Wow! This commercial made me tear up. Its so much more then a car commercial, its a statement on America’s virtues. It play right to the patriotic core most American’s share. Its well timed as the auto industry, unemployment and economic development are all starting to rebound in the United States. I’m sure there are plenty of doubters and cynics who were not impressed and many others who do not appreciate the arrogance that so many Americans have about our importance in the world. However, to a lot of people this commercial captures exactly how we as a collective nation feel. We have hope, we are resliant and we will find a way. All this talk of America in decline is important because its keeps us realistic and allows us to be pragmatic about solving our problems. It reminds us that we cannot be complacent and be victims of our own mistakes and poor choices. We have to step up our game and find new and creative ways to make a difference in this world. I’ve watched this video several times already and each time it stirs my soul, but most importantly it reminds me that I’m proud to be an American.
Author: DMAIPH
Analytics Expert and President & Founder of DMAI.
BPO Elite Blog Post #3 – Educational Programs
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the state of education both here in the United States and in the Philippines. On one hand we have our continued assault on education with constant cutting services and rising fees and on the other we seem to have a commitment to educating tomorrows youth with actual job skills they can use to move their country forward.
Maybe I shouldn’t have just watched the amazingly depressing documentary “Waiting for Superman” (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Waiting_for_Superman/70129364?trkid=2361637), but I don’t have a lot of faith in the near term success of our public school system. Combine that with the fact that when I was in college 20 years ago it cost $300 a semester to go to a Cal State. Tuition now is 10x that. Then you add the insane idea of deporting bright, promising leaders of tomorrow because their parents broke a law and brought them to the US when they were kids and they are now illegal. The Dream Act is a solution to a problem, yet its demonized by misinformation and racism. And the final piece I’ll mention is that sad state of my son’s middle school. Without parent donations they wouldn’t be able to have materials for art or science. The school library is only open one day a week because they share a librarian with 4 other schools. I know a lot of teachers and I am amazed how they are able to go on everyday with all the odds stacked against them.
And the on the other hand we have a consistent message coming from the Aquino Administration (http://miniphilippines.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/tesda-launch-7-new-programs-2012/) that for the Philippines to develop as a nation and move forward they need to invest in education. They seem to understand the problem and have a plan to solve it. How is it that the most powerful nation in the world, with the best education system every created is falling so far behind? How asleep are we that we have allowed this to happen? If you haven’t watched it yet, watch “Waiting for Superman”… its available in the instant queue on Netflix. And then decide what you can do to help. Me? I’ve stated and internship program to train college students with analytics skills to help them get some hands on training. We all need to do something because unlike the Philippines, our government is not only incapable of fixing the problem, but they don’t even know how to address it.
BPO Elite Blog Post #2 – A recent conversation
The article suprised me.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/biggest-holders-of-us-gov-t-debt.html
You hear so much in the news about how we owe so much debt to China. However no one ever seems to talk about the full picture. Its more sensational to just point the finger to China. Nothing like subtle racism and xenophobia to fuel an election campaign. The best thing about this article though is the conversation it started between myself and two friends. All smart and worldy men who are well read and articulate… wouldnt it be amazing if the Presdential debates actaully sounded something like the following and not a bunch of canned responses crafted to mislead and misinform?
TW: Also, If we Americans just stop selling most of our properties away, then we don’t get China or Japan owning our Country… So I’m all for getting rid of “Walmart” ….hahahaha
MH: The Fed is a privately held company,not a public institution. They purchased long term treasuries to keep interest rates low (Operation TWIST). China is the largest owner of US debt; the majority are short term (< 2 year durations). Selling our properties? We keep borrowing from them so they have a claim to us, that simple – lets wake up and stop pointing fingers when we’re the ones who continue to borrow.
TW: Unfortunately the only reason we borrow is because our dumb government can’t cut back on the spending it does. Weather it is in entitlement programs or anything they decide is a means to get a vote. Our govt. should at this point be spendin…g only 80% of what it takes in, save 10%, and use 10% to pay down the debt. Or something like that. The problem is they want to spend on projects so they need to raise taxes to do it which kills our ability to boost the economy. Cut useless and redundant programs, reduce the entitlements, reduce the number of govt. employees, figure out what the govt must provide and cut the rest of the crap. Then we wouldn’t have to borrow so much to begin with and you can’t spend your way out of debt.
MH: Unfortunately it’s not as simple as cutting expenses and/or raising taxes. We have over 220 trillion in debt an unfunded liabilities…simple finance: we can never pay that back. Ever. In every view from a basic business analytic standpoint… we’re bankrupt and we’ve technically defaulted every single time we’ve raised the debt ceiling. The only thing that’s keeping us chugging along is we’re the reserve currency. That’s already going away as countries are moving to non-dollar transactions like baskets of currency or, you guessed it, Gold.
TW: you are correct that it isn’t that simple but you have to start somewhere. We know the monetary system and our banking system is nothing more that a ponzi scheme. Do you deal in gold?
