Hard Lessons Necessitate Hard Decisions

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Published on July 06, 2020, 5:08 am
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2020 has been a watershed year in many ways. A reeling global economy, massive and unprecedented unemployment, and extreme volatility have characterized the financial scene. For millions of Americans, it has been an annus horribilis – a year that we would rather forget. But alas, the events which shaped the year will have far-reaching implications for time immemorial. From a financial perspective, the soft underbelly of American economic enterprise has been exposed. What we once all believed to be an indomitable economy has been revealed to be nothing more than a flimsy house of cards.

At a time where it appears we are powerless over our fate, we must remember that we have a part to play in shaping the outcomes of the moment, even when Lady Luck is completely in charge of the outcomes in life. To draw parallels to this conundrum, one might consider online craps @MansionCasino as a case in point. On the surface, the connections are outrageously spurious at best. A player virtually accepts a pair of dice, rolls them, and hopes for a winning outcome. If we extrapolate to the economic bourses of the world, no amount of analysis can guarantee a profitable outcome. It is an unknown quantity that we are dealing with.

In much the same way, the economy is beset with enormous challenges, many of which are completely unrelated to the underlying fundamentals of an individual stock, index, commodity, or currency. Yet, we engage in the hopes of a positive outcome. We know that the house always wins in the end, but our focus is short-term gain, not long-term returns. Wall Street remains, and the powerbrokers who head these multinational corporations always come out on top, even if the little guy ends up losing his 401(k). It’s certainly not a fair system, but such is life.

Our hopes and expectations as a society are precariously balanced on the powerhouses that occupy Wall Street – technology titans, industrial juggernauts, retail & manufacturing corporations. That we place so much faith in the stability of these entities is deeply concerning, yet it is an intractable component of the free market system. Our fortunes as a nation hinge upon our collective ability to succeed together. When one demographic struggles, we all struggle together. Not all suffering is financial, however. Much of it is based on entrenched attitudes which ensure a preponderance of suffering across the nation.

We Are the Agents of Change & We Have the Power to Transform Society

Without stoking the fires of animus, one cannot but help pointing out the inherent unfairness in the current system. One thing that history teaches us, and it is a lesson for all to learn and remember is the following: history repeats itself. If we do not proactively engage at the highest level; be the change we seek, and work towards remedying the problems we face, nothing will change in the future. Institutional racism is a reality that must be addressed. Yet even in the face of such astonishing inequity, caution is the order of the day.

What oftentimes begins as a noble cause gets hijacked by a radical agenda and becomes a new source of iniquity to contend with. The first step towards change is an acknowledgement of the need for change. But this in and of itself will not suffice. Institutions, symbols, frameworks, and bias must be overhauled, and new heroes must rise. We cannot really rewrite history [that which has occurred cannot be undone], but we can chart a path forward which takes us on a different trajectory. The future is ours to mold and shape. As the age-old aphorism states, “…with great power comes great responsibility.” We are the supermen and superwomen of our time, and power is in our hands to do good, and do good we must…

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.