Thread: Have We Lost Our Hunger?

I agree 100%. We, as a whole, don't have the desire we once had. There are way too many people who want but don't want to do anything for it. Not enough doers, which was what our country was founded on and made it what it is today (or should I say made it what it was). Everywhere you go people put their hand out looking for freebies and blaming others for their financial problems. We need to get back to our roots which I feel will never happen now. The country has gotten too greedy and lazy. I know I'm going to be doing my part to change that but I feel that the majority will not change their ways. I hope I'm wrong on this. I would love to get back to the days my parents and grandparents told me about and I'll do everything I can to help change things but how do we get the rest of the country to follow? They say that every great empire falls. That's going to happen sooner than later if we don't change our ways.

And that is why I'm fascinated with history. The industrial revolution was our country's time to shine. Because of that drive we succeeded. Other countries are going to take the information age (or whatever is next) and succeed in becoming a great power like America once was.

History repeats itself, not always with the same people.

100% Agree.

We once had a little thing called the Tea Party as a protest against taxes, now where are we on taxes?

People used to come to this country for opportunity, NOT because they wanted a "safe secure job". But the sheeple have largely become complacent and now think they're entitled to everything their ancestors WORKED for.
I found this article on Simon Black's blog interesting personally.

The ‘New America’ is catching up to the ‘Old America’ | Sovereign Man: Finance, lifestyle design, Offshore Business and Expat news

Originally Posted by MJDeMarco

Collectively as a country? Yes. This is why I believe the best investments are outside of the USA and any USA company that I own (invest in) has to have a global presence.

Great take Greg, not just because of the topic, but because you steered clear of politics.

I believe these days any good company has to have a global presence. As time passes I think eventually the best companies will be known in some small country across the world. We'll be so tightly knit that companies will no longer be known by their country of origin. Personally I think that everyone should start thinking globally. If you want to succeed you need to realize that sticking to the US alone is putting all your eggs in one basket, then again I always try to think globally when I'm thinking about future businesses I want to pursue so I'm biased.

Originally Posted by Gonzosan

I believe these days any good company has to have a global presence. As time passes I think eventually the best companies will be known in some small country across the world. We'll be so tightly knit that companies will no longer be known by their country of origin. Personally I think that everyone should start thinking globally. If you want to succeed you need to realize that sticking to the US alone is putting all your eggs in one basket, then again I always try to think globally when I'm thinking about future businesses I want to pursue so I'm biased.

I think you have an excellent point here. I think we're going to watch billionaires created at a much faster pace over the next 20-40 years as the entrepreneurship reaches into hungry markets. MJ might have to get back to work lol.

Originally Posted by Kung Fu Steve

We have bred ourselves into a culture without a mission. No real point to get out of bed each morning. As silly as a reference as it is; there's a speech by Brad Pitt in Fight Club that sums it up. There is no great war, there is no great depression, we are history's middle children. Stuck without a real cause.

It was brought up by Kurt. After 9/11 there was a purpose. We didn't know exactly what it was, but somebody had to die. Justice had to be served. There was a mission.

Now what's the mission? There are no real powerful evil do-ers to stop. There is no crisis to pull ourselves out of. No matter how bad the economy is becoming, it isn't painful enough for people to finally take action.

The pain & pleasure principal on a global scale (I say global because I think there and many countries in a similar position as us).

Where's the opportunity you ask? I think it is in rallying people behind something worth doing. Giving people a mission, something to pursue, conquer, achieve, something that is for the good of man kind. Create the reason for people to get out of bed each morning, and not just that, but create a reason for someone to literally put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

This is another interesting point and one I hadn't given much thought. If we could convince people to turn their attention towards liberty, education, and feeding the homeless here and abroad, we might be on our way to a brighter tomorrow. It would give people some direction.

From an employer stand point. Guys in their 20's now are the laziest group of people as a whole I have ever seen.

In the 90's they wanted to get ahead, they wanted to be something.

