Scott Ragsdale

The country of Greece is on the verge of bankruptcy; Spain has 30+% unemployment, Portugal has 25%, France has at least 20%, Italy 20+% unemployment … not to mention Germany and the UK.

For some readers, this large % of unemployed people is alarming, but when you consider how much the state is having to pay in unemployment to 30% of their work force…. its very scary.

Even if Greece gets the bailout money – this socialized society has become incapable of changing, thus the expensive welfare system will remain expensive. 
They can restructure their debt, but if they can’t lower it/pay it off then the bailout will serve only as a tiny band aid to a massive gushing wound … in a word, Greece is “fucked.”

A nation going bankrupt is going to make Lehman Brother’s bankruptcy look like a failed mom and pop barber shop … the global economic ramifications, esp on the European Union is too scary to consider…

Furthermore…

A strong argument can be made that the socialized societies of each of the countries listed above have made the people weak and soft, i.e. free schools, free health care, generous welfare systems, five, six, eight week annual paid vacations (gov’t employees) get eight week annual paid vacation in France…. if someone gets fired in France they still get at least 80% of their salary for one year (paid by the government) … then it goes to 60%.

I know of friends of friends who have been unemployed for 3 years because they cannot find “management” jobs, and they refuse to accept a lower level job.  They earn more being unemployed than they would by working. 

Although I used the word “free” to define the social welfare system in europe… it’s not free. 
Companies/employers as well as employees pay an incredible % of tax … 

This cushy welfare net has created a generation of people who “expect” rather than “earn” to deserve, which in my opinion has created “soft” un-driven societies in each country. 

 How does it all change?  I dont want to alarm people but review the harbinger to first two world wars … esp. the 2nd one.

In my opinion, it is going to come down to strong fiscal – conservative leadership and clear communication with the people.

Someone is going to have to inform Europe that the party is over … now we they need to go back to work.

This is not a positive blog, but it is leading into tomorrow’s theme – something I feel strongly about:  being accountable for our own actions.

I haven’t kept up with my blog for a few months.  Its not necessarily that I lost interest; I just didn’t have anything which I thought added value or discussion.

However, my 20th annual high school reunion took place this past weekend — I was in Paris for the weekend and did not attend the reunion, however, over the weekend I thought about the past 20 years and how much my thinking/my outlook on life has changed, especially over the past 8 years.

As most readers of this blog know, “victimization” is a theme which I hammer over and over, (naively) trying to have some form of positive impact on the reader.

….the world is full of people who go through life blaming others for their problems, mistakes or failures; a world full of people focusing on the negatives of bad situations because “it’s not fair.”

Every single day we are bombarded by negative headlines/negative news stories … pacifying us into believing that we are not responsible for our problems ….. 

“It’s not fair…we are vicitims”

Whether we like it or not – irrespective of whether a problem or personal set back, even if the said set back is the result of theft and betrayal, or consequences unrelated to one personally – surely,  poor judgement played a key role in putting one on a path which led to a “set back” or a negative situation.

Speaking from personal experience, I could spend the rest of my life talking about how someone stole a lot of money from me; how I got screwed on a business deal; or even something small like a half assed contractor I hired to build my house….

“it’s not fair…”

But – I have grown to understand the secret —- instead of feeling sorry for myself and wasting energy each time I faced a problem thinking about how unfair something is; I reflect on why and how I put myself in the certain “unfortunate” situation.

Reflecting all the way back….. to high school to university to Japan to my first job…to China to Europe up until my life now…. whether I like it or not, each time something negative happened to me…. even a theft or betrayal or petty/small set back  — poor judgement invariably, played a role in whatever unfortunate thing happened to me.

Surely, everyone or at the very least ”most people” can relate to this…

Next time you experience something negative or unfortunate in your life … instead of wasting your time focusing on the negative of the situation, reflect on how you ended up in the situation.  What did you learn from it?

It does not change the negative situation, but by focusing on the positive it will help get you move on and grow.

The title of todays blog doesnt have much to do with today’s theme – but it is something which sets the tone for my blog going forward.