The Center for Social Leadership » Technology

O Canada: Lessons From Our Northern Neighbor

Oliver DeMille — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:00:02 +0000

Two words that haven’t shown up together very much since the 2008 economic meltdown are “austerity” and “Canada.”

That’s quite an accomplishment for our neighbor to the North. Austerity has been paired with Greece, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain and France in just the past 18 months.

Austerity means having your economy controlled and run by international regulators, and right now the idea of austerity for the United States is growing.

Not only is the federal government in financial trouble, but so are many of the individual states. In addition to struggles in 2008, 2009 and 2010, 31 states project major budgetary shortfalls in 2011.

Prospects are getting worse in many states, rather than improving.

Unemployment numbers are knocking on double digits (which is to say that in some places they already exceed 10 percent), and the U.S. deficit and debt promise to be major issues in the 2010 election — to say nothing of their impact on America’s future for years and perhaps decades to come.

Canada’s Example

But Canada faces a much smaller challenge.

Ironically, for decades U.S. conservatives have pointed to Canada’s health care system as the example of what not to do — often referring to it as a failed icon of “socialized medicine.”

Many liberals have idealized the nations of Western Europe, looking past Canada and preferring Britain, France and Germany as examples.

The Great Recession has changed all this — mainly because Canada avoided the worst of the global financial meltdown.

As Ken Kurson put it:

“When the worldwide system collapsed…Canada didn’t have a single bank poisoned by toxic assets and not a penny of public money was used to bail out its financial institutions.”

Of course, many businesses and individuals suffered, but it would have been much worse if Canadian banks followed more European-U.S. policies.

Israel, India and China all fared pretty well in the meltdown — as did Canada — while the U.S. and Britain were hit very hard. Canada’s traditional liberalism and conservatism helped shield it from the worse financial collapse other nations faced.

Modern liberalism and conservatism are mostly focused on winning office and promoting partisan agendas, whereas the traditional strains of both conservatism and liberalism are more interested in ideas, values and ideals.

Traditional liberals in Canada used government to put caps and controls on the nation’s financial institutions, keeping them from simultaneously posing as both lending institutions and speculators in the Japanese style that most European and U.S. banks have adopted.

And traditional conservatism kept banks and business from leveraging their resources at the high levels which brought down so many institutions in other nations.

One can argue with either the underlying Canadian liberalism or conservatism, but the results were a traditional kind of system that is too often seen in many advanced (and broke) nations as outmoded, quaint and passé.

For example, most U.S. mortgages were intended for sale while nearly all mortgages in Canada are still held by the banks where they originated.

In other words, Canadian bankers only made loans to people they intended to have as long-term customers; the happy result is that when the housing bubble burst such banks remained solvent.

Of course, all nations were hurt by the global economic downturn. Certainly, Canada, Israel, and other nations have their share of problems, but simple financial frugality and common sense are never old-fashioned.

What We Can Learn

There are at least two important lessons America should learn from this.

First, the traditional models of either liberalism or conservatism seem better for America than the modern, partisan styles of liberals and conservatives.

The commonsensical use of government combined with a free and flourishing private sector is vital to the future of freedom and prosperity. And the ideal is found in earlier American history rather than modern Canada, India or China.

Still, when China incentives free enterprise more effectively than the United States, the results are predictable. Freedom works, and when Americaignores its own legacy it loses its strength and economic resiliency.

Second, technology doesn’t trump wisdom.

We live in a world where checks can be deposited through cell phone cameras, current events are taught better on QRANK than the nightly news, and mobile phone applications like Avoidr “allow Foursquare users to select the ‘friends’ they want to avoid” (and their phones keep them abreast of where their friends are at any given moment).

Amazon sells more books on Kindle than in hardback, and online media is causing many newspapers and now book publishers to disappear.

On a macro level, nanotechnology makes surveillance, theoretically, ubiquitous — it is becoming ever-present, everywhere, always.

As Graeme Wood wrote in The Atlantic:

“If the past several years in the shadow of a war against terrorism have taught us anything, it is that, once available, surveillance technologies rarely go unused, or un-abused.”

And governments are pursuing increasingly deeper rings of secrecy even though technology makes transparency possible.

