…and it was an expectation by them that you would follow through and succeed. You were encouraged and praised when the task was accomplished. And probably got a negative reaction when it was not done correctly.
Marci’s comment on expectation was right on. If my parents never expected and guided me through the whole process, my money habits might be much different than they are now.
Our Society’s Lack of Expectation
I think in many cases that expectation to succeed is not there anymore.
Nor the punishment/censure when it does not happen.
Sending the Wrong Message
How is our country treating those that recklessly bought houses without regard for risk? We are helping them refinance and trying our best to keep them in their homes.
While this is honorable in many ways, these people misses an important lesson. All we are telling them is that “if there are enough of you that does something wrong, all will be forgiven”.
What about the banks that went ballistic and approved loans as fast as possible without care? We let them keep their bonuses and we give them more money to lend out. (btw, CNN has a great scorecard on how much we are spending on the bailout)
We Are Expected to Spend Our Money
I was listening to Obama’s speech on his stimulus plan, and he mentioned that the lack of spending from Americans are hurting businesses, which in turn cuts jobs which further reduces spending. He made it sound like it was a bad thing when spending slows down.
In America, we are expected to spend when I thought the opposite is more appropriate. Shouldn’t we be expected to keep our money and only spend on things that are necessary? Surely this would hurt the economy in a big way but at least most families would be better off in the future as saving rates gradually increases.
Speaking of the speech, I really liked the fact that he’s putting emphasis on waste in the government though. Spending is good, but only if it’s responsible and efficient. It’s important to cut out the wastes and I’m glad that our president-elect is sending a message to everyone that this will be addressed.
Changing This Starts in Your Own Household
Fundamental changes like these take years if not decades, but how does it happen if we don’t start now? Start by shaping your children to become an efficient money manager as eventually, our society will be led by them.
- Start explaining this financial crisis to them and letting them know that all the reckless lending was wrong.
- Expect them to do what’s right by telling them.
- Reward them for good behavior and punish (responsibly) for bad behavior.
The future of America is not just in our next President’s hands. It’s our country!
It might seem ridiculously simple, but expect people to do what’s right, reward good behavior and punish the bad.
The future will be better.
Promote or Save This Article
If you like this article, please consider bookmarking or helping us promote it!
Print Post | Email Post | Del.icio.us | Stumble it! | Reddit |
Related Posts
- 50 Basis Points Fed Rate Cut and Mortgage Rates
- Sunday Linking Personal Finance Carnival Edition
- My couch is the richest member of my family!
- Places to Think About Money
- Last Link Love of 2007
Subscribe! (and Get a Mini-Course with Free Registration)
Follow me on twitter! In addition, subscribe to grab free amazing content or take advantage of the newsletter to have content delivered to you. For starters, a 7-part mini course to help you spend less and be happy will be delivered to you when you subscribe!(Don't worry about spam, because we hate it as much as you do!)
Twitter
Facebook
Subscribe
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thank you for the thoughtful article. I strongly agree with most of it. I would like to comment on two points, however. Your comment, “if there are enough of you that does something wrong, all will be forgiven” is true in hindsight, but maybe not at the time. We tend to think of our bankers as having our best interest at heart. The reality is that the old fashioned idea of a banker is not who is SELLING a mortgage. Yes, we are all ultimately responsible for our own signatures on the dotted line, but I think that if enough, seemingly intelligent people are making the same mistake, it might be useful to consider who is helping (coersing?) them along the way. There are horror stories of people who absolutly could not affort a home. But the majority of people in trouble today can afford a home (maybe not the one they bought), if they had sound financial packages to buy and got sound financial advice.
Point 2: sure, lack of spending hurts business, but only if that business has over produced or is in an area, like buggy whips, that no longer has demand. BTW, somewhere, someone is making a profit off buggy whips. There is still a demand, just not what it once was. I do not exist to support business. Business exists to support me. If I don’t need that particular brand of support, I don’t need that particular business. Therefore my tax dollars should not go to bail out sick, ailing, and unecessary business. They should die of natural causes to make room for the truely thriving economy. The idea that bailouts are good for every one because they keep jobs going, money flowing, etc. is false. An economy will work naturally. The law of supply and demand only works without artificial intervention. It is egotistical for any government to think it know how best to handle what it perceives as problems. All the government is doing managing the house of cards it has built. Sooner or later all houses of cards will fall.