Fixing the world

Nowadays, wherever you go, the conversations tend to be about the same subject: crisis. Amongst the unemployed, in the phone calls, in social meetings, even at your home. All of us think we have the magic potion to solve the world problems (me included). The majority of us have suffered, directly or not, the consequences of this situation.

What´s the easiest thing to do in this circumstances? Blame others. It´s true that a few took advantage  of some persons´ greed to create finantial holes: only God knows where the rock bottom is. The banks have created expetations to the whealthiest through the modests´dreams, those who couldn´t held so many debts and had to leave everything they fought for all their lives…

Globalization has contributed to make the family debts in Alabama influence the bank around the corner, that denies you credits... The reason is because that bank trusted in disguised subprimes and doesn´t know if it will be possible to pay the employer who´s attending you. This had been said many times by the the most respected economists and comediants in the world.… There are some economists that are taking advantage of the crisis: they give conferences around the world, publish books explaining what is going on, you even can see them in a very well known petrol company´s ad... They sell themselves very well!

We forget this is not the first time Capitalism colapses from inside out: in 1979, 1973, 1989-90… It´s true that this time it´s not possible to see the light after the tunnel but, essentially, the basement is the same: some take advantage and many are sacrified… All these crisis were useful to reject what didn´t work, create new situations and businesses adapted to the real social situations. This time the change is going to be deeper than before: there´s the need to find another cheese when ours stinks (“Who moved my cheese?”, Spencer Johnson, recommended reading for now and written more than ten years ago). In other words, if my business doesn´t work, I have to find another way to change the results and, if that doesn´t work, find anything else to do. To do things like always, because it has been done this way for generations is no longer valid: You either change or die… just look at Madonna, the changing queen.

 

Anyhow, we all have responsibilities, too. Do not look around waiting for a miracle. You need to try. It´s important to know our priorities, leave behind what we can live without... I think that many of us are doing this now.

In any case, for me, the definition of crisis doesn´t mean that I can´t buy the latest TV set, nor flying away. A real crisis means I can´t afford to pay to my kid a roof, education, clothing or food. While those prioritiess are met, the rest of them are not needs. When I go to a shopping mall and I see cafes full of people, lines to get inside of a cinema and shopping carts with the last Wii games, I wonder: Where is the crisis?

An advertising gifts´ company (“Público”) gave us a present with a piece of paper where you could read the following message: “Crisis is a difficult moment where the strongest or cleverest don´t win but the one that best adapts to the environment…” .

 

(First published on August 16th 2009 in http://maritza-gonzalez.blogspot.com/)