A rebalancing act of immense proportions

There is a lot of rebalancing going on. Deleveraging. Quantitative easing. Deflation. Inflation. Stagnation. Repricing. Correction. Wealth Redistribution. These may or may not be occurring depending on your perspective. Or maybe you have some other terms that are more appropriate from your perspective. But few will argue that change is in progress. Will policy change or a stimulus package make the necessary difference?

I have held the opinion that there is more to this change than the mere value, price, index etc. etc. My view includes a social component to the change. Or at least, the need for a social or human component to the changes that are occurring. A piece in The Nation entitled A Revolution in Spirit authored by Benjamin R. Barber is one of the first pieces that I have read that contemplates and discusses this aspect, calling for a "fundamental change in attitudes and behaviour" and "... change some habits and restore the balance between body and spirit".

I have felt significant frustration in understanding the question of when things will return to normal. Normal is what got us to the place we are. That normal was not good. Do we want to consciously and with intent"... restore capitalism to the status quo ante, resurrecting all the defects that led to the current debacle?". We need a new normal. The author raises culture, recreation, and physical activity as notable human aspects to pursue and support.

He states "There are epic moments in history, often catalyzed by catastrophe, that permit fundamental cultural change." and "The convergence of Obama's election and the collapse of the global credit economy marks a moment when radical change is possible." These statements are the basis to his thought that this maybe that important opportunity for real change, in his words, a seminal moment. Barber further writes;

"The struggle for the soul of capitalism is, then, a struggle between the nation's economic body and its civic soul: a struggle to put capitalism in its proper place, where it serves our nature and needs rather than manipulating and fabricating whims and wants. Saving capitalism means bringing it into harmony with spirit--with prudence, pluralism and those "things of the public" (res publica) that define our civic souls. A revolution of the spirit.

Is the new president up to it? Are we?" [emphasis added].

There were several cornerstones that developed in the Obama campaign. They included "It must be different this time" and "Yes we can". An inherent flaw has been identified in the capitalism we nutured over the last decades. The vlunerability of the system has been exposed. As barber ponders, is this the opportunity to invoke important change?

I think this opportunity that has been presented, this combination of inspiring new leadership and a global crisis, could be that opportunity. The reality is there is NO system that will entirely address the challenge that the recent global collapse has exposed. The basis to a functional system is people doing the right thing for the right reasons, collectively, cooperatively, and collaboratively. Predictable ethics, applied with honesty and integrity will bring trust and confidence back to human nature. There has to be a wholesale change in how we think and treat each other and ourselves. The opportunity for such change has been presented. I also believe this opportunity could provide the catalyst for an acceleration in technology advancement and adoption. Re-tooling, re-engineering, re-educating for the purposes of gaining new efficiencies and effectiveness in a harsh business climate. Not a simple task. This may require extraordinary effort from many different sides. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary efforts to produced some extraordinary results. Let's take the lead from The President; "Yes we can".