You know with all the doom and gloom that has been in the news lately with our economy on the brink of complete failure and the big 3 automakers on the verge of collapsing I have been forced to ask myself if things are really that bad?

The answer I’ve come up with, surprisingly is: No, not really.

I mean think about it; most reading this had the opportunity on Thursday to join in and have a nice meal (some of us nicer than others) with our friends and/or family members. Meanwhile based on a UN report released in 2003 and reported by BBC News, about 25,000 people die each day from starvation and that was before the current food crisis.

Friday, some of us, if not most of us had the opportunity to go out and spend extravagantly on gifts for ourselves or others. Meanwhile according to the World Bank 2.8 billion people in the world live on less than two dollars a day. I highly doubt those 2.8 billion people had the same opportunity.

Today, Friday and Thursday we had the opportunity to wake up and experience another day. Meanwhile on Thursday/Friday at least 119 folks in Mumbai, India were killed by the brutal hands of commandos.

What is sad is that is just the events of the last 3 days or so. Can you imagine the terrible things that happen on a daily basis?

Yet we (myself largely included) are complaining that things are REALLY bad right now. While doing the research for this post I had to force myself to stop and think about all the times I have complained about the current state of the United States and the world as a whole and honestly I feel like quite the imbecile.

We’re so greedy, self-centered, and self-righteous that we often forget to put things into the big picture perspective that I am consistently talking about on here. I’m really bad at it. I know there are days where even though I love my job I’d rather not be working and the reality is almost ten percent of the United States isn’t working and the large majority of those folks are trying desperately to be working.

The big picture is this: While things certainly are not easy for most of us, at least right now but, they certainly could be a lot worse. So maybe, before we play ourselves the worlds smallest violin we should stop and consider that fact.

I know I am.

It is no secret that I am a huge online social networking nutcase. If you need evidence you can just visit one of my many social networking profile pages listed on the left there.

The world is moving at about 5,000 miles a second anymore at least when it comes to how information gets to us. We are slowly seeing print newspapers dissolve, I might even be off when I guessed that citizen journalism will have overtaken the journalism industry in two years on the Will Young show back in August of this year. This onslaught of social media mediums is also changing the way that companies are doing business.

On twitter I am followed by and follow Starbucks, Wordpress, Southwest Airlines, Panchero’s Mexican Grill, Whole Foods Markets and Plato’s Closet. I believe that these companies are on the cutting edge of not only customer service but also public relations. I’ve seen evidence of both with my (blog) friends Anne and Pete.
Back in April of this year Anne was traveling and experienced some issues with a particular airline. Now, please understand that Anne is a very nice person (or at least comes off that way in most of her blog posts…I’ve never actually met her) so when I read an entry by her titled “American Airlines is the devil” I knew that the problem was quite severe, at least from a customer service stand point. Somehow American Airlines caught wind of it and issued her an apology, among other things. Through an e-mail from Anne and a post about the situation American Airlines realized just how much significant a roll the internet and social media plays in creating potential public relations scabs or, in some cases even scars. I think their actual acceptance of that fact goes above and beyond proving the level of customer service they wish to provide their customers. (I still only fly Southwest though but, for unrelated reasons ;-))
More recently Pete experienced some issues with a music stores advertising. Pete felt like their advertising was a bit of a Bait and Switch. He “tweeted” about it on twitter and received a reply from an executive with the music store. Needless to say I’m fairly confident Pete was satisfied with the end result. The music store sent him quite a nice apology in both the form of words (the most important) and in “gifts.”

Now, before I go any further let me make one thing clear: Anne and Pete are insanely incredible human beings…without having ever met them I can guarantee that they did not post their frustrations with their respective companies for the sake of obtaining “free stuff.” So those of you who have that idea in your head right now can go ahead and drop it.

Both their stories are I believe shining examples of how companies MUST respond to the social networking age. If a company does not have one full time employee devoted to searching out their online reputation then they are doing themselves a great injustice. Every day normal folks like you and I are blogging, tweeting, and posting information about companies and our experiences and those companies need to be responding. They need to demonstrate that the customer is first and foremost! Last Saturday I tweeted that I was going to try Panchero’s Mexican Grill for the first time on the advice of a co-worker. I really enjoyed the food and tweeted my joy too and within an hour I received a notice that “Pancheros is now following you on Twitter” and also a reply from them thanking me for patronizing their business and how glad they were that I enjoyed it. Southwest Airlines and Starbucks are both ALWAYS holding contests for customers through twitter and I honestly believe they have strengthened their customer base as a result.

