THE ENTERPRISE--HAPPY HOLIDAYS
AS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON SWINGS AROUND--COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
Look at your family and friends, you home and town/city where you live, the places you can go to shop, eat, find services, enjoy entertainment, be informed and answer this: What place is better? Every time I travel internationally for an extended time, even to the most famous, scenic or glamorous places, I find that they are all a bit less "fine" if you look closely. And when that immigration official in the USA says, "Welcome Home," I still have a flood of emotion--pride, happiness and satisfaction that I live in the best country in the world--and I am both happy and proud of it.
May God Bless America--and you and yours--this Holiday season.
Photo by Tom Heuerman
IT'S TIME TO REMEMBER THE GOOD NEWS--BUT THERE IS LOTS OF IT
- Retail sales down from a YAGO but both Black Friday and Cyber Monday were strong. People are still shopping, but with sharper focus than ever, although below last year's rate...
- The US has clearly turned a corner in IRAQ, and progress that was once considered impossible is already underway, however fragile...
- 7% unemployment may be awful, but it means that 93% of people are still employed. Ditto for foreclosures...
- Barack Obama is making "measured and balanced" choices for key roles in his admin, and most are solid, experienced people, which bodes well for his decision processes...
- Ford can probably make it without any government intervention (unless that intervention messes up its playing field), a big difference from GM & Chrysler
- The financial, banking and even the housing industries are slowly, but surely finding their footing again, and will continue to do so...
- Americans still have many more freedoms than most countries--to meet in groups, to say what we think, to go where we want, to own property and hold wealth (even if less of it), to vote for our elected officials (freely and privately), and on and on...
- Americans still enjoy the best standard of living in the world, with more comfort, more amenities, clean water, sanitary facilities, available electricity, and a better life overall, etc....
- We still have the best transportation system in the world too, even if it needs maintenance and some work...
- We have more media and information accessible than ever, and it is growing daily (even if a lot of it is biased--it isn't government controlled--not yet anyway...)
- The US economy at $14 trillion as large as than the numbers 2 (Japan), 3 (China) and 4 (Germany) added together...
- Foreign investors are buying our Treasury Bills at ZERO PERCENT interest--because they believe we can/will stand behind them and pay them off...
- The US received $233 billion of foreign direct investment last year--far exceeding any other nation, including China--so someone thinks it is a pretty special place
- We have the strongest colleges and universities in the world--and there is still room for improvement, especially in our flawed secondary schools...
- Of 45 million uninsured, 1/4--1/3 are illegal immigrants, another 1/3+ can have/qualify for coverage and don't use it. We must be careful we don't break our health care system in the process of trying to fix the wrong problems.
- In nature, when an area becomes "overgrown" or "overpopulated" some natural force (forest fires, predators, storms, etc.) "thin it out." Why are we surprised that the same thing is happening in global business?
- After every recession, there is a recovery--sooner or later--the only question is how soon (or late) and how much, how fast the recovery will be...
- America is the world's military leader (some think this is a dubious benefit, but try being one of the "also-rans" and see how it feels)
- There are thousands more statistics and instances I could add--find some of your own... because...
- As Tony Blair said, "A good indicator of a great country is that more people want to enter it than leave it"
SO TAKE SOME TIME WITH YOUR LOVED ONES, AND BE PROUD; FEAR NOT AND PERSEVERE; ... AND PRAY...
This too will pass--although many will suffer along the way--our country, and our people have shown remarkable resilience and the ability to recover from every form of disaster.
Pray that this Christmas and the coming New Year will signal the darkness before the dawn of an improving economy, a more peaceful world, and a happier nation--one that is proud of its many strengths--and one that is unified in the desire to make its future brighter than its past.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.
JOHN
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL
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John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group,
Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net
http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
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