Motivation Monday for Columbus Day 2011 ~ What Do We Need To Discover?

Oct. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- As we celebrate Columbus Day there are modern discoveries that we must focus on as a society that have nothing to do with travel or adventure, but are social issues right under our noses and yet we cannot seem to grasp their importance. Why is the media intentionally missing the boat on “Occupy Wall Street?”

Today is Columbus Day 2011.  And yes in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but what he found was a mistake.  He was intending to find a shortcut to Japan for trade and instead, found the Americas.  Not a bad “mistake.” Over the past several weeks, I have stated that “Motivation Mondays©” is about “taking action to make things happen.”  Columbus is a great example.  He took action and did something differently and took a different direction and look what he discovered.

It’s time for The United States of America to do the same thing.

We are currently observing a group of people that started out in New York City with “Occupy Wall Street” with the intent of bringing some awareness to their dissatisfaction with “corporate greed” and corruption.  I didn’t realize that we were one of the first to actually write and acknowledge their importance; however, I am shocked at the national response to this group, and the lack of understanding by the media. Is it intentional?

Glenn Beck referred to them as “hippies.”  One newspaper article had a woman say that “they should get jobs.”  And nightly news coverage, which is just starting to grow now after 3 weeks of “Occupy Wall Street” continues to act like they are surprised about this growing discontent and asking, “what do they want?”

Are you all kidding?  Unlike Columbus who had to sail for thousands of miles to find himself in this new and unusual land, the media seems to be intentionally underplaying the importance of this public outcry and are not coming to the simple conclusion that is right in front of them, “people are pissed!”

Even President Obama’s new “Job Czar” General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt gets it.  He stated last night in his “60 Minutes” interview, “it’s simple, people are pissed out there.”  He also stated that nobody, Congress or The White House was working 100% of their time on jobs and the creation of jobs.  I guess that’s why they have asked Immelt to do that job.

So, there are people that “get it.”  People are “pissed” for a lot of reasons and while that doesn’t fit into a sound bite, maybe that’s why our leaders and the media should be listening for more than sound bites.  There are people that are suffering in our society and they want answers.  Last week I referred to my new book, “The Systemic Breakdown of America” and how there is no “one solution” to our current cultural challenges.  However, across the board, there does seem to be one problem with a singular theme…our systems are broken.

Take for instance the fact that we announce every week that there are approximately 9.0% of the population that are “unemployed.”  That’s not the truth.  Since President Reagan changed how the numbers are reported the actual 9.0% only represents the percentage of people that claimed for unemployment.  The media knows this to be true.  There is more like 18 to 20% of the population that are “unemployed.”

Motivation Mondays© as I originally created it and have held several programs dedicated to it, was intended for the vast “unemployed” population, as well as those that are “unhappily employed.”  The intent is to motivate, inspire and empower this enormous and growing population.  “Unemployment” is a temporary state and should not “define” who you are or take away from what you have accomplished in life. Unfortunately, the massive amount of unemployment is lasting too long and people are losing what they have spent their lives building.

Regrettably, the only people that don’t seem to get this are our “leaders,” politicians, the media and the financial industry and Wall Street.  Their failed plans and strategies have cost people their homes and yet the financial institutions that were largely responsible were given “bail out money” from us the taxpayers without as much as a “thank you.”  Instead, a lot of the largest banks gave their executives bonuses with our money even though they had failed miserably. How do you still get a “performance bonus” when your performance has created a financial collapse?

Whatever happened to Sarbanes and Oxley?  Under the Sarbanes and Oxley Act that was enacted in 2002 every single executive from every single one of the financial institutions and US government officials that lied or mislead about the financial collapse should have all gone to jail. And yet, not one has gone to jail.  And yet, the average person would already be in jail and probably would have had to spend a fortune on lawyers to get out or get off.

These are only a couple of small examples of why people are “pissed.”  Speaking of lawyers, did you know that instead of creating real jobs for average people to get back to work and take care of their families the Financial Regulatory bodies that are quasi public entities, but are self regulated are hiring 600 new employees?  Who are the new employees you might ask?  600 lawyers!  That’s right.  Instead of creating “real jobs” that can help stimulate American growth, the US Government and the financial industry are hiring 600 lawyers to create a punitive environment and create a “Police State” in America.  And it will not benefit the American public, because as a self regulating body, they get to keep the money.

For politicians, community leaders, journalists and those in the media reading this, do some research and reading to see why people are so angry in America.  This social outcry isn’t because people are bored and have nothing else to do.  This is an uprising of Americans that are saying they are pissed and have had enough.  Don’t try to marginalize it and say it’s the Tea Party or Unionized Labor or anything else, the folks that started “Occupy Wall Street” started it because they have had enough of greed and corruption.

For those that are unemployed or frustrated by your current set of circumstances.  Please don’t despair.  America is a great country and we will persevere.  As long as you remain active daily and enthusiastic about your life and your children and family there will be a solution.  

At a time when we remember Steve Jobs the CEO and Creator of Apple, please remember that he was not famous, nor beloved for his money.  And the vast wealth he had created could not save his life.  In the end, an amazing man like Steve Jobs was loved by his family and those closest to him and honored and beloved by so many, because of what he contributed to this world.  It’s not about the money.  It’s about being true to yourself.

On a day that we celebrate Columbus and his discovery of America, it’s important for us to realize that we have so much to be thankful for in our personal lives and the privilege of living in America.  We must also realize that part of the responsibility of that citizenship is to hold our leaders and politicians accountable for the mistakes that are costing us all dearly.  This isn’t a “Republican thing,” or a “Democrat thing” or a “Tea Party thing,” this is an American thing and it’s time for us to voice our opinions and displeasure of how things are being handled.  In the end America, it’s up to us!


Kevin L. McCrudden is President of Motivate America, Inc. and Founder of National Motivation & Inspiration Day, which is January 2nd of every year and was passed by The United States Congress after the tragic events of 9-11-2001. He is also author of “U ~ Who Are U?” where he introduces the most significant addition to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in 60 years.  http://www.amazon.com/~-Who-Are-ebook/dp/B004GNFUR0/ref=s...