The PM's Job

This is my second response to the Rex Murphy article (See Below)

Trillian Rand: Of course Mr. Harper takes flack for making rosy predictions. That is partly because he is all over the map with his predictions but mostly because he is far from the orator of President Obama. Few would call Harper a PM that inspires.

Indeed I believe it is the PM's job to show a "glass half full" mentality, to encourage consumer confidence and promote stability. There are those in society that see everything through a negative coloured lens and insist on facing "reality", whatever that means. Reality is a relative thing, depending on what type of person you are and how you view your world.

I for one see the current corrections in the market as a good thing that will eventually produce a better, more stable financial system with better checks and balances and more income equality. An evolution of society for the better.

I am certain that is not what those "glass half empty" negative people see. But it is also worth noting that those type of people are never the leaders in society, never the visionaries, inventors or Entrepreneurs that create jobs and generate wealth.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, the man who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause;

who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Leadership

This is a response to an article in theglobeandmail.com by Rex Murphy entitled"Faux outrage in a time of crisis"




Trillian Rand from Canada is correct when he says no one really knows what to do in this economic crisis. But there is one thing the President can do better than anyone that is guaranteed to help; improve consumer confidence.

I usually respect Rex Murphy's opinion but his constant criticism of Obama is perplexing to me.

Surely Murphy realizes there are no concrete answers to the current economic crisis, just opinion which varies, depending on who you talk to.

Governments have to be seen to be doing something so most around the world have elected to go on spending sprees in an effort to bolster the economy. The American political system is far from perfect with its adversarial process but $8 billion worth of pork projects in a Trillion dollar budget as Murphy pointed our is not bad, all things considered.

As for Obama, I submit he is exactly the kind of leader the US and the world needs right now. Does Murphy really think hearing the President spout solemn statistics and make promises of this rate and that program is really what is needed now? I think Americans want to be assured things are going to be ok. I think they want to hear an upbeat message of hope. I think they WANT to talk about the 1st Dog.

To suggest because Obama does these things he lacks substance is disingenuous of Murphy and frankly I thought he was smarter than that.

President Obama's calm demeanor inspires hope in the populous, he makes many people feel good about being American and he is a consummate people person. These abilities transcend facts and figures and are vastly more important in conveying a vision of the future to Americans. Do not underestimate the value of these abilities in the leader of the free world.

A Necessary Evil or Valuable Tool?

This is a response to an article on theglobeandmail.com by Ivor Tossell entitled "Online ads shouldn't irritate – they should complement"
Here is the Link to the Article

The poster "Be a companion Not a predator from Toronto" is misinformed. Neither Facebook nor YouTube's owner Google have even come close to making a profit on those sites yet. And what's wrong with profit anyway? True there has to be a balance between profit and social responsibility but the American system of Capitalism has done the best job of balancing that so far, at least compared to other systems like communism.

The current economic upheaval will only serve to improve the system in the long run as greater regulation and oversight curb greed.

The relationship between advertising and content has always been a rocky one. These "frienemies" have coexisted in traditional media to date fairly well but Ivor makes a good point that it is much more difficult online.

The initiatives the consortium are taking to make ads bigger are a step forward for the reasons Ivor outlined but the bigger challenge to advertisers is to make advertising more relevant to the individual.

Google recently announced a product to do just that and I applaud them for it. Making advertising more targeted makes it more relevant and therefore more useful.

Some responded to the article about Google's plans with the usual vitriolic postings about the evils of advertising. They stated their intention to block any and all ads and proudly proclaimed they never click on them. I find such comments to be infantile, reactionary and unhelpful.

Google and theglobeandmail.com offer a free service supported by advertising. If you use that service I think you are beholden to at least look at the ads and support the companies and people who work for them.

But the companies also have a responsibility to make the ads more relevant and targeted to your interests. And I might add, it is in their best interest to do so.

That's not funny!

This is a response to an article on Globeandmail.com about TV show 22 Minutes interrupting the Premier's press conference. Here is the Link to the Article


It is understandable that many would see Ms. Halls actions as inappropriate but I beg to differ. No one would argue that 1,000 people loosing their jobs is something to laugh about but this incident does raise a bigger issue.

To a large degree this recession is a recession of the mind. There are certainly fundamental problems undermining the economy, particularly in the US housing market. The bonfire was certainly there to begin with.

But because of the media's focus and subsequently the focus of many around the world, that fire is now a raging, out of control forest fire inferno. Consumers have stopped spending, companies hiring and banks lending, predominantly out of fear. Now the situation is getting worse driven primarily by fear, pessimism and anger.

The situation need not be as bad as it is. It is an undeniable fact that the vast majority of Canadians will NOT loose their jobs, their houses, their life saving and things WILL turn around.

Perhaps 22 Minutes interrupting the doom and gloom of the Premier's press conference is just what we need. Perhaps we need more people reminding us that its not really that bad.

Of course there are those that look at everything in life through a negative, pessimistic lens as evidenced by the many outraged postings for the Globe article. They will claim things are terrible, the sky is falling and all are doomed, or something to that affect.

It is worth noting that those are not the kind of people that build societies, create wealth and inspire greatness in others.

We need more Geri Halls and those that can see opportunity not adversity, those that instill hope not fear.

This economic turmoil will end, not because of trillions pumped into economies but when people decide things are not so bad after all and start participating in the recovery instead of expecting things to get worse.

Taking the High Road in Politics

This post is a response to an article in the Globeandmail.com about new attacks planned by the Tories on Michael Ignatieff, the new Liberal Leader.

The Globe Article


It is certainly telling that in politics, "flip flopping" is considered a bad thing. One of the many great attributes of President Obama is his ability to admit mistakes and change his mind. A few weeks ago the President admitted "I screwed up", something typically unheard of from a US President.

The Canadian people should reward a politician that makes informed, policy changes instead of sticking with something just because he said it earlier. Issues such as climate change are complex and leaders that DONT change their minds as new evidence comes to light should be the ones that are considered suspect.

I am hopeful that the Liberals will be able to rise above the negative attack style campaign the Tories only seem capable of. The Obama example in the US shows us it is possible to win with such a strategy. McCain ran a negative, divisive attack campaign and Obama ran an inclusive, positive one based on ideas and won.

For all the scorn Canadians tend to heap on Americans, they must be commended for rising to the occasion, ignoring the negative attacks and electing a President that embodies hope, inclusion and common goals.

Canadians should do no less.