Changes occurring in today’s society, culture, economics and personal dynamics have happened all throughout history. I don’t believe that the changes are of anything new to humanity. Of course the effects of change were limited and/or confined according to the scale of the demographics and geographic areas. The difference today is that we are more aware and/or more educated, communication happens instantly and we are able to migrate readily. These aspects of our society pose some challenges as it has an effect on what is happening. It also means that solutions and gaps can be solved and filled much more rapidly. There is a majority of our world’s population that exists as if nothing has happened. They are not for better or worse. I envy their simplicity. However I/we cannot deny ourselves, and the exposure to a life that we are so fortunate to have. As the world changes, we adjust to the changes. I am no different than any other and must remind myself many times a day not to only adjust, but to empower the changes I see.

Power is fear. Could this be the root of all evil? It exists everywhere and anywhere. It is arrogance, animosity, superiority, control, and ambition. All traits that can be used for good, traits that drive us, succeed us, protect us, restrain us and make us better. Fear is good; it is self-preservation. Power is a hunger and a thirst that cannot be satisfied. Identifying the risks of Power and Fear may allow us to have a healthy balance in society and in our personal lives. I feel that everything has been built around Power and Fear. The shifting of power in Government has used us as pawns and sucked the life out of what would be a healthy society. It starts from the top and it has a trickle affect to and on the people of a society. It is not any different than what a child learns in terms of behavior from parents. You don’t notice it; it is so integrated in your family and social dynamics. The shifting of economic power has us all rushing and scrambling to take what we can and run. It, fails us, and our longevity to continue to build and continue to do business WELL with our respective employees, business partners, associates, family and friends. I want to think that there is a consciousness out there that sees this. And I want to believe that there is a change occurring because of this consciousness.

Greed and more. We want and we see. We see what business wants us to see and we are manipulated to think we are in control. We are inundated and bombarded daily and it has dulled our perception and reality. It’s actually altered our reality. We believe it because it is on the TV or in print. I seek it out, I need what you have, and they have. I want it because everyone else has it so that I’m the same; I’m integrated and connected. And what happens in the end is that it consumes me or it sits in a box, trashed or given away or just becomes obsolete. Obsolescence is built in; it is part of the design. I’m brain washed to think it is of Quality and of Value. I don’t have a baseline of what this is and what baseline I have is given to me by the same entity, organization, and enterprise. I don’t know if this will ever change, but I believe that we are more conscious. I don’t know that I believe in business but rather what comes out of business that adds value to our lives. This consciousness or awareness may not be honest; it may simply have been forced upon us. The change is that our resources are limited and we should utilize our resources efficiently. The change is that the world is a better place, our standard of living is better for it and hopefully it will propagate further. On the other hand, it has the affect of turning us all into the Borg.

More and more. The drive to profit, expand and grow or at least “show well” is complicated. It’s a social problem, you asked for it; and so you have pressured those in charge to “show well”. You want the profit as an investor, you are greedy just as the next person and so am I. This “showing well” of things and data is not easy to comprehend. It is convoluted in jargon, management speech and very difficult to understand SEC filings, annual reports, perspectives, and complex legal entity structures. So you get more, more value, more excess, more volume, and more waste. We get addicted; we need it. It’s designed so that we need to refill it, buy it again after it’s been consumed. It’s designed to spin off other businesses and services so that you consume even more. Consumption grows and we all feel the affects of this consumption. We are over weigh. We buy one remedy to resolve the affects of another remedy that was suppose to be the remedy we needed. We need a bigger house that we can’t afford, to house all this consumption and it’s not just to consume, it’s to house the shit we buy. Our pass time is shopping; we bring our kids with us shopping so we can spend quality time with the family. We compete with friends and neighbors to “have” that something better, cool thing to “better appearances”. Our kids don’t know the value of what they have; they don’t know what is of value. And now we are conscious of what we are doing to our planet. What do we do with all this digestion from our consumption? We’ve run out of places and what to do with the garbage. We are running out of natural resources. And now the cost of these resources for these things, this consumption is passed back on to us. It is a vicious cycle. Can we do without it and OH my God, how did our generations before us survive? They must have been barbarians!