If you are a business owner, whether small or large, the social networking bandwagon is one that you need to get on. NOT because it is a bandwagon (I HATE bandwagons) but, because it will end up costing your companies hundreds, if not thousands or potentially MILLIONS in lost revenue or profit. I promise you. If you don’t believe me just ask Anne or Pete how many people view their blog on a daily basis…they’re way more popular than I am and I receive anywhere from 85 to 250 hits a day and only about 8 percent of those are search engine spiders.

For whatever reason most of you out there are not in favor of the government assisting in a bailout of the big 3 automakers.

I guess a country on the verge of absolute pandemonium and a severe depression isn’t enough for you. You’d much rather see that absolute pandemonium and severe depression.

I’ve heard many reasons why the government SHOULDN’T bail out the big 3 ranging from it’s their fault to it’s the ceo’s faults to even one person telling me they just don’t care anymore and they’re waiting for the day we wake up and the whole world as ended. (That’s a pretty dismal outlook :-))

For some reason most folks are stuck on this idea of “punishing” the auto making companies CEO’s. It’s almost as if they truly believe that the entire thing is their fault.
I know better though. I know that the CEO’s of the big 3 are FAR from being the ones who should have to shoulder the blame for the current disgusting mess they’re in.
Frankly, WE…yes, I said it…YOU AND I…are the ones to blame for this mess. Our absolute greed and desire to consistently have more and to keep up with the Jones’ is what has led to this mess NOT THE CEO’S OF THE BIG 3. In fact, the CEO’s of most companies that we’d like to see rot or be punished simply did what any smart business operator should do in a capitalistic society: They maximized their profitability by creating quality products for consumers.
Now because our beloved capitalism is failing us miserably (well, YOU’RE beloved capitalism…I’m not exactly a fan of capitalism) our greed and jealously is now causing us to want to “punish” those who have more than us. Funny how the tables have turned. We’ve gone from wanting to have just as much as them, to now wanting to punish them for having more.

Letting the CEO’s the auto making companies shoulder the blame for this mess is unnecessary and could prove to be a HUGE mistake. We have the opportunity to help and we must take advantage of that opportunity. We need to level out the playing field. Do adjustments need to be made to CEO salaries? Yes, they need to be leveled out, and start sharing some of the wealth that they have made, start doing what small business owners do and contribute some of their earnings to their business in an attempt to save it. They’re giving back plus bailing out the big 3, believe it or not, will help…as long as we give it the opportunity to do so.

Episode 16 of the Will Young show on the Unobjective Intelligence podcast is now live.

This week:

• I’m talking about what I feel the government’s roll really is or should be in our lives.
• I’m also touching on the whole glass half empty/glass half full philosophy.
• Finally, I’m talking food. More specifically foods ultimate role in your DEATH.

---

Links I mentioned during the show:
HR 1424 - The “bailout”

---

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. You can also listen to it using the player located directly above this paragraph.

Enjoy!

Are we honestly on the brink of the second most major bank failure in the history of the United States?
I don’t want to fuel any sort of skepticism, but take a look at this screen shot I captured from Yahoo! Finance this morning:

They’re down $ 3.00 to close at $10.00, I don’t know they seem to be getting into the dangerous trading area now.

What has the country came to? Banks are closing left and right, folks confidence in our economy is dwindling at near record speeds. HECK, even the foreigners who for the last several months have been referring to America as the “clearance” country and have been exporting crap are not doing so anymore. Should we be concerned? Some of you may say “Well, DUH…yes we should be concerned.” Truthfully, I am somewhat concerned, but not for the same reasons most of you are. I’m concerned because I believe that your concerns are going to keep a much needed government assisted bailout from taking place thus propelling us into an even grimmer situation. I’m not going to debate this subject so I’m disabling comments, and will not be replying to any e-mails received. The bottom line is this: Unless you’d like to see the complete collapse of our economic structure, thus creating the inability to recover in any sort of timely fashion, you’ll shut your mouth and let the government do what they are suppose to do.

