Is the future plastic, cheap and shiny? Get fit for Purpose in the 21st Century
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Never mind the quality, it's cheap and shiny!
Do you remember the recession of the 90s? Are you suffering from déjà vu as property prices plummet, and unemployment figures surge inexorably higher? Good. Then we’re on the same page here. I too am a nineties survivor.
Between 1988 and 1995 I saw 30% wiped of the value of my home. In the meanwhile I was working for a failing company that ultimately crashed owing me both wages and pension contributions. As you might guess, I know all about filling your house with lodgers, and getting a second job when the first one doesn’t cover the bills, and I’m also well acquainted with selling up for peanuts after the realisation hits that you don’t actually own your humble abode. It, in fact, owns you! Life was pretty tough here in Britain in the early 90s, but we got through it.
Now we are in a new century you’d think we’d all have learned a thing or two about boom and bust, and how to avoid a recession, but no, it’s business as usual in the corridors of power. Would you and I do a better job if we were in charge? Who knows These days the question is more along the lines of could we do a worse one?
A mini rant about how things are:
At least in the nineties we still had a manufacturing industry, ship-building, coal mines and steel foundries here in the UK. We still had British car manufacturers, too. These days all that has largely been consigned to the history books. We grow less of our own food than we used to. The clothes on our backs are mostly made abroad. Our children’s toy boxes are stacked high with cheap, imported, shiny, plastic toys that will end up in landfill because they’re too shoddily made to have any re-sale or re-use value. Does this sound bleak, or just realistic? I could go on.. Yadda yadda, yacketty yack, but you get the picture, and your list is possibly much longer than mine anyway.
The great thing about history, however, is that we can learn from it. Having grown old missing out on ‘the next big thing’, I’ve decided to get a grip this time around. After all there’s always winners and losers in every scenario, and with a bit of forethought we could all get ahead of the game. So here we have it. My prediction for where the opportunities are likely to be in this Brave New World, and what we can do to ensure a successful future:
Enhanced Geo-thermal Energy
Transition Town Raglan, NZ. Renewable Energy
Kitchen garden by Jean-Noel Lafargue Wiki Commons
Part of the Union by the Strawbs 1973
Looking out for The Next Big Thing
1. Learn Chinese
It’s tricky I know. There’s a whole lot more to it than mastering the vocabulary. There’s also the indecipherable hieroglyphics that they write in. But trust me. The word on the street is that China is where the action is, both in manufacturing and in finance. A good grasp of Chinese might just come in very handy.
2. Add Value
In the 90s the UK became obsessed with quality, and quite rightly so. The only problem was the paper-work that came with it. You see it wasn’t enough to just do things better, you had to prove that you were doing things better. There were lots of hoops to jump through including acquiring various government approved quality marks such as BS5750, and adopting more stream-lined working practices such as JIT warehousing.(JIT stands for Just In Time, but in my experience, this mostly degenerates into Just Too Late) Let’s take a lesson from the 90s and become quality obsessed, but without needlessly cutting down acres of virgin forest to do so. It’s okay to just try harder. Add value in any way you can. People like and appreciate hard work and good service, and their continued patronage and word-of-mouth recommendation will be a far greater reward than a government approved quality mark on your letter-heading.
3. Think Laterally
In life there are always winners and losers. Look around at the various disasters happening daily and try to spot the resultant opportunities. Here are a few examples:
- Many people no longer trust banks and they’re keeping their cash at home, so become a locksmith, alarm specialist or safe-maker.
- Maybe you live somewhere where conventional medical care is not freely available, or just too expensive, so become an alternative medicine practitioner. There’s Reflexology, Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, Iridology, Nutrition, Aromatherapy, Hypnosis, Homeopathy, EFT and many more besides. Just take your pick and sign up for a training course.
- New cars and their long warranties are no longer affordable to the recently cash-strapped, so good car maintenance has become more of a priority. Become a mechanic, or start a taxi service for those who’ve given up their cars altogether. Or offer a home delivery service from store to door.
- If people are worried about their energy bills, then start a business selling and maintaining pellet stoves, solar shingles, or wind turbines. Become a geo-thermal specialist, or a home insulation expert.
- Perhaps neatly manicured lawns are becoming less of a priority in your neighbourhood, and home grown vegetables are the new fashion item of necessity. Post flyers through doors offering your skills behind a spade. Start a rotovator hire business.
4. Acquire New Skills
If you think your life-style might soon take a turn for the worse because your employment is about to cease, then take time out to acquire some life skills. Too many busy people these days never learn to bake, grow vegetables, change a plug, do simple car repairs, build a fire in their hearth etc., etc. Get ahead of the agenda, and start a vegetable garden, or take cookery lessons or needlework lessons. Get a book or two on DIY and buy some tools. You never know, you might just enjoy one of your new skills so much that you decide to turn it into a whole new career.
5. Organise and Motivate
If food and goods are too expensive locally, then act now! Sometimes projects can’t be achieved on an individual basis, but when we get together with others, change can happen. Start a co-operative to bulk-buy food cheaply. Organise a city garden on waