Brown Senate Victory: A Rash Backlash?

Scott Brown's Mass. Senate victory marks a stark change in the political climate since Obama was sworn in exactly one year ago today. It's clear now, as Ted Kennedy's Senate seat turns Republican for the first time since 1962, that an inevitable liberal backlash is well underway while the Senate midterm elections in November rapidly approach.
Truth be told, the Obama administration certainly deserves the criticism thrown at them in recent months. The failed Christmas bombing attempt revealed an overwhelming lack of competency for a post 9/11 government. The massive health care bill is being pushed through the legislative process, without the promised transparency Obama campaigned on. National debt is at an all-time high. Not to mention, job creation seems to have disappeared from a loaded list of top priorities while unemployment hovers around 10%.
And yet, that same criticism displays a lack of true patriotic constructiveness from a party whose defining characteristic is "country first." Republicans have time and time again proven themselves to be obstructionists more than anything, defined simply by what they are opposed to without proposing helpful alternative solutions themselves.

Worse, an angered Tea Party is rallying against what they call socialism—the bailing out of Wall Street, major banks and the auto industry in an imploding economy—without specifically mentioning the even grimmer alternative: bankruptcy and crashes on a similar scale with the Great Depression in the 1930's. If that happened, wouldn't everyone be pointing fingers wondering why the government didn't step in?

Misdirection and fear-mongering is rampant. And that is really the sad story being played out—that even while the Obama administration has paved new roads to reach Americans to dispel myths born of fear through its website, blog, newsletters, social networking, weekly addresses, town hall meetings...you name it, not a single Republican Senator will vote for what this country desperately needs: health care reform.

Surely, a populist backlash can be healthy for the country as a whole. It's precisely what got Democrats in power to begin with. Short memories aren't reminded that the economic crisis brewed and erupted on Bush's watch.

But this has tipped the scales of power in the Senate, enough to block the nearing passage of the health care bill (59-41). President Obama has already stated in a CBS interview that the implications of last night's G.O.P. victory will most likely force a revised, bipartisan Senate bill.

Which begs a serious concern: Will the backlash prove rash enough that we realize, five years down the road, health care reform, among other legislation, should have been much stronger?

Cellphone Texting Aids Haiti Earthquake Victims

Within just three days following the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, The American Red Cross has raised $8 million in aid through text donations via cellphones. Simply texting "Haiti" to 90999 will send a donation of $10 to the relief effort that is billed to your cellphone bill.

By far, this is the most convenient way to send a small donation that can go a long way. Simple math reveals that already, 800,000 individual donations have been collected this way.

There is no charge for text messages sent and received, and according to redcross.org, every penny of the donated $10 goes to The American Red Cross to help those in need.

It's just another example of successfully reaching a wider audience through the use of technology (Apple's iPhone and Twitter are notable examples).

Phone donations are limited to $20-$30 per phone. To donate more, visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Full-time Status in 2010

This past Wednesday, I gave a two weeks notice to Borders, my part-time position. For the first time, I will be working exclusively in my field as a full-time employee starting Jan. 13th at Image Marketing Group. Doing so will end about a year and a half of working two jobs in order to receive health insurance. Thanks to COBRA, I'm allowed to retain my existing part-time coverage for 18 months after quitting Borders for the same rate.

Even though I've mostly worked 32 hours a week in my field in the past year and a half, part-time status was holding me back. Going full-time allows me to earn more per hour at a job that means exponentially more in terms of resume experience and self-fulfillment. Instead of splitting 50+ hours a week between two jobs, I'll be working 40 while earning roughly the same amount of money.

Commuting to Borders meant driving an hour each way twice a week (4 hours total), whereas Image Marketing is less than a mile away. That means less wear on my car and less frequent gas/oil change expenses.

I also get Sundays back, which enables me the time to post again.

While Borders was mostly a positive experience, imparting solid communication and customer service skills, I think it's high time to finally say  "good riddance" as I move on to the next stage of my career as a Copywriter / Web Consultant.

I look forward to it, as well as contributing more to The Cultivator in the new year.

Choosing Sides on a Divided Health Care Issue

Saturday night's 220-215 decision by the House of Representatives marks the furthest legislative reach U.S. Health Care Reform has ever gone. But the real test for the bill lies in the hands of the Senate, where it is likely to see the same back-and-forth debate that has been going on for months now.

That is: Whether the U.S. should spend money now to remedy the financial hole we're in or pay later.

And by "spend money now," I mean risk dishing out more unprecedented government funding that is prone to waste, corruption and mismanagement.

And by "pay," I mean risk watching idly as unemployment skyrockets passed even what it is now (10.2%, highest in 26 years), health care costs go berserk, the dollar weakens, and failing banks and businesses crumble.

Each option undoubtedly comes with a healthy dose of risk. Deciding which option to choose is a matter of risk management.

