budget.

There is no easy answer to what ought to be cut or trimmed and slashing across the board blindly is not a sensible thing to do either.  We have to bear in mind that the intent or objective of most government assistance programs are to help those who are most in need.  Cutting funding for those programs would deprive the most needy of a lifeline.  Whatever we do and however we do it, we must be extremely careful that it does not turn into a race to the bottom where the cuts will affect our country's competitiveness and future. 

One target currently in focus is Education spending.  While increasing class sizes in public schools will deliver savings in total teachers’ salaries paid, the possible long term impact cannot and must not be ignored.  Public schools are where most of the country’s middle income and poorer half send their kids for an education.  The cuts would further disadvantage the very ones who need a greater degree of attention to help them climb out of the reaches of poverty and to do better than the generation before them.  The gap between these kids and those from well-to-do families who attend private schools will widen, increasing the wealth gap and social class distinction. 

We cannot afford a race to the bottom where Education is concerned.  Already, Americans kids lag in many areas when compared to test scores of students in other countries. 

If we were to be honest about balancing the budget, we need to face the reality that we will be spending over a trillion dollars on defense in 2011.  By choice or by default, we’ve become the world’s policemen and we are faced with the hefty costs as a consequence.

The war in Afghanistan is still on-going after nearly a decade and, although the bulk of our troops are out of Iraq, the costs there are continuing to mount.  In 2007, the Congressional Budget Office issued an estimate that the total cost of the two wars will reach $2.4 trillion by 2017.  Yet, there is and has been no “War Tax” to pay for those costs and that fact is conveniently swept under the carpet in the nation’s budget balancing exercise.

Returning to the topic of “austerity”, a New York times columnist wrote that any cut should ‘make everybody hurt’.  I’m not sure how his mind works on that one – the rich do not depend on government help so any proposed cut won’t affect them negatively.  If the rich is to share in the pain, they would have to contribute to the revenue side of the equation, i.e., pay more taxes.

Businesses have benefitted from lower wages and interest rates; executives and CEOs of banks have benefitted from the government bailout and low interest rates and are once again reaping six and seven digit bonuses.  The value of their stocks and stock options have soared in the last two years.  If we have to balance the budget, they should be the first in line to participate in the pain of getting the nation’s finances in order, and be proud of the fact that they did.

Sadly, the opportunity to let the Bush-era tax cuts lapse at the end of 2010 or to roll back cuts that benefitted the rich was swiftly put away for political expediency.  As the 2010 mid-term elections have shown, politics is an expensive business and it takes a lot of money to get elected or re-elected.  If you think that the amounts spent on political campaigns were indecent then, brace yourself for worse.  The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has, for all practical purposes, removed restrictions on how much corporations (or individuals using the cover of a corporate entity) may spend in advertising to back candidates who are favorable to their causes. 

Here again is another potential race to the bottom that is most vile and undesirable.  We are at the edge of a pit of cronyism, bribery and corruption.  Take a deeper look at the social unrest sweeping across Egypt, Africa and the Arab nations and you will realize that the cause of the uprising is not Facebook or Twitter but the pent up frustrations of a people denied a dream.  Ignoring the needs of the underclass while pampering to the rich does not bode well for the type of Democracy we claim to represent or are trying to promote in other parts of the world.

Any program of cut should be targeted at weeding out inefficiencies, mismanagement and waste.  There are many systemic inefficiencies in almost all governmental departments.  Archaic organizational structures, systems and procedures must be reexamined, eliminated or replaced and resources freed for more productive use.  Paperwork, forms, files, processes, etc., must be streamlined and automated.  Taxpayers should be encouraged to make suggestions on how the services they need may be delivered more efficiently or to file complaints regarding poor public employee attitudes. Unions should, by law, not be permitted to retaliate against management for taking disciplinary actions against employees for cause.  Government departments should be made to bid for the work that they do against independent outside contractors to ensure that they remain competitive and cost efficient.  If you have any doubts about how much can be saved, you’ll be reassured to know that the Congressional Budget Office report in 2007 estimated that the cost of mismanagement and waste in the Iraq war alone was some $10 billion.

“Austerity” is a nice word, as are the phrases “balancing the budget” or “living within our means” but they should not mean austerity for some and a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card for others. 

Blood Money

I finished the year 2010 feeling a little better about things in general. 

The mid-term elections were over and the economy, although still struggling, were showing some signs of picking up.  I had done my part by shopping for Christmas presents on-line and at the stores and I had even picked up some ‘savings’ in the process.  When the year end retail and on-line sales statistics came out, hope was again in the air that the country was seeing an uptick in consumer confidence and that would lead to increased corporate hiring and spending.

The Congress, in a lame-duck session, was surprisingly able to pass some new laws that led many to believe that the Republicans and Democrats were finally on a new course that would enable them to move the business of the nation forward. 

Most encouragingly, the media had returned their focus mundane things such as the weather, a clear indication that nothing seriously bad was happening apart from the acts of nature that were disrupting travel and everyday life in various parts of the country.

Unfortunately, that period of bliss ended quite abruptly last Saturday.  One week and one day into the New Year, a lone gunman in Tucson, Arizona, fired into a crowd gathered outside a supermarket, seriously injuring an elected member of the Congress, killing a Federal judge and a number of other innocent victims, including a nine year-old girl who, as fate would have it, was born on 9/11/2001. 

It immediately brought to mind my blog last September titled “Dear World – a letter from America” and caused me to re-read it and ponder if there were salient points that I had missed or if I had been mistaken in my take on the vitriolic rhetoric by the various factions that had so troubled the people in the United States as well as in countries around the world as to the level of intolerance and hate that we were showing, in words and in actions that were repeatedly aired on Television, on radio talk-shows and in Blogs on the Internet. 

Sadly, “reality TV” has become too real for the families of those victims in Arizona who were injured or killed in this incident.  No amount of “could have”, “would have” or “should have” will ever mitigate their loss or bring back their loved ones.

Those who have been employing the language of hate, spurring their followers into a state of frenzy and those who are unstable enough in their minds into acts of violence, are now denying responsibility and quickly removing evidence of their hateful remarks from their web-pages, blogs and Twitter postings.

This latest manifestation of the destructiveness of spiteful words require an immediate re-imposition of civility in our discourse and a civilized approach to reconciling our differences.  We must eschew (shun, avoid, turn away from, have nothing to do with) those who employ barbaric words designed to incite others into acting out their anger.  We must deny them the reach and effect they desire from planting those words and seeds of hatred in the minds of their listeners. 

