Archive for August, 2011
When I travel one of the things I look forward to is the opportunity to read novels – both fiction and non-fiction. This is in contrast to what I read when I am not traveling. Three newspapers a day, countless emails, magazines and newsletters are more than enough ‘content’ for me to try to keep up with.
I don’t know about you but after a ten or twelve hour work day, reading a novel most often has my eyes closing within fifteen minutes. It’s not that I don’t enjoy what I read; I simply am most often unable to stay awake. While I don’t watch all that much television, it’s much easier for me to remain awake watching television than it is to read (unless I am watching a movie at home which to me is great sleeping time).
We’ve heard all the statistics on how much television Americans watch. Some statistics from a 2007 article are below:
From a website www.parapub.com – Each day in the U.S., people spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.
And from www.JenkinsGroup.com
1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
70 percent of books published do not earn back their advance.
70 percent of the books published do not make a profit.
Emarketer has some figures on average time spend on line 2008-2010 although no mention of time spent reading.
http://www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/time-spent-watching-tv-tops-internet
Maybe the numbers have changed a bit since 2007. But if I had to guess the data might show that some of the television time has been replaced by time spent on Facebook and other web-based activity.
Shortly after the statistics I have cited were released the Amazon Kindle came on the market. Today we have the Barnes & Noble Nook, and the iPad, along with other tablets that are ideal (or so it is said) for reading. I am impressed when I see commuters on the train reading books in the morning and I think they have the right idea. I am at my most-alert in the morning and yet I spend that time reading news stories, emails and whatever else comes my way via email.
Yet when I read a book (right now I am reading Bill Bryson’s – ‘A short history of private life’ and it is terrific), it is not quite a guilty pleasure but far more fulfilling that reading another news story about how the world financial crisis might turn out.
My wife is a dedicated reader of novels as is my eighteen year old daughter. My twenty-two year old son was a voracious reader but I suspect he has little time or interest in reading novels. I wish that were not the case.
How about you – do you read books, newspapers or magazines? All of them? None of them?
I remember in 2008 hearing some people say ‘I refuse to participate in the recession’. As if they had some control of general economic trends and forces. Oh sure it sounds defiant and strong but it’s also something like whistling through the graveyard.
The Dow Jones lost more than 4% (500 points) on Thursday. July unemployment figures came out and the news is not very good – no surprise. Yet the other night we went out to take our daughter for her birthday dinner (Thursday night) and the first two restaurants we went to in Connecticut were booked solid. They were nice restaurants and not inexpensive. I did not get the feeling that the people were nervous about the economy in general.
Is it that people have become so accustomed to dining out that they do it despite the fact that is expensive and a bit of a luxury? In fact the luxury market appears to be fairly immune to the overall economic downturn although before yesterday the stock market was 80% higher than it was in 2009 at this time.
Is the mounting U.S. national debt finally bringing everything to a head? While I (and people a lot smarter than me) cannot answer that, it does feel as if the U.S. and the world are in for a stretch of bad economic weather that could last a very long time.
If mood has anything to do with it then China has a leg up. The Chinese perceive the troubles of the west are a validation for their style of governance. However I had that same feeling in Hong Kong which is part of China but operates in a much more western environment. And the mood in Hong Kong also was positive and can-do. So I don’t believe the west’s problems are hardly a kind of referendum on socialism, capitalism or any kind of –ism for that matter.
Terms like ‘soft-landings’ and ‘double-dip recessions’ are increasingly tossed around – today in particular. I sincerely hope that in trying so hard to prognosticate the future, the experts are not willing bad things to happen even if inadvertently. When enough people talk about how bad things are and how they are getting worse or will get worse before they get better, the notion becomes so strong that any other outcome might become impossible.
Do you think attitude plays a role or are macro-economic trends and forces too powerful to be impacted by the way people feel?
I had lunch with a friend of mine today who recently completed a stint as a contract CFO. It was his decision to resign as he felt the company was not progressing and it was time to look toward new horizons. What I found to be particularly interesting was that he has incorporated himself as his own LLC and we agreed that more people should consider that option.
Different from freelance, incorporating oneself positions the worker to gain health insurance and retirement benefits as a corporation of one. It requires research to find the best prices for those things but it can be done at a much more reasonable cost than as an individual.
