Carolyn Jack

Editor and CEO, Geniocity.com
A project of The Genius Group LLC

Stormy weather

Somewhere in our nation, a little guy with a spear and magic helmet must be waving his stubby arms around and shouting “Storms! North winds bwow! South winds bwow! Typhoons! Huwwicanes! SMOG!”

Whoever that little guy is – and I could name a name – he sure has turned American life into a not-so-comic opera. In his dim quest to “kill de wabbit,” he and his cast of cartoon sidekicks have brought down disasters of every kind on the unprotected heads of those they were supposed to serve.

And that’s us.  So what have we been through? The rise of a feudal economy as the unchecked privileged grab away the few resources of the poor and middle class. An invented, pointless war with thousands of killed and maimed. The fanning of our enemies’ hatred and our friends’ anger. Our nation indentured to Big Oil.  The environment in a death spiral amid an official culture of defiant ignorance. A major city drowned and destroyed through ineptitude.  Our infrastructure disintegrating.  Our money devalued. And now, a tectonic shift in the banking industry as its own greed and foolishness dissolve the bedrock it was built on.     

Earthquakes and huwwicanes, indeed – literally and figuratively. The flick some of us way-inlanders got from Ike’s tail in the last couple of days was like a physical reminder of how vulnerable we all are to catastrophes that once seemed exotically unlikely.

So this is where we stand:  in more desperate need than ever of courageous, innovative people with the skills to think and experiment our way out of this deadly fix.  The problem with crises is that they make so many people want to just stay down and stay put. They’re terrified to try the very thing that could save them. And that thing is creative risk.

Though there’s little optimism now and less money, we have enormous opportunity - and we simply can’t waste it.  The definition of “entrepreneur” is someone willing to take risk in order to reap profits, to have the guts to reach for the glory, but it can’t be limited to business. It has to be about everything in our lives. And the ideas have to come from all of us.

We have to imagine and we have to try smart new things. And when the story about the little guy in the magic helmet concludes with the question, “Well, what didja expect in an opera? A happy ending?”,  we have to say: Yes! 

And then create one.