As we close 2008 there has been much to recall. A bountiful year in many respects. 2008 was a year of travel and the enjoyment of many simple pleasures. My favorite place in the world is still on top on a mountain - in whatever hemispshere that might be.2008 was also a highly complex and disappointing year. The state of modern society circa late 2008 has some serious blemishes. Joshua Lall (Joshua Lall ) Jeremy Steinke (Jeremy Steinke) Vince Li (Vince Weiguang Li ) . And the early December revelation by Bernie L. Madoff. Has implicit trust be broken for good? Where will due diligence be absolute in the future? Is our as-we-know-it (NA) society coming apart at the seams? If we aren't going to listen to the stories of history past (take your pick, how far back would you like to go?) why are we in this place? It appears that the time has come for a significant shift in energy flow. Where will this transition rate? (http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/9251). Energy ebbs and flows, constantly, everywhere, all the time. Mr Frederick Hiltz (my Grade 11 physics teacher) told me so. What are we to make of the current rate of change that we are experiencing? How did we get here? Brings to mind the Talking Heads (lyrics to Once in a Lifetime).
So much has been written about things returning to "normal". Do we want to go back to that "normal"? That "normal" has a basis of value that is not me. There is a wholesale change in "value" occuring. So what is the new "real value"? Value is a measure of so many different things. What one values, others may not. What ones perspective is, another's is not. What do you value? I value respect, understanding, simplicity, and positive energy. Those are what I want in my life. Well, of course amongst the basic necessities of life, clean water, shelter, and ample food.
I have clean water and ample food. My shelter is only temporarily mine. I was supposed to be ready to re-enter the home ownership market in spring 2009. Probably not a good time - real estate asset prices continue down. The latest seems to be that US residential RE will not bottom until into 2013. I have even read that it will be worthwhile to rent now until 2014. Say what? The argument being that money invested elsewhere, otherwise taken up in establishing equity in RE will be your better bet. Still a bet, but a better one?
And for those of us with USD denominated investments? What do we make of the general sense that the currency crisis may be next? US earnings will be abysmal, right? Is GE the next general to fall?
Is civil disobedience and public chaos the next interim world order? Human nature has ebbed and flowed for thousands of years with its fair share of abominations and miscreats. I am betting that there is a way through this as well. Some wil say the rules have changed. Others will focus on comparisons with past records and outcomes. I will continue to believe that we all make our own lives through the action we take as equal but opposite reactions. Specifically, my focus will be on managing my actions. How do you know that the experience you are having is the right one? Because its the one that you're having.
May 2009 be everything that it is meant to be for you, in your place, in your time.
And in the meantime, there will always be a few that choose to take matters into their own hands.
the lifeguard statue stolen from the Bernard Madoff estate last week has been recovered. The statue was found by two pest control workers this morning. A note attached to the statue read: "Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return stolen property to rightful owners. Signed by–The Educators." http://www.finalternatives.com/node/6489
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