May 2010 Newsletter

WHY ARE OUR LEADERS NOT ADDRESSING THE OBVIOUS?
WHERE IS OUR SELF-RESPONSIBILITY?

Hello again Dear Friends,

I begin many of my speaking engagements by stating that the current Economic Crisis may be a wonderful wake-up call.  It is a wake-up call to address the fact that we are now at an evolutionary societal ‘tipping point’ and it is time RIGHT NOW to do something about it, or pay the consequences. This tipping point involves our happiness, our spirituality, and yes our finances. Is it just me, or are you just as astonished that our leaders are not aggressively addressing the following issues?

*We have an aging dependent population that is living longer and social security is going broke

*Many of the top jobs going forward will be in engineering, and according to a close friend of mine (corporate CEO), for every one engineer we graduate in the US, China and India graduate 15!

*Lucrative pension and retirement plans for government (state and local) employees are overextended and may not be able to meet obligations in the future, and nothing is being changed to the current structure.

*Our service and manufacturing jobs have gone overseas at an enormous pace

*Tight money lending from banks is stalling both the housing and business recovery

*The US government and most of our states continue to spend far in excess of what they bring in. Other than higher taxes in the future, what other way is there to fund this? Where is the responsibility to future generations?

*Sure health care reform may be a wonderful idea, but if you read the fine print almost all of the entire new expense will be paid in the form of higher taxes for those making over $250,000 annually. Even if this sounds fair to you, what happens if the number of people making over $250,000 is greatly reduced? Just look at real estate and construction, financial services, and auto businesses; how many fewer people are making $250,000 today than just two years ago. Where is the money going to come from?

*Many non private, non suburban high schools have graduation rates less than 65%, and even for those graduating, our students go to school much less time than many students overseas.  How do we compete on a worldwide basis?

*Even with promises to the contrary, billions in military spending overseas appears to continue unabated with young lives being lost every day.

*Our brightest and youngest business people are losing their incentive to produce.  If you have the chance to converse with a successful business person in their thirties you will find that the discussion quickly moves to the probability of 50% tax brackets in the future, or the alternative of moving to a beach in Central America, living on less, and giving up on the DREAM.

So I ask again, WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP AND SELF-RESPONSIBILITY? Is the answer perhaps that our leaders realize they cannot get re-elected by taking a courageous stand on these issues or are we, individually, too lazy, stupid, and disconnected? This ‘Tipping Point’ has not arrived overnight. It is the sum of many many years characterized by overt materialism, violence, male domination, and lack of self-responsibility.  Even if we begin correction today it will take many years to reverse the trend.

This month the newsletter is mostly about our financial condition, but whether it is money, joy, happiness, or our spiritual connection, it all begins with taking personal responsibility for the outcome. What happens when we reach the point in this country, and other nations, that we have more takers than producers? THEN WHAT? Take a look at what appears to be going on in Greece right now.

The WAKE-UP call is clear! If we want to avoid the tipping point we must go about our lives and our business differently!

If you, your organization or business is looking for a speaker or coach to address these issues and offer tools for change please give me a call. 505 269 9909   andy@andyfeld.net

Be on the lookout for the feature length film I am currently co-producing with Avenstar Productions called “SHAMSHARA”. It will address these very issues discussed above.

With love and appreciation,

Andy