This is Part 1 of a 2 part blog. The first focuses on three things that bother me today, and Part 2 will focus on three things that I am happy about. These could be anything so this is not about CFO War Stories but more about Executive Insights. The three things that bother me are below, with an analysis about why each bother me today.

Congress – so polarizing they have challenges getting anything completed.
No, it’s not Hatfields vs. McCoys, its Democrats vs. Republicans. And it is rare indeed that any member votes against their own party preferences. And the parties themselves enforce this allegiance by penalizing any member that votes differently than the official party line. So, we could have effectively voted a cardboard box in for office and receive the same puppet-like voting treatment. Is it any surprise that we get politicians trying to differentiate themselves by spouting conspiracy theories or outrageous behavior. I believe this need for differentiation and publicity caused Matt Gaetz of Florida to stymie Kevin McCarthy’s bid for house speaker multiple times. 

George Santos was elected to represent New York when an investigation revealed that “significant” portions of his biography was not true, including his prestigious claimed education, career on Wall Street and his real estate assets. Guess what – he is snubbed by his peers but is still collecting a paycheck in Congress. 

These are two of many examples of politicians seeking differentiation – and we hear of a new one every day. I could have easily picked democrats also, so this is not a political statement.

In my Blog Your Credibility is Worth Millions, I noted that America’s least trusted profession is Members of Congress – Ahead of Car Salespersons and Lawyers!  (And, yes, many members of Congress are lawyers).

The last time I checked, we were all Americans.  And each individual state in America votes for its members of Congress.   I doubt that every person in New York agrees with everything on the Republican political agenda or democrats in democratic states.  But under the current environment – their representative needs to vote along party lines.   I do not believe this will change until politicians acknowledge alternative views may be superior to their party views and the public holds their representatives accountable.  We did vote a person in office rather than a puppet, right?

Alex Jones –  It pays to spew garbage and hurt people even if you know it is untrue. 
Alex Jones is a radio personality and  founded InfoWars which is an online conspiracy site with the motto “There’s a War on For Your Mind!”.  I just checked out the site the saw the following Breaking News:

“Emergency LIVE Broadcast:  Biden Declares War on Russia in Psychotic Speech In Warsaw, Poland While Putin Warns West Nuclear War is Imminent”.

If you are unaware, Alex Jones became wealthy peddling this type of information. It is most disappointing to me that spewing lies can make you rich – but apparently there are enough people out there to make this happen.

History: Alex Jones communicated that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 that left 28 people dead and 2 injured were fabricated. He further claimed this was all staged by the government so they could “go after our guns” and “start a civil war” and that the grieving parents were “crisis actors”. These theories gained traction among his supporters prompting many to harass and disparage the parents of deceased children, including an instance where someone drove past a victim’s house, firing shots and shouting “Infowars” and “Alex Jones”. Many parents feared for their lives and some moved. In the trial, Alex Jones admitted that he did believe the event truly happed. Alex Jones lost the subsequent defamation lawsuit but his site is still up taking donations. I am disappointed, 1) that somebody can get rich doing this, 2) that there are enough people with these alternative viewpoints to make him credible even after admitting he lied and 3) that somebody would even do this in the first place to a fellow human. He is a very low life form to me.

People have an overall lack of Consideration for each other – and everybody seems busier and more self-centered these days.
I was at a stoplight last Friday and I was the first car. A big honk startled me, and I looked back and the woman behind me in an SUV had thrown up her hands in anger and rage was in her face. I admit to making her wait a grand total of about 8 seconds in the green light before she got frustrated. I would have expected this level of frustration from something more significant than not moving immediately through a green light.

When pedestrians cross the street and traffic stops for them – most people now just walk as though they are walking on the sidewalk, deliberately acting like they are not stopping traffic (what happened to walking quickly or running). At Costco, people infamously just leave their carts in the middle of the main aisle when they venture to pick something up, leaving the rest of us to go around it. Road rage is a common occurrence. Has anybody ever coached or refereed a kids soccer game?

There just seems to be little consideration for our fellow human in almost every way these days.  And there is also little consideration for alternative viewpoints – everybody is convinced they are correct. But choice and opinion are not about being correct or incorrect – it is about it being OUR CHOICE or OUR OPINION. It used to be that religious people wanted to convert you to their religion to save you and that was the example of not acknowledging another’s choice of religion. These days you are wrong if you merely disagree with an opinion. 

1) We, as humans, are moving too fast trying to keep up with technology and we shouldn’t. This speed results in little patience when disruptions or alternative opinions are presented. We have greater technological advancements to make things faster and easier such as online bill pay, credit card processing at the gas pump, taking a picture of a check to deposit it but we seem busier than ever despite these advancements. Let’s stop trying to match to speed of technology and slow down to human speed. 

 2) We are influenced by social media feeding us what it believes we need to encourage engagement. These algorithms have one goal – extend engagement in any way. And that is accomplished by feeding up what it thinks an individual wants – causing them to believe their preferences are, in fact, correct. We need to understand this manipulation for what it is and realize the impact. An algorithm feeding us what we want doesn’t make us right –  and we need to understand that.

* Part 2 of this blog will be about the three things I am most happy about – and I cannot wait to get there.