Americans hold the answer to most of today's problems - not government or big business or any other convenient enabler. Behavior has consequences. Our behavior is the source of our crises. Changing our behavior is the way out. It's good news if you don't mind putting in a little work, but most people don't want to hear it.
One thing has remained constant over the past 30 years, our dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. You've seen the polls, the statistics and complaints about education, poverty, obesity, retirement insecurity and a long list of woes. Politicians promote solutions, but things don’t get better. Meanwhile, political discourse and media reports degenerate into personal attacks and accusations.
One thing has remained constant over the past 30 years, our dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. You've seen the polls, the statistics and complaints about education, poverty, obesity, retirement insecurity and a long list of woes. Politicians promote solutions, but things don’t get better. Meanwhile, political discourse and media reports degenerate into personal attacks and accusations.
Viewing problems from a behavioral standpoint changes the focus. It's not about the person; it's about the behavior. If something is going wrong, is it a consequence of what I am doing? Can I get better results by changing my actions or decisions? The answer is yes.
Most of the problems that media and politicians anguished over for that past 30 years are situations we have gotten ourselves into by poor choices. Suddenly we discover that we are not victims! Things are not beyond our control! There is no reason to sit around acting helpless, waiting for the government to step in and fix things. Quite the opposite, many government solutions defy common sense and severely restrict our freedoms.
Most of the problems that media and politicians anguished over for that past 30 years are situations we have gotten ourselves into by poor choices. Suddenly we discover that we are not victims! Things are not beyond our control! There is no reason to sit around acting helpless, waiting for the government to step in and fix things. Quite the opposite, many government solutions defy common sense and severely restrict our freedoms.
To fix it, we must change the behavior that keeps digging us in deeper. Behavior has consequences. Our errors catch up to us when we are lax in the areas of discipline (knowing when to say “no”), responsibility (admitting when we own a problem), critical thinking (being skeptical about ads and promises), perspective (practicing moderation and distinguishing between wants and needs) and economic understanding (knowing that money spent by governments and corporations comes from us). I am convinced from decades of observation that our salvation lies in improvement in these five categories. In short, America is headed in the wrong direction because we, the people, are headed in the wrong direction.
This seems pretty theoretical until you learn to recognize and classify behavior. Then it’s surprising how much of our misery is self-inflicted. Every week I'll give a couple of examples of our poor choices, classify them and show how they link to bad outcomes. I have been doing it for 35 weeks and find new examples all the time. (Check out a few of my earlier posts.) Everyone will not agree with all examples or may argue that these failures are simply “human nature.” It’s true we can’t change human nature, but as our lives become more complex and interconnected and information flow keeps accelerating, the payback for these failings becomes quicker and more serious. None of us is perfect, but some behavior change is the only real solution, not more laws or promises. We alone hold the key to better outcomes, to turning the country around, but we must accept it and work together.
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