Now they want a faster mustang and to play video games, while sitting around telling people how smart they are.

Have we lost our hunger.. Yes.

BTW: Good for the 20 year old that actually wants to do something. There are a lot of people to hire.

Originally Posted by Kung Fu Steve

Where's the opportunity you ask? I think it is in rallying people behind something worth doing. Giving people a mission, something to pursue, conquer, achieve, something that is for the good of man kind. Create the reason for people to get out of bed each morning, and not just that, but create a reason for someone to literally put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

This is very much mine line of thinking on this.

A big killer (imo) is how we have schools set up. First, and foremost, I'm not insinuating about teachers here, but school as a whole. I know for a fact that I had a teacher who went against the standard, in a more 'doer' type teaching view.

In my experience, school was set up just like an assembly line. If you can follow the procedures you get a 'promotion'. It was never about taking what you do and figuring out a way to apply this information to something else, just about following along with rules. Yes, it is a bit 'vague', but essentially if you could follow some rules, or memorize spelling\date\whatever you'd advance on.

There was one teacher though, who as far as I remember, mostly had us learn through creating things of our own. Now, being 13ish a lot of it was rehashing other projects we've done\seen, but it was open as to what we create pertaining to the topic at hand. It was about an understanding, and applying that, not simply regurgitating what we were told back onto a test paper.

Being immature 13 year olds I remember the first project just starting metric measurements resulting in a parody of 'She thinks my tractors sexy' resulting in 'She think's my meter stick is sexy'. As you can imagine, he asked as to do something else (projects were presented in front of class. haha) They became more about creating things, rather than parodying songs after the first few projects though.

He's now after a few years of making educational games for the iphone, taking the step of trying to create a business out of it. So, perhaps that line of how he thinks, was his way to teach.

So, I guess my point is, with the exception of certain teachers, school is set up to not make you feel as though you can expand upon existing methods\ideas. It's simply about following the rules rather than applying to other areas.

Originally Posted by Icy

So, I guess my point is, with the exception of certain teachers, school is set up to not make you feel as though you can expand upon existing methods\ideas. It's simply about following the rules rather than applying to other areas.

I think the school system definitely adds to the state our country's in right now. The format worked well during the Industrial Revolution, but it hasn't kept up as America and the world has changed. Its main focus is still to produce a large working class; there is less emphasis on creation. We score low in math and science compared to other countries.

If we want to stay competitive with the global market, a revolutionary change in schooling is definitely needed. As children to young adults we spend most of the time there, so it would have a great effect on our mindset.

A great post! I think anyone with their eyes open can see that this is true, but it's almost like people are afraid to admit it. It's easier to delude yourself into thinking things are going just fine, when they're obviously not. You could get into the political and economic reasons why this has happened (I won't) but I think it's mostly because of culture. America have embraced a culture of ignorance and intellectual laziness. Last time I checked, Brittney Spears had a number one album so it's obvious that "the new dumb" have completely taken over. We've lost our souls, and lost our spines with it.

While the current situation is grim, there are certainly enough people trying to change this trend. Most and more Americans are realizing that job security is a myth, and taking the reins themselves. I see a future where more and more individuals will work for themselves. People just don't trust large companies anymore, and for good reason.

I think that instead of a continuum of ambition most of society is going to the two extremes of low ambition/achievement and high ambition/achievement. As has been said above, there are probably more young millionaires than ever and there are more slackers (it would seem) than ever. The thing is our culture kind of encourages it by exalting people who have not really achieved anything (reality T.V. etc.) and by constantly denigrating the aquisition of money and people who have wealth.

Some people use religion as a motivator in their lives, but society has turned its back on that (probably a result of 9/11).

I suppose charity and volunteering are left, but a lot of people don't take the first step in those areas because they don't see the point or believe it will benefit them, so that is no help.

Then there is the ease of obtaining a variety of cheap entertainment, which means you do not need to make a lot of money or work very hard to live a life full of "fun".

Overall it is an environment that does not foster motivation.