All of these are ultimately the tools of human values and decisions. Indeed, the more powerful the technology, the greater the need for wisdom, limits, checks and balances.

It matters whether we learn these lessons or not. When the global economy broke down in 2008-2009, many businesses, industries and even states were bailed out by the federal government.

But the next round of major decline could easily force Washington to follow the majority of non-industrialized nations and even European countries like Greece, Spain, Portugal, and France in turning to international lenders for bailouts.

If this comes before 2012 or even 2020, as it certainly could, we will have to borrow from those who have money to lend — meaning banks in nations such as China, Israel or Canada.

Of all the possible candidates, we will most likely go hat in hand to Canada.

Revisionist History

The other option is simply to adopt fiscal responsibility on our own. A little common sense — both the conservative and liberal kinds — can go a long way.

Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be gaining momentum. After the end of the Cold War in 1989, the common wisdom seemed to be that capitalistic nations had overcome their communistic rivals.

But for many, the Great Recession has revised this conclusion. Now the theme seems to be that Soviet-style communism and Americanized capitalism are just the age-old battle between power and greed.

The emerging winner appears to be government-run industry, what The Economist called “Leviathan Inc.: The State Goes Back Into Business.” Indeed, these are the models followed by nations like China, Israel, Brazil, India and Canada that fared better than most in the recession.

Some leaders in Washington are taking note:

“[F]rom Berlin to Brussels, demand for industrial policy is back. Japan’s new government is responding to what it sees as the increasingly aggressive policies of foreign competitors by deepening the links between business and the state.

In America Barack Obama, the effective owner of General Motors and a chunk of Wall Street, has turned his back on the laissez-faire approach of the past: a strategic-industries initiative is under way.”

Unfortunately, the politicians are ignoring the rest of this report:

“Yet the overwhelming reason for China’s miracle is that the state released its stifling grip and opened the country to private enterprise and to the world…

India’s wildly successful software and business-process-outsourcing industries blossomed not because of help from the government, but precisely because its [government] did not understand these nascent fields well enough to choke them off…

In the rich world, meanwhile, the record shows, again and again, that industrial policy doesn’t work.”

The Real Need

I’ll take traditional liberalism or conservatism – either one – over the current modern Democratic or Republican models.

Commonsensical uses of government spurring a free economy, or a truly free-enterprise system with a limited government effectively taking care of the basics—either would be much better than the current reality.

Canada, Greece, Israel, China, Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, many other nations, and the United States — all could use a free-enterprise upgrade.

A constitutional, free enterprising, federal democratic republic which believes in freedom and applies its principles sounds like a utopian dream.

Or, it could just be a nation run by a truly educated, wise and active citizenry.

Without citizens who are effective overseers of the government, freedom doesn’t last anywhere. Because of this, even those nations which were less hurt by the Great Recession face difficult futures.

It remains to be seen what nation (or will it be a tribe, or something else?) in the world will become the new standard of freedom.

Such leadership will naturally flow to the society whose common citizens become a new generation of great citizens—like the American founding generations.

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Oliver DeMille is the founder and former president of George Wythe University, a co-founder of the Center for Social Leadership, and a co-creator of TJEd Online.

He is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century, and The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom.

Oliver is dedicated to promoting freedom through leadership education. He and his wife Rachel are raising their eight children in Cedar City, Utah.

Connect With Oliver:

The Secret Powers of Time by Professor Philip Zimbardo

Stephen Palmer — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:00:05 +0000

Speaking of time, make the time to watch this excellent 10-minute video. It’s well worth your time.

Professor Philip Zimbardo explains the six “time zones” we each live from and conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being.

This has implications for education, business, raising children — virtually every aspect of society.

Question: Is he missing any “time zones”?

*If you’re reading this in an RSS reader or email, you may need to click the title of the post to view the video.

The Uncomfortable Mirror, Part 2: Technology, the Lie of Modern Civilization

Stephen Palmer — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:00:53 +0000

Click Here to Download a Printable Version of This Article

This is part 2 of a 5-part article.

Read Part 1 Here
Read Part 3 Here
Read Part 4 Here
Read Part 5 Here

One of the lies of modernity is that we are somehow better and more advanced than other societies because of technology.

