Lessons from 2008

The holidays are fast upon us, and, try as we might, these just seem different than those of the past.  Few of us now alive have experienced something as severe as what is now besetting our economy, and even those who weathered the Great Depression seem clueless as to how to extricate ourselves from this iteration.  What seems certain is that things won't turn for the better soon.

But that's not what saddens me this holiday season.  Sure, it will be plenty grim and plenty awful for many if this downturn/meltdown/recession/depression lasts through 2009, and that would indeed make me sad, but what I really fear is that we will learn nothing enduring from this experience.  And that would be, while predictable, a true shame.

The lessons abound, from the reprehensible arrogance of Detroit executives arriving to beg Congress for money via separate private jets, to spouses of CEO's of crashing financial companies on shopping sprees, to AIG leaders at a posh resort, to the many who fell for Bernard Madoff's too-good-to-be-true scam, to the scenes of small businesses closing adjacent to car plants.  What are the take-aways?  Here's a start at a list:

1. That everything costs money and somebody has to pay; e.g., something-for-nothing always rips someone off;
2. That the bedrock of an economy is not moving around piles of money, but making something of value--whether tangible goods or intellectual property;
3. That we owe something to future generations other than a bill for how we lived our lives;
4. That in an electronic, hyper-linked, networked world, what happens in one place affects everyplace else faster and with greater force than ever before; and
5. That a little humility and civility goes a long way toward making the world a better place.

Happy holidays, whichever of these you celebrate!  And please do add to my list.