The Great Reset Button

If you’ve been following much commentary or op-ed pieces on our current economic situation (dire as it is), you’ve no doubt heard the phrase “The Great Recession”.

Of course they don’t mean ‘great’ in the sense of “dude, those were some great burritos”. ‘Great’ in this case speaks to the breadth and scope of the recession we’re in. Think of it in the same sense as the “Grand” Canyon, in so far as it’s wide and deep and goes on for quite a ways.

And while I would tend to agree that this recession is teetering on the borderline of full-out economic depression, I don’t think the phrase “Great Recession” encompasses the entirety of the situation we find ourselves in.

Yes, employment is down. Home values are down. Consumer spending is down (or at least certainly isn’t hitting any of what were once considered reasonable expectations). Stocks are down. 401Ks are devalued, and in many instances cashed in at a loss to pay an overdue mortgage or bill. Credit ratings are down, even for those with steady income. Consumer lending is down across multiple sectors. Employment opportunities are way down (as a percentage, or as a ratio of applicants to available jobs particularly).

And finally, Expectations are down. Way, way down.

Those lucky enough to have a job, or those who have the same job they had 2 years ago, operate in an almost steady state of fear for their job security, prohibiting them from even thinking about looking for a new opportunity, let alone pursuing one.

And those without a job have resigned themselves to a new way of life. One without aspirations, one without grand plans or even long-term goals.

In some cases, one without even a home, vehicle or furniture.

What we’ve experienced here is a collective lowering of the bar across the board. Or, as the title of this post would suggest, we’ve hit The Great Reset Button.

Like a video game system or a frozen computer (back in the day, with the big red button on the front), bad decisions, circumstance and out-of-control assumptions have combined to jab at the economic button that is the equivalent of restarting a game. Only this time, many people have to restart at the beginning, and with the assumption that they’ll never get as far as they thought they might.

And what has this great resetting accomplished? What comes of lowering the bar for millions of Americans?

Keeping them in their place, and keeping the myth of the “American Dream” alive and well while simultaneously reminding people that they will probably never achieve it.

For the longest time, the one thing that people in this country have agreed on has been that successive generations should have more, do more and achieve more than the generation before. Parents want it for their kids, and society as a whole wants it for society as a whole. We strive for improvement. Good enough isn’t good enough. Everything can be better, get better, be more. Sure, a steak is good, but a steak wrapped in bacon is better.

At this point, however, we’re staring down the very real threat of a generation that isn’t better than the last, that can’t achieve more than the last, or that has to settle for second best.

I like to try to see this reset phase as an opportunity, but too many people and places are heavily vested in keeping things the same for themselves at the expense of everyone else. We have an opportunity to change the way we operate, the way we think, to once again step into a leadership role as an example to the rest of the world. Leadership through innovation, through new ideas.

We still have those ideas. This country, particularly in a globalized age, has even more potential than before.

But it’s hard to get an idea heard or a plan started when you’re sleeping in your car.

Addendum: This Book by author Richard Florida, published earlier this year, takes this concept and runs further with it. I did not know about this book until after I had written my post, otherwise I would have provided this initially.