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A couple of weeks ago on my Facebook page, I questioned how we should refer to the past decade. Chris Amrhein’s response lead to this guest post. Chris is an educator extraordinaire, president of Amrhein and Associates Inc. , Associate with Aatrijk, and head fun guy at Insurance is fun!
An observation on Facebook about Paul Krugman’s 12/27/09 NYT article, referring to the past decade as “The Big Zero”:
“His observations had more to do with the economy than his personal situation, to wit: Private-sector employment has actually declined — the first decade on record in which that happened. It was a decade of zero gains for homeowners, even if they bought early: right now housing prices, adjusted for inflation, are roughly back to where they were at the beginning of the decade. etc.”
There have been a plethora of such articles lately, all bemoaning the “Naughts” as being the worst decade in American history. Setting aside for the moment such evidently minor disturbances as the Civil War and Great Depression, I’m not buying it. It was also the decade of Google, Apple, social networking, the GenXers and Millennials (and Harry Potter) coming of age, folks rediscovering the value of local farms and less rampant consumption, and a little director from New Zealand magnificently showing us what Tolkien really envisioned. And as a nod to the “new normal”, my Dad the retired realtor repeatedly observed over his career that folks still needed to realize you buy a house for a home, not an investment.
The real problem here is those dreaded “averages” that seemingly confirm all worst suspicions. Anyone running a business – or a life – needs be beware the curse of average. There is no such thing. At worst, it makes it too easy to ignore that for many folks, the Naughts were far more devastating than mere “breakeven”. Just as dangerously, it also may cause us to overlook lessons to be learned from others whose enrichment was glorious. No, I don’t mean the investment bankers and their bonuses. I’m talking about real people who saw businesses continue, layoffs lead to entrepreneurial risk and success, children grow up impressively, and a growth in healthier appreciation of financial basics about consumption, debt and savings. Instead of cursing the wind, they learned how to adjust the sails.
In our Sunday School class, we are studying Ecclesiastes. For non-Biblical folks, think of Pete Seeger’s (and later, the Byrds) famous song “Turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Bottom line: life is never a wash, but a series of defeats and victories. Those who strive for the victories and learn from the defeats have historically grown and gained regardless of the times.
Average? “Big Zero?” Bah, a Jedi believes not in such things!
How about you?
photo: flickr thunderchild