But technology does nothing to change human nature; it may give us a greater ability to develop the good or evil in us as we choose, but it does nothing to fundamentally change who we are and why we do what we do.

Television, radio, electricity, computers, the Internet, and cell phones and the scientific discoveries that created them give us unprecedented opportunities to bring more light, truth, and goodness into the world and to uplift humanity.

Yet they also bring with them pornography on a mass scale as well as the ability to destroy the entire earth with weapons of mass destruction.

Creation and destruction are concomitant phenomena because they are mere reflections of our dual nature.

We must never buy into the lie that we, with our cell phones and Internet, are more advanced and are better people than our ancestors.

As historian and philosopher Will Durant wrote:

“We have not fully recovered from the Dark Ages: the insecurity that excites greed, the fear that fosters cruelty, the poverty that breeds filth and ignorance, the filth that generates disease, the ignorance that begets credulity, superstition, occultism—these still survive amongst us; and the dogmatism that festers into intolerance and inquisitions only awaits opportunity or permission to oppress, kill, ravage, and destroy.

“In this sense modernity is a cloak upon medievalism, which secretly remains; and in every generation civilization is the laborious product and precarious obligating privilege of an engulfed minority.”

I would argue that not only have we not fully recovered from the Dark Ages, but also we will never be “fully recovered” and rid humanity of insecurity, cruelty, greed, ignorance, and superstition.

We must study history in order that we might never deceive ourselves into believing that technology gives us the luxury of relaxation from our duties to maintain freedom.

As the American Founders taught us, “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”

Click Here to Download a Printable Version of This Article

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Stephen Palmer is a book writer for mission-driven leaders, a small business lead generation website design architect and persuasive website copywriter, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the author of Uncommon Sense: A Common Citizen’s Guide to Rebuilding America.

He co-authored the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity, as well as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interaction.

He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.

The New Global Aristocratic Class & the Decline of Free Enterprise

Oliver DeMille — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:14 +0000

While regulation increases and economic freedom decreases in America, other nations are going the opposite direction.

In order to remain prosperous and strong, America must revive the principles of free enterprise that made her great.

Three New Hotspots

In a two-day span, the New York Times ran two articles — “The Tel Aviv Cluster” and “Is China the Next Enron?” — on the strengths and weaknesses of China and Israel.

Written by Thomas Friedman and David Brooks, respectively, the articles arrived at surprisingly similar conclusions.

First, at the time of the articles, both nations were economic hotspots, primarily because of the high numbers of entrepreneurs within each.

Where America has become a capitol of employeeship, in Israel and China the American Dream of “making it” through business initiative and entrepreneurial enterprise is alive and well.

India could certainly be included in this.

Second, both are zones of technological growth. Of course, this stems from entrepreneurial innovation.

Where the U.S. trains most of the world’s attorneys, Chinese, Israeli and Indian students dominate many engineering and technology enrollments in many of the world’s leading schools.

Entrepreneurship, Technology & Progress

China has low interest rates, easy credit for private and business capital, and lots of investment money flowing.

Israel, as Brooks puts it,

“…has weathered the global recession reasonably well. The government did not have to bail out its banks or set off an explosion in short-term spending. Instead, it used the crisis to solidify the economy’s long-term future by investing in research and development and infrastructure, raising some consumption taxes, promising to cut other taxes in the medium to long term.”

Friedman wrote that China has:

“…a mountain of savings…China also now has 400 million Internet users [in context, the entire population of the U.S. is just over 300 million people], and 200 million of them have broadband…Now take all this infrastructure and mix it together with 27 million students in technical colleges and universities⎯the most in the world…Equally important, more and more Chinese students educated abroad are returning home to work and start new businesses.”

Brooks wrote that:

“Tel Aviv has become one of the world’s foremost entrepreneurial hot spots. Israel has more high-tech start-ups per capita than any other nation on earth, by far. It leads the world in civilian research-and-development spending per capita. It ranks second behind the U.S. in the number of companies listed in the Nasdaq. Israel, with seven million people, attracts as much venture capital as France and Germany combined.”

