What we need right now is not more money, more bailouts, more “stuff”, or more talk. We need Thinkers, with a capital T.

To clarify a tad, we need Thinkers who can also Communicate so that the mess we’re in now doesn’t get any worse. I worry that within a few years, we will barely be a capitalist society anymore, that our health care system will be more laden with restrictions and bureaucracy than it already is, and the post office will only deliver on Mondays, Fridays, and alternating Wednesdays. We need change from the lowest levels of government up to the top. It is time to remove some of the ridiculous programs that have existed for decades because they were created, but never eliminated when their usefulness exceeded their originally intended purpose. Any newly proposed programs need to have a time-limit included at inception, so that when such time comes, the purpose for existence can be re-examined. If there is a need, keep it. If not, it’s gone.

“But you’re talking about people’s jobs!”

Yes, I am. Those people are hired for particular knowledge, skills, and abilities, or KSAs as the government calls them. When one need disappears, another takes its place. This is the nature of things. Redistribution of resources can apply to KSAs as well as redistributing money (as the current administration so desires). Federal employees are already subject to salary adjustments within a range, depending on where they live. While metro-area employees may have a higher cost of living (and thus benefit from higher salary ranges), rural employees and facilities have costs metro-areas do not. This is an unrelated digression.

How can you begin to bail yourself out?

Read.

Read to improve yourself. I swear to you, you will get smarter if you choose wisely.

If you don’t read, NOW is the time.  There a million great books out there (as well as some pretty bad ones) to enhance the understanding you have of the world you live in. Don’t tell me you don’t have time to read. Make time. It is the only thing standing between us and the Neanderthals we once were and are destined to become again.

Take the time to learn new skills, useful skills. Get back to basics. Simplify your life’s course. Our lives are so busy with “stuff” we don’t need. Delete all the “favorites” on your computer that make you stupider, you know which ones they are.  Resolve that you will keep a trash (or recycling) bin next to the door or kitchen counter, somewhere convenient so all that junk you get on a daily basis can be "filed" right away. Paper only in that bin so it doesn't even need a liner (don't make any more work for yourself than you have to).

Donate your unused (or underutilized) items to someone else, or sell belongings to pay some bills. Live a little leaner than you did last year. Do you need that many TVs? When was the last time you wore those clothes or listened to all those CDs you have collected over the years. Pare down the amount of shoes and clothes to those that you really love or that actually fit you. I think the real reason the show "Clean Sweep" was so popular was because too many people could identify with being overwhelmed by the "stuff" of life, eventually being buried by their junk mail, hobbies, laundry, children's toys, and so on. I tell myself someone always needs my stuff worse than I do. Lighten the load in your home and your mind will be clearer as well. Make your mind more open to new information, learning, bettering yourself.

The Internet is full of information that can be used to improve the lives of yourself and others if you look for it. Take online classes if you can’t take them at a local college or university. We can’t move forward as human beings without learning. Don’t you remember a long time ago someone saying to you: “Learn something new every day.” If you haven’t learned something new, then you have wasted an opportunity for change for the better. By advancing your knowledge beyond its current boundaries, you are giving yourself a gift. That gift may end up paying your salary one day.

The moment in which we are living is incredible exactly because it is ripe for change. There is an Internet full of free information, some true, some not, of course. Think of the Thinkers of 50, 100, 200, 400+ years ago who were able to discern that it was not the Sun that revolved around the Earth, but the opposite. Moveable type. Huge libraries available to the public. Cars. Airplanes. Computers. We have incredible resources available to us, and many of us waste the opportunity to better ourselves or those around us. What kind of shame would it be for all this convenience and knowledge go to waste? Possibilities are endless if we can focus ourselves toward worthy goals.

Some people will never be Thinkers, and that’s okay. But it doesn’t mean you should stagnate where you are now.  If you don’t like where you are now, change yourself or change your situation. Move. Try to devise a solution where you or those around you come out ahead.

Read.

Simplify your life.

Broaden your mind’s horizons.

Use the Internet for good, for increasing yours and others’ knowledge. We need some Thinkers now. Are you one of them?