If you’re looking for some Marketing Technology discussions, this post doesn’t cover it! I’ve been in the mood to write this post since finishing the book Deep Economy and writing my thoughts on much of the political rhetoric that’s being thrown around the media and with some of my friends at work.
One of the things I feel I was blessed with growing up was the uncommon diversity in my family as well as the cities I lived in. I grew up in rural Connecticut until I was 12 years old when we moved to Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
My Diverse Family
My grandfather, Douglas, on my Mom’s side is a retired officer with the Canadian Army. My grandmother, Sylvia, was a successful entrepreneur - something very unique for a woman in those days. My mom was born in England and raised in Quebec.
When I was young, we visited my grandparents in Germany where they lived for many years. They also lived in England and Spain. My grandfather (Papa) now lives with my Mom and Dad in Florida. My father is a retired Chief from the United States Navy. My mom followed in my Grandmother’s footsteps and has been in and around Accounting her entire life.
The females in my family are beyond strong. Matriarch is the perfect term. Though the men were men, they demanded even more respect for the women. My Dad might be old-school and expect dinner on the table, but I also know he’s dedicated his life to my Mom. My Dad might pound his fist, but my Mom will move forward with whatever plans she already made.
My Grandmother and Mom have always been feisty, but they would both give fully of themselves to see their friends or family be successful. Never would you ever test the devotion of the women in my family to being good mothers and spouses. You’d get your butt kicked.
The mentoring I still receive from my Grandfather and father conflicts often. I love and respect them both and I recognize how their past grew to shape their beliefs. I’m blessed to have such diverse political viewpoints influencing me growing up. My grandfather has lived and traveled all over the world… my Dad is a proud American.
Going to High School in Vancouver probably had the largest impact on me. While the United States is seen as a melting pot, Canada is more of a mozaic. Each race and culture maintains their race and culture. My high school graduating class had many 1st generation immigrants, many just learning the English language for the first time. Though we’ve not seen nor spoken to each other in many years, I tucked away respect for my friends’ many cultures - Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Pakistani, Indian, Native Indian.
The Liberal Gay-Sympathizer
When I was in my mid-teens, our best friends in the neighborhood were Ray and Fred. Ray was an interior designer and florist and Fred was a baker. They had a baby grand piano in their townhouse and it was ‘fabulously’ decorated. Ray passed away from brain cancer and it had a huge impact on me. After he passed away, my Mom and Dad explained to me that they weren’t roommates - they were ‘partners’. I was blown away! I really never suspected they were gay - nor would I have known it anyways.
When he passed away, Fred lost everything since he had no ‘legal’ rights. It was devastating. Fred lost his partner, his friend, and everything they owned all in a fatal swoop. We stood by helplessly watching as Fred then fell deep into alcoholism. I don’t know where Fred is today - but I hope he somehow survived it.
He and Ray were good to me. While I had a paper route, they often hired me to do odd jobs since Fred worked long hours and Ray couldn’t move around much due to his battle with cancer. Ray courageously battled cancer for over a decade and I think the Doctors only gave him a month or two to live!
A funny story, they hired me once to bring some stuff over to a friends’ house, Tommy. Tommy lived in a Penthouse apartment and everything was white… white statues, white carpets, white candelabras… even Tommy was dressed in white with perfect white hair. How I didn’t suspect these guys were gay is really funny when I look back on it now.
I’m really glad that I didn’t know back then, though. I see the way people mistreat gay people nowadays and it really is disgusting. Especially when they quote the bible or defend it with Christianity or some other religion. Even if you believe it’s wrong as per the Bible, no where in the Bible does it say you should love or treat gays any less than anyone else.
The God I know and trust opens his arms to anyone and it’s only His job to judge me when I leave this life He gave me. I don’t believe he would want me to look down upon any gender, race, religion or even sexual preference.
The Socialized Capitalist
This week at work, one of the guys I love joking around with was astonished that I could respect someone like Ron Paul, claim to be more libertarian than liberal or conservative, but still defend things like National Healthcare or building a new Stadium here in Indianapolis.
He’s astonished when I state that I believe in Capitalism. Another person actually got quite upset when I spoke about National Healthcare - claiming loved ones close to her would lose the treatment they have a right to ‘buy’ if it’s run by the Government. Of course I don’t want that! When I look back on my time in Canada and I open my eyes to Europe, I see countries that are healthier than the United States and happier.
