In business, being in the black is the place to be. Being in the dark is not.
If you cannot see what”™s around you, how can you plot your next move ”¦ let alone a strategy for growth?
Worse can be “sensing” something sinister lurking as you feel your way through the darkness.
There”™s little hope for progress when you”™re afraid of smashing your toes.
Bring on the bogeyman, we say, and let us deal with the consequences. It”™s that “unease” we fear far more.
Yet when it comes to matters of particularly great import ”“ our nation”™s financial instability and its leaders”™ plan to stabilize it ”“ we the people are left in the dark.
And it is precisely that fear of the unknown that is fueling uncertainty among consumers and business owners alike and putting the brakes on any economic recovery.
We often chide our elected reps for treating us like mushrooms ”“ keeping us in the dark and feeding us crap. In the best of times we shake our heads and roll our eyes, but we don”™t lose many winks.
These aren”™t the best of times and we won”™t predict the potential “worst.” But we do sense an urgent need for political leaders to quickly shed some light on the state of our nation.
We know all politics is local and things are coming home to roost.
The lack of leadership has us wondering if, in fact, these folks even know what”™s happening with our nation”™s finances and its economic future.
While all eyes were focused on the crumbling debt ceiling, the rug was pulled out from beneath us and our credit rating went south.
People are fed up with the inaction in Washington and it”™s fueling the sentiment of “us versus them.” This is not a time for divisiveness. And the politicking, postulating and pontificating is serving only to widen the rift.
How refreshing it would be to see a senator or representative distinguish himself or herself by breaking from the pack and doing the right thing, regardless of party.
All the while voters and taxpayers are left dangling, wondering what the nation”™s next move will be and how it”™s going to affect our jobs, our homes, our families and what”™s left of our retirement savings. There”™s a pervasive mood here and it”™s not a merry one.
Yes, Gov. Carey, those days of wine and roses are over. And may you, sir, rest in peace.
Meanwhile, just about every business from the Fortune 500 to the sole proprietor is running leaner these days. The survivors are finding they can even do more with less and they are planning strategies for doing business in a new economy.
But while righting their own ships, it is still difficult to chart a new course in a tumultuous sea of politics.
We need leadership. A beacon to guide us and a voice to reassure us.
Most of all, we need straight shooters. Tell us the truth. We can handle it.