The agreement in Congress on Tuesday , highlights my idea that people should not expect to be taken care of by the government or the company they work for. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security account for 40% of the budget spending in the United States. Clearly this has to change if the U.S. is going to make any headway in reducing the ever-increasing deficit.
Many people stay in jobs they do not care for, working for bosses they cannot stand and with people they despise. Why? Mostly for the benefit packages offered. Healthcare for an individual is beyond an affordable reach for most Americans and a retirement plan without a corporate match can be daunting. Yet the current 9.2% unemployment rate is in part due to corporations’ reticence in hiring full time employees due to the benefit packages they must provide – as well as the government mandated family leave and unpaid time off statutes.
Incorporating oneself is one way to approach the situation. Since corporations prefer to hire contract employees, hiring a ‘company of one’ to provide a specific service over a specific time offers flexibility to both the employee and corporation. People under 35 today do not expect loyalty from their employer. In fact they appear to embrace the idea of changing jobs and finding new and interesting work challenges. Of course obtaining healthcare and benefits as a corporation of one isn’t always easy as it takes discipline and planning.
On the other hand it is a possible new way for many people to work. If you do not care for the engagement that you are working on you can exit that particular engagement. The idea being that you should have more than one engagement in the hopper at any given time. As a corporation of one you command a higher fee than a salaried employee. Without healthcare and benefits mucking up the works a company can pay you for your true value and not the aggregated value of having to cover everyone the same regardless of performance or need.
It’s not for everyone and I realize for many people this is an unthinkable approach, but in times of turmoil there have to be alternate ways of thinking about how people wish to conduct their professional lives. What I am suggesting is that the days of hooking on with an employer who would nurture your career and keep you on independent of personal or company performance – are gone forever. It’s a mercenary world out there and people need to know that there are other ways to make a living than simply working for the man.
How about working for yourself
Every time I go to China the days and nights are long and interesting. As I noted in a prior post tea flows freely during the day and night, and alcohol flows freely at night as does engaging conversation. The Chinese like to get out and do things. While staring at a computer during the day has to be part of everyone’s routine to a certain degree getting out and having great eating experiences is a big part of life in China.
I met with many senior executives while in China lunch and dinner meals are banquet style starting with soup and then dish after dish is brought out and put on the revolving glass table. Chicken, fish, beef, greens, vegetables and some things that would make many Americans a bit squeamish, (I like eating chicken feet but chicken heads not so much). The meals last for 90 minutes or (most often) longer, and at night they are accompanied by constant toasting and laughter as well as serious conversation about what’s going on in and out of China. I have even developed a liking for a potent Chinese liquor called Mou Tai.
To me it appears that there are not nearly as many overweight Chinese as there are Americans. I’m not exactly sure why since the quantities consumed at these meals are eye-opening. But the food is mostly healthy and desserts normally consist of fruit.
Breakfast is by far my least favorite meal in China which is too bad since I really like breakfast. At least in a hotel you get some western style options like bacon, French toast (sometimes), omelets and cereal. But other places I’ve been have only Chinese food for breakfast – greens, noodles, soup and lousy coffee.
I experienced KTV for the first time during this trip. It’s basically Karaoke Chinese style. Here’s a video from a few years ago that is somewhat close to what it’s like – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7g5hUKSAZo. It was a ‘can’t say no’ invitation and I am glad I experienced it as it gave me another viewpoint of Chinese people. I will consider doing it again.
I was watching television one evening with my friend in Hong Kong and we saw a story on a new fad in China – Kung Fu volleyball, which is somehow called Sepak Takra. Here is a link to a video and it looks pretty crazy and amazing – I would get seriously injured if I even tried it just once.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7g5hUKSAZo
I also was invited to tour a city in Shanxi province (which literally means mountain west) where they are famous for their fruit as a very wealthy and a successful Chinese businessman is interested introducing some of his juice products to the US market. I really hope to make the trip next time as it is a much different part of China (colder and more wooded) than I’ve been to before and I want to experience a little bit of life, food, and play there as well.
Work hard and play hard. Two of the reasons why I enjoy going to China so much.