From Long Island N.Y. And Serving THE WORLD!

Greed

What has brought America down to its financial knees is greed. A country that is not satisfied with what we have. We want more and lots of it. Then we start to want so much more we start to live beyond our means, the bubble explodes and our world of greed starts to melt.

I believe in profits and the finer things in life. That’s what capitalism has been all about. Back in the day there was a time a company cared about their product or service and enjoyed their earnings.  And yes we always answered to the investors. At one point they were willing to wait and watch a business grow, today if it’s not instant gratification they pull out.

Corporations purchasing others entity’s  because they cannot make their core business work has also led to more greed. The real tragedy is these companies have racked up so much debt that they make so many cut backs their own product quality suffers and lay-offs begin just to pay down debt to creditors and dividends for investors.

One example would be a very large American soup company at one time purchased a chocolate candy maker because they thought their soup business had peaked. Well in the end the chocolate business was dragging company profits down as a whole so they decided to sell the chocolate division and concentrate on their core product soup, and today they are doing well.

I remember in my youth I worked for a tire business which had one store that did quite well. Then the owner decided to expand eventually to four stores. The additional three were never money makers and eventually dragged down the main stores profits that the company eventually went belly up.  The owner wound up becoming a sales person for Goodyear. Moral of the story sometimes bigger is not always better.

We as individuals are greedy too by living beyond our means with two many credit cards, homes we cannot afford, and always having the latest and greatest. Of course a new car every two years, what would the neighbors think?

I remember when I was a kid my father made a modest salary, and we moved to Sayville in a nice three bedroom ranch on a quarter acre of property north of the tracks not south.  There were eight of us, six kids plus Mom and Dad. The house only had  one bathroom. Sure there were days that were hectic but as a family we made it work. The mortgage and bills were paid on time. My father had one credit card for emergencies and a small charge account with Spiegel (small catalog company at that time) for clothes. We also had one television set and we all watched TV together. Today most families have a TV in every room. Talk about disconnect.

Also as a family Mom would take us to the store and we would hound her for everything. She was good though, Mom knew how to say NO!! I remember one rough patch where my father was laid off around Christmas time. In a family meeting he told us to make a list of three items we wanted for Christmas and we would receive one of the three under the tree for the holiday. A lean Christmas but a joyous one because we were all together and come January our family was debt free.

In the end businesses, families and individuals need balance. Companies need to know bigger is not always better, families and individuals must live with-in their means. None of us want too much government, but too little can lead to the mess we are in today. Also we need to teach more about personal finance in schools. Not about investing and retirement funds. Rather how to handle money on a day to day basis. For example setting up a household budget, not to spend more that we take in, how to balance a checkbook, handling credit cards and the high interest rates they charge plus how to save for a rainy day. In high school I would not have been taught about money unless I took business math. NOT GOOD! I would say leave it up to Mom and Dad but if they are not financially literate the kids are just going to replicate what their parents did. I was taught it is not how much you make; it is how you manage what you make!

SIDE NOTE: I remember a wise person taught me our children do not learn by what their parents say, they learn by their actions. My father use to say “Do as I say not as I do! Dad here you were wrong! You must lead by setting a good example!

We can take this current economic crisis and turn a negative into a positive. Let’s start with more regulation of the financial industry with freedom to succeed through creativity. Businesses concentrating on their core product and doing it well (this will lead to respectable profits), families and individuals living within their means. Maybe owning a home is not the American dream, but living within our financial structure is. This is peace of mind which will allow me to enjoy everyday life. This is what I hope for you!!