Challenges Coming

Third, both China and Israel appear to be on the verge of major shifts.

The Chinese challenge ahead is to bring its political institutions up to speed with the rapid spread of economic liberties.

The Soviet Union collapsed because it tried to reform by expanding political liberty while maintaining a command economy.

Traditional Chinese communism also rejected freedom at all levels, and the attempt now is to offer economic freedom while keeping a totalitarian government.

The huge amount of savings, including “$2 trillion in foreign currency revenues” available to the Chinese government gives it a lot of power into the future.

What kind of volatility is ahead for a nation with an authoritarian and oppressive government which also has the world’s largest entrepreneurial class?

As for Israel, the challenge is that increased economic and technological success further widens the gap between Israel and its already estranged neighbors. This is a huge destabilizing factor.

As Brooks says, “Israel is an ‘astonishing success story, but also a highly mobile one.’” He suggests that if the region destabilizes, the entrepreneurial class already has connections and homes in Palo Alto, for example.

American Decline

Perhaps the most telling message of these articles is the contrast with the U.S.

We’re cutting technology programs and increasing the regulatory, tax and red-tape obstacles for entrepreneurs.

Positive gains in U.S. social justice since 1964 have unfortunately and unnecessarily coincided with the dismantling of American incentives for entrepreneurial free enterprise.

Current levels of U.S. business regulations don’t allow many American entrepreneurs to compete with their international counterparts.

Trends in China, India and Israel provide more evidence for one of the most important developments in our world: The rise of a new global aristocratic class.

Interestingly, Friedman and Brooks have both written books about the new elite (see The Lexus & the Olive Tree, On Paradise Drive, Bobos in Paradise, and others).

For example, Friedman introduced the concept of the “Electronic Herd,” a new, highly mobile elite class that manages the world’s capital from their laptops and lives in places like Mediterranean beach towns on the Spanish or French Riviera, Ashland (Oregon), Austin (Texas), the Bahamas, Buenos Aires, London and so on.

This group parties in Manhattan and Switzerland, reads the great classics of humanity and today’s latest financials, and has little connection with or allegiance to any government.

Rediscovering The American Dream

America became known around the world for two great ideals: 1) freedom, and 2) a classless society where anybody could become whatever they were willing to earn and achieve.

Together, we often called these ideals “The American Dream.”

As the U.S. regulated away our free enterprise strategic advantage — especially since 1989 — its cities become more and more like the class-based European models that many American cultural elites idealize.

Today, America’s “aristocrats” are likely to be less loyal to the United States than to their corporate connections, and Americans who consider themselves patriots are likely to be dependent on job wages and living paycheck to paycheck.

Canada and various other nations are in the same situation.

The irony here is thick.

Those who care about freedom (many of whom are Independents) may have more to learn from examples like Israel, China and India than from contemporary Washington D.C. and its increasingly Europeanized institutions, dreams and objectives.

The Effectiveness of Liberty

Just like during the American founding era, freedom in our day will flourish again in any place emphasizing entrepreneurship, free enterprise initiative and major deregulation of small business and class-oriented structures.

While many nations can learn from America’s current example of religious and racial freedoms and freedom of the press, the U.S. needs a healthy renaissance of economic and political freedom.

Until our leaders, institutions and laws once again lead the world in allowing and incentivizing entrepreneurial initiative, our freedoms and prosperity will decrease.

It is time for America to import its most valuable resource: A widespread belief in free enterprise.

The world needs less of a growing elite class and more nations where freedom is adopted and applied.

Learn More:

To learn more about the current state of geo-politics and economics, and how to revive freedom, read The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom and listen to The Four Lost American Ideals by Oliver DeMille.

Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself by Seth Godin

Stephen Palmer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:00:28 +0000

ChangeThis just published a new manifesto by Seth Godin entitled “Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself.”

Take time to read it now. Once again, Seth has hit the nail on the head.

He echoes the same themes we’ve been proclaiming: the mini-factory model transforming industrial, bureaucratic, and top-down business, government and society; Hub Mentality™ giving businesses and individuals more power than ever before; how the Fourth Turning is reshaping everything; conveyor-belt education versus Leadership Education; the fact that you have to be a producer (what Godin calls a “linchpin”) to survive in today’s economy; why you should pursue mission over money.

Click here to download and read the e-book now. Here are a few excerpts:

“And so generations of students turned into generations of cogs — factory workers in search of a sinecure. We were brainwashed into fitting in, and then discovered that the economy wanted people who stood out instead.

When exactly were we brainwashed into believing that the best way to earn a living is to have a job?

I think each one of us needs to start with that.”

“The pillars we grew up with (things like General Motors, TV, the postal service, retirement, top down media and commodities) are disappearing and are being replaced with entirely new ways of interacting, making a living and making a difference. Not just for organizations, but for individuals — people like you.”

“It’s like this: we were brainwashed. Brainwashed into believing a set of rules that aren’t true (any more). And because the brainwashing has been so complete, the shifts in our world and new opportunities they open up are easy to see as ways to shore up yesterday’s faltering system.

Please, don’t fall for that. Don’t use the tools of today to support your effort to do yesterday’s job better. This is an opportunity to completely reinvent your role in the system.”

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He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.

Free E-Book: What Matters Now, Compiled by Seth Godin

Stephen Palmer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:04:34 +0000

Seth Godin has just released a new e-book entitled “What Matters Now.”

Seth didn’t write it himself; he asked over 70 thought leaders to each contribute a page.

As Seth explains on his blog, each shares “an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O’Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber.”

Click here to download the e-book now, and visit the e-book’s Squidoo lens here.

Don’t just download it; sit down and take some real time with it. It’s packed with tons of valuable insights that will help you adapt to the massive shifts we’re engulfed in.

Specifically, it will help you do the following:

Gain more confidence
Shed fear
Find your passion
Develop your voice
Build a successful mini-factory
Create more peace, harmony, freedom, healing, dignity, meaning and abundance in the world
Strengthen community
Challenge the status quo
Connect with what matters most
Discover vision
Market more radically and effectively
Cultivate imagination and creativity
Dedicate yourself to lifelong learning
Understand the evolution of technology and how to harness it to your advantage
Increase your productivity

And much, much more. Seriously, it’s a great read and well worth your time. Absorb it now.

Share the insights it sparks in you with the community by commenting below.

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Stephen Palmer is a book writer for mission-driven leaders, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the author of Uncommon Sense: A Common Citizen’s Guide to Rebuilding America.

He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.

Social Leaders & RSS Readers

Stephen Palmer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:01:58 +0000

Social leaders need to stay up with breaking knowledge and cutting-edge trends from all facets of society. And one of the best ways to do this is through RSS readers.

To put it bluntly, if you’re not using an RSS reader, you’re way behind the times. I’m not going to take the time to explain what it is here, since you can find explanations all across the web, such as this video.

Rather, I simply want to share with you some of the RSS feeds I subscribe to in order to illustrate how powerful they can be and how much real-time information you can have access to at your fingertips.

More importantly, I highly recommend these information sources and thought leaders.

Note that all of the following links are to the direct RSS feed, not the actual website. Set up your RSS reader first, then click on these to subscribe to them.

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He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.

“The Economics of Influence” Webinar Recording Released

Stephen Palmer — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:20:59 +0000

This week we held a webinar entitled “The Economics of Influence: Using Hub Mentality™ to Increase Your Influence & Wealth.”

We recorded the webinar and you can download it for free by clicking on the following links:

Webinar Audio Recording
Webinar PowerPoint Presentation

We had issues with the recording, so the video didn’t record for some reason. You’ll want to download both files and watch the PowerPoint along with the audio recording. To download the audio file to your computer, right click on the link and select “Save Link As.”

Also, you’ll understand the webinar with much greater depth if you download and read the free e-book, Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interactions. After you watch the webinar, visit this page to find a comprehensive list of action steps and resources to help you learn and apply Hub Mentality™ on an even deeper level.

