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What is to be done?
By
Published: Jan 01, 2008
Category:
Beyond Classification
My review of The Trillion Dollar Meltdown made some readers crazy. Here’s a representative e-mail:
What about me? This book is all about them…It is good to know about them who caused it, but what about me who has to live with it? Of course, I will be doing my level best to vote out the bad and vote in the good, but in the meanwhile, some more information about what we — the people who are working our jobs and paying our bills — can/should do to weather this storm would be a helpful ending.
Good question.
And I do have some thoughts, if not answers.
First, a Consumer Warning: Do not take financial advice from Butlers. Or even seek it. Need to know what to do about your 401K? Get professional help. Or ask Andrew Tobias. Do you read him? You should, every day. See why — start here. (Yes, Andy is the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, and he has a point of view, but much more to the point, he wrote The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, a book that delivers on the promise of the title.)
Second, a commercial: In good times, money flows and people spend, often without thinking. I created HeadButler.com in opposition to that sloppy, wasteful way of living. The goal here, from day one, was to ignore the merely popular and showcase the truly good — to serve up high-protein culture, with surprising wallows into carbs along the way. So to some extent, the archives are my idea of a roadmap to culture that sharpens your thinking and helps you get through hard times. I like to believe that regular readers are better prepared than some to face whatever’s ahead.
Third: We avoid politics here. But it’s hardly political to wonder if people who don’t vote are really concerned about their income, their savings and their taxes. It says here: Don’t vote, don’t complain.
And now I’ll try to be helpful….
At the end of tight games, Michael Jordan always wanted the ball. As he explained it to me, some players get tight as the clock winds down — their movements are jerky, their shots are forced. But with seconds left, he felt time expand. He believed he had the freedom to create. And that, in a way, slowed the clock and expanded his opportunities.
So here we are, in what feels like the end of the era of American dominance. The value of the dollar keeps dropping, companies are lopping off jobs by the thousands, and homeowners are taking in boarders in order to keep up with their mortgage payments. A splendid time to freak out, make a forced move, take the wrong shot, see it all get worse.
I see life as a confidence game — belief in the validity of your work is the first step to doing it will. Luck matters. Good looks count. And never discount the importance of soft lighting. But self-confidence is the starting point.
So most of my thoughts on the economic crisis really track back to the personal zone. The first thing we need to do is calm down, breathe deep and remember who we are. For me, that means:
— Make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Do you exercise? If so, lean into your workouts, they are as valuable as a good therapist. Eating right? If so, you know that a diet of non-industrial food keeps you from feeling slow and stupid. Then there’s your media diet. I say: Don’t watch any cable news networks, avoid most network news as well, rethink your interest in any show that catapults an unknown to fame and fortune.
— Disconnect. Every minute you’re on a Blackberry, responding to e-mail or obsessively checking blogs is a minute you’re not likely to have an original thought. Yes, we need information. But even more, we need to think.
— Dream. When his career was on the skids, the great musician Curtis Mayfield made a point of going to the movies every day. He sat near the front, so the images could wash over him. His reason: to keep feeding his imagination. I’m with him. Brooding and worrying are inevitable, but they’re also counter-productive. Watch good movies, listen to music, read exciting books — do whatever fills your mind with fresh ideas.
— Read this book: Deep Economy, by Bill McKibben. More than anyone I can think of, he knows what’s wrong — and what you can do, in your life, in your city, to make it better.
Having said all that — as if any of this is new to you! — there are some favorites from the archives that seem particularly timely to me.
Good Advice
Improv Wisdom — reminding you that you’re good enough, and smart enough, to say “yes” to each moment and make something of it.
Setting the Table — a restaurateur’s guide to success, built largely on paying attention to others and caring about them.
Epictetus — control what you can, accept what you can’t.
The War of Art — want to achieve something? Learn to commit.
Happier — hints from the instructor of a mega-popular course at Harvard.
Mating in Captivity — this is no time for friction with your partner.
The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need — “living below your means” and “watch the interest compound” are never bad ideas.
Food
In Defense of Food — the argument for real food, briskly stated.
Real Food — what to buy, and why.
Purify your own water — never buy a bottle again.
History
Rubicon — The crest and fall of the Roman Empire
We Die Alone — When you think you are having a bad day, remember how he had to amputate his frozen toes.
Spirit
Thich Nhat Hanh — you have to admire his calmness and sense of perspective.
John O’Donohue — ideas bathed in kindness.
Fiction
The Good Earth — the Chinese lived on less, and when they got more….
Love in the Time of Cholera — this besotted man was in no rush.
The Four Just Men — vigilante justice, executed by gents.
The Spies of Warsaw — ordinary people doing extraordinary work, with the Nazis moving closer.
Comedy
Mitch Hedberg — so you don’t misplace a sense of the absurd.
Bill Hicks — so you remember how liberating it is to say the harsh, nasty truth.
Poetry
Rumi — the world’s most popular poet reminds you what matters.
James Howard Kunstler has been gloomy about our prospects for some time, But never gloomier than this:
….we’ve got to get to work re-tooling all the everyday activities of life, including the way we grow our food, the way we raise and deploy capital, the way we do trade and manufacturing, the way we go from point A to point B, the way we educate children, the way we stay healthy, and the way we occupy the landscape. I know, it sounds like a lot, maybe too much. But grok this: we don’t have any choice if we want a plausible future on this portion of the North American continent.
Will this happen? Not until the 11th hour, Kunstler says. “We’ll probably embark on a campaign to prop up the un-prop-up-able and sustain the unsustainable — that is, defend every status quo habit and behavior that we’re used to, whether it can be salvaged or not.”
But that “we” is a collective, government/business/media “we”. In the HeadButler.com community — and many communities like this — I think we’re a little smarter. More concerned. Thoughtful. Courageous. We may not be able to save our country, but we can, perhaps, save ourselves and our loved ones. And set an example.
I believe that’s a reasonable start.
Feel free to suggest a better one. Or the next step.