Let's break that question down to the personal level: If you owned a business that could no longer sustain itself or the debt you were in, would you cut costs and hold tight for the plunge or would you spend money aggressively to get your business back on track?

Now let's add some known circumstances. If the situation was dire (say, only the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression), that would probably raise the stakes—meaning, the chances of your business riding it out could be slim to none. And just like the word circumstance implies, there is nothing in your control to change that. Hence, the alternative is to reform your business to better "weather the storm" through bold yet concentrated spending.

Notorious advertising agent Morris Hite once said:

There is more money wasted in advertising by underspending than by overspending. Years ago someone said that underspending in advertising is like buying a ticket halfway to Europe. You've spent your money but you never get there."

It turns out that skimping on costs in marketing a brand doesn't effectively win you the best return on an investment. Likewise, plans to save your business must be plentiful in dollars and bold.

This road scares a lot of people; and admittedly, it is a scary road to take. Our national debt has been growing since George W. Bush took office, and more unprecedented spending certainly doesn't make it easier for the next generations of America. But avoiding action now and holding tight may lead to bigger consequences later, and this is really the best defense for spending early as a means to curb the financial crisis' immediate effect.

The problem is that future risks, even dangerous ones, are hard to concretely put together (think Global Warming). There are too many unknowns that would otherwise simplify the decision-making process.

What we do know about our current health care system is this: Despite rising costs in the past and projections to jump by 4% in the next 10 years (increasing our total spending from 16.2% to 20.5% of GDP), America is ranked a mere 34th in life expectancy rates around the globe at 78 years.

And so it's now up to the Senate to decide which threat is more dangerous and should receive the most priority. Our growing debt which could hinder our growth later? Or is it our hindering growth that could lead to even more debt later?

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The New York Times has a timeline detailing the History of Health Care Reform, which emphasizes the importance on the House's recent bill passage.

Back to work and glad about it

After about a month of calling up places and sending out resumes, I just recently landed a job at Image Marketing Group, an advertising and marketing firm in need of a Copywriter / Web Consultant.

It's not too big a change from my previous web content position at a local magazine in CT, except this style of writing is more marketing-focused as opposed to journalistic (e.g. print ad headlines, website 'about us' pages).

But after finishing my first week, I'm actually enjoying that transition. My core calling is writing, whatever form it may be. There's still plenty of creativity involved, and I've always enjoyed the art of persuasion.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have gotten a job in my field so fast in this kind of economy.

I still haven't lost that drive to keep writing outside of work, so regular blog posts on The Cultivator will start in about two weeks.

The Move to North Carolina

There's been a very legitimate reason for the lack of updates lately: I've relocated to North Carolina with my girlfriend of 2 1/2 years!

She recently landed a job as a news reporter at a local station about 45 minutes from Charlotte at Cleveland Headline News (Cleveland is the name of the County). This is after looking for a job mainly in the northeast for more than two years! We're absolutely ecstatic.

My job search is now just beginning. I'm hoping to find something in the field of new media journalism soon. If North Carolina is what people say it is, then there will be a good amount of opportunity here.

To all the friends and family in Connecticut: Thanks for the good times and support. It's been quite an adventure.

Sometime soon we will post a video tour of our new apartment. Look for it in my next post.

Looking East for a Post-Recession Mindset

Kurt Andersen wrote an excellent piece in Time this week, entitled "The Avenging Amateur." He argues that it's America's supposed amateurs that are "our best hope for thriving after the crisis."

He quotes Shunryu Suzuki, a Japanese Zen master as famously saying, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few."

"Beginner's mind" (Sho-shin) is essentially a paradox, Andersen explains. By starting anew, by going back to basics, reinvention and discovery become possible, without the limiting preconceptions that the expert mind develops. Zen Buddhists spend years of devoted practice to achieve states of beginner's mind.

There will always be a need for experts. But historically, amateurs of their respected fields are known to shake the very foundation of what was thought to be an unyielding reality; namely, as Andersen points out, the founding of this country.

That same passionate spirit just might propel the next big thing, whether its sustainable energy or Web 3.0. The capacity for breakthrough already exists within us, according to Buddhist philosophy.

Says world-renowned teacher Yongey Rinpoche: "The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you're already good, whole, and complete. It's about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind."

Here we find another paradox: discovering the best of us requires only to look within and believe in ourselves. And yet, sadly, Western Civilization in particular is bent on searching within the realm of the external to solve its problems, even to a dark extreme (greed, excess).

Buddhist teachings describe attempts to control our own fate as an illusion of control, which paradoxically leads to instability. It's when we let go of attachments that we are actually in better command of our lives.

Perhaps there is a valuable lesson here that we can take from Eastern thought as the dust settles from the global recession—that there is much to be gained by going back to living simply, as un-opportunist as it may seem. By spending and controlling more than our share, we've found that it only leads to more gimmicks, rock bottoms and reality checks. It's high time that America continues to look East for help with the complexities of Western life.