Economic Paradigms...then and now
April 18 1977 then President Jimmy Carter stated in his speech to the nation on the energy crisis; “Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. This difficult effort will be the “moral equivalent of war,” except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy”. We failed that test we didn’t fight that war we withdrew and look what has happened 30 years later. We must fight this war and we must win this time.
What is a Paradigm? Your perspective, the window through which you view the world; your perception, and “perception is reality”. We all at times need to have a paradigm shift to best cope with social and economic events. Here is a quick example of a paradigm shift:
John and Mary were preparing to go out and Mary had just stepped out of the shower as john was getting in. The door bell rang and John said “honey would you put on your robe and get the door; it is probably Bill our neighbor”. Mary went to the door and sure enough it was Bill. Bill stood there a moment and said to Mary “I will give you $1000 if you will open that robe”. Mary turned her head both ways looking and looked back at Bill puzzled. He again said “I’m serious I will give you $1000 to open that robe”. Mary quickly threw open the robe and closed it back. Bill handed her $1000, turned and walked away. Mary went back to the bath room to resume dressing. John asked “was that Bill”? Mary said “yes”. John said “did he mention the $1000 he owed me”? Mary had a huge paradigm shift! It is much better if your paradigm shift happens before the event.
I am 61 years old so my paradigms deal with that time period. I grew up without much money but we had a large garden, chickens, a few hogs and cows. We had lots of love and plenty to eat. My mother had 100 white leghorn chickens and we sold eggs to the local supermarket. She shared the profits with me; I fed, watered and gathered the eggs. She would not have paid the neighbors kid to do my job even if he was cheaper. Those of you 50 or older will relate, those of you under 40 may be amused and those of you between 40 & 50 may be enlightened.
I now understand what my grandpa meant when he referred to “the good ole days”. THEN; life was slow and simple; NOW; life is fast and furious. THEN; it took 2-3 generations for our culture to change, NOW; our culture changes 2-3 times in one generation.
THEN; as a pre-teen kid, I pulled my little red wagon all over the sandy roads of Wiergate (East Texas) and collected scrap iron and coke bottles. The scrap iron man came by once a month and paid me for my scrap (a penny a pound) and I took my coke bottles to “the store” (the only store) and collected a penny each. This was how I made my spending money. NOW; youngsters are given a generous allowance and showered with elaborate electronics to entertain themselves. THEN; it was said a penny saved is a penny earned. NOW; there is a movement to eliminate the penny from circulation.
THEN; as a teenager, my grandpa took me to the bank and co-signed (Ha) a note for me to buy a lawn mower. I mowed every evening after school and on Saturdays. I paid off the mower in short order and saved enough to buy my first car at 14; an old 49 Ford that I worked on as much as I drove. NOW; teenagers are given nice new cars to drive and credit cards to use. THEN; gasoline was .21-.22 cents a gallon. NOW; gasoline is $3.50 gallon (was $4.00). THEN; I could take a date to the movie and to the “top burger” for burger, fries and coke for $2.00-$2.50. NOW; I take my wife out to dinner and a movie; it’s $100.00. THEN; we paid cash for almost everything we had. NOW; we pay cash for almost nothing-use that plastic. THEN; we ate three meals a day at our dining table-at a specific time. NOW; statistics say over 65% of meals are eaten out. THEN; we had neighborhoods where people helped each other, watched out for each others homes (we never locked our house; I don’t think we even had a key) and shared in each others good as well as bad. NOW; we hardly know our neighbors, and need alarm systems to protect our homes.
THEN; I grew up, got married, started a business, raised a family and created a lot of debt along the way. NOW; I look back and see so many things I missed. I was not the kind of father or grandpa I had. I now wish I could have spent more quality time with my family but “I had a business to run and I was doing this for my family” yea sure! THEN; when you went to a department store almost everything you purchased was MADE IN THE USA. NOW; when you go to a department store almost nothing you buy is made in the USA. Wal-Mart the nation’s largest retailer admits 70% of all non food items they sell have Chinese content. In 2006 Wal-Mart imported $18 billion from China alone. Wal-Mart is only one of many.
THEN; I bought my first new car; a 67 Pontiac GTO (12-15 mpg) with a sticker price of $3200.00. NOW; my last new car was a Buick Park Avenue (21-27 mpg) with a sticker price of $37,000.00. I personally have never owned a foreign car. Almost all vehicles in my family are domestic; maybe that has provided more “Neighbors” in Detroit jobs. THEN; the 70’s oil embargo with gas lines but Americans tightened their belts, prices went down, and we soon forgot. NOW; 30 years later, gas prices at $4.00 gal, food prices rising etc. I could go on and on about then and now; but this is the “here and now”. I shudder to think what it will be like 30 years from now.
