hittingthesweetspot

Posts Tagged ‘United States’

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Friday Sweets: The Primitive, Intrusive Software Update Process

In Uncategorized on May 16, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Automatic Updates 'Restart Required' in Window...

Automatic Updates ‘Restart Required’ in Windows XP SP1. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The desktop personal computer is not dead, nor will it be anytime soon. By all measures in this country however, it has taken a back seat to the technology of the mobile set. The lone area of growth for the industry remains in markets outside the United States. This is not an area where new computer manufacturers will excel though. The personal computer in all its present and recent past editions already has all the power that developing nation users need–making the used computer market where the action is.

In the United States and particularly in academic settings, having the latest and greatest hardware and software has never been part of the equation; having computers available for students that need them is all that is strived for. In fairness to colleges and universities, that is really where their technological commitment to student users of on campus resources begins and ends.

Many of my current classmates do not have any computer access other than their smart phones. Some only have regular cell phones and desperately need computer lab resources that are available on campus. When I come to the school library (which has computers for student use) and I need a computer, I’ll bring in my laptop, use the Wi-Fi and save the precious, available workstations for students without mobile computer resources or desktops at home.

I often think about how useful older machines are, especially when I am being asked to download updates by any of my Windows 7 or Ubuntu machines. That is one of the things I like about running OS X Leopard on PowerPC Macs–I’m not going to get another single update prompt from Apple, and that is just fine. I can actually do work while my other machines are updating. The problem with updates is that they can sometimes go amiss and then you end up having to troubleshoot, wasting precious time.

I used to think getting regular updates and having my machine install them was pretty cool; nowadays not so much. The process of updates is still too obtrusive, invasive, even, if you will. That is something that bugs me. Why would I want to restart for an update? Why should I ever have to unless the machine locks up on me? Why should I have to wait for my Windows 7 laptop to install updates before I can shut down?

Image representing Google Chrome as depicted i...

Image via CrunchBase

Look at how far we have come technologically-speaking. Updates still take over our machines just like they did a couple of decades ago. This is true for smart phones, too. That is why a lot of people do not update, they could not be bothered to do so and I don’t blame them. The intrusiveness of the process has remained the same for a long, long time.

At school, I have had Windows 7 machines start installing updates upon my starting them up. Can you say annoying? Plus, they are running Internet Explorer 8 which is a complete dog. It reminds me of how irrelevant Firefox is compared to Google Chrome on Windows 7 PCs now, too. It’s ok as a browser for Ubuntu if you are running it stock. I went to check what version Firefox was up to on my Windows 7 HP Compaq and it was 20.0.1. But lo and behold, Firefox is downloading an update as we speak. Can you say annoying again? I know, I know. I should be happy I can get the latest browser updates where my Mac cannot.

But surprise. My old PowerPC G4 Sawtooth got an update recently to Roccat web browser. It is now at version 3.2 and dare I say it’s pretty fast, fun and works well. I also discovered the 2010 era Sunrise browser for the G4. Both of these browsers are delightful. I get a modern, up to date browser for my PowerPC machine with Roccat. With Sunrise on the Wi-Fi at home, it seems to be faster than Leopard WebKit, but WebKit has always suffered fits and starts on the G4. I do like being able to view .pdf’s in browser tabs on Leopard WebKit, though.

Colleges and universities need updates on their systems mostly in the name of security. Windows is a breach waiting to happen and I get that it needs constant patching. PowerPC machines on the other hand are relatively safe. They don’t get any system software updates anymore but they run Office 2008 just fine, still, and students or anyone who needs simple word processing and spreadsheet capability can still use these older Microsoft Office Suite versions–typically without issue, too.

The sweetest part of the whole thing about using an older machine is you don’t have to restart or shut down until you’re good and ready. Browser updates like Roccat and WebKit do not require a system restart like operating system updates do. So, I keep using my PowerPC warrior tower of power and it never barks anything about an OS update to me…ever.