The Media has a duty to reject and not give air-time or printed space to people who capitalize on their fame and say anything that comes to mind with total disregard of the safety and well being of other.  Just as they would refuse to show graphic images of death and destruction, the Media must refuse to give voice to those whose spew hatred and whose words would clearly spur others into acts of violence.  It would not be a denial of the right to free speech – instead it would be the Media’s exercising of its duty to prevent the exploitation of free speech by those who clearly intend to cause harm.  What the Media carry as “news” must be worthy to be called as such and must pass the test of balanced reporting, and not be a verbatim report of unsubstantiated claims or wild accusations by some attention seeker.  If they report on the declarations of a person in the news, they must have a duty to investigate decry the lies and fabrications at the same time.

Clearly, gun laws around the country need to be improved – over the objections of the gun lobbyists and the NRA.  Those desiring to buy and carry a gun must be made to undergo psychiatric tests to ensure that they are not unstable in their heads and they are not and will not be a threat to community, both prior to being sold a gun and regularly afterwards.  It is no different than drivers having to pass eye-exams to renew their driving licenses.  Additionally, they should be required to purchase insurance coverage for victims of their actions, intended or otherwise, so that there is a recurring cost and reminder of the importance of safely handing the weapon they have in their hands.  States that permit the carrying of concealed weapons must immediately revoke those laws so that law enforcement and security officers can more easily carry out their tasks with impunity.

Profits that come from the destruction of innocent lives is Blood Money – not much different from the thirteen pieces of silver that bought the betrayal of Jesus.

We All Want To Live The American Dream

Just when I thought I had read up enough to understand what caused of the financial crisis that led to the actual or near collapse of some the major financial institutions, the Foreclosure Flap reared its ugly head, telling me that the underlying problems could be deeper than we’d realized.  We may have put out the fire caused by all the mortgage backed securities (a.k.a. toxic assets) but hot ambers are still smoldering and could break out anytime and burn us again.

What has been most shocking is that the problems are occurring in the United States of America which pride itself as being a nation of laws.  A look at the train wreck of the mortgage mess reveals a chain of dishonesty and a disregard of the laws that send shivers up and down the spine. The image of reliability, trustworthiness and enforceability of deals and investments in the US has been severely damaged as a result. 

Having laws but not the desire or the means to enforce them renders the laws simply useless.  As the former Chairman of the Fed has discovered, expecting the financial industry to self-regulate was a mistake.  It is akin to asking a drug addict to take charge of a warehouse filled with drugs.  Sadly, the people elected to positions of power AND responsibility took the first and forgot the latter.  They eliminated regulations that were designed to protect the average man on the street and they denied funding to those agencies that were set up to ensure adherence to the laws and regulations.  By demonizing “government” they chipped away at the rules that had been been carefully crafted to protect the innocent.  Corporate profits became their sole obsession and expanding that their only mantra.  In essence, they sold out the very people that had elected them into positions of power and opted for corporate welfare instead of helping the average American get closer to achieving their American dream. 

For most Americans, the “Pursuit of Happiness” entrenched in the Declaration of Independence translates to ‘living the American Dream’.  In the majority of instances, it simply means a decent job, a house, a spouse, two kids (and maybe a dog) and a car.  That simple dream is now more remote than ever before.  The so called ‘middle class’ is fast shrinking as decent paying jobs and industries have migrated overseas.  Graduates with higher degrees (and big student loans to go with them) often find themselves fighting for jobs that barely pay their living costs.  Their employers have higher productivity expectations and the longer hours at work often translates into less quality time with family and friends.  The wealth gap in America is rapidly increasing and the pendulum must start swinging the other way or something will break very soon. 

To turn the tide, our elected and appointed officials cannot continue doling out cash (remember the bailouts?), concessions and tax breaks to the big corporations and banks unconditionally.  Yes, we want them here and we want to help them succeed but we want them to be good citizens as well, providing decent jobs and paying their fair share of taxes.  Their focus cannot be on the short term profits alone – the longer term well being of the US consumers must be part of their priority too.  The US consumers cannot consume unless they have the ability to do so and fundamentally that means a steady job with a decent pay.  Flipping burgers and temporary jobs don’t make the cut.

We need to figure out what the appropriate criteria of a good Corporate Citizen should be and start enacting rules to bring that about.  Corporations that do not meet those expectations should be taxed at a higher rate or not be allowed access to the same incentives that Corporations that do. 

As a start, Companies that do not pass an American Content test (US employment and product component percentages) should be made to pay a penalty in the form of a surtax.  All companies closely monitor their employment numbers and their product content makeup so introducing a requirement that they disclose those numbers in their quarterly and annual reports should not result in any additional cost to the corporations.  Such a rule should not impact the small and medium sized businesses that have all or the bulk of their production and employment in the US.

Those who are in bed with the big corporations would decry this proposal as being protectionist.  We must peel away the rhetoric about protectionism and see that not all such rules are necessarily bad – lawyers, doctors and accountants from other countries can’t legally practice their profession in the US unless they have the necessary US training and certification.  Take away those protections and their jobs would quickly be outsourced to lower cost countries as well.

We’ve tried the carrot without the stick approach and we know that it does not work.  Corporations took full advantage of the system and did all they could to make their profits private and their losses public. 

However the winners or the losers of the mid-term elections choose to frame it, the exit polls point out that the real anger at Washington is about bailing out the big corporations at the expense of the American people.  We’ve saved the mega banks, the insurance companies, and the auto-manufacturers and we’ve pumped cheap cash at them but where are the jobs?  US Corporations are reporting higher sales and bigger profits but where are US based jobs?  Retirees who depend on income from their savings have seen interest rates plummet to near zero and they have had to rethink their retirement but where are the jobs for their grandchildren who are entering the workforce?

The late Ted Sorensen, who helped compose JFK’s inaugural address and the exhortation “Ask not what your country can do for you”, once wrote: “Government must give priority to the needs of ordinary citizens, workers, consumers, students, children, the elderly, and the ill, the vulnerable and the underdog, and not to the needs of those already sufficiently powerful and affluent to afford their own lobbyists.”

We all want to live the American Dream.  It should not be an impossible dream or one that is reserved for only the elite and the rich.  Take away the American Dream and you take away the hope of a nation. 

Dear World – a letter from America

Dear World,

Despite what you’ve seen or heard on the news lately, America is not what some fanatics would make it out to be.  Yes, there are the few loose nuts who made the headlines lately with their rants and the rather frightening and unreasoned blabbering.  Please just ignore them. 

