Friday, March 6, 2009

Listen to Santana's "I am winning" and do your work!

Tired of bailing out the fiscally irresponsible who you trusted so much with your hard-earned money? Wouldn't you rather spend time doing something else that will guarantee a benefit for yourself, just when your frustration is at it's highest. Tired of playing by the rules only to realize that all your tax dollars are being spent to bail out all the banks? Well, if you say yes to even one of these questions, you are not alone and you are not abnormal. Nor do you need any kind of help or counseling.

It's time you started thinking about "winning" because that's the going attitude of the day. The winning attitude is going to help keep yourself optimistic, and take charge of your life. You will find that you have stopped complaining and started working towards improving your life and your surroundings. Don't expect Obama to be your Messiah. He is not going to come and save you, and don't ever believe it when they tell that you have been living irresponsibly borrowing too much to buy homes, and which has what has lead to the nations' banking issues. You are probably the only element in the economy that has got it all right. You worked 12 hours a day for the last 8 years, paid all your bills, skipped half your vacations and in return all you expect is an affordable home that is not too far from your place of work. Market forces have determined how much your home would cost. You have not been going to auction houses and trading on mortgage securities. You have not been going on eBay and buying that piece of barren land in New Mexico that you have never seen. You have pretty much been rushing to get home from work in the commute traffic so you can pick up your child from school. You have been maintaining a family and working hard to keep your job while you find the employers are getting tax incentives to export the jobs abroad.

But while you were living responsibly and doing everything right, there have been a few who have been playing with mortgage securities and trading it in the world markets, using exotic derivatives for the purpose of immediate gains. And while you were working hard and shopping for your necessities and saving the little money left for college education of your kids, there have been people who have approved emergency funds to be taken out of the nations' treasury in billions of dollars for fighting a war in a foreign country like Iraq, which should never have been started in the first place. They have falsely promised you about national security and they have indulged in fear-mongering to make sure you do not stop them from using that money. And while you were filling $5 a gallon of gas, you have been told that India and China have been largely contributing to increased demand for world's oil. And then you also read the headlines in the news that Exxon has made a record profit of $37 billion in 2008, the highest ever made by any company. You also learn that 12 of the world's largest 15 companies are oil companies.

And while you have been told that capitalism is under threat, you find that companies like AT&T and Comcast lobby the government of the major urban cities of the country to prevent the proliferation of high speed internet via Wi-Fi max or other cool technologies. And you find yourself shopping in Walmart, Target, Costco, more often than the convenience store right near your home because you know your 5/1 ARM is due a month from now, and you are fearing that your monthly payments are going to rise. You also learn that these stores pretty much carry most products that are no longer made in this country.

And while you hope that skilled American workers need to return back to their jobs, you also learn that we are adding 1 million illegal immigrants into this country's population. You are also told that the welfare, education, hospital and jail resources are pretty much being utilized by the illegals. And you have been told that you are not American, if you say no to illegals. So you have been historically blackmailed and held on a social leash for the span of your life.

All this will drive you to lose. You would prefer being a loser. But don't. You could be winning. Because you did everything right. And when nothing works for you to motivate yourself, just listen to Santana's "I am winning" and tune out of reality.