Here is an open letter I wrote to President Obama when he first took office, but never got around to sending it.  For what it is worth, I share it with you now.

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations on a well run, improbable, yet successful campaign for President of The United States.  I along with millions of others have been inspired and transformed by your victory.

Now the difficult part has begun.  You have been handed a US economy, which is in far worst shape than people can imagine, the equivalent of stage 4 cancer.  The condition of the US financial system and economy is the result of years of abuses, poor decision making, selfishness, greed, payoffs, and deregulation.  Now you are responsible for it.  A little unfair, but you did run for office. So here are some friendly reminders to help in the process of delineating a course of action. 

When I was a child my parents took me on a field trip to Washington DC and one stop during that trip was to the US Mint.  There I saw millions of dollars being printed on these huge sheets of paper.  Over the years that image confused me because I always wondered why we couldn’t just print money to give financial help to the poor and to create jobs for the poor and unemployed.  Later I learned that printing money without production or real economic activity eventually lowers the value of the currency.  I learned that more cash in circulation drives up the prices of everything and hence the dollar is worth less.  Commonly referred to as inflation. 

This is most evident in Zimbabwe, where things are so out of hand that they actually put in circulation a 50 billion dollar bill, each of which is less than 1 US dollar. Outrageous. 

Unfortunately, we are on that course now.  Several nations have experienced economic collapse, notably Iceland and Bulgaria, and Greece is a few days from economic collapse. What can America do to avoid an economic collapse?

Here are some guiding principles and since I am not an economist, your team can translate these principles into detailed action steps and policy.

1.  Do not insure bad business deals. You can’t entangle the government in bad private investments. Whether banks, companies, or mortgages you can’t devalue the currency & remaining financial solvency of the entire federal government to protect the investments of a few very wealthy people.  This means less bailouts of failed entities and more new entities. Create new banks & credit unions, new companies, & new industries. Don’t hand out free cash, which ultimately enslaves future generations to protect what was essentially bad business.  Despite the cries, of doom and gloom, commerce will not cease without bailouts.

2.   Protect American commerce.  If you can’t stop US companies from moving overseas then maybe you should consider imposing tariffs on all manufactured products imported to the US or require some sort of profit sharing with the US or its companies thru a distribution fee, or licensing fee. In other words find some way to make foreign manufacturers pay to sell their goods in the US, even if it is done thru US companies.  China does this shamelessly.  I went there and saw it first hand.  We need production and markets.  We can’t simply be easy access markets only.

3. Invest in and expand new and emerging industries and technology.  We have to create new jobs, new industries, and new markets.  New markets are key. Someone has to really pay for what is created or rendered as a service. The federal government can’t be the only one’s writing checks because that will not last. If the tax base is not expanded through expanding commerce, then the Federal government is printing cash that is essentially as unreal as the credit swaps and derivatives that triggered the crisis.  Which means Wall Street will have shifted its financial problem on the Federal government and tax payers.

4.  Help the American people directly.  Try to insulate the American people by creating more tax incentives, reducing the tax burdens, providing more small business loans, providing money for re education, re-training and for college loans.  This will prime the well for future prosperity and transition the workforce into sustainable jobs.

5. Control the evolution of the economy. Put in place a new regulatory team that understands and follows the fundamentals of economics. Increase production and productivity. Make capital available. Invest in infrastructure. Invest in technology. Invest in people. Limit tax increases, particularly on small businesses. Restrict and regulate the “creation” of imaginary cash (credit swaps, IOUs, derivatives, etc)

6.  Realize you can’t please everyone.  In the end, people are fickle.  They are quick to blame and slow to take responsibility.  Don’t fall for the trap of trying to satisfy everyone because you could wind up pleasing no one. Consider all the options. Consider the consequences. And set the course. Also don’t fall for the trap of trying to accomplish too much to prove yourself. This is still people pleasing in another face.

These are early recommendations, but as your first term evolves, rest assured things will morph into a new and quite possibly more challenging reality.  Keep the faith, maintain your well being, and simply do the best you can.  May God bless you with safety and success.

Thank you for your example, sincerity, and dedication to the people of the Untied States and the world

Sincerely your friend,

Michael Billion

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

…Robert Frost 

This famous poem by Robert Frost has tremendous significance to me.  I memorized and recited the poem in high school and I think it helped to shape my approach to life.  It describes the choice we all face in creating our path, in writing our own life’s narrative. Often the direction we choose is not the most popular one.  We may have chosen a major in college that was everyone else’s minor.  We may have chosen to be a musician while others secured a job.  We may have chosen to leave our hometown while most others stayed.  Maybe at work, we chose to work late hours while others chose to leave.  Whatever the case may be, life requires us to make choices and walk our own path, a path that is ours.

Taking the road less travelled is often the way to personal fulfillment. Since each of us is unique in some way, our life will take on unique characteristics that reflect who we are.  Being true to that uniqueness is how we fulfill our destiny.  Yet the biggest barrier to charting our own path and fulfilling our destiny is FEAR.   Fear of the unknown. Fear that we can’t redo it, once the choice has been made.

In the poem, the man realizes he can’t take both roads and expresses some sadness over it. He recognizes that his choice will likely never bring him to that point again.  Yet he chooses.  He commits to a direction.  And in the end, it was his commitment to the road less travelled by that made all the difference. 

Though we are all faced with significant choices at times, don’t let fear block your personal journey.  Don’t be afraid to take your unique path. No regrets.

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Beware. The report has been issued for the most insidious of enemies. This enemy has been found lurking everywhere we have looked, hiding in plain sight. Often undetected, the enemy is a master at deflecting attention.  Whenever we get close, this enemy is so crafty as to paint a picture to incriminate another, who is sometimes innocent.  Having been mislead again, we find ourselves on a steady search for the one who wronged us, the one who victimized us, or took advantage of us. The enemy.  We look for circumstances to hold responsible. We blame timing, events, and in some cases we blame even God Almighty. Yet in the end, the sly enemy slips by again. Unseen. Not responsible. Not accountable. But I found the enemy. I met the enemy.

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” 

This can be one of the most difficult ideas to accept. Ultimate personal responsibility! We are responsible for what we do and what we do not do because it all works together to create our experience. 

Our life is the culmination of millions upon millions of thoughts, actions, and interactions which result in our life experiences.  What if I had done this instead of this?  What if I learned something new or tried something another way or said something differently?  Would that have changed my outcome?  What did I do or not do to contribute to this outcome? 

These are some of the questions which might lead us toward finding the real source of our experiences.  Like  clues leading us to the culprit in a murder mystery, it is the process of self analysis and self reflection that helps us to discover how we impact our lives.   

There is no real advantage in blame.  Why? You may wonder. Because blame blinds us from recognizing the moments when our decisions and actions could have altered the outcome.  Thus having missed those moments, we miss the opportunity to grow, to improve, and to smarten up.  As a result, the other who is blamed may if guilty, receive justice, and that is appropriate, but we unfortunately remain vunerable to the next victimizer by having not recognized the opportunities we missed to influence our situaiton.  Or even worse,  we don’t perceive how and when we contributed to our situation.

This is the way of the enemy.  Unawareness. Self delusion. And sadly, sometimes we become our own victims. But it doesn’t have to be that way.  We can expose the enemy. We can arrest the enemy. We can free ourselves from victimhood. The choice is ours to make. Will we accept ultimate responsibility for our own life?

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