Here’s what people have said about the webinar:

“I loved it. You answered many questions. It was longer than expected, but I needed all of the information so I couldn’t tear myself away. I can’t wait for the next one. -Kalleen

“I am in the process of reading some of the e-books on your web site and I am finding them extremely valuable. I am new to the idea of blogging and am considering starting one myself. Much like the rest of America, I have found myself looking for a different way to provide for my family and recently obtained my contractor’s license to do so and I think that with the help that you have given me I truly believe that I can succeed.” -Benjamin

Hub Mentality™ is a proprietary marketing system created by Carl Woolston and Stephen Palmer to help businesses succeed in the Information Age.

The purpose of this webinar was to show how it applies to individuals as well. Specifically, we demonstrated how to use the principles of Hub Mentality™ to extend your sphere of influence and prosper on a very practical level.

The webinar provides valuable information for anyone wondering how to survive and thrive in the current economic recession. It equips you with knowledge, tools, and resources that you can apply immediately to increase your income, make more connections, and provide financial stability for yourself and your family.

The webinar covers the following topics and more:

How to understand the new economy and the new rules of marketing, and why everyone should know them
How to apply the 10 principles of Hub Mentality™ in your daily life, even if you don’t own a business
How to guarantee job security in any economy
Why every individual should leverage social media and how to do it
How to build a powerful online presence using three essential technology tools
How to leverage the power of databases and email marketing
How all of this applies to social leadership

First, download and read the e-book on Hub Mentality™, then download and watch the webinar by clicking on the following links:

Webinar Audio Recording
Webinar PowerPoint Presentation

And remember to visit this page to find more resources to help you apply Hub Mentality™.

Please share with the community what you learn, questions you have, disagreements with the message, what you’re changing about your life and business by applying Hub Mentality™, etc. by commenting below. Thank you!

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He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.

Action Steps & Links of Interest (Follow-Up to Hub Mentality Webinar)

Stephen Palmer — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:00:55 +0000

On April 21st, we held a webinar entitled “The Economics of Influence: Using Hub Mentality™ to Increase Your Influence & Wealth.” The purpose was to show how Information Age business marketing strategies apply to individuals — especially to social leaders — then to provide practical advice and resources on how to do this.

The following is a list of action steps and resources for those wanting to learn more and to apply the principles of Hub Mentality™ in their business and personal lives.

Action Steps

Read the e-book The Beginning Blogger’s Bible: How to Make Money, Make a Difference, & Make a Name Online
Read the e-book 279 Days to Overnight Success
Start a Blog
Create a Profile on Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn
Create a Group or Cause on Facebook
Sign up for an RSS Feed Reader

Links of Interest

Leveraging Online Media

6 High-Quality E-Books on One Page
Personal Branding in the Age of Google by Seth Godin
How to Use Social Media to Land the Job of Your Dreams by Monica O’Brien

Developing the Right Mindset

What Do Rich People Have in Common by Roy H. Williams
The Power of Precession
Thriving in Economics Recessions by Embracing the New Worldview by Stephen Palmer
Vision: The Seed of America’s Rebirth by Stephen Palmer

How to Build a Permission Database

A Permission Database is as Good as Gold by Stephen Palmer
How to Leverage Social Networks to Create a Permission Database by Stephen Palmer

Hub Mentality Case Studies

Will it Blend?
Chris Guillebeau
How an Introvert Used Social Media to Generate New Business & a New Career by Brent Leary

Miscellaneous

How to Nail an Interview
Sixty to Zero by Seth Godin
What are RSS Feeds & Readers?
Business Networking International (World’s Largest Business Referral Organization)

Recommended Blogs to Subscribe to Through RSS

The Irony of Connectivity

Stephen Palmer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:38:33 +0000

Information Age Casualties, and How To Reclaim Them

Why is it that the more digitally connected we become, the more we feel disconnected from the things that matter most?

Picture the following scene played out in typical American homes:

The father is on his computer in the office, finishing up last minute work details and reading up on the latest election news on the internet, while the mother is watching TV in the living room.

The son is downstairs playing video games while the daughter listens to music on her iPod in her bedroom while instant messaging with friends online.

As you picture this scene (and ponder what’s wrong with it), think of the awesome power of the Information Age — the ability to bring the entire world into our living rooms and bedrooms, the ability to connect in real time with almost anyone across the globe.

Technology has given us a brave new — and small — world, with more information, opportunity, and connectivity than our ancestors could even dream of.

