Bidding a not-so-fond farewell to this decade
Tough times never last
| Each December people start looking back on the year, and in this case, the decade that is closing. All you have to do is walk by the newsstand, and the headlines this season cry out about "The Lost Decade." I picked up the December 7, 2009 issue of Time with Andy Serwer's article on "The Decade From Hell, and Why the Next One Will Be Better." It brought back a lot of memories, and gave me a lot of food for thought. His article painfully chronicles the 2000s, bookended by market crashes and chock full of unhappy events: 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the housing bubble, Bernie Madoff and the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of humanity. Other meltdowns along this gloomy stroll down memory lane included the I-35 bridge collapse highlighting our crumbling infrastructure, corporate bankruptcies and unemployment - the list goes on and on. And let us not forget all the other dark happenings of the past 3,650 days: mass shootings and grizzly murders, scandal upon scandal played out on 24/7 news - confirming what we probably knew already, that many of our idols had feet of clay. Serwer calculates in large part, we have ourselves to blame. The underlying causes of some of the most troubling developments were in part or were greatly exacerbated by neglect, greed, self-interest and deferral of responsibility. We didn't rise to a lot of challenges, and the chickens came home to roost. On the Bright Side The only thing I like about getting [gulp] older, is being able to remember how things have played out just in my lifetime. In the early 1980s, I thought that recession would NEVER end ... but it finally did. The age of the personal computer dawned shortly thereafter and changed the world forever. I thought the recession of the early 1990s would NEVER end ... but it did, and not long after the Internet came into common use and changed the world forever, again. I personally have every confidence that the same will happen this time - things are bound to look up. Serwer's article also reminds us there is a natural cycle to history. At some point, unanticipated positive developments will again drive the market (and our spirits) higher. "Usually when you've had a really bad decade like this one, the next decade turns out much better for investors," said Richard Sylla, a professor for economics at the NYU Stern School of Business. Something that gives me a lot of hope for the 2010s is just looking around Lillibridge, and our industry in general. In the face of uncertainties about financial markets and healthcare reform, I am amazed at all the innovation going on - we're looking at new ways of doing things all the time! And there is so much hope in the world of healthcare, what used to be considered dread diseases are becoming manageable. We have and will create healthcare destinations with brand new thinking - where people will be treated and be able to live longer, healthier lives. So as this crummy decade ends, I am happy to be part of Lillibridge - and the millions of Americans who are using good old bare-knuckled determination every day to make things better, and to make a difference. As Robert H. Schuller said, "Tough times never last, but tough people do."
| Tags: 2000, 2010, |
