We all have dreams or at least I hope we do. Aspirations, fantasies, imaginations..something that takes us out of our everyday life. We all want to do better and for some to be a better person. A better golfer, parent, spouse or maybe just a better citizen of this big blue orb we live on. 

If I dream I have optimism. There can be a new and improved TTG out there somewhere, I just have to find it. It’s odd because I have a pretty good life. I don’t really want for anything. Am I being a pig at the table of life? I guess the answer to that is what you wish for?

Looking at the material side, the divine Miss K and my life has really changed. Over time we have had some pretty nice houses. I imagine it was somewhat important what car we drove, what club we belonged to and what booze we served.( I still like Johnnie Walker Black.)  Now my golf shirts are old and my blue blazer has seen better days but it doesn’t rise to the definition of crisis. 

That is not true for others and I get it. I hope couples still want to get married, have kids and move into bigger digs.If you live in public housing project, or in a run down part of town you want to get out not only for a better life but maybe just life itself. Defining those parameters are the most important part. 

I have always believed if you aim high, you hit high. Yet today for many this is all so out of reach. And for many the lure of lotteries or on line betting becomes a bottomless hole that you cannot get out of. And of course  as businesses and even  government we play to that weakness in so many ways. It is not only tragic but sick. Would that it were not.  

Getting to the personal side I am intrigued by so much in our world today. We have in so many ways an unachievable existence although we try and try. Role models are the rich and famous. Look at the Kardashians. They created this highly lucrative persona out of nothing. It is smoke and mirrors. Hell man,I could do that! Or so they think. 

Young people are making it big. Whether it is high tech, financial markets, entertainment or some other fast growing industry they are succeeding to unfathomable degrees.

This is not to throw cold water on that, but to add some degree of practicality. This joy ride is unsustainable or unachievable for the masses. We have created such unreal expectations that you feel like a loser if you don’t hit it that big.   This creates a dilemma for me to ponder and try to solve. Believe me I am not even close. 

There is another side to this whole line of thinking. The difference between optimism and stupidity. We adopt a sense of the Lord will provide or don’t worry things will work out for the best. That is admirable but it doesn’t pay the bills. A smart person enjoys the good times but plans for the downside. What is your plan B ? Many dreamers don’t think that far. The crash hurts more than ever. 

The line between success and failure is often a fine one. Are we equipped to handle it? Our educational system has made its intent to be a safe and nurturing place. I guess you could broaden that to include adolescence and young adulthood. There was a well respected chemistry professor at NYU who was fired after complaints from 85 of 350 students about the class being too hard. In their petition, students said that “a class with such a high percentage of withdrawals and low grades has failed to make students’ learning and well-being a priority.” Yikes!

Some dream of stability and others of revolution. That clash spells polarization. The common thread of democracy, civility and yes morality of a sort is under fire. One man’s fantasy is another one’s nightmare. Change is part of life but it seems a portion of our society wants to throw everything out and start over. Every last vestige of the country’s history and methodology is suspect. Others want to be back in time. The good old days.  These dreams are clashing and clashing big time. 

My kids have been very much involved in their schools through various forms of PTA groups. The common thread is the teachers having to wade through countless complaints and accusations from parents that their son or daughter is going to be a total failure if they don’t get B or better. How will these kids handle any bit of criticism or downside in the game of life? This is indeed a dream that probably won’t come true. 

My dream is that we survive and I believe we will. My dream is we all come to our senses. We are torn between so many countermeasures and basic philosophies. We want a forward thinking world but it can’t be based on fantasies. We want to foster creativity but we can’t have a society that caters to every need and whim. 

I believe it starts with education both at home and in our schools. Basic discipline and decency towards one another. Puberty demands structure but not a stifling of the spirit. Experiments are part of life but taken too far you find a wandering and chaotic mosaic. Look at your life and do you find excesses of all sorts to be your paradigm? BOTH LEFT AND RGHT!!

I dream that each and everyone of us take a long look in the mirror. No smug looks. No vitriol unleashed. Just a honest look at ourselves and where we ought to be in a communal and interdependent world. I know I have lot of work to do. I only hope that dream I am chasing is not sheer fantasy. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Dream:noun

1.a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.

2.a state of mind in which someone is or seems to be unaware of their immediate surroundings.

3.a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.

4.an unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy.

5.a person or thing perceived as wonderful or perfect.

I think Webster hit the nail on the head

People ages 65 to 74 spent the most on lottery tickets and pari-mutuels (betting pools), spending an average of $132.43. This is almost twice as much, or even more, than the amount spent by any of the other age groups.

Households with incomes in the fourth 20 percent spent the most on lottery tickets and pooled betting, spending an average of $94.72  per quarterThe next big spenders were households with incomes in the second 20 percent spending an average of $81.98.