I am not suggesting that we go back to THEN but there has to be a better answer to NOW. Somewhere between THEN and NOW there is a happy medium. I think this country needs to adopt some of the conservation measures our lifestyles embraced in the 50’s and 60’s. We could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels (foreign oil in particular) by being more conservative in our use of energy. There are literally hundreds of web sites that promote Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and have hundreds of tips on conserving. Our Pickens Group “Live Carbon Free” is promoting conservation as a bridge to future energy alternatives. Check it out.
All these cultural changes and economic paradigms are a direct result of our technological advances. THEN it took 2-3 generations for technology to make significant changes, NOW; technology changes daily. Most of our economic problems are a result of “the technology gap”. The technology gap is the difference between the practice in use and the best practice possible with current technology. The difference in energy supplies currently in use and the technology available to produce alternative supplies of energy as well as technological development for more efficient use of current supplies. This is what the Pickens Plan embraces.
Technology is advancing at such a pace that we can’t keep up with it. If you go out and buy a new product it is obsolete or second best by the time you get it home. Society applies constant demand for progress (our desires). We need to stay informed on developing technology; by staying aware of the technology gap we can predict future developments. The advance of technology which ultimately determines our wealth is determined by the speed at which we exchange and process information-our ultimate resource. To illustrate this; in 1973 global oil reserves were thought to be on the order of 700 billion barrels-enough to last about 40 years at the then current rate of consumption. If that were right reserves would dwindle to about 500 billion barrels by 1987. However in 1987 oil reserves were estimated to be about 900 billion barrels-almost 30% more. Today, the top 12 countries have estimated oil reserves of 1370 billion barrels with reserve life of 65 years. The reason; technological advances in exploration, extraction and efficiency in consumption.
I am writing a book (the name will remain unknown for obvious reasons) embracing the things discussed here. A little peek as to the content; as stated earlier society needs constant pressure applied for progress. You can walk or run uphill, even stop to rest or evaluate your progress but when running downhill it is almost impossible to stop without falling and getting hurt.
Our desires prompt new technology and technology drives our desires. The old mode of business was “find a need and fill it”; the new mode of business is “imagine a need and create it”. For the last 40 or so years we have been led by the pied pipers of the world; telling us what we need and what we want. We have become puppets for business; reacting to their marketing instead of our own desires and needs. What we need right now is to fill the energy needs we have; not imagine some new needs to fill. I think it is time we got back to “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet”. We need to become a better neighbor, a community member, involve ourselves in our local government and support American Ideals. We all have a tendency to observe and pass judgment on others. We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. We complain about companies exporting jobs and outsourcing jobs to foreign countries but we go to Wal-Mart and export our dollars without a second thought. I think our trade deficit is almost as critical as our energy crisis. We say “somebody should do this or that”, “they are the problem”, “the government needs to do so and so”, “big business is to blame” - well folks, the news is “You are somebody”, “I am somebody”, “and WE ARE THEM”. We are the problem….but the best news of all WE ARE THE SOLUTION.
One last story in closing: this is the short version of a Swedish folklore tale.
A wayfarer stopped by a widow’s house looking for food and she told him she had none. He said he could make stew from an old rusty nail. She didn’t believe him so he said get me an old rusty nail and I will show you. So she did. He put on a pot of water to boil and put the rusty nail in. After a few minutes, He said; this sure would be good if we had a little salt and pepper to season. She got the salt and pepper. A short while later He said; this sure would be good if we had some vegetables. She got some vegetables. A short while later He said; this would really be good with some stew meat. She smelled and tasted the nail stew and agreed. She just happened to have a small package of stew meat. They had a great meal. “Nail Stew”
Mr. Pickens is the wayfarer with the recipe (Inspiration) and we have the ingredients (desire/motivation); are we going to help make nail soup? The difference now, we need more than enough to sustain two people for a meal; we need enough to sustain a nation for generations. It is up to every one of us to put in our ingredients; to make a commitment to this cause and involve everyone we can. As Vince Lombardi said, “individual commitment to a group effort…that’s what makes a team work, a company work, a society work and a civilization work.
The Pickens Plan is not about T. Boone Pickens; this plan is much bigger than any of us; this plan is about our future and generations to come. Mr. Pickens has started a conversation and we have to take it to every living room and kitchen table in America. We need to take individual responsibility and discipline the use of our means. We need to let our voices be heard to all public officials. “WE WANT RESULTS; Lead, Follow or Get out of our Way!