Unfortunately, our media (notably our TV media) is constantly and desperately seeking to outdo each other in being the first to air the latest exciting news.  In doing so, some networks have opted for sensationalism and have forgotten what journalism is all about – informing the public of worthwhile news and analyzing, printing or airing topics that are important for the welfare of the nation and the general public.  Topics get old very quickly on a 24-hour TV news cycle and there are insufficient breakthroughs in medical research, weather and climate changes, development of new technologies, etc., to fill up the air time.  In their desperation to stay exciting in order to grab a bigger viewership and more advertising dollars, they have resorted to giving voice to attention seekers of all sorts.  Consequently, more and more TV “news” programs have taken on a tabloid characteristic.  If you are not one to fall for the “exposés” in supermarket tabloids, you shouldn’t fall for all the sensational news items on TV channels either.

Please, look beyond the obvious.  I am a hundred percent sure that if you take a closer look, you will find that there are, in reality, many times more sane people than the insane ones.  It is just that the sane ones aren’t as vocal or they find it harder to get the media’s attention.  On TV, sane and normal are not as audience captivating as the wild and unbelievable.  TV show producers love the “exotic” acts - those who would do anything to get their five minutes of fame in front of a camera.  What’s better for the networks’ bottom line than if they don’t have to pay for those acts?

The early settlers in America had left their homeland for the new world so that they could practice their faith free from the oppressive powers that controlled Europe back then and, when America became an independent nation, the founding fathers of the nation followed that same instinct and spirit of freedom and the authors of the US Constitution entrenched in it certain fundamental rights for all Americans, including the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition.  As a result of such freedoms, we can express our dissent without fear of arrest and incarceration.  Those freedoms, as you may have noted, are essentially freedoms of expression and do not extend to include acts of violence.

We can’t really silence the few individuals who are vocal and whose incantations are welcomed by the media.  We can only seek to expose their falsehood and lies by speaking out (or writing) against them, arguing our case with facts and good logic.  Exercising those same freedoms, some Americans voice their opposition to the offensive speeches through counter demonstrations and marches.  Sadly, there are also those who are in positions of influence and responsibility who choose to remain silent instead of bringing a reasoned voice to the debate. 

Freedom has a price and democracies are messy but the alternatives are oftentimes worse. 

America has shown and continues to show its true heart and compassion when disasters strike in other countries.  With little hesitation, Americans jump in to help rescue and treat victims of earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods, AIDS, and other disasters.  Because we’re essentially a mixed bag of immigrants from all over the world, anytime a disaster happens in some corner of the world, we feel it and we feel engaged and involved.  Although we are American citizens, we treasure the heritage and culture of the countries that we or our parents or their parents came from.

We are a nation of workers and our lives are not very different from yours.  We love our children like you do yours: we clothe and feed them, we send them off to school and we hug them and kiss them goodnight when bedtime comes.  We make mistakes (hopefully not too often) and we try to remedy them.  We do our best to learn from our mistakes and we try not to repeat them.  Sometimes we succeed and other times we fail but we don’t give up on trying.  When we fail, we laugh at ourselves and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.  We cry over the loss of a loved one and we sympathize with others who have experienced a personal loss.  We are excited at the success of someone we know and we root for the ‘underdog’ who is trying to beat the odds and come out on top. 

Our hope is that you will not listen to the few fanatics and false prophets who would exploit the sensitivities of others for their own glorification.  Don’t give credence to them or use the mindless words of the few crazies against all Americans.  Our appeal to you is to tune them out, just as you would tune out those among you who seek only to provoke and to incite others to no good.

Remember: not everything you see on TV or read on the Internet is real. Be sure that there is a hidden plot or lots of clever editing to keep the viewers or readers enthralled.  Just as you have learned to discern what’s real and what’s not on “Reality TV” shows, you must apply the same thought logic to what you see or hear on the news.

“Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.”

Your friend,

America

[Quote taken from the letter of Paul to the Philippians]

The Power of Perception

A friend recently forwarded me a short story that has probably made its way around the Internet a few times but is nevertheless refreshingly poignant each time I get to read it. 

It goes like this:

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

"Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

The moral of the story was summed up as follows:

And so it is with life... What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look ...

(In the interest of fairness, the roles in the story can be switched.)

What fascinates me about the story is that it is so appropriate in this “Information Age” which, unfortunately, is filled with an equal or greater amount of Misinformation – distortion of the truth that is designed to mislead.  The Internet has enabled the explosive spread of all types of misinformation, of distorted half-truths and, worst of all, hate speeches – cleverly disguised so that they are not perceived as such, but rather as ‘shocking revelations’, some cross-referenced to external sources to make them appear authentic. 

It is easy for anyone with an agenda to put his or her thoughts up on a Blog and it is even easier to forward an email on a topic that is crafted in a way that pushes across a viewpoint that we favor.  Very easy and, sadly, too dangerous.

We don’t see or hear the word “propaganda” being used much these days.  The specialists prefer the more updated and less derogative term “spin”.  Either word means the same thing: publication and dissemination of distorted information with the objective of misleading.  In Propaganda and Persuasion, the authors Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell defined it as “the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist”.

Paul Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, once said, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it”.  A similar quote “A lie told often enough becomes the truth” is attributed to Lenin, the Father of the Soviet Union.

The intent of spin or propaganda is not simply to change your perception.  The ultimate goal is to get you to act based on those perceptions.  Therein lies the danger of blind faith – believing everything that we read or hear is true WITHOUT taking the time to do some fact finding and weighing the plausibility of the information before us.

Not all of us are born skeptics and we have a natural inclination to believe that other people are, in general, truthful.  That perception of honesty is what scammers and con artists base their schemes on.  They take an element of truth or fact, embellish it with touches of exaggeration and arrive at a story that is believable to the naive and those who, for one reason or another, need those fabrications to be reality.  Look at the supposedly sophisticated individual and institutional investors that put millions of their savings with Bernard Madoff.  Look at the billions lost in the supposedly Triple A rated (investment grade) securities based on sub-prime mortgages and over-inflated asset values.

A decade of economic growth tilted our perception on real-estate values and we ignored the probability that an explosive growth in values is unsustainable and is indicative of a bubble.  Those who came out against the cuts in interest rates as real estate values became over inflated were decried as doomsayers who are anti-American and anti-business.  More spin and lobbying led to loosening of bank regulations and Investment banks were able to take their leverage ratios to uncharted areas, and when that was not enough, moved the risky assets off their balance sheet so that they could go for broke.  Unfortunately, they did and had to be bailed out with taxpayers money.  What about those bonuses that were paid out of the banks’ so called “profits” before they went bust?  The spin they want you to believe is that they earned it and there is no way to for the taxpayers to recover those bonuses – not even if they were based on fraud…?!?!

Beware of the Power of Perception.  The only tool against being misled (yet again) is to spend time evaluating the spin and to research the facts. 

Bring out that power-washer and clean your window….!!

