Nevertheless, the American society is at a cross-roads today, as Carl points out in The Great Reset. The way we have been living (spending more than we earn, ever-increasing demand for luxury items, skyrocketing standards of living, increasing house sizes, etc., etc.) is simply not sustainable. People have been warning us about this, but the sound of the alarm was drowned out by TV/radio/Internet/billboard/print commercials. Then, 2008 happened. And now, in 2009, everyone, including the President, is telling us that this year will be just as bad, if not worse, as 2008.

The silver lining in all of this is that frugality, spending less than you earn, actually SAVING money are making a comeback. But the marketing departments have done such a good job in the last 2 decades that coming back to a sustainable way of life is not a sure bet. That’s why our society is at a cross-roads. Will we stop paying attention to ads, and stop filling our houses with stuff we don’t need? Will we start putting aside a significant amount of money for rainy days or retirement? Will we stop buying what we cannot afford (i.e. putting it on the credit card)?

It’s hard for me to say “I hope so, and I hope 2009 is so hard for the people of America, that the ridiculous lifestyle inflation is dealt a fatal blow,” because I’m not suffering the consequences of the economic downturn. I have a fairly secure job, and I can make the house payment. The thousands who have been laid off in the past weeks don’t have the same luxury. But, hard as it may be, I really do hope so.

I hope 2009 is a huge wake up call to everyone who thought that you can keep buying bigger and better things, and you can do it NOW, without waiting, without having to work hard for it. I hope that in 10 or 20 years, the end of the first decade of the 21 century is seen as a turning point for America, where wrong decisions are admitted to, and corrective steps are taken. When a new era of common-sense and ‘pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps’ attitude is ushered in. When entitlement finally gets flushed out of our systems.

It will be excruciatingly hard, though. As people who work with kids know, it’s one thing to train up a child, and it’s another thing to train up a child who has been spoiled rotten.

image by obc

An immediate disclaimer: certain absolutes are excluded. I am not claiming, for example, that one needs to establish a balance between good and evil, or that balance is needed between believing in absolute truths and being a relativist. Rather, a discussion of balance can only be “built on” or added onto a worldview “foundation.” Although I can’t articulate the specific reasons for this, I’m sure the whole concept would disintegrate into nothingness, if a “worldview foundation” wasn’t stipulated.

Now that we’ve dodged that bullet, next order of business: instead of taking 3 pages to elaborate on all the examples, over the coming weeks, I will put up a series of smaller posts, each one dealing with 1-2 examples of how balance is important to achieve and maintain.

Biggie #1: Life is about balance.

Biggie #2: Most important things in life are difficult.

Biggie #3: Most of life is about other people (but don’t forget about Biggie #1).

Slowly but surely, I will elaborate on each of the Biggies.  Stay tuned.