Why we care so much about the economy

You probably already know this, but there is a reason why the economy has been such an overwhelming news story. It might seem obvious to some, but it wasn't for me. So maybe there are some other lost souls out there who haven't yet connected the dots.

The economic downturn has been such a long standing news topic because money is what most people care about most. No, really I mean it. Stop laughing in my face, I think I'm on to something here.

I can hear what you're saying, no shit Sherlock, the economy is such a big news topic because it impacts so many people, right? Everybody has a family to feed and take care of, am I right? It's inescapable, Money impacts nearly every aspect of our life, so of course when it gets harder to come by, well that's important.

Still, I think there's something more subtle going on here. We as a society say many things are important to us, the environment, education, our families, equality, liberty, freedom, yada, yada, yada. But if these things are important, and if they are failing us, or if those ideals are under attack, or eroding away, wouldn't those topics be in the news more?

Let's take education as an example. I submit that, like money, education touches us all as well. We're fortunate enough to live in a place where, if we want an education, it is available to us. It's difficult to believe, but there ARE places were that opportunity does not exist. Therefore, let's assume that we've either attended school or our children are attending school now. Now let's assume that the quality of our educational system is bad and that it has been for a very long time. Then why don't we constantly see news about education? We have a long-standing crisis with our educational system, but we rarely hear about it, talk about, or do anything about it. Why is that?

If we examine our society, we will find system after system is in a state of crisis. Many of these crises are in the very areas we say are important to us, but our leaders, our politicians, nor our media want to talk about it. Are the problems just too complex? Are the solutions so few? Or is the problem that money, the pursuit of money, the love of money, mass consumerism, and a hyper-materialistic drive have all silently snuck-in and replaced everything else we say we care about?

I've come to believe in one common trait in all human beings. What we say and what we do are usually two different things. So if you want to know what is important to someone, examine what they do, not what they say. It should be obvious then, that since we are doing a lot of different things to try and stimulate the economy, then we must think that money is important. So it must follow that if we're not doing much to improve education, eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, reduce solid waste, safe guard our freedoms, yada, yada, yada, then they must not be as important as money.

Is Friday the worst day for...everything?

Sometimes I amaze myself at how stupid I can be, even worse, I can even be aware that I'm being stupid, and still go ahead with things that I know are stupid. Does that mean that I'm a moron or just retarded? But before I digress into complete self administered humiliation, I've got a point here.

Don't ever try to do anything for your business on a Friday. Now here comes the stupid over-statement of the obvious. Why shouldn't you do anything on Friday? Since most people work a standard Monday to Friday work schedule, by the time Friday arrives, they only have one thing on their mind: consuming massive amounts of alcohol. Call it escapism, or "Carpe Diem," there's a good reason for the "Thank God It's Friday" expression.

Just what am I talking about? Here's a quick list of things you should never try on Friday:

• Launch a new campaign, contest, give-away, or anything requiring people to pay attention to what you're trying to communicate (that includes important or lofty blog posts)
• And yes that does include meetings, launching internal projects, or, again, anything requiring clients or employees to pay attention.
• Assign a new project to an employee, chances are they won't make any significant progress on the new assignment until Monday (even more so if it's a three day weekend).

Well I think that just about covers it, I mean let's be serious here, people have some serious drinking on their mind. There just isn't any room for anything else. So while I know this, hell I used to live this when I were a younger man, I still insist on writing about weighty issues on Friday. Why?

It's a mix of a couple of things. First, when you work independently, the concept of Friday disappears as one day to the next all seem the same. Second, there is no denying that there is more activity on the Internet, where I live, between Monday and Friday (recall the typical work structure I just mentioned). So after a week's worth of activity, news, announcements, and reactions I usually have built up some powerful responses and need to vent. Call it a release, catharsis, or whatever, right about Friday I'm due for a core dump. Finally, as a writer, whenever muse, inspiration, creativity, and topic come together, you've got to roll with it. Know what I mean?

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: ian boyd