MH :we continue to think that the US is going to endure as-is forever. This is not the case; all empires are born, grow, decline and some go away. We’ve just decided to accelerate our change. If you don’t think this is the case, remember t…hat the British Sterling was the reserve currency for over a century before we took it over…as for empires, Rome, Egypt, Africa – they’re all shells of their former selves. Things are already changing and we should just accept. As for Gold, yes, I have over a third of my portfolio in precious metals and have been buying since ’06. for transactions i convert it to US dollars.
Dan Meyer: I’m enough of an irrational optimist to think America isn’t done for yet. The data says we are in what appears to be an irreversible decline, but the data is missing one key element… Faith. I still cling to faith that America stills stand…s for things that no other country in the history of mankind stands for. And that fuels the faith behind my irrational optimism. This post as served its purpose.., it’s made all of us reflect a little more than we may have without it.
TW: I personally don’t believe we should just accept decline. The rest of the world isn’t exactly in a position to de-throne the US so to speak. China has enough political turmoil and isn’t exactly financially in the greatest position, Europe i…s having enough problems themselves. I believe if we as a country can effect enough change from the way we have been going and keep doing things that truly make sense we can resurrect this titanic but if our elected leaders keep doing the same thing with a different name or face then yes the band will just keep playing while the ship sinks. I also deal with gold which is why I asked. Dore gold out of Ghana and various bullion sellers and buyers.
MH: that’s the kind of mentality that keeps us from adjusting. The “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” and “we can innovate ourselves out of a mess” or something of the same nature. Nowhere do i see that anyone has “written off” the US, …all i mentioned is that we’re changing. I’m all for positive outlook on things. Yet, from an entirely objective standpoint we cannot choose to remain a superpower: others choose that now. We can not prevent China from dumping all of that debt causing an immediate jump in borrowing costs. We can not prevent oil from reaching $150/bbl. We can not use the world’s resources for x amount of dollars while other countries are locking in multi-decade deals to secure lines of energy… I would recommend actually using our expertise (process) and creating flexibility in our systems (personally and business) which will handle the change.
Dan Meyer I disagree. That’s the kind of mentality that had made this country different than every other one. I do agree though that our best chance of success comes from accepting reality and focusing on what we are good at. Thats my whole point… We as a nation need to wake up.
Could you imagine Romney and Gingrich and Santorum actually having a conversation like this? It sure wouldn’t make for great sound bites, but itd be amazing to get them to really talk about solving problems and not just trying to make political points.
I will continue to dream on!
Signs of Change
There are a so many signs, yet so few people seem to see them. Maybe they just don’t want to, but they are pretty hard to miss. We have been here before. As a historian, I know that most Americans have always turned a blind eye to the events of the world and spent their time worrying about their own lot in life. However for the past 100 years, we’ve been able to plow ahead without regard to those around us. Our industrial might, our ability to build and produce led us out of the Great Depression and to victory in both World Wars. Our ability to innovate and manufacture moved us beyond the Cold War and to the Moon. There have been thousands of Cassandras throughout this time, proclaiming the our shortsightedness as a nation and the end was near. Greece, Rome, the Ming, the Aztecs, England, the lessons go on about empires that crumbled and fell. There are countless books and articles about the pending fall of the United States. So now I’ll add my own observations to the mix.
I love this country and all it stands for. I still believe we are a force for good in this world and our kids still have a bright future ahead of them. However, if we don’t learn from previous mistakes we are doomed to repeat them again. Combine this with new threats, a more interdependent economic landscape and the omnipresent realities of a shirking globe and we have a challenge on our hands greater than that of Hitler or Soviet nukes. This is what I’ll write about. I’m going to share with you my insights and opinions on things that we as American need to take note of to be more educated and better prepared as we navigate the increasingly chaotic path ahead of us. And for my friends, family and colleagues abroad, this will help you understand the mind and motivation of many Americans.
This was one of those moments I really started to think how globally focused the future is…
Flashback to February 2012…
One of the most insightful and powerful pieces of journalism I’ve come across in sometime. In a nutshell, the article outlined how close to impossible it would be for Apple to manufacture iPhones completely in the United States. Starting with a question of Steve Jobs by President Obama, the article details how each phase of the manufacturing process is out of reach of the current state of American manufacturing capabilities. And its not just the labor, it’s also the lack of engineers and the Asian centric materials supply chain and the lack of flexibility of American labor. Read the article. Its an amazing piece of work and a should serve as a huge wake up call to each and every one of us.
Four years later, yeah it is. But also the innovative minds of this country are starting to figure it out and it seems the tides have turned to bring back and insource somethings as well.
Data-Driven Decision-Making
DMAIPH Analytics Consulting was founded in the United States as a consulting firm with the goal of empowering small business to make intelligent, data driven decisions as business owners try to survive in the challenging economic times of today.
DMAI Philippines is our Philippines based business partner. DMAIPH is an analytics training, consulting and outsourcing service provider for clients based in both the Philippines and the United States.
Decision-Making, Analytics & Intelligence > Philippines 