A Terrible Prospect

In this Presidential election season, there is a lot of talk about what Washington should be doing for us. We need a predictable income, health care, education, a safety-net. And we want someone to take care of it for us.

Our generation is spoiled. It has gotten used to getting something for nothing. But we are no longer farmers, growing and crafting our own provisions. The economy has changed, and for the most part we can no longer get by, without some government intervention. You can't function without a social security number, credit cards, an automobile, insurance. Even the public education system has become so expensive for parents, that we have to dig up money so that our kids can participate in extracurricular activities!

The government has created a monster that not even it can pay for!

Even if the big-government liberals passed all the legislation they wanted, they could not pay for it. Or if they did, it would not be much! An economy that took care of everything for everybody, would have everybody living at the poverty level!

Certain elements of the pre-New Deal era were superior to today's bureaucratic morass. In those days, if someone had an extreme health or financial need, the community itself would pull together. People took care of their own. And in most cases it worked very well.

We need a hybrid of the old cooperatives, and of the ability of the New Economy to connect more people together to bring about enormous economies of scale.

It is a terrible thing, indeed, to find yourself on the downside of the modern economy. Divorce, health and education expenses, and incidentals like the occasional auto repair work, can keep people permanently in catch-up mode.

We don't need more government programs. Indeed, these are what got us in the mess, in the first place. We need cooperation, collaboration, and connection.

We are moving to the Networked Economy, or what I like to call the "Star Trek" economy. Have you noticed that, in the Science Fiction world, people do not use cash? I think that this is deliberate, not an oversight in the minds of Sci-Fi writers.

In the future, we will learn how to mutually support one another, so that the talents and passions of all may be realized in this life.

Money is not a big deal. There is plenty of it. We have just not figured out how to spread it around in a free economy. But the Internet, and the Network model, is a step in the right direction.

Some companies, that practice the "Network Marketing" concept, have started us down that path. It will be a way out for many of us. Like domestic drilling will eliminate our dependance on foreign oil, so will the Network Model mitigate the problem of manufacturing and customer support jobs going overseas permanently.

Getting stuck in the New Economy is a terrible thing. It can happen to anybody, at any time. The way out, is to start the long and difficult trek in New Economy solutions. The economy is becoming a network. Become a part of the network, the only true safety net in today's world.