OS X to the 10th power? System software updates are just wrong, too in our faces. They just need to happen seamlessly while we work. They need to not install while we are shutting down. If they need to happen at all they certainly should not ever nag me to restart.

Maybe Apple will announce “Perpetual iMac” at the WWDC–always on (except when it sleeps), never bothers you about software updates and intuitively knows you do not want to be bothered about any of them. They already made physically upgrading new Macs pretty difficult–almost as if you could not be bothered to ever upgrade them. Why can’t they settle for a similar philosophy regarding software updates? Update without taking over my machine or do not update at all.

Oh yeah, Firefox is up to version 21 now on my Windows 7 box. Version 21, really. Much like that Facebook status you’re getting ready to type…reconsider because it’s annoying to get a lot of updates–even if they’re coming from you.

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Being mindful of what you represent

In Uncategorized on March 8, 2013 at 1:41 pm
English: The logo of The University of Louisville.

English: The logo of The University of Louisville. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before I was allowed to go on liberty while abroad in the Navy, I was always fully aware that I was not only representing the U.S. Navy, but the United States as well.

I understood this was a responsibility, and my behavior—good or bad, was not only a reflection on myself, but also on that of my country and branch of military service.

Oftentimes it came down to good decision-making while ashore. Many of us had curfews for when we needed to return to our ships or bases. Most of us on deployment in the Navy were imbibing in adult beverages for the first time in many weeks or months, and our tolerance for these libations was diminished; this alone had the potential to greatly impair our judgment while out having fun.

Being committed to always putting our best foot forward, whether it’s going out on a job interview, doing your actual job or just being out and about downtown somewhere, can have lasting, positive influences on you as an individual, and all those you come in contact with while doing so.

While out dining downtown Louisville recently and enjoying our dinner and spirits, my sweetie and I noticed a bit of a buzz concerning a young man and his dinner party, sitting at the table next to ours.

There was not anything loud or rambunctious going on; just a steady stream of folks that began approaching the young man at the table. Rhonda recognized him as someone on the University of Louisville men’s basketball team.

“Ah! That would explain it,” I thought.

We realized it was Junior Forward Luke Hancock, or, Rhonda did.

I’m still getting acclimated to just how hugely important Louisville basketball, and basketball in general (UK anyone?) is to Kentucky.

I’ve long since stopped trying to follow the Denver Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies and Avalanche professional sports teams I left behind in Denver.

Even though it’s a smaller world via all the technology available, it still takes a concerted effort to follow sports teams once you leave a town. It happened when I left New York. I soon adopted Denver teams as it took too much effort to keep up with my Yankees, Knicks and Giants.

Denver

Denver (Photo credit: halseike)

One thing that someone who enjoys anonymity like myself notices, is how someone who is not able to just blend in to the scenery while out dining, behaves while in the public eye.

People were coming up to the young Mr. Hancock and asking him for his autograph. Again, I initially found it odd as he’s on a college team and not a pro one. But, I’m finally starting to get it now that I’ve been here going on five months and we are entering March Madness time (I suspect I will follow the tournament more than I ever have before this year, too). I’ve even had the distinct privilege of being able to enjoy a few basketball games at the Yum! Center, too—both women and men’s basketball team games.

Hancock fielded each request for both autographs and photographs with grace, flair and alacrity. He is obviously aware that he is representing more than himself while he’s in public, but I suspect the young man gets the big picture and has the good sense to behave well because it is seen as just the right thing to do.

Before we left, we walked up to Luke (it’s the end of this post and he’s on a first name basis, now, yes ;-) ), congratulated him on a good game and wished him good luck the rest of the way.

If you haven’t realized by now, I was largely impressed at how he carried himself while out having a meal with what was probably his family and/or friends—and never getting rude or disrespectful at the fairly constant stream of people in the restaurant who wanted some of his time.

Go Cards.

