Boomers – Your Crisis Has Arrived

Financial Sense har kommet med en lang avhandling som plasserer vår tid i en historisk syklus – en syklus som verden har vært igjennom før, og som det er mulig å spå noe om. Vennligst les Boomers – Your Crisis Has Arrived. Det er godt mulig at litt for mye er bygget på et for vagt og upresist empirisk fundament, men det går jo an å nikke anerkjennende til en god del. Sitater:

We enter 2009 and the Presidency of Barack Obama with citizens pessimistic about the future of our country. The public has lost faith in government, financial institutions, and religious institutions. Distrust of politicians, bankers, CEO’s, financial advisors, and moral leadership is well founded. The popular culture of over hyping public figures and then tearing them down has led to everyone and everything being discredited. The personal and public choices that will be required in the next few years will be harsh. Moral courage and leadership is what is needed. As I watch the likes of Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity work their rhetorical magic, it is clear that we have a major deficit in wisdom, courage and leadership. Instead of analyzing how we got here and how we want the country to be in ten years, when this crisis has past, we are focused only on specific right wing or left wing agendas and how to position ourselves for the next election cycle. The short sightedness of our current leadership will lead to the next more dangerous phase of this crisis.

Deretter kommer en lang rekke spådommer for det neste tiåret, og jeg sakser det følgende:

The stimulus package and TARP 6 plan will be implemented. The economy will not improve. By the Fall, Obama and the Democratic led Congress will push through trillions more in spending. The dollar will continue to fall versus gold. As the deficits grow and foreigners buy less and less of our debt, interest rates will rise. Oil will gradually rise as long as no external event causes it to spike. Protectionism will increase, leading to declining world trade. When we have not pulled out of this downturn in 2010, people will realize we are in a Depression and politicians have lied to them again. Social unrest will grow. Riots are likely to break out in poor urban areas. Governments always react to internal strife by seeking an external threat.
The external threat could be anything. Russia could invade Ukraine. Israel could attack Iran. When oil reaches $200 a barrel, disputes over drilling rights in the Arctic with Russia or China could cause a confrontation. Oil is the lifeblood of our society. If major shortages occur in the U.S. it would bring the country to a grinding halt. The panic would be so drastic that our Leaders will use every means at their disposal to get more oil. With the most powerful military on the planet at their disposal, and itching for a fight, our Leaders will manufacture a reason to go to war in order to secure oil supplies. The problem with waging a major war is that you need troops to sacrifice. The volunteer army will not do. When the government tries to reinstitute the draft, the fabric of this country will be torn to shreds.

Press TV – interessante nye perspektiver

Ny kilde for internasjonale nyheter: Press TV, iransk internasjonal nettavis, skrevet på engelsk.

Nye perspektiver er alltid bra, og det skal som kjent ikke mye til for at stoffet skal være av høyere kvalitet enn det som står i VG.

Britiske tenåringer er fire og en halv time online om dagen

Fra The Telegraph: Teenagers ‘spend an average of 31 hours online

Teenagers spend an average of 31 hours a week online and nearly two hours a week looking at pornography, according to a study.

Dette er i Storbritannia, tallene for Norge er sikkert høyere siden internett har vært her lenger og er mer utbygd.

(…) parents must not overreact by denying access to the internet. The internet is a fantastic resource for learning and development.

Og hva går så denne læringen og utviklingen på bekostning av? Den kanskje aller viktigste karakterstyrken som unge må lære seg å opparbeide er impulskontroll, altså evnen til å gjøre noe som gir belønning lenger frem i tid, men ikke umiddelbart (delayed gratification). Fra Wikipedia:

Deferred gratification or delayed gratification is the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants. This ability is usually considered to be a personality trait which is important for life success.

Å ha god impulskontroll er viktig for å kunne planlegge langsiktig (og ikke bli frustrert og gi raskt opp), og dermed viktig for suksess på så godt som alle områder i livet.

Hvis alle i et helt samfunn totalt mangler impulskontroll, kan man altså forvente at samfunnet ikke klarer å planlegge fremover, og at det meste som betyr noe dermed går nedenom og hjem.

Høres kjent ut.