If you didn’t have to worry about insurance, premiums, prescriptions, treatment, etc. when you move from job to job or even job to entrepreneur - national healthcare can have a huge impact on your stress and happiness. One of my friends up in Canada, Mike, had emergency surgery last year and his care and treatment was immediate and fantastic.
I really don’t like the ‘fear-mongering’ that insurance companies have dispelled in the defense of a medical system that just doesn’t work. I personally had 6 surgeries while living in Canada… and I was treated by one of the best knee surgeons in the country. Imagine, the same guy that operated on professional athletes for the CFL, repaired my knee.
The other fallacy is that right now we don’t have socialized medicine. We absolutely do have socialized medicine. People that don’t have health care still use our emergency rooms and our hospitals… and it’s the rest of us that pay for it with climbing premiums, more paperwork, and insane co-pays.
Instead of paying for healthcare, you and I are paying for our healthcare, we are paying for the poor’s healthcare, the insurance overhead, the liability overhead, the malpractice insurance overhead, the malpractice suits, and all the bureaucracy in between. Our healthcare is more expensive, often slower, and worse than the ’socialized’ medicine that is supposedly so evil. Is it true that having the government run it that it might get worse? Yes, but I think the benefits far outweigh the risks.
PS: My dad would totally disagree with me on this one. In fact, it may even anger him that I believe it might work.
The Christian Conservative
Another friend of mine (who happens to be gay) groaned when I told him I was a Conservative Christian. I chuckled because I’m not the stereotype. I think gays should have a right to marry but it’s okay for your church or mine not to recognize it. I’m conservative in that I think government should be small and fiscally responsible. I’m Christian in that I believe Jesus Christ truly lived and was sent by God to provide us with a message of peace and love.
The problem is the huge amount of folks that ‘think’ they are Christian and Conservative. I don’t think of them as either. I don’t think Bush is a Conservative Christian. I don’t think Jerry Falwell is a conservative Christian. I don’t think too many of the right-wing are Christians or Conservatives. I’m not trying to offend anyone here… just stating my viewpoints.
The Economic Socialist
What’s really interesting when I try to discuss these viewpoints with people is the push to black or white. For some reason, no one should be allowed to think somewhere in the middle. Even the media tries to ‘brand’ us. If I watch Bill O’Reilly, I must be a Republican puppet of FoxNews. If I listen to NPR, I must be a liberal wacko. The fact is, I listen to all of them and rarely agree (though I do like O’Reilly’s beliefs in personal accountability).
This takes me back to the book, Deep Economy. I can tell when I’m reading it that the author, Bill McKibben, does lean to the left. Thankfully, he doesn’t try to rip a new hole into the right-wing to make his point. If you honestly ask me, I think the book is very much a call to conservative thinking, personal accountability, and capitalism.
McKibben explains in great detail how when we get big business out of the way and work with each other, the relationship is great, the bond builds, and people can profit much more than we do now. I think we’re starting to see the roots of this in many movements in the United States.
Here’s a simple example. We sell food that’s bad for us cheaper than food that’s good for us. This leads to more bad food than good food. That leads to less good jobs and more bad ones. This leads to bad food and bad jobs which leads to good food being unaffordable. Bad food and bad jobs lead to medical problems. All of it leads to stress and unhappiness. Do you see how self-destructive this behavior is?
Has All of This Helped my Success?
Absolutely! I wrote about the challenges of my position a few days ago. If I’ve learned anything in my 39 years is that seeing black and white is dangerous. Environment and perception really determine right and wrong. This can lead to opposite viewpoints with both sides thinking the other is wrong.
It happens every day in Marketing, in Product Management, and often in friendships and marriages. Two people can be right when providing two different solutions and everyone can be wrong when agreeing on a common solution. My job is to try to clear my mind of everything and not discount what one side says or the other. I need to recognize both and make a decision I believe will take the marketing or product to the next level.
Luckily, I was blessed with a fantastically, diverse upbringing that enabled me to be able to do this. It’s an amazing thing to be brought up in a family that encouraged personal thinking, growth, and accountability and respected it. My dad and my grandfather still disagree with each other on many topics - but the fact that we respect one another and love one another is amazing.
Oh… and I defend my right to flip-flop tomorrow if I want to!
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