The S.S. USA

While searching for a new topic for my blog, one thought that struck me over the Independence Day weekend is that this historic event that we celebrate each year is all about Choices.  The founding fathers of this great nation chose to be free from the oppression of the colonial masters and to be able to set off on the pursuit of equality, life, liberty and happiness.  Generations later, those pursuits continue and the ideals have not faded. 

As we try to find our way through the present period of economic uncertainty, high unemployment, soaring budget deficits, two drawn out wars, and a whole financial mess brought about by the housing bubble and unbridled greed, we are faced with choices that we must make.  Some of the choices will be hotly debated by people on both sides of the political and economic spectrum.  A healthy debate is always good but we must not let it turn into a mud-slinging match or allow ugly words and unfounded accusations tear us apart.  None of the choices will be easy and some will, with certainty, be painful but inevitable.  What is key to the success in our march forward is for everyone to grasp that we’re all in it together – we can either sink or swim.  As in generations past, we will need calm hearts and cool minds to make the balanced set of choices that will bring us safely back into harbor. 

To understand the dilemma we’re in, we need only to imagine that all of us are passengers aboard an ocean liner, the "S.S. USA".  There is a big gash on the side of the ocean liner and the ship's crew is fighting to keep the ship afloat.  We can opt to vent and scream at what the crew members are doing about the situation but that would clearly be not helpful.  Neither would throwing all of them overboard. Running a ship, let alone saving one, is not a simple task.  Blocking others from acting or doing nothing or simply hoping for a passing ship to come to the rescue are not the smartest moves either.  What we need are calm heads, constructive ideas (not rhetoric), and healthy debates that lead to smart choices.

Justifiable anger has been and continues to be vented against those who had helped create the financial mess and at the corporate executives at those ‘too-big-to-fail’ entities that had to be bailed out with taxpayers’ money.  To be clear, I don’t like government bailouts of private enterprises any more than the person next to me and I can’t agree more that none of the bail out moneys should have been used to pay bonuses to the same people whose callous actions helped bring about the crash.  That being said, the financial crisis called for quick thinking and difficult ‘on-the-spot’ choices had to be made.  Failure to act fast as the events were unfolding would have resulted in dire consequences and collateral damages too frightful to even ponder.  Imperfect as they were, TARP and the bailouts helped steady the S.S. USA so that it can be navigated back to shore.

I recently finished reading the book “Too Big To Fail” and it was an eye-opener on the behind the scenes dealings and decisions once the sequence of events that led to the collapse of Bear Stearns and subsequently Lehman Brothers started.  The heavy and momentous choices that the (then as well as the present) Treasury Secretary, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the CEOs of the many financial institutions had to make at short notice, were mind numbing.  With hindsight, some might criticize those decisions but the reality was that time was a luxury they did not have. Events with potentially disastrous outcomes were happening at a rapid clip on a twenty-four hour clock cycle.  If nothing was done immediately, the destructive forces could have accelerated and spread across the globe in a more catastrophic manner.

What brought about the near financial crisis was a series of poor choices.  Homebuyers chose to borrow more than what they could reasonably repay even when they had jobs.  Mortgage brokers chose to falsify records or ignore sound financial requirements in order to close the deal and get their commission.  Investment banks chose to buy up those mortgages, repackage them as mortgage based securities - masking the high risk of default behind those mortgages - and sold them off to investors, earning a hefty fee in the process.  We could go on but I think the point has been made – poor choices can only lead to ruinous ends.

The frightening thing is that most of us will continue to make poor choices for selfish reasons and short term rewards.  Recent examples: We chose to punish those who are unemployed in this current economic downturn by cutting off their unemployment benefits.  We chose to rail against regulations and controls that are meant to better ensure we won’t have a repeat performance of the recent financial meltdown.  We chose to demonize healthcare realities and the inevitable end-of-life decisions we must all make.  We continue to choose to close a blind eye to the cost of unfunded programs and wars.

We can change the direction of the ship and steer it into a safe harbor by making choices that will shift the balance back towards a greater focus on the American people.  Our elected officials must make choices that will ensure that small and medium sized enterprises that form the backbone of the US economy have every incentive necessary to hire, train and retain staff.  Our appointed official must negotiate more balance trade agreements with other nations and ensure adherence.  As consumers, we must leverage our consumption power and choices to help keep good paying jobs in the US. 

Choice, after all, is what “Government BY the people and FOR the people” is all about. 

Remember, we are all aboard the S.S. USA. 

Putting People First

One of the most inspirational moments in my career happened when I was just a young accountant, starting off on a professional journey that lasted many years and eventually landed me in the United States. 

I was thrilled to have been invited to the company’s global seminar, held that year in Vittel, France, and I was totally wowed by the events and speeches but the special moment happened rather unexpectedly one afternoon when the founder and chairman and I were passing each other in a busy hallway.  He stopped to smile at me, reached out to put an arm on my shoulder and spoke with me for a few short minutes, asking me with an utmost sincerity how I was doing and assuring me that he appreciated my work and how important it was to the success of the group.

Imagine, the chairman of a global corporation stopping to give a moment’s attention to a little known employee from somewhere across the world !!  I did not get a pay raise but I was absolutely motivated to do more as a result of that encounter.  Maybe I didn’t or couldn’t work any harder after that but I have no doubt that the experience taught me how to be a more caring, approachable and effective leader. 

As we enter a new era of challenges as the economy slowly recovers from its dramatic downturn, corporations, executives and political leaders will have to learn new motivational skills.  If, as some economists have predicted, the rate of unemployment will remain stubbornly high for some years to come, wages will fall and that will in turn demoralized the workforce.  As their pocketbooks shrink, it will feed into the negative spiral downwards - corporations will attempt to boost profit margins by cutting costs, one of which may be through a greater exodus of jobs to countries with cheaper labor.  To break that vicious cycle, political and corporate leaders (the people with the means and the ability to influence the outcomes) will have to value the workforce in ways that they have not done in a long time.  Budgets will be tight (if they aren’t already so) and higher paychecks or benefits are harder to justify.  Absent those financial incentives, they will have to win their constituents’ trust, loyalty and hard work by demonstrating more of their humanity and show greater empathy and appreciation of their contribution to the company profits and to the country’s economy.  In short, they must learn to put their people first. 

I recently stumbled across an ancient Chinese philosopher as I was doing some personal research work.  Mozi (墨子) lived sometime between 470 and 391 B.C. and his teachings were quite startling and refreshing.  I was never much of a student of Chinese history when I was growing up so the discovery of other Chinese philosophers besides Confucius was a revelation of sorts.  If, like me, you’ve not heard of Mozi or his teachings before, it is quite fascinating to read.  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a write up about Mozi’s teachings.  [For a Cliffs Notes style summary of his teachings look up Mohism on Wikipedia.]

While imperfect, Mozi put forward certain thoughts that are worthy of further examination.  Among other things, Mozi taught that a leader’s role is to live up to a set of high moral standards that are inclusive and indiscriminate – and his followers would then emulate his example.  Failure to follow that principle would result in chaos and the loss of the leader’s mandate. 

In a section titled “Critical Assessment”, the author of the Stanford Encyclopedia’s entry wrote: “Model emulation is indeed a powerful educational process, as any parent knows, and many of our values and judgments are in fact learned by following the example of admired role models. Social coherence, peer pressure, and the approval of superiors are important motivational factors even for critical, reflective adults.”

If business leaders want to overcome the general perception that they are solely focused on profits and personal enrichment; and political leaders want to inspire their constituents to do greater good; they would do well to get down from their ivory towers and walk among the people and occasionally put an arm on a shoulder and offer that someone words of appreciation and encouragement.  As they see more of what the everyday man or woman has to go through to put a meal on their family’s dinner table, to put clothes on their kids and to send them off to school, they might regain their humanity and find it harder to justify the increasingly huge gap between their own paychecks, bonuses, stock options, etc., and the wages of the average workers. They will find it difficult to explain, to the people they have touched and connected with, why their jobs have been or will be sent overseas and they might even reverse the tide by bringing those jobs back to the US.  They will recognize that with a concerted effort by all, unemployment will ebb and consumer confidence and spending recovers, sales and profits will quickly grow again.

Half a century after Mozi’s teaching on inclusive care, Jesus taught his followers that there is no credit for loving only those who love them (Luke 6:32) and he gave us the “do as you would be done by” rule.  Our job on earth is to leave it a better place and we can only do that by putting people first.  Nothing is as important as how our actions (or a lack thereof) impact and affect other peoples lives.

Laws and Moral Obligations

Just because there are no laws about certain acts, it should not be interpreted to be a free-for-all, do as you please, wild-wild-west playground where the strong and the quick are allowed to prey on the less nimble and the weak.

Laws, rules and regulations cannot be (and we should not expect it to be) so comprehensive that it fully protects against every possible scam or scheme concocted by some clever guy who knows the rules and the loopholes.  Clearly, any rule that is comprehensive and complete would be so voluminous that it would be too costly for individuals and businesses to keep tab of and to adhere to.  It would be equally costly for the government to ensure compliance.

Even the Ten Commandments are merely broad, basic tenets to live by. “Thou shalt not kill” does not prescribe the ways that one can commit murder.  It wasn’t and it shouldn’t be necessary.  The intent is clear and we are expected guided by our conscience, our inner moral selves.

Where the law is silent, the unwritten moral code must come into play.  The question that we must always ask of ourselves is: “Is it morally correct to do this?”  It is hard to codify morals.  Even so, it is our duty to ask that question and apply the standard of moral that is appropriate, acceptable and expected of us.  The more power we exercise over others and the more our actions impact the lives of others, the higher that moral standard becomes.

The image of America and Americans in the eyes of the world suffers when, as a result of our actions (or inactions), a global crisis ensues.  Our struggle against terrorism will fail if the world perceives us to be worshippers of greed and gold, ready to sacrifice the well being of others for personal gains.  Capitalism without morals erodes the very foundation of our country, our unity, our strength. 

The founding fathers of the United States of America, in crafting the Constitution, began it with a short preamble that is just as important, if not more so than all the articles of the constitution that follows it. 

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United Sates of America”. 

It is an emphatic summary of the overarching goals of the Constitution, the law of the land.  It underscores the moral objectives behind each article of the Constitution.  It brings out the need to apply the ‘spirit of the law’ – captured in the preamble itself - where the ‘word of the law’ is absent or silent on a particular issue. 

The success of America on the world’s stage stems from its willingness and ability to think and act for the common good of everyone; its generosity when calamities befall others; and its willingness to stand up and fight for freedom and the basic rights of ALL people, as if we are ONE people. 

When we look back at history, the defining moments of greatness and success are always associated with what one has done to establish justice… promote the general welfare of all people… and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  It is not “all about ME” and it certainly is not all about the millions in profits and bonuses that some would brag about. 

The success of an individual is measured not by his/her wealth but by his/her legacy of deeds that has benefitted others.  We can inherit wealth but we cannot inherit greatness. 

The goodness of our actions is not defined by whether it is legal but by whether it is moral.

Worst Case Scenarios

The best CEOs in the world – whether they run multinational corporations or small, growing businesses – are those who possess, among other traits, the ability to understand what the ‘worst case scenarios’ could be for their businesses and they keep a keen eye over those risks and exposures.  Like a hawk watching over its prey, they’ll swoop in with lightning speed and remove the threat preemptively. 

Sounds like paranoia?  Sure, but that is what it takes to successfully run a company and prevent the business from being overtaken by the competition and the ever-changing business landscape.  In almost every analysis of failed or failing businesses, the result will inevitably show that the managers and executives had taken their eyes off the risks. 

Everyday, businesses (and investors) take risk and they expect to be rewarded for doing so.  Risks are a normal part of business – whether it is in the form of new investments (assets, manufacturing plants and equipment) or inventory (stocking up ahead of the holiday season) or in granting credit (facilitating customer purchases), there are risks.  However, service and product pricing can only assume that there will be certain reasonable risks – otherwise, few people will be able to afford to buy the service or product.   The impact of a ‘worst case scenario’ (and varying degrees of that) must therefore be evaluated and avoided (where possible) or hedged against where the likelihood of it occurring is more probable than not.

Consider the car-manufacturing business.  For decades, fuel costs were low (some might even remember when a gallon of gas cost less than a bottle of Coke) and manufacturers had no worries about what could happen to their business model if the cost of gas doubled or tripled.  Despite the Clean Air Act of 1963 and the public’s support of the electric car, manufacturers that had leased fully working production models to the public removed them from the market.  They could not and would not imagine that the ‘worst case scenario’ would happen – that gas prices could go so high so quickly. 

When gas prices in the US started its fast track upwards and broke the $4 per gallon mark in the summer of 2008, gas guzzling SUVs and fancy big cars weren’t selling anymore and a paradigm shift occurred.  Hybrids cars went from being a fashion item to being a necessity and the return of the electric car became inevitable, sending those same auto-manufacturers scrambling back to their drawing board to come up with a product. 

Just as suddenly, automakers were faced with a credit crunch (thanks to the near collapse of the financial markets due to property speculation, sub-prime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations) at a time where declining sales resulted in a burgeoning inventory of unsold units on the dealers lots all around the country.  To make the whole thing worse, an increasing burden of pension obligations began to appear on their books (thanks to new financial reporting regulations) and forced those that were ill prepared or undercapitalized to file for bankruptcy protection.  The ‘worst case scenarios’ that they did not or would not permit themselves to worry about became a reality.  Lesson learned: one can only put off dealing with problems for so long - they will not go away and the consequences can and will likely become increasingly severe the longer we hold out.

The age-old adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basked” pretty much sums up what business need to be doing to stay ahead of the ‘worst case scenario’.   If and when the ‘worst case scenario’ happens, the business must not be found wanting.

Even in our personal lives, we need to always have an ‘exit strategy’ – just so that if ever the ‘worst case scenario’ happens, we know where we’ll end up and we have a ‘Plan-B’ that we can put into action. 

In learning how to ski, what stuck with me the most was the instruction I received on how to fall without incurring avoidable injuries and how to slow the fall or the slide down a slope and to get up and get going again. 

Parents have a tendency to be overly protective of their children.  Instead of teaching them how to anticipate problems and to cope in the event that bad and undesirable events took place, many parents do everything they can to put their child into ‘safe’ spaces so that their young would never have to deal with the disappointments in life.  In reality, they are only trying to spare themselves of the heartache and pain of ever seeing their own flesh and blood in a bad spot. 

My parents did not have the means or luxury of weaving protective cocoons around their children so they taught us the best way to cope, to fill our bellies when the rice jar was running low, to spice up the curry when there’s little to go with the rice on the table.  Although illiterate themselves, they taught us to study hard so we could have a better life than they did.  We learned what the ‘worst case scenarios’ could be and we learned enough to steer clear from them. 

When you have only one egg in the basket, you’ll quickly learn never to let the basket fall.  And if it should fall, you have done everything you could to keep the floor clean so you can still make a meal out of the broken egg.

Healthcare Matters

A week ago, I was going through my files to find a form I needed in order to fax a prescription over to an online pharmacy when I stumbled upon a stack of monthly health insurance bills starting in May 2001 when I first obtained an Individual HMO plan with Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield.  I became self-employed at about that time. 

Before I go further, it is important for me to state that I am a healthy individual.  I don’t smoke and I don’t drink, except for maybe a glass of wine about once a week.  I live a healthy lifestyle, I am physically active and I don’t consume sweetened beverages and I avoid foods that are loaded with sugar.  Apart from the seasonal allergies I get in Spring, I am hardly ever sick (my health records will attest to that) and the only times I have ever been hospitalized was once when I broke an arm back when I was a young 7 year old and a second time when I had my appendix taken out when I was still in my teens.  I probably see my Primary Care physician once a year when I have an annual physical check-up to be sure I’m doing OK and nothing is out of the ordinary.

That first month back in May 2001, my premium was $337.65 which worked out to be $4,051.80 per year.  I flipped over the stack of bills to August 2006 – the last month for which I remained on that plan - and the premium for that same coverage had gone up to $616.82 or an annualized $7,401.84, a whopping 183% of what I was paying back in May 2001.

Out of curiosity, I went online to get a quote for the same plan today and the premium has shot up to $1,549.30 a month or $18,591.60 annualized.  That works out to 251% of what I paid back in 2006 (less than 4 years ago) or 459% of what I paid back in 2001.

If the premiums keep increasing at that pace, the monthly premium for an Individual HMO plan would cost about $7,800 in another 10 years time when I will qualify Medicare.  I know I can’t afford that in-between period – I don’t think any self-employed or unemployed individual can.

As unemployment soared and as the duration of people staying unemployed increased with the latest recession, it has become abundantly clear that an employment-linked health insurance is not the solution.  COBRA has its limitations and is more costly for the individual as the former employer no longer picks up any part of the premium.

Even if one is fortunate enough to remain employed or is able to get a new job thanks to the job stimulus bill that was recently passed, rising health insurance premiums would force employers to shift more of the burden of healthcare plans over to their employees. 

The claim that “we have the best healthcare system in the world” is misleading – it confuses availability with affordability.

We need healthcare reform AND MORE. We need a “medical tort reform”, defining what is the standard of care that should be expected so that doctors are not over-prescribing tests and treatments that serve only to enrich the pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment companies.  We need a “prescription drug reform”, making medications more affordable – there should be no reason why Americans pay more for the same drugs than in other countries.  We need reforms that encourage healthy lifestyles and more physical activity for both the young and the old.

We need to continue the debate about what healthcare should or should not be but not let it hold us back from enacting what should be the first of all the necessary reforms.  As we gain experience from the present reforms, we need to refine those provisions that prove to be less than satisfactory.  Nothing will be perfect from the get-go and we need to be mature enough to keep working at it and make it better.

Bringing Jobs Back

Despite a drop in the number of newly unemployed, the dismal real unemployment numbers in the US point to a need for drastic measures that will help stimulate job creation.  The Obama Administration recently held a Jobs and Economic Growth Forum to garner ideas that would help kick start a new phase of economic growth.  That effort is to be applauded and given full support by every concerned citizen.  However, grand schemes and efforts to reverse job losses stemming from the years of relentless exporting of manufacturing and all kinds of back office work to lower cost offshore centers will take time.  Congress will need to put aside partisan politics and dig deep for the courage and good sense necessary to pass laws and investment incentives that will smooth the passage for recovery without jeopardizing the future. 

In the meantime, we cannot just sit by and hope that things will change.  We cannot wait another year to replace ineffective members of Congress and put new ones in there that will do the will of the People who elected them rather than the will of the lobbyists and the people that employ them for their own selfish gains.  We cannot wait another year and see continuing job losses, even if it is at a reduced pace.  Clearly, those who have lost jobs since 2007 and are still unemployed or underemployed cannot wait another year, hoping that their unemployment checks (if they are collecting one – most self employed people do not even have that luxury) will continue and fearing the worst should any unexpected illness befall them as they lose their health insurance coverage.

As good as tax credits and new hiring incentives sound, they won’t immediately create or bring back jobs.  Corporations and businesses will not hire unless there is a demand for their products and services.  Tax credits are only good if they make a profit – if there is no profit, they won’t be paying taxes in the first place.

As concerned citizens, what can we do that will help turnaround the economy and will do so with an immediacy that the lawmakers can’t?  You might not think that as individuals, you’ll have much influence but you’d be wrong not to take into account the effect of critical mass – if there are enough of us who are prepared and willing to do something about it, WE can help turn the tide.

Starting with this holiday season, think “American” in all the things you buy and in the gifts you are planning for your friends and family.  Here’s a list of gift ideas that have a high American content and will help keep or create more American jobs:

• Tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway or any local theatrical and orchestral productions.  Attend a “Messiah” concert to get into the holiday spirit and bring a friend with you.  The Arts are hurting as corporate donors slash costs that do not help with their bottom line and as individual donors are faced with real or possible unemployment.  
• Tickets on domestic airlines to domestic destinations for that winter break.  Airlines are very labor intensive (despite their automated reservation system) and they have the ability to quickly bring back capacity and jobs as demand increases.  Hotels, resorts and theme parks at your destination are also highly labor intensive and your patronage is a key driver.
• Gift baskets filled with domestic products (wines, cheeses, fruits, jellies, crackers, etc.).  It may be chic to have imported gift items but they don’t create American jobs to the same extent.  American products are world class and, in most cases, less expensive than imported ones.
• Gym / Sports Club Memberships.  Register yourself and your friends for a trial membership at a local gym or at a Yoga or Tai-Chi class.  If you like the experience enough (going with a friend always help), you might sign up for a more permanent membership.  These are again service oriented industries and quickly creates employment opportunities as class sizes are normally limited and each new class will require new instructors and support staff.  You’ll do yourself and your friend a world of good and you can work off the extra pounds from the many holiday parties and keep you fit for the challenges in the days and years ahead.  Think of your positive contribution towards reducing healthcare costs as well.
• Sign yourself and a friend up for a class to learn new culinary skills, a new language or pick up defensive driving credits.  You’ll be a better cook and you and your family will eat healthier OR you’ll be better qualified for jobs that look to exporting American goods and services to overseas markets with your new linguistic skills OR you’ll save a few bucks on your car insurance.
• Invite your friends from other countries to come visit America.  It is a beautiful country and there is so much to see and do and they can take advantage of the weaker dollar.  Sales taxes in America are very low compared to the VAT or GST levied in many countries.  Tourism is a big employer of labor and every direct job created has a multiplier effect, creating further (indirect) sales and jobs.

I’ve planted a few easy ideas on what you might do to help turn around the economy.  I’m sure that as you put your mind to it, there will be plenty more you can think of to add to the list.  The important thing is to ACT NOW and THINK AMERICAN.  Focus on the American Content factor (read my previous post) in what you consume and you will be instrumental in bringing jobs back the way your politicians can’t.

As I began to write this blog, I was reminded of a very short rhyme that I learned in grade school:

Little drops of water, little grains of sand

Makes the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land.

YES WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !!!  

Spread the word – share this blog with your friends.

Reforming Government

It does not surprise me that so much of the negative sentiments over health care reform stems from a general sense of distrust in “Government”. The corruption we see reported in almost every State where elected officials abuse the position of trust and power GIVEN to them by their constituents feeds into that distrust and, over time, it has eroded our confidence that anything labeled as “Government” can be of any value or do any good. As the title of a Tyler Perry movie goes, “I can do bad all by myself” – we certainly don’t need to elect or pay anyone to abuse us.

Things have been so bad in New York that a New York Times editorial (Oct 18. 2009) titled “Fed Up with Albany” recommended voting out every incumbent member of the state’s legislature if nothing is done within one year to clean up the mess (click here to view the NYT editorial). Readers from outside of New York chimed in with their comments and left stinging remarks about the disgraceful and shameful behavior by their own state’s elected officials, voicing their agreement with the idea of voting out every incumbent simply because they are an incumbent.

Unfortunately, we often have an innate tendency to generalize issues and things and, in doing so, we destroy the good that is overshadowed by the bad. Identifying the real issues and dealing with them may be more time consuming but clearly more civilized and less damaging. In the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, even an angry God was prepared to spare the lives of the Lot and his family before he rained fire and brimstone upon those cities. We have a duty to separate the good from the bad; the wheat from the chaff.

In fairness to the New York Times, their editorial included a promise to outline the ways that the existing inbred system allows for abuse and what Albany could do to change its ways. I will watch for their recommendations with great interest – New York is the only home I’ve known since coming to the United States.

The purpose of my posting here is to go one step further because “Government” is not simply made up of elected officials sitting in the halls of power inside the Capitol buildings. It includes Public Services that are run by the Government, funded by tax-payers’ dollars. The people employed by these Public Services are often the only faces most of us will see in our dealings with the Government.

Whenever I have had to avail myself of the services they provide, I make it a point to smile and be friendly, hopeful that in doing so, I will make their day a little brighter and in exchange, what I need done will be achieved with some dignity and expediency. Happily, my tactic works better than 50% of the time so it isn’t a wasted effort.

Unfortunately I can also say from experience that often times the faces I see are dour and the attitudes appalling – almost as if by my being there with a need which only they could service, I have become an unwelcomed intruder in their plans for the day. I’ve had employees of public services disappear on me while I was standing at the service counter because it was their lunch time or a personal call came in on their cell-phone and they didn’t want me to listen in on their private conversation. I’ve watched in amazement as they would stop working on my case because colleagues nearby had started a conversation about something outside of work and they felt a need to be part of that conversation. I’ve had to fill in a tri-fold, 4-color pre-printed form simply because it was standard procedure – despite the fact that all information I had to provide is already in their computer system and unchanged – only to see the form tossed into a trash bin moments later. I could go on…

Public Service is where we clearly need reform as well if we want to improve on the image of Government. Standards of efficiency and quality of service must be set and independently audited to ensure compliance and there must be accountability where the standards are not met. Pay increases must be matched by better performance and increased efficiencies so that they are self-funded and no new taxes are required. Public Service employees must be treated as private sector employees are treated – lifetime employment should not be guaranteed and they should be subject to the same possibility of termination for poor performance and for cause. Outside expertise should be brought in to improve work-flow, eliminate unnecessary processes and costs while enabling greater automation and efficiency. Performance of Public Services employees can and should be bench-marked against performance of employees in the private sector and made public so that there is transparency and necessary actions be taken to weed out the inefficiencies.

There is no reason why public services cannot be just as efficient as the private sector. If virtual monopoly exists, find ways to break up that stranglehold. Private schools co-exist and compete with public schools and private parcel delivery companies co-exist and compete with the US Postal Service. Similarly, private transportation services compete with public transportation services.

If politicians, elected officials and public service employees are keen to keep their jobs, they need to do a better one. The nation is suffering from the cumulative and simultaneous effects of the bursting of the housing bubble, the near meltdown of financial services, and technologies and policies that have enabled the relocation of many of the so-called ‘middle-class’ jobs to lower cost countries. Policies of the past no longer serve the needs of the present or the future and changes must be made from the very top to the very bottom of “Government”. Failing that, we should start looking at outsourcing or off-shoring Government jobs.