Way back when I attended 8th grade at St Mary’s, class was held in the basement of the church and we totaled 54 students. We had one nun and rolling green blackboard. We all passed our NY State Regents exams in English,Math and History. How the hell did that happen?

They are giving out the Noble Prizes this week. TTG’s presence has not been requested in Oslo so I guess I didn’t make the cut in literature. Peace? Physics? I don’t think so. Bottom line is they pick the best in each field. The ones that have had great breakthroughs in their particular disciplines. They might even be called genius although I abhor that word. 

In our crazy world we are constantly looking for answers. I am not sure if we are seeking solutions on the past or a crystal ball into the future. Probably a bit of both. Where do we go? To the experts! Gurus and fortune tellers abound but do we rely on them too much?

Finance and economics are on everybody’s minds these day. Jobs, retirement, wealth, recessions, interest rates. The “Fed” is at the heart of defining our monetary policy. When we are down, they prime the pump and when we are getting too crazy, they slam on the brakes. When and if they do that, markets react in both directions. 

I can only imagine how many dudes and dudettes in the Fed are poring over thousands of numbers from millions of input points to figure out where we go from here. Yet despite all that talent and computing power they get it wrong. We keep rates too long or don’t raise them fast enough. We are all human and Monday morning quarterbacking is great, but this is what they are paid to do. 

Hurricane IAN kicked the crap out of those poor devils on the southwest coast of Florida. There were “spaghetti lines” of storm tracks that were the result of a lot of professionals looking at data. FEMA has to plan and place resources at various points. Florida Power and Light has trucks on the ready. Yet nobody in their right mind could have predicted the ferocity and destruction that took place. 

When you are messing with Mother Nature she often flips the bird to weather”geniuses”. This is not calling them to task in any way. In the end it is an inexact science. Many made decisions to evacuate or stay based on the hourly reports. Some got it right and some perished. In this arena, a difference or 10-20 miles spelled disaster or escape. That turn of the storm’s eye can occur in a matter of hours. The results might last forever. 

Corporate America and even countries are  prone to relying on consultants. Where do we go, what do we do in solving this or that challenge? There have been wonderful success stories and absolute disasters as a result. The famed McKinsey in the year 2000 told AT&T cell phones would be a niche market of only 900,000 users. I often wonder if hiring consultants is the ultimate CYA? The devil told me to do it. 

The US government is teed up in so many situations for a lot more than bad reviews. I am pretty sure in years to come, history will take a hard look at our response to COVID on so many levels. The excuse is we weren’t prepared for something this broad and deadly. My question is what are all the pandemic specialists at NIH and CDC doing? They were supposed ot be preparing for just this very thing. 

Bay of Pigs, Viet Nam, Mission Accomplished, Afghanistan, China, North Korea. How could we have gotten these things so wrong for so long? Nobody predicted Ukraine’s ability to fight back and succeed to this extent. We have the CIA, DIA, FBI,NSA et al sizing up situation after situation. The billions if not trillions we have spent on expert advisers, faulty weapons systems, computer systems that had no chance of being functional. The billions of aid to here and there of which there is no accountability. How does that happen? Does, “we are just mere mortals” cut the ice? 

I could go on and on but the point of the matter is that in every walk of life we strive to be successful and efficient with our resources. In planning our attack we rely on information in pure data and even more the interpretation by experts.  I am really torn by how much I can rely on that? More importantly who do I trust?

I am inquisitive and questioning by nature. I do not accept something because the writer or speaker is supposedly really smart.  Not to be a pain in the ass but to be sure in my mind I am getting the best information. Do I screw up? Of course I do. My biggest errors have occurred by not digging deep enough or questioning that which did not seem quite right. My bad! Yes, one can have “analysis paralysis” but we can also be lazy in not looking more intensely at something we know is not quite right. 

There are those that are really smart and some that think they are.  There are those that are more puff than substance. We tend to think that because someone makes a lot of money they know all the answers to business, life  and whatever. Because of title or place in society they are to be admired and believed. Many times the simplest person is the most wise. I guess the real genius is the one that figures that out. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

To err is human, to forgive is divine. Maybe….

We spend as a government almost $100 billion on intelligence gathering and analysis. 

$132 billion was spent worldwide on consultants in 2020. $65 billion was spent in the US alone. 

We spend 3-5 hours a day on electronic media. We read an average of one book every three months. 

Highly Intelligent People :

 Disorganized, adaptable, foul mouthed, understand limits, love learning, intuitive, know there is no such thing as luck, curious, night owls, risk takers, procrastinate, open minded, good instincts, oldest child, introverted and non aggressive. How  did you score?