 

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Unhappy Munchkins Notwithstanding, Things Are Better—Here’s Why

In Uncategorized on March 3, 2013 at 11:04 pm
Munchkins (specifically the "Lollipop Gui...

Munchkins (specifically the “Lollipop Guild”) as depicted in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although as humans we are inundated with modern-day tales of gloom and doom, and it seems that bad news far exceeds anything good that is heard or seen, we are living in the greatest period of overall prosperity the world as a whole has ever known.

We may have lost sight of this because even though there are more millionaires and billionaires walking around, their overall numbers are weak and of small stature by a greater margin than ever, in comparison to those totals of earners of more modest means.

And you wouldn’t realize how prosperous we are based on how miserable even those I term the new wealth munchkins among us, are.

Prosperity does not always lend itself to peace or happiness, but it sure buys a lot of neat stuff. There is something to be said for the peace of mind that wealth can offer in the form of security, though, and I grant the munchkins have security over those of us with less financial clout.

For those of us able to keep it all in perspective, however, we are still able to enjoy the best life has to offer again and again.

This is because the best things in life remain what they always have been and are more attainable than ever, because most of us are in a position to make healthy, educated and correct choices for ourselves.

By opening the turbulent gates of prosperity to the relative masses, though, federal governments in both the numbers one and two economic powers, the United States and China, respectively, are feeling the need to keep close watch over our newfound wealth munchkins in both countries—the halcyon days of each country having long since passed.

The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderfu...

The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an example of a literary villain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz were adorable citizens of a make-believe land who lived in harmony with their fellow munchkins as well as their leaders, and even their enemies—they knew who was bad (the Wicked Witch of the West) and avoided interacting with these negative sorts who would harm and/or hurt themselves and others.

We are all being watched, scrutinized, audited, counted, but the wealthy are in slides under the microscope.

Is it still good to be rich? Yes and no.

If given the choice most of us wouldn’t flinch at the chance to be.

But with great wealth, comes great responsibility.

The rich will continue to pay for more of the upkeep of the masses in the form of greater taxation. They will be taxed more as private citizens. The corporations they run will face increased costs of doing business.

For the wealthy, how they measure happiness can be found in the value of their portfolios.

And for all the wealth concentration that has gone on since the dawn of the digital age, the subsequent dot bomb crash of 2000, the 2008 financial crisis and the rebuilding of the Wall Street and Goldman Sachs investment banking empires through present day, the wealthy understand that as long as everyone else has life’s basic staples, that is, they can eat, clothe themselves, have a roof over their heads and can scratch out enough of a living to pay their bills, they can remain living in harmony just like the cast in the Wizard of Oz.

The rich and powerful are in fact counting on it.

That, and the fact our attention spans have never been shorter.

Just when we are all up in arms, outraged over some issue we can’t remember 72 hours from now, mainstream media will distract us with yet another report of blight in another part of the world other than our own—we can’t own what’s not happening in our own back yards, and they get this.

What makes us happy? Are the rich and powerful more happy than anyone else?

We have the benefit of knowledge, science, technology and modern medicine to help in our quest for contentment. If we are fortunate enough to make good choices by demonstrating self-control more often than not, have love in our hearts and by extension our lives as well, we will never stop rising above munchkins of greater financial persuasion.

 

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Let’s see what happens

In Uncategorized on February 11, 2013 at 5:06 pm
60 Minutes

60 Minutes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since stuff always happens when you plan things, and I do not enjoy not being able to write each and every day, the lack of a regular schedule of writing would seem to make an appropriately boring topic for this blog piece.

As exciting as it would be to have a blog whose intention is to dull the knives that are our brains to the fullest extent possible, I still set out on each and every blog journey to deliver value. There is considerable value to be had here, too, as where else are you going to find gripping content like this without paying a hefty premium? Should you decide you are sufficiently compelled to feed hittingthesweetspot’s creative machine, feel free to click the “Contact us” link at the top and by all means render a donation accordingly (all possible tongue in cheek references aside, eating is good).