Venturing into a “No-Fly” Zone

According to The Associated Press, British Airways (BA) announced that with effect from October 7, 2009, it will start charging passengers who want to chose their seats in advance – 10 pounds for an economy class flight within Europe; 20 pounds for a long-haul economy flight and a whopping 50 pounds for an exit row seat. Even business-class passengers are not spared, having to pay 20 to 60 pounds depending on whether it is a short or long haul flight.

I expect BA to reverse its decision soon enough – it is plain dumb and reflects a desperation on its management’s part to raise revenues at all costs, even at the risk of losing customers. It is fascinating (and frightening) that BA’s management should even contemplate that their loyal customers will be happy to part with more of their hard earned money at a time of economic uncertainty, simply for the privilege of flying on BA.

I can understand charging more for seats based on the amount of leg-room or the degree a seat can recline (both clearly class related), even if those seats are in the same economy cabin – that is what most US airlines are already doing - but charging a hefty fee for the “privilege” of picking seats in the less desirable section of the cabin is clearly over-reaching.

All is well if enough passengers are prepared to fork out the extra dough to pick their own seats in advance, but what if that scenario does not play out? Imagine the anguish and the anger when a family with an infant are assigned seats that are spread around the cabin – who will tend to the child when he/she cries?. Imagine the annoyance when a couple leaving on a honeymoon are assigned seats that are far apart – great way to begin a life of togetherness. Imagine an elderly person susceptible to incontinence being assigned to a seat away from the aisle and the bathrooms.

Oh, sure, the gate-agents can reassign seats to accommodate those with special needs but should there be enough cases of those same special needs on a single flight, it will be a nightmare for the gate agents as each seat reassigned may raise a whole new set of problems and consequences. Expect take-off delays or having to arrive at the airport hours in advance to beg or fight for seat reassignments.

Thanks to the Internet, Airlines were able to push the task of seat selection to the consumers thereby cut down staffing at the gate and saving millions in payroll costs. By allowing passengers to pick their own seats, they also end up with customers who are generally happier, especially on flights that are not filled to the capacity. Passengers will almost always chose to spread themselves out (leaving the middle seats empty, etc) and their overall flying experience is enhanced with no further effort by the airline.

BA’s decision effectively reverses that and it will be interesting to watch what happens. I would very much doubt that they would be able to greatly raise their revenues because of that decision, especially on the short-haul flights and as long as there is stiff competition from other airlines. Without a doubt, BA’s competitors will use BA’s newly announced seat-selection-charge as a leverage to snap up all the disgruntled BA customers.

Clearly, the latest business decision by BA is questionable at best and destructive to its customer base and loyalty at worst. It is venturing into a “no-fly” zone as far as customer tolerance is concerned. Airline passengers are already bullied into cramped seats, checked baggage charges and no free-meal service on board. What’s next, charging for the ‘privilege’ of being able to breath on board a flight?

Go American

“Caveat Emptor” was one of the first Latin phrases I learned in law.  Quite simply, it means “let the buyer beware” – the purchaser has to take a certain degree of responsibility for ensuring that the property he/she is purchasing is fit for the purpose it was intended before closing on the deal.  As an example, home buyers will have their lawyers conduct a search on the property’s title, purchase title insurance, and hire an engineer to inspect the condition of the home before closing on the transaction. 

The “Caveat Emptor” doctrine works well with big ticket items (as in the example of the home purchase) but is more cumbersome and off-putting for the lower cost consumer items.  Hence most stores will have consumer friendly return policies that allow a hassle free return of items that are defective or do not meet the consumer’s requirement within a reasonable time after the date of purchase.

Because of the ease of buying and returning such consumer items, most of us do not think twice before acting on our urge to buy something.  We wanted it (because some clever advertisement or a ‘cool’ friend convinced us we “need'” it) and we went out and bought it because we could afford it.  Simple.  We rarely, if ever, think of the social and economic impact of our actions beforehand.

Yet everything we buy has an impact.  The stores make a profit; the sales person makes a commission; the truckers bringing the goods to the store were paid for their services; and so on.  In turn, we have to go to work daily so that we have an income to pay for the things and services that we consume. 

In short, our consumption creates jobs and, conversely, we can consume because we have jobs.  It is a dependency that has grave consequences should the link be broken. 

This recession is especially severe because job losses started in those industries that have a high degree American labor or content – housing, finance and auto-manufacturing.  Each job loss has a multiplier or cascading effect.  When those workers lost their jobs, their consumption pattern suddenly ceased and retail and sales of non-essential consumer products dropped precipitously, sending more workers to the unemployment lines.

The lessons learned from this downturn have to be put to good use if we want to recover from it and protect ourselves from yet another economic disaster of a similar magnitude.  Like the green-movement or awakening that brought ecological-consciousness to the forefront, we need a second green-movement that will bring economic-consciousness into every US Citizen’s thinking. 

Here are a few starter thoughts:

1.  Go American

Buy products that are high in American content.  Start with buying local produce:- fruits, vegetables, wines, cheeses, meats, processed foods that are locally produced.  Shop at your local farmers’ market.  Write to your local grocery store / chain and ask for more local products and dedicated American product aisles.  American produce is world-class and competitively priced - there is no reason to buy foreign. 

Vacation locally – there are many affordable American vacation products and places to visit.  They create jobs in America.

2.  Demand transparency and accountability

Write to the CEOs of the companies that benefit from your consumer dollars and ask for transparency into their practices – percentage of their jobs and production located in foreign countries; percentage of their product that have foreign content; etc. 

It is important to include the CEOS of foreign producers or importers of foreign products – they can create an impact by increasing the percentage of American content or labor used in their product.

3.  Lobby your representatives

Write to the congressmen representing your district or state and demand that economic-impact reporting become standard in every publicly listed companies annual report and filing. 

Ask about fair trade practices of the countries America deals with – what is the imbalance of trade with each country and how they plan to address that.  We want our creditor nations to be buying American products and services, not just US Treasuries.

I’m not recommending a boycott of any sorts over foreign products – I’m merely pushing for a greater awareness of the need for a higher percentage of American content in the products we buy, and what other countries buy from us in return. 

Yes, just like it has become hip to buy ‘organic’ products, it can become hip to buy ‘American’ products too.  And it will be more expensive to go ‘American’ as it was to go ‘organic’ but the end result will be worth it.

Some of us laughed at the ‘organic’ movement but it has taken root and become a settled part of our social consciousness.  We can make the ‘Go American’ movement work too.  It will take a conscious effort by every American concerned about his/her future or that of the next generation.  Sitting by idly or ignorantly and doing nothing is clearly not a solution.

YOU ARE AN AMERICAN; BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN.