I just finished watching selected scenes from the Disney movie "The Kid". When this movie played in theaters I thought it looked dumb and I wasn't interested in seeing it. When the DVD went on sale I saw it and bought it. I'm glad I did.

"The Kid" is one of the two best movies ever on the subject of change. The other is "Groundhog Day". That's fitting considering the day. These two movies are worth watching and considering.

In "The Kid" Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is visited by his 8-year-old self on the eve of his 40th birthday. Watch the movie to find out more. The major point is that Russ was so rotten that even his child self did not want to hang with him. This movie is about how Russ wrestles with change.

In "Groundhog Day" Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a weatherman with a bad attitude and no friends. He gets stuck reliving one day over and over and over again. In an early scene he is taking a date to a theater. He tells her that it is his favorite movie, that he's seen it over a hundred times. The movie is "Heidi 2".

This film doesn't take shortcuts. It shows how Phil struggles with change. I believe that Phil was stuck in this one day for maybe 7 or more years. I like the fact that it takes a long time, and hard work, for Phil to make lasting changes.

I highly recommend both films.

We have some difficult problems facing us in this state. Some of us are stuck in an old "Zero Sum Game" mentality. That's an attitude of, "If you have more then I must have less." It is certainly an understandable viewpoint, considering our financial crisis.

We are seeing the nasty side of scarcity mentality. It's poison. There is nothing good that can ever come from it. Scarcity = negative energy. We must do everything we can to avoid promoting this negativity.

The opposite of scarcity is abundance. Abundance = Positive Energy. That's were we need to be. It is almost too easy and I'm afraid that it is an idea easily dismissed. In its simplist form it's nothing more than PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). That idea turned many of us off back in the '70s.

PMA without action is just wishful thinking. So let's consider PMA in action. I've never had the opportunity to read through Thomas Edison's journals. But I've heard about them. Edison had the habit of making notes in the margins. These were motivational in nature.

He expressed ideas along the lines of: "Do more with less", and "make due with what we have". Edison started with few resources. He had to trust in his ability to produce extraordinary results with limited supplies. Look at the results.

Edison and his staff are responsible for hundreds of patented products. The company they developed (General Electric) is one of the best ever. Hundreds of thousands of people work for that company today. Hundreds of thousands have worked for General Electric over the decades. From humble beginnings fabulous wealth and great benefits to humanity have been realized.

I'm an economist by education and in my soul. Economics is a science. Economics is frustrating. Why? Because we want to be able to define a formula, input data, and derive an answer. We attempt to analyze the past and draw conclusions. Then we attempt to forecast future events based on what we have observed. This rarely works. Again, why?

Because we can never measure the human response. When things get bad we humans adjust our behavior. Economists can forecast downturns, famines, food and energy shortages, etc. They just don't or can't understand how humans will react. Economists seem unable to foresee responses by the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, neighbors, family and friends. Our ability to care for each other and lift each other is not part of the equation. But it is a part of who we are.

Making do with less is an opportunity. Most great things don't happen by throwing money at problems. They happen when we have to dig deep, help each other, and call on our creative resources.

If we go along doing things the same old way we will continue to get the same old results. We are better than that. Together we can create greatness. We have the creative talent to go far beyond where we are now. We can push the limits of our imagination. It is up to us. But it takes change.

Thats' all for now..........
9:00:12 PM    comment []