The greatest thing that can happen in someone’s life remains love.

But chocolate, ocean waves, baseball and anything you really like eating, doing, experiencing, feeling, watching and seeing, all contribute to a life well lived.

Do we let money control us or do we control our money?

I know we don’t control our credit scores, or at least the ability to correct any mistakes on them in a timely fashion. I saw as much on 60 Minutes.

60 Minutes, like this blog, has the ability to draw attention to various things, bad things, and things that are both good and bad.

What is really disappointing is when a media institution like 60 Minutes is pretty much powerless to bring change and reform to the very seedy businesses, personalities and bureaucracies they occasionally report on. They have a lot of resources, are influential, yet once things like corruption, avarice and lack of integrity are brought to the public’s attention, the ball is dropped; seemingly no one in a position to do so ever follows up.

I challenge people with appropriate, related authority to remedy things like this, to step up and do so, particularly after viewing upsetting television news stories (like those of credit reporting agencies whose uncorrected mistakes on credit reports impact tens of millions of people negatively), on shows like 60 Minutes.

This is my personal blog and as such, resources are limited, to put it kindly. Although it is ever evolving to the point where I will not rule out more investigative journalism-type formats in the future, presently, all I will do is echo that discord, injustice and also good things like our pets always being there for us, do exist, and are rightly represented at the forefront of this blog.

Blogs are becoming more influential, are they not?

Blog of the day once again

And aren’t the rules governing their formats and what they should be about also ever-changing?

I continue to take pride in the fact I expound on whatever I choose to. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech and expression will always bring tears to my eyes when I know how often they come under attack. It is also disconcerting to know they do not exist in any fashion in large parts of the world. To speak your mind either on paper, in person, in words over the air or on the Internet, is still fraught with peril depending on who is reading. A legal disclaimer is a necessary protection for the blogger.

I have been dormant for quite some time and restricting content to any singular topic is unfair to my form of expression as well as readers who come to this site never knowing what it is they will get. They can be sure, however, that what their eyes and imaginations receive is created with sincerity that comes from going through life keenly observing, hearing both sides whenever at all possible, and consequently sharing my thoughts.

It is an exciting time to be a blogger. We are seemingly everywhere.

Our power to influence grows greater with each passing day.

Speaking our minds and hearts represents not only our own individual, respective essences, but also all of those we come to know, have contact with, and love.

Let us respect this, acknowledge it, and be kind with all our demonstrations of it, for if we do, what does happen should be pretty cool.

Now I gotta go feed the dog.

 

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Write this down: handwritten note taking still in vogue

In Uncategorized on February 7, 2013 at 8:32 pm
School

School (Photo credit: The Library of Virginia)

School just seems sweeter this time around.

Things like showing up on time, being prepared, studying and taking notes are still as important now as they were when I last attended.

Since that was a while ago, I find the sense of familiarity comforting as I attend classes that upon completion will leave me fully qualified to embark on a new career as a Medical Coding Specialist.

Aside from feeling a bit squeezed when I sit in some desk chairs, I feel I am fitting in just fine. All of my classmates are on the same page: we are studying hard and trying to do our best; at least I believe that is what the majority of us are doing.

One thing that has been shocking is tuition costs. But it is what it is. Education is not inexpensive and when you look at it as an investment in yourself, you most definitely feel you are worth it.

I recently read that I am part of a growing trend of older folks returning to school. Not one to really want to be part of any “trend,” in this instance I don’t mind as it is mostly out of necessity.

diatype photographic typesetting machine by H....

diatype photographic typesetting machine by H. Berthold AG (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much of the work I have done for companies in my recent work history has involved typesetting, pre-press and composition. The company I last worked for did not have an office in the part of the country I moved to. And due to the sensitive nature of the work and the potential liability that could be incurred, working remotely was not an option. Plus, the only place you can still be a typesetter is with a financial printer. The industry is automating rapidly, too, while many of the public companies that previously did business with them, are now performing their own filings and related reporting.

