I recently received a call from a "concerned citizen" talking about how her child was diagnosed with Autism and that she had contacted her congressman for help. I am sorry for her situation, but the first thing that lept to my mind was "why?". Why would you call a congressman or senator for help on a personal matter? Given the track record of our representatives, I think we all understand that he needed the photo op. I would have been more impressed if he had helped this person as an individual rather than spend money that wasn't his so there was no cost to him. I am sure I will receive mail asking why I don't care about autistic children. I do, but this is not about autistic children. It is about a systemic and cultural challenge that we face not only in this country but in board rooms and in our personal lives. We all want the bailout. Why didn't this person go to her church or community before going to her United States representative? Given all of the examples and historical information regardless of party in charge, why would anyone ask the government for help? Oh, yeah it's the money.
What are we thinking?
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study (I wonder how much that cost) the "stimulus" has been bogged down in a bureaucratic morass. "As of February 12, 2010, $88.7 billion, or a little more than 30 percent, of the approximately $282 billion of total Recovery Act funds for programs administered by states and localities had been paid out by the federal government. Of that amount, approximately $36 billion has been paid out since the start of federal fiscal year 2010." To put things in perspective, the Stimulus package was enacted on February 13, 2009, Fiscal Year 2010 begins October 1, 2009. We are now into the third quarter of the 2010 fiscal year with little result. Economists are reporting that the stimulus bill has little or no effect. So we have authorized over 716 billion in funds and what do we have to show, a website that provides information that has yet to be substantiated by any reputable group including the GAO, and the government run around. How many people understand the process or criteria for obtaining funding? Not many as we hear in this audio clip. How many corporate groups behaved in the same way. Companies too big to fail, yet when we hear the news coming out about Goldman Sachs we begin to see the ability of large organizations to manipulate other large organizations. What we learn from this is the fact that people will follow the rules, the question is what rules are we following? This is true for any large organization. People are trying to get along find their way and the rules can be used both for or against you. Apple one of the most innovative companies has a general rule, "do what Steve Jobs says". He is an innovator, what is not certain is whether he has been able to "institutionalize" that spirit and ability to innovate. Microsoft has suffered significantly since Bill Gates has left. The leadership has not been able to capture the spirit of its founder. Business schools are filled with case studies on how to build a culture that innovates, few have succeeded. So how does this affect our government?
We the people need to be innovators, and transform how we view the role of government, business and ourselves. We must first determine what we want. Most people don't know what they want for breakfast, and while they would like to be the hero, it takes work, blood sweat and tears. Most of us may be too comfortable for that. The audio clip tells us the story of what we will become. The content of our character will be the person not wanting to work but standing in line for a handout. Rather than building something, we will wait for something to be handed to us. That is the result of social justice or socialism taken to its logical conclusion. We can look to Russia and China as examples of our future. If we are not careful, Cuba will be our legacy. In the business world, all we need to do is look to the Automotive industry as an example of this type of thinking. India will replace us as the new world leader. We must make choices and like all choices they have consequences.
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