Re-Booting America

We are undergoing a significant change in America. Political and market forces are dramatically altering the psychology of each and every one of us. I am especially bullish for the long term as I think the moral and ethical fabric of society has been exposed, and we don’t like what we see.

Investors (and voters) will say no to scams, rip-offs, fraud, hypocrisy, ego, excess, and just about anything that doesn’t sound right. I believe in my heart that folks firmly believe the emperor has no clothes. Living beyond your means, seeking to get ahead at all costs, focusing on short term results, trying to one up your neighbor, breaking the rules, call it what you will, but the end does not justify the means.

There will be a period of soul searching, looking inward, at ourselves, asking tough questions about what we want and why we want it. Previous generations this past century, facing the harsh realities of two world wars, a great depression, and countless obstacles and difficulties, became stronger, more determined, ethical, family-oriented, honorable, and better equipped to deal with adversity. What has the last 25 years brought to America? A soft underbelly, that’s what I call it. But things have changed, haven’t they? We have been forced to our knees. We are ready for a better day. We yearn for the “good ol days,” don’t we? They are fast approaching. The relentless and punishing reality of market forces, combined with political ineptitude, has forced our hand. We should be grateful.

We can re-boot America. We have flushed much out of the system in the past few weeks. There may be a little more to go. But the slate is almost clean. We will set a new direction for healthy living, healthy investing, saving as opposed to spending, right versus wrong. We will be accountable, respectable, modest, humble, and even-keeled. We can work as a coherent society, together, without hypocrisy, because, as we have stared into the abyss, we don’t like what we see. I am optimistic about the future; it is something to look eagerly forward to.