Any other time, if the government didn’t step in to intervene you’d be shitting bricks. Just look at the government’s post-Katrina response, the government didn’t respond the way YOU wanted them to and YOU flipped out. NOW, our government is doing what they’re suppose to do, that is protect and defend our country and you’re flipping out. You may say the two situations aren’t comparable but, they are! THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPOSE TO WORK FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!! That’s their job! If you fail to see this bailout as the government doing their job, then you should consider moving to a country where the government could care less about their citizens.

Call me a socialist. Call me a moron. Call me whatever the heck you want but, this has to happen or this “grave” situation we’re in now, is only going to get worse. Believe it folks.

Well, we received word last night of the largest bank failure in the history of the United States and it happens to be my beloved bank, WaMu.
To say I’m upset, irritated, frustrated and ticked off is probably an understatement. I joined WaMu a little of a year ago, because my former banking institution Wachovia lacked the people skills, and the customer service that I was looking for in the institution where I was storing my money. WaMu, was a relationship bank, each member of your WaMu branch built a relationship with you and I really enjoyed that. WaMu was a different bank, I referred to their approach to banking as “no-secret banking,” because from the moment you started banking with them you knew at all times what was going on with your account. When you made a transaction you stood side-by-side with the teller while the transaction was taking place. There were no counters, and thick bulletproof windows guarding the tellers and you saw exactly what she or he saw on their computer screen. THAT’S THE WAY BANKING SHOULD BE! It is after all, YOUR money and YOUR account. I remember when I set-up my account I asked the gentleman doing it if when I swiped my card and the money wasn’t there would they as a “convenience” to me allow the charge to go through and he told me if I didn’t want them to I could have the feature turned off! Now, I know that you can do that with any bank, but the fact of the matter is they NEVER tell you that you can.

WaMu’s approach to customer service was unlike any financial institution I’d ever been with. Now, I apparently bank with JP Morgan Chase, who if you ask me is trying to create a financial institution monopoly similar to that of Bank of America’s. I’m not happy that I’m going to be banking with the largest financial institution in the US, and I’m very uneasy about what they’re going to do to the relationship I’ve built with WaMu. I’ve had several credit cards with Chase, and truthfully, their customer service out-right SUCKS!

I’m not going to jump the gun and go out this weekend and close my account, as I, like JP Morgan Chase have no idea what is to come. I’ll stick it out for the time being, but be for-warned JPMC, I am shopping around and I’m watching you. I don’t trust you, and it is going to take a lot for you to win my trust you greedy son-of-a-gun. I’m obligated to thank you for saving my money, all $ 100 that I keep in my checking account, but that’s the most you’re going to get out of me for the time being. Don’t think that this statement of “you can rest assured knowing your money is backed up by JP Morgan Chase as well as the FDIC” is going to make me think of you as a hero, because you’re far from it. You’re a greedy corporation, ran by a greedy CEO, who wants to dominate so he can show his former mentors what a smart guy he is. I see right through your crap Jamie Dimon!

So, I bid you ado WaMu, while I can’t help but realize you are primarily responsible for your demise, I am still sad to see you go.

If you are a WaMu account-holder I would encourage you to stand your ground. Let JP Morgan Chase and Jamie Dimon know that we will not tolerate bad customer service and deceptive business practices. Let them know that this transaction needs to remain seamless, and the only way to do so, is to simply allow WaMu branches to operate they have for so long, and do so branded under the JP Morgan Chase name. IT’S YOUR BANK…ULTIMATELY YOU CAN SEND THE MOST POWERFUL MESSAGE OF ANYONE!

My boss, who in the 1.5 years I’ve been employed with this company has NEVER forward me any e-mails, did this morning and it’s a freaking hoot.

Check this out:

An easy way of explaining the economic models of the world.

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The state takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away…

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes, but you believe them to be cows.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimo’ and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows, none of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have 2 cows.
You have 300 people milking them, you claim to have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the journalist who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION.
You have 2 cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION.
You have 2 cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now part of a democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION.
You have 2 cows.
Business seems pretty good, so you close the office and go to the pub for a few beers.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION.
You have 2 cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.