Forget party ideology - your family is your #1 priority
What all this is telling us is that we spend too much time picking sides politically and too much energy and emotion following events in the Capitol Hill.
For most people, here’s the unfortunate truth. You are completely unable to affect what happens in DC. You cannot affect laws made to please lobbyists, nor deals made with billion dollar corporations behind closed doors.
We now have, as I heard once, the best form of government money can buy. Unless you’re a large corporation or a person of undue influence, your best strategy is to reserve your energies for, and focus on, your own personal finances.
Kennedy’s question, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” does not need to pass entirely out of our lexicon right now, but you must be aware of the cold, hard realities of government and society today.
CBS reported in 2008 that there were 237 millionaires serving in Congress, about 44% of their members. This is in sharp contrast to the 1% of the American population who are millionaires.
Does that tell you anything? What it tells me is that politicians’ priorities and perspectives are not those of the average individual. Yet, we turn out dutifully to applaud politicians who will in all likelihood be lobbyists in a few years, speaking for narrow interests. Why? Perhaps because we live in rock star culture.
So What, Then?
Ok, now to the punch line. This is not just some anti-establishment rant. It is actually quite clear-eyed and focused on you, the citizen, the consumer.
1. Do your due diligence when you vote. If the choice is between the bad and the worse, at least pick the bad – the choice that will be marginally better for you. Research the track records of senators and congressmen and pick those who support issues that help you as well as the majority in the country, not just special, moneyed interests. Just don’t waste too much time doing it. The one thing you must do is vote, even if the choices you face are pathetic.
2. Most of your effort should be focused on your personal financial situation, not wasted on some millionaire’s political campaign – unless of course it’s your campaign!
3. Realize that things have changed forever in America.
- Hundreds of thousands of jobs are gone forever; whole industries have left these shores, never to return,
- High unemployment (i.e., above 8% is likely to be with us for a long time)
- The rise of China, India, Brazil and others will continue to negatively impact our standard of living
- Our unpayable (yes, I said it, unpayable) national debt of $14.6 trillion will continue to be a drag on all sectors of the economy for the next few decades
- Our standard of life here in the U.S. will adjust downward as others rise and our debt multiplies
- The further you are from retirement, the less you should depend on Social Security, which is headed for insolvency. In any case, all its money has already been poached by the general fund.
- The expectations you grew up with regarding a working government, the economy, safety nets, work, retirement – you’ll have revisit them all.
4. Your sole priority is to avoid the future that this portends for Americans so you stay or become a member of the shrinking middle-class or the rich. The GINI Coefficient is a score between 1 and 100 that shows the divide between rich and poor. The higher a Gini coefficient the more unequal the distribution of wealth is.
The UK, facing widespread class riots – is at a record 69.7. America has a score of 80.1, which is surpassed by few countries. This is not a justification for rioting, but it underlines my assertion that despite the sound bites, the average person ranks low on the list of Congress’s priorities. You and your family are really only a priority to you.
If this sounds sober, it is meant to be. Too many people line motorcade routes for their politician of the moment and go home unable to pay the light bill or get a job. Personal financial responsibility is the new name of the game.
Save, invest, network, work hard, use every government benefit available to you and be realistic about where the country is going and what you need to do to get a chair when the music stops.
Recent Comments