Wayne Alderman
What is a Paradigm? Your perspective, the window through which you view the world; your perception, and “perception is reality”. We all at times need to have a paradigm shift to best cope with social and economic events. Here is a quick example of a paradigm shift:
John and Mary were preparing to go out and Mary had just stepped out of the shower as john was getting in. The door bell rang and John said “honey would you put on your robe and get the door; it is probably Bill our neighbor”. Mary went to the door and sure enough it was Bill. Bill stood there a moment and said to Mary “I will give you $1000 if you will open that robe”. Mary turned her head both ways looking and looked back at Bill puzzled. He again said “I’m serious I will give you $1000 to open that robe”. Mary quickly threw open the robe and closed it back. Bill handed her $1000, turned and walked away. Mary went back to the bath room to resume dressing. John asked “was that Bill”? Mary said “yes”. John said “did he mention the $1000 he owed me”? Mary had a huge paradigm shift! It is much better if your paradigm shift happens before the event.
I am 61 years old so my paradigms deal with that time period. I grew up without much money but we had a large garden, chickens, a few hogs and cows. We had lots of love and plenty to eat. My mother had 100 white leghorn chickens and we sold eggs to the local supermarket. She shared the profits with me; I fed, watered and gathered the eggs. She would not have paid the neighbors kid to do my job even if he was cheaper. Those of you 50 or older will relate, those of you under 40 may be amused and those of you between 40 & 50 may be enlightened.
I now understand what my grandpa meant when he referred to “the good ole days”. THEN; life was slow and simple; NOW; life is fast and furious. THEN; it took 2-3 generations for our culture to change, NOW; our culture changes 2-3 times in one generation.
THEN; as a pre-teen kid, I pulled my little red wagon all over the sandy roads of Wiergate (East Texas) and collected scrap iron and coke bottles. The scrap iron man came by once a month and paid me for my scrap (a penny a pound) and I took my coke bottles to “the store” (the only store) and collected a penny each. This was how I made my spending money. NOW; youngsters are given a generous allowance and showered with elaborate electronics to entertain themselves. THEN; it was said a penny saved is a penny earned. NOW; there is a movement to eliminate the penny from circulation.
THEN; as a teenager, my grandpa took me to the bank and co-signed (Ha) a note for me to buy a lawn mower. I mowed every evening after school and on Saturdays. I paid off the mower in short order and saved enough to buy my first car at 14; an old 49 Ford that I worked on as much as I drove. NOW; teenagers are given nice new cars to drive and credit cards to use. THEN; gasoline was .21-.22 cents a gallon. NOW; gasoline is $3.50 gallon (was $4.00). THEN; I could take a date to the movie and to the “top burger” for burger, fries and coke for $2.00-$2.50. NOW; I take my wife out to dinner and a movie; it’s $100.00. THEN; we paid cash for almost everything we had. NOW; we pay cash for almost nothing-use that plastic. THEN; we ate three meals a day at our dining table-at a specific time. NOW; statistics say over 65% of meals are eaten out. THEN; we had neighborhoods where people helped each other, watched out for each others homes (we never locked our house; I don’t think we even had a key) and shared in each others good as well as bad. NOW; we hardly know our neighbors, and need alarm systems to protect our homes.
THEN; I grew up, got married, started a business, raised a family and created a lot of debt along the way. NOW; I look back and see so many things I missed. I was not the kind of father or grandpa I had. I now wish I could have spent more quality time with my family but “I had a business to run and I was doing this for my family” yea sure! THEN; when you went to a department store almost everything you purchased was MADE IN THE USA. NOW; when you go to a department store almost nothing you buy is made in the USA. Wal-Mart the nation’s largest retailer admits 70% of all non food items they sell have Chinese content. In 2006 Wal-Mart imported $18 billion from China alone. Wal-Mart is only one of many.
THEN; I bought my first new car; a 67 Pontiac GTO (12-15 mpg) with a sticker price of $3200.00. NOW; my last new car was a Buick Park Avenue (21-27 mpg) with a sticker price of $37,000.00. I personally have never owned a foreign car. Almost all vehicles in my family are domestic; maybe that has provided more “Neighbors” in Detroit jobs. THEN; the 70’s oil embargo with gas lines but Americans tightened their belts, prices went down, and we soon forgot. NOW; 30 years later, gas prices at $4.00 gal, food prices rising etc. I could go on and on about then and now; but this is the “here and now”. I shudder to think what it will be like 30 years from now.
