I think that we’d all agree that the last couple of weeks have been brutal ones for our various markets: the stock market closed Friday at 2004 levels, Oil is at an all-time high, and the real estate market here in Michigan continues to plunge to new lows.
And all I keep hearing is doom and gloom from the chicken-littles here. And it’s not just the media that’s perpetuating and worse yet – AMPLIFYING these problems – it’s people too young to remember what a recession looks like and those that are old enough to remember but simply choose not to.
And I have to say that I’m tired of it. Sick and tired, as my folks used to say. From the Newsweek cover that shouted about the Post-American world to the young kid working at his first job in Downtown Detroit that I argued with online for a couple of days because he was wailing that Michigan “is coming to an endâ€. What a bunch of crap.
I had been doing some research to compare this economic downturn with the one that we lived through in the 70’s. My plan involved coming up with irrefutable evidence and a brilliantly structured logical argument that the 70’s were much worse than what we’re facing today, and by the sheer brilliance of my argument thousands would be convinced and start to think differently.
Then I came to my senses.
I realized that too many of the doomsayers are so caught up in their own beliefs that not even my most well researched and written factual arguments could convince them otherwise.
So I said screw it. Because I happened to find something that succinctly delivered the message that I have been trying to get out for months. It’s an ad for Harley-Davidson.
And the message? Fear Sucks. This area WILL come back, sooner than everyone thinks and stronger than it was before. It always has.
I thought that this was appropriate for the week of July 4th.
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The text says:
We Don’t Do Fear.
Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we’ve seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance, and revolutions. We’ve watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time, this country has come out stronger than before. Because chrome and asphalt put distance between you and whatever the world can throw at you. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of an engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it’s that fear sucks and doesn’t last long.
So screw it. Let’s ride.
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I agree 100%. In fact, I wrote a blog a few months ago titled “The Sky is Falling” expressing my frustrations over people’s contagious negativity. I worked through the last recession, this ain’t nothing compared.
It’s beyond me why folks would rather sit around and complain than do something about it. And this goes especially for the media. Instead of all the bad they could squeeze in some good, because there is always something good happening somewhere.
Thanks Lesley.
This is a great post – thanks! Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the problems people face today, while real, would pale in comparison to other obstacles this country has overcome in the past. Saddle up!