Early this morning I twittered the thought:
"Thinking about the divergence between escapism and reality. NPR lays off 85 and the Yankees Sign Sabithia for 165 million."
Later this morning Reuters reported that Jobless claims have hit a 28 year high at 573,000 and that the past numbers are worse then they were previously reported. What might have been more disturbing was when ESPN reported that the Yankees will pay 75 million dollars per year to just three players on their roster Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and C C Sabithia which is more then most MLB teams will pay their entire roster. Don't get me wrong good for those guys that they can cash in on their talent.
Still I have to think that at some point in the near future Sports teams are going to start feeling the crunch. If for no other reason then that Banks like Wachovia and Wells Fargo that used to have their own Box seats in nearly every professional stadium will only need one when their contracts expire right? Verizon and Alltel fit this bill to and the list goes on. Heather Doughton facebooked back to me, "Sadly, this has become common news, a glimpse at what we've done, what we've become, who we are."
Is she right? Is this who we've become as Americans? Certainly we all have to acknowledge that Leverage became so popular for all the right reasons, was misused for all the wrong reasons (New Cars, Fancy kitchens, Decadent Houses, Yachts, Jets, 2nd and 3rdhomes we visit twice a year). But are we out of touch with reality and eager to retreat to fantasy land?
Locally, The Gators are on their way to the BCS. We are all elated. Yet there are some serious concerns facing our local economy and government. I for one have been outraged that GRU was so actively ahead of the curve raising utility rates, and yet just so eager to keep charging us those rates as energy prices fell by historic amounts. Thanks to reporter and sometime blogger Megan Rolland, we now know that GRU just now lowered rates but they are still ahead of last year by 12%.
What about our local governments? The Tax base is declining rapidly as more and more business struggle to make it to break even and more and more I get emails about some great 20 year employee that someone had to layoff and someone couldn't hire because they just don't have room or money. Isn't government aware that government jobs come from funding in the private sector?
Yet how can we expect our leaders to be any different then the rest of America if we've come to this place where we are so consumed by escapism that perhaps we are out of touch with Reality? Well some would argue that we have a duty as leaders to rise above consensus andhave a clear view of the "grand scheme". Well I'm out of time and the disorganization of my desk is clear evidence that I've ignored the reality of my situation far too long. Maybe that's the answer. We can only control what we personally can control. So maybe I wont be going to the BCS game, because the reality is that my business and familly are struggling and some suckers are paying $1000 per ticket for a piece of escapism.
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