“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy…in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture.”
– John Adams, 2nd President of the USA, in a letter to his wife, Abigail
Ahhhh, finally. Perspective on my belief that I really do sound more like my parents and grandparents every day — it’s been going on forever!
Stephen Hess noted this in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal in a column about the election / state of affairs in the USA today. The whole thing literally depresses me and I see no positive way forward, so until one presents itself, I’ve chosen to look for the lessons in these times.
We all want better for our kids. We all want more options for our kids. We all want our kids to learn from, and therefore not repeat our mistakes. We all want our kids to be safe, happy and fulfilled.
We all want better for our businesses. We all want more options for them. We want to learn from and not repeat mistakes.
So, it looks like we must study to give the next generation a right to continue. I’m not a huge fan of Brett King‘s overall approach, but his work is extremely compelling. As Adams cast the difference between generations and options, King, in his new book (due out in June, 2016), Augmented: Life In The Smart Lane. He lays out a frightening history lesson that is instructive and predictive for the entire commerce system of the world — and banks had better respond, or their businesses won’t be better, have more options or avoid mistakes of the past.
A bit of a rambling post today — but I’m pretty sure my point is, if we want better for tomorrow (for ourselves and those that come after us), we’d better get better today, and every day.
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