So, what is a worker in a contracting industry supposed to do?

Go back to school and learn something new that can position you for a job with a better future, that’s what.

Once I researched, figured out what I could do that would interest me and how I would go about getting there, my fears were allayed.

Now that I have been in classes over a month, my insecurities about being in a classroom setting full-time again have been put to rest, too.

Although some students use tablets in some of their classes, the good majority still take notes from instructors the old-fashioned way–writing them by hand. As someone who can still type a little, I suppose I could take notes on a laptop. I do oftentimes type up the notes I take by hand during lectures afterwards, but it’s pretty cool to see students taking notes the same way I did back in the day.

Talk about what is old is new again.

E-learning short courses

E-learning short courses (Photo credit: London College of Fashion short courses)

Online classes are a wonderful option for those juggling work and school. But after chatting up some of my classmates about online learning, many related that if you at all procrastinate (who me? I’ll finish this tomorrow), online studies may not be the best for you.

For me, although I was originally enrolled for a completely online curriculum, I opted for full-time classes because I could earn my diploma and certification sooner.

I am so glad I did. Interacting with fellow classmates as well as instructors is fun and engaging. Plus, I am making friends, gaining valuable knowledge, networking and having fun.

My advice in closing is do not think returning to school is daunting.

Yes, studying, being prepared, taking quizzes, tests and exams is stressful at times, but how you feel and what you get in return while applying yourself to any given task at hand—all the while being mindful of your goal of graduation, is most definitely worth it.

And double yes. I am an older, returning college student and have a long way to go, but school, like life, when given the tools to be successful, never gets old.

 

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We do it to ourselves

In Uncategorized on January 20, 2013 at 10:23 am
Automobile

Automobile (Photo credit: A*A*R*O*N)

Athletes who smoked, chewed, drank and did drugs from the 30s through the 60s–before science came up with what it has regarding how bad these things are for you, did so anyway, and without giving it a second thought in most instances.

Sometimes you hear, “If I live to be 80, I’m going to do whatever the heck I feel like doing.”

Isn’t that what anyone does in a free country, no matter their age?

We ignore negative consequences for our poor behavior every day.

What happens when we suddenly are told we have a really bad disease (that has resulted from unhealthy habits over a long period of time) and there is little to nothing that can be done about it?

Do we worry about it or do we do just like we did when we were chewing tobacco and not worry about it—remain oblivious to positive behavior modification and continue bad habits?

Life is funny sometimes.

We each have defining moments that are sometimes clearer than others when they are happening.

Sometimes it is the realization that we will pay dearly for something we did earlier in life and this becomes our legacy. We are remembered not so much for what we accomplished but for how much we suffered while dealing with something that was killing us.

Cancer research is big business for pharmaceutical companies and the citizenry that own stock in them. These companies are largely responsible for the great gains on paper that our 401ks have enjoyed the past four years.

We are pleased with our 401k statuses and are disgusted simultaneously, with the fact we have not found a cure for cancer.

“Let’s hope we find a cure for cancer in our lifetime.”

I recently heard that it is not in the best interest of pharmaceutical companies that there ever is a cure for cancer. I understand cancer research is big profit for these companies and also responsible for significant gains in our stock portfolios.

But, as a more giving, than a taking person, I am saddened that anyone, anybody or any organization could sincerely allow people are dying in the name of profit and will continue to do so as long as the United States is the world’s superpower and controls the shots, so to speak.

Does anybody really accept this? I suppose some of us do.

Another example of big business controlling the greater good that could be possible is the automobile industry. We are still using the gasoline-powered engine; it is early 20th century technology.

gasoline

gasoline (Photo credit: Il Primo Uomo)

But oil, much like cancer research for big pharmaceutical companies, means big money and profit for countries with a vested interest in oil continuing to be the way we fuel ourselves.

