Posts tagged rants

I was a having a conversation today with a co-worker today about politics, the economy, the state of the world, etc… In 2002, the infant mortality rate in the US was 7 per 1000 live births; in 1933, it was 58.1. In 1915, the maternal mortality rate rate was above 600 for every 100,000 births — now it is in the single digits. In 1970, about 36% of the world population couldn’t read; in 2015, the illiteracy rate is projected to to be ~15%.

Is the drop in your bank statement or the prospect of losing your job even close to the reality losing a child (or multiple children)? Or losing your wife in childbirth? Or not being able to read? In the span of human history, the last 100 years (much less the last four months) have been an insect bite — truly inconsequential.  Yet, as individuals, we tend to dwell on the here and now.  We forget that collectively we’ve made huge strides in a short time.

Yes, the economy is bad. Yes, these are some of the toughest business conditions that many of us have seen.  However, we need a little perspective here. We all need to remember what really matters and put that in perspective.

Just a few thoughts as we wrap up MLK day.