Seriously speaking, a day for hope and then the HARD work begins

I am back. We are on the cusp of an "historic" occasion as tomorrow a new president, who happens to be black (or at least half black) takes office as the 44th President of the United States. In honor of Martin Luther King Day (it is in the US), this inauguration does hold some special meaning.

Now, let us all get real. I think it is great. The color of Barack Obama's skin does not matter. His intelligence and character do. That is where he won this election. He campaigned on a message of hope and inclusion. In contrast to how the country has/had been run under President Bush. That was the winning strategy. I do not think of John McCain as a dishonorable sort (he fucking served his country in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War, so has demonstrated his character), he had the misfortune of trying to follow a Republican who spent all his political capital (for some "magic" beans, I presume). He did not stand a chance as the people wanted a change.

He, Obama, is now the poster child for the "revolution" that has occurred. The age of the Aquisitor is over. This age is characterized by both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush's presidencies. It is the age of the CEO as rock star. Intense greed at the top while those on the lower rungs could not get "theirs". This notion is best epitomized by the former CEO of Circuit City firing all his workers who earned $16/hr and then re-hiring them at $8/hr. He saved the company lots of money and "earned" his bonuses. Of course, his employees could no longer afford to buy at Circuit City. The best part is that Circuit City has gone tits up, so the strategy was great for the CEO's short term interest and ruinous for both the long term, the employees, shareholders, landlords, suppliers, and everyone else (it lessens competition in the retail consumer electronics space as one competitor is going the way of the dodo).

This is contrasted with Henry Ford of Ford Motor Car Company (a funny company to bring up now given their troubles). He paid his workers enough and got the cost of his cars down enough, so that his workers could afford to buy the very products they helped manufacture. It does go to show you that if you make/sell a product that your own employees cannot afford, then you will probably not remain in business very long.

As younger people have found their education made exorbitantly expensive and the nature of employment so grossly underpaid, a twenty year cycle comes crashing down (as it must). A new generation is going to have to fix the problems created by the previous generation. Barack Obama is the poster child/man for this movement.

He is young and in touch with a younger generation, who has been screwed by an older generation. Bush and Clinton turned a blind eye to the excesses and inequities created by their generation. Given McCain's age and the general economic conditions in place around the time of the election, he did not stand a chance. He represented the status quo and the status quo was no longer working. In fact, the cost of this mess will borne by future generations just as it was so when the budgetary deficits of the 80s were being run up.

The biggest problem is how to "fix" the economy. My leanings are to let the weak fail. Here is why. Here is an article that reminded of how perverse the whole situation is when you start to condemn the strong and those who ran their businesses well by letting the weak gain government favor and money with no apparent view to what that future, you helped create, will look like.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123146363567166677.html

It is not long. If you have not read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, I suggest you do it and if you have read it, I suggest re-reading it.

I am done for today. Ciao!