It is not in the best interest of oil companies for the gasoline-powered automobile engine to go away anytime soon. We will have self-driving cars and electronic dashboards with choices for beard trimming and make-up application while driving, before the gasoline-powered engine is ever fully abandoned.

I suggest we already have much of the technology to combat our greatest diseases and illnesses, just like we already have the ability to drive cars that run on something other than gasoline (don’t talk to me about expensive, high maintenance and inconvenient solar-powered vehicles, either).

The problem remains our mindset. Most of us chase a buck all day and night long. If we are fortunate enough to not go to bed hungry, we should be smart enough to change our priorities.

If something is bad for you, are you going to keep doing it anyway because you will have more money in the long run while not having as high a quality of life while doing so?

The athletes of the 30s through the 60s (without benefit of science) knew the negative substances they were ingesting were bad for them. Their bodies filled with garbage as they ignored their self-decay.

We know better today as science tells us what’s bad for us.

Why do we still do it anyway? Is this just how it is? How long are we content to let greed control all?

 

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Failing your way to happiness and health

In Uncategorized on December 27, 2012 at 2:14 am

Fallen blue sky tree

Want real success? Let yourself fail…often…and stop worrying how bad that might sound on the surface and look on your resume.

Some of us feel disappointed by 2012 and are ready for it to be drawing to a close. Others created some positive change during this past year by choosing what is best for them.

I was told I would miss my paycheck before I moved.

I do.

But that is all I can really miss about a situation that was overall less positive for me to be in.

Failure_Freeway

Failure_Freeway (Photo credit: StormKatt)

As the end of the year comes steaming to completion we are hit over the head with motivational musings such as “new beginnings” and how being positive can help jump-start your career as you head into the new year.

Being positive is generally-speaking the way to go.

Your attitude sets the tone for each day as early as when you rise out of bed.

Do you wake up loathing your lot in life and what awaits you at the office?

If so, change your attitude.

That is one thing you can control. You cannot necessarily control all that will occur on the job on any given day.

Changing your attitude to one of positivity takes practice.

You cannot be positive part of the time; it is a way of life. If you are only positive when it is convenient or when things are going well for you, you will not be able to weather life’s personal and professional challenges well.

English: Think positive

English: Think positive (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You have to train your mind to expect good things.

Instead of giving way to negative feelings on the less than savory things going on in your life as you start your day, why not ask yourself what good thing could or might happen for you on this day?

If you can train yourself to be receptive to goodness, you will more likely deal better with negative things that crop up on some days.

I have come into this knowledge the hard way.

I had to be willing to fail professionally before I could enjoy some success personally.

If you are not of the risk-taking variety of folks out there you are limiting the goodness that can come to you.

For many years I justified a job that was grinding me up, by the paycheck I received. I watched as my co-workers’ health deteriorated and suffered through the stresses the job placed on all of us. We were all relatively well-compensated but something was always missing, eluding all of us as we grumbled about less time with our families and friends as one of the main reasons we disliked the job.

Money kept me and my old co-workers doing what we were doing.

It, along with our fears, keeps a lot of us in jobs we might not be passionate or entirely happy about.

We end up living the life of a consumer—buying stuff we see on television. Even if we do not buy something, we buy into the lifestyle that our money that comes from the jobs we grumble about provides. On weekends we find ourselves catching up on television programs that have already aired and then discussing them many days later with people who do the same thing.

We stopped living in the moment.

We gave up on taking any risks that might create positive change in our lives.

We did it for the paycheck.

We had enough money and yet we were miserable.

I often wondered why people with more money than they need were not as happy as I thought they should be.

They were successful by business and professional standards perhaps.

Personally, they were suffering a bitter existence.

They were unhappy on the inside as they enjoyed the outward success that they were taught all their lives would make them happy.