And yet, in an age largely defined by connectivity, we’re losing our lifelines to the most important things.

Specifically, there are three main connections that, ironically enough, are being systematically severed the more digitally connected we become.

These vital connections are with God, family, and nature.

These three life-saving links provide the context in which technology, and every other aspect of the modern world, is given proper meaning and priority.

They make up a foundation that, when lost, will plunge us into the emptiness of entertainment, the sterility of science, the cynicism of forfeited faith, and the hollowness of hedonism.

We can have computers, the Internet, iPods, instant and text messaging, TV, radio, blogs, podcasts, and videos pouring out of our homes, while emptying our lives of true meaning in the process.

A person with a deep and lasting connection with God, family, and nature understands the purpose of technology and how to interact with and use it properly.

A person who maintains those three connections, despite anything else happening around them, will not be swayed by opinion polls, tainted by compromise, numbed by information overload, or corrupted by greed.

God, family, and nature are rocks that the sand of modern technology rests upon; when those rocks are removed, the sand quickly collapses, losing all sense of structure, balance, and perspective.

How to Stay Connected

Considering their critical nature, how can we build and strengthen these connections? As with any relationship, for these connections to be deep and sustainable requires ongoing communication and quality time.

God

The two best ways to maintain a firm connection with God are to pray and meditate daily.

Prayer is when we speak with God; meditation is allowing God to speak to us.

As our creator, God knows us intimately, far more than we know ourselves. He will guide us, protect us, unlock our potential, teach us lessons uniquely suited for our particular situation and stage of development.

He will do these things and more, that is, if we let Him. Make the commitment now to pray and meditate daily.

Family

All of us know the cliche that when we’re on our deathbeds, we’re not going to wish we spent more time at the office. Sadly, however, few of us live its meaning in our daily lives.

Do you know your children? Is your love for your spouse stronger than it was on your wedding day? Are you creating memories that your family will cherish for years to come? Is your home a sanctuary, a refuge, an escape from and defense against destructive people, thoughts, materials, and substances?

Now, more than ever before, our homes must protect ourselves and our children from the overwhelming forces of destruction.

Make two commitments now that will make all the difference in achieving this goal: religiously have a date night once a week with your spouse, and set aside at least one evening per week for your family to play, study, learn, and grow together.

Nature

This is perhaps the most difficult connection for most people, since much of our modern world is designed to help us escape from nature.

Consistently spending time with nature helps us appreciate comfort, escape Information Age noise and stay balanced.

Intuitively, although perhaps subconsciously, when in nature we seek to emulate its design — the strength of the rocks and mountains, the cleanliness and vibrance of the rivers, the peacefulness of the lakes, the determination of the wind, the perseverance of the trees and plants, the submission of the animals to their divine place in creation.

In 1851 Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish and other Indian tribes around Washington’s Puget Sound, delivered a beautiful and profound environmental speech in response to a proposed treaty under which the Indians were persuaded to sell two million acres of land for $150,000.

His words seem more applicable today than they ever were. Seattle said:

“…Every part of the earth is sacred to my people…We are part of the earth and it is part of us…

“One portion of land is the same to [the white man] as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on…His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert…

“There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of the insect’s wings. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? …The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days he is numb to the stench.”

Have you become numb to the source off all your material blessings? How does this impact your life?

It’s hard and you will find every excuse not to, but it’s critical that you commit to at least one meaningful excursion into nature per month.

Go hiking, camping, backpacking, mountain biking, canyoneering. Get out into nature, breathe her in deeply, honor her, and make yourself whole in her presence.

Conclusion

The rise in digital connectivity has been largely accompanied by a decline in and stagnation of our connections with God, family, and nature.

By maintaining and strengthening these three critical connections, we avoid the dangers of the Information Age and become a rock to rely upon, and a standard to follow.

Commit now to staying connected with God, family, and nature by praying and meditating daily, holding a weekly date night with your spouse, setting aside at least one evening per week for nothing but family activities, and going on at least one nature excursion monthly.

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He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate and faculty member of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela.

Subscribe to Stephen’s blog and contact him at stephen [at] leadershipwriter [dot] com.