I am not suggesting that we go back to THEN but there has to be a better answer to NOW. Somewhere between THEN and NOW there is a happy medium. I think this country needs to adopt some of the conservation measures our lifestyles embraced in the 50’s and 60’s. We could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels (foreign oil in particular) by being more conservative in our use of energy. There are literally hundreds of web sites that promote Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and have hundreds of tips on conserving. Our Pickens Group “Live Carbon Free” is promoting conservation as a bridge to future energy alternatives. Check it out.
All these cultural changes and economic paradigms are a direct result of our technological advances. THEN it took 2-3 generations for technology to make significant changes, NOW; technology changes daily. Most of our economic problems are a result of “the technology gap”. The technology gap is the difference between the practice in use and the best practice possible with current technology. The difference in energy supplies currently in use and the technology available to produce alternative supplies of energy as well as technological development for more efficient use of current supplies. This is what the Pickens Plan embraces.
Technology is advancing at such a pace that we can’t keep up with it. If you go out and buy a new product it is obsolete or second best by the time you get it home. Society applies constant demand for progress (our desires). We need to stay informed on developing technology; by staying aware of the technology gap we can predict future developments. The advance of technology which ultimately determines our wealth is determined by the speed at which we exchange and process information-our ultimate resource. To illustrate this; in 1973 global oil reserves were thought to be on the order of 700 billion barrels-enough to last about 40 years at the then current rate of consumption. If that were right reserves would dwindle to about 500 billion barrels by 1987. However in 1987 oil reserves were estimated to be about 900 billion barrels-almost 30% more. Today, the top 12 countries have estimated oil reserves of 1370 billion barrels with reserve life of 65 years. The reason; technological advances in exploration, extraction and efficiency in consumption.
I am writing a book (the name will remain unknown for obvious reasons) embracing the things discussed here. A little peek as to the content; as stated earlier society needs constant pressure applied for progress. You can walk or run uphill, even stop to rest or evaluate your progress but when running downhill it is almost impossible to stop without falling and getting hurt.
Our desires prompt new technology and technology drives our desires. The old mode of business was “find a need and fill it”; the new mode of business is “imagine a need and create it”. For the last 40 or so years we have been led by the pied pipers of the world; telling us what we need and what we want. We have become puppets for business; reacting to their marketing instead of our own desires and needs. What we need right now is to fill the energy needs we have; not imagine some new needs to fill. I think it is time we got back to “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet”. We need to become a better neighbor, a community member, involve ourselves in our local government and support American Ideals. We all have a tendency to observe and pass judgment on others. We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. We complain about companies exporting jobs and outsourcing jobs to foreign countries but we go to Wal-Mart and export our dollars without a second thought. I think our trade deficit is almost as critical as our energy crisis. We say “somebody should do this or that”, “they are the problem”, “the government needs to do so and so”, “big business is to blame” - well folks, the news is “You are somebody”, “I am somebody”, “and WE ARE THEM”. We are the problem….but the best news of all WE ARE THE SOLUTION.
One last story in closing: this is the short version of a Swedish folklore tale.
A wayfarer stopped by a widow’s house looking for food and she told him she had none. He said he could make stew from an old rusty nail. She didn’t believe him so he said get me an old rusty nail and I will show you. So she did. He put on a pot of water to boil and put the rusty nail in. After a few minutes, He said; this sure would be good if we had a little salt and pepper to season. She got the salt and pepper. A short while later He said; this sure would be good if we had some vegetables. She got some vegetables. A short while later He said; this would really be good with some stew meat. She smelled and tasted the nail stew and agreed. She just happened to have a small package of stew meat. They had a great meal. “Nail Stew”
Mr. Pickens is the wayfarer with the recipe (Inspiration) and we have the ingredients (desire/motivation); are we going to help make nail soup? The difference now, we need more than enough to sustain two people for a meal; we need enough to sustain a nation for generations. It is up to every one of us to put in our ingredients; to make a commitment to this cause and involve everyone we can. As Vince Lombardi said, “individual commitment to a group effort…that’s what makes a team work, a company work, a society work and a civilization work.
The Pickens Plan is not about T. Boone Pickens; this plan is much bigger than any of us; this plan is about our future and generations to come. Mr. Pickens has started a conversation and we have to take it to every living room and kitchen table in America. We need to take individual responsibility and discipline the use of our means. We need to let our voices be heard to all public officials. “WE WANT RESULTS; Lead, Follow or Get out of our Way!
Wayne Alderman
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