Their fears kept them from taking chances that might help improve how they feel about themselves and their lives.

Adaptation of above image illustrating an Inte...

Adaptation of above image illustrating an Internet meme (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Failure stings.

It hurts.

It can make us feel inadequate.

But you may never come to know what is really important and meaningful in life if you do not fail often.

Everyone is going to make mistakes on a new job.

I have made plenty of them, try to learn from them and certainly try not to make the same ones more than once.

I am old(er) than a lot of you reading this, do not necessarily believe that age and wisdom go together (since I’m allowing myself to fail almost daily for the first time in a long time!), and while I am afraid some days that I do not, or won’t have, enough money, I know those feelings are only temporary.

The courage to endure repeated professional failures has liberated me to change my attitude and enjoy my personal life more than ever.

Something really good is going to happen today.

 

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Have you surrendered to marketing?

In Uncategorized on August 26, 2012 at 7:47 pm

How disciplined are you?

Are you able to buy only what you need?

Or do you have absolutely no willpower whatsoever when it comes to the advertisements you see and the blitz of marketing you are assaulted with for products and services that are mostly not essential to your daily existence?

What happens when you make the conscious decision to only purchase what it is you actually need?

You demonstrate the capacity to change everything as we know it about how we came to be buried under the global economic thumb of emerging manufacturing nations.

The United States economy is largely based on consumption.

Going all the way back to Bill Clinton and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we offshored our manufacturing and opened up our markets internationally in the name of increased buying power and economic prosperity for not only the United States, but the world at large, too.

We were going to continue to have the world’s leading economy, but instead of actually making anything, we were just going to shift that elsewhere and consume our way to continued number one economic power status, with abundant, inexpensive goods and services made in now-economic superpower China.

China and all the other countries besides the United States who took up manufacturing were counting on Americans in their pharmaceutical-induced haze, to play this dangerous game, too.

We gave up control of our destiny when we shifted manufacturing to places other than the good old US of A.

It was supposed to be good.

It was described as a win-win for everyone.

But it hasn’t worked. America no longer innovates. The emerging nations that have taken up the manufacturing base are the ones who are innovating—we can only at best contract with them to offer what it is they are innovating, as sadly, we are no longer capable of doing so.

We never had a model for the global economy when we let our politicians compromise our way of life. If this complete shift in how we live had historical precedent, we surely would have at least questioned their steering us towards it.

But, lacking this example, we simply listened and complied with their message when they told us that this was really the way to go—we’d trade our manufacturing-based economy for a service based one, we’d still have plentiful jobs and our choice of inexpensive, readily available, consumer electronics. They excitedly expressed all this to us like the good sales people they were, and we bought it hook, line and sinker.

Boy, did we ever let them stick it to us.

To be fair, we never really stood a chance against them, though. Politicians are sales people. They try to sell us something and we all too often are buying what they are selling.

America is the most addicted country in the world. We enjoy any pill imaginable that big pharmaceutical companies prescribe for us, for any ailment imaginable. If we aren’t feeling well, we can be given a pill that will take care of it.

Sometimes a shiny new piece of technology is the pill that makes us feel better.

Occasionally, we see on television that if we eat at a certain establishment regularly, or order a certain entrée on special, the good times will almost certainly, really start rolling!

Now we’re signing up in droves to be marketed to on our smart phones, too.

The global economy has seen marketing advances in quantities, levels and places never previously approached in recorded history. We are blitzed with advertisements on TV.

Our computers need to be powerful in order to endure the amount of flash animation and advertising that must be clicked past in order to get the information we’re looking for. This includes, ironically enough, the online version of print media newspapers that pretty much render them impossible to navigate without a beefed up machine.

The overall end to this predicament is nowhere in sight, though, no matter what interpretation of the Mayan calendar you subscribe to.

There may be no going back in terms of globalization.

But you can start to change everything for the better by only purchasing what you need.

Can you do that?

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