mmm...donuts...

Made for twitter Stories: "It's a Wild West environment, really."

2009-12-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

Writer Rick Moody just published a "made for twitter" short story over three days -- one tweet per hour.

I sort of hate twitter for some reason, which seems like an ironic thing to blog about. Maybe I'm just a late adopter. Nonetheless, the WSJ blog published an interesting interview with Moody about his ultimate hope that twitter-ature will draw more people back to analog:

I hope that it will lead people back to books, because I am a true believer in the book as a form. Everything else, for good or ill, has a perfume of gimmickry about it. When I settle down at night, or on the subway, it is not with my Blackberry or my Kindle. It is with a book.

Though this flies in the face of nearly every technophile's predictions, it certainly would bring things full circle. I have to admit...I hope he's right.

What Will Jack Do?

2009-11-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

With Comcast's joint-venture with GE appearing more imminent, is it weird that the first thing my mind jumps to is the future of Jack Donaghy? If he's the VP of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, what will he fill the other half of his time with (assuming he keeps his job)?

These are the things that keep me up at night.

Copenhagen, Climate Change and Community

2009-11-29T00:59:00.000-08:00

Reuters recently reported that India and China have been in covert conversations over the last two days regarding next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen. The two countries have apparently reached consensus on some major issues and plan to pressure Western developed nations for the necessary technology and financing to fight global warming.

A well-known, and recently contested, economic principle provides an interesting perspective on the climate change debate. In it's most (over)simplified sense, the "tragedy of the commons" implies that one's individual self-interest can hurt the overall well-being of a group. In 1968, Garrett Hardin first offered the example of a group of herders who commonly owned a piece of land used for grazing. If each individual herder acted in their own self-interest, they would try to maximize their personal value by feeding as many of their cows as possible on the common land, even if it damaged or reduced the value of the land for the overall group. In the end, if every herder acted in this manner, they would permanently deplete the land in the long-term, thus allowing no one to benefit.

Although somewhat depressing, this dilemma seems to make sense in the light of human nature. Incidentally, Elinor Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics due in large part to her dispelling certain parts of this myth. By studying smaller communities, such as farmers in Valencia, Spain who have managed water resources successfully for over 1,000 years, Ostrom has proven that collective groups can effectively manage unowned resources and coordinate an equitable system of use.

Ostrom's work is encouraging in that it evidences something other than pure, individual self-interest. Nonetheless, it's less reassuring when considering her research focuses on such coordination within much smaller groups than, say, the population of the entire flippin' world.

On the other hand, perhaps the lesson to be learned is that climate change will have to begin at the community level. How this can be done is the real trick, isn't it? Maybe India and China figured it out in their 48-hours of chit-chat. Let's hope...

Breaking the Cycle: Another case for personal finance education

2009-11-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

Below is a quick response to an assigned reading in my Human Development course. If you're a teacher (or interested party) and are an advocate for required personal finance education, check out Jumpstart.org and the article below.

My first job out-of-college (after returning from Prague) was as a loan officer dealing in car loans, credit cards and the like. Day after day I dealt with frustrating applications from folks in their early-twenties whose stories were all the same: Graduate high school, get a low-paying (but full-time job), get a high-interest rate loan for a car you can't afford, default within six months and ruin your credit before finishing your first lap around the track. It was really aggravating, mainly because it was my job to help them find a solution only to see them return six months later with their problems compounded.

I came to realize quickly that I was fortunate to have parents who helped me establish a responsible amount of credit at an early age and taught me the value of cash versus debt. Many, if not most, teenagers these days are not so lucky, especially if they come from families toeing the poverty line.

According to Wadsworth et al in their article, "Adolescent Coping with Poverty-Related Stress," there is a direct link between low economic status and physical and mental health issues, especially amongst teenagers. One of the fears transferred to these adolescents is that a similar fate awaits them, causing a general sense of hopelessness and lack of control. While not all that surprising, such research suggests that the affects of poverty and financial helplessness are cyclical and often generational. If these future fears are not addressed, they are often a self-fulfilling prophecy and propagate the stressors.

The anxiety caused by such situations cannot be understated:

Chronic adversity and stress borne of poverty simultaneously dysregulate the body's physiological stress response system and reduce one's psychological resources for coping with stress. This eventually weakens resistance to disease-causing agents of both the physical and psychological variety, ultimately leading to SES [socio-economic status]-based physical and mental health problems.

As Wadsworth et al put it quite simply, "...it literally wears one down mentally and physically." It's important to remember that these are teenagers that we're talking about, facing all of the typical teenage problems. To compound them with fears of this magnitude can permanently impair their ability to deal with future problems in constructive ways.

While not a silver bullet to a complex issue, personal finance education is one way to break the cycle. Currently only 21 states require students to take coursework in personal finance. On a positive note, organizations like Jump Start continue to push for legislation requiring such education at the high school level and offer numerous resources for educators. And they're making progress. Many such states have made such curriculum a requirement only within the last five years, with many more taking steps toward similar commitments.

Inaugural Post: Everything In Its Place

2009-11-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

"All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value." -Carl Sagan

I don't quote Carl above to suggest that the words that follow will be of any great worth, but rather to recognize that we are all inundated with so much information at a constant rate, much of it completely useless. As I get older, I realize that I can only hold so many things in my head at one time and, regrettably, that limited real estate is often given over to old lingering Simpson's quotes and Carpet Giant jingles.

While there will always be room in my head for timeless wisdom of Groundskeeper Willie, I feel I've got to start documenting the bits and pieces of knowledge that I steal from friends, co-workers, school, current events, etc. I already regret having almost finished business school and do not have a better record of the light bulbs that flashed on (or burnt out) along the way. So, it seems appropriate to start something apart from our other blog as I plan to post mainly on Business, Social Studies and English -- the topics I'll be teaching in the not-too-distant future (God willing).

I have to admit at the outset that I always feel a bit weird blogging. I just never feel like I have too much to say of real substance -- publishing my thoughts while assuming there's a ready audience. With that in mind, I figure this will be a reference document for myself, at minimum -- something to look back on for class material and such. If something tickles your fancy and you want to comment or link, I'd be exceedingly grateful for the feedback as I'll probably be writing well out of my depth at times.

As it gets late, I'll end here for now, with some words or wisdom from Ralph Wiggum: "Oh boy...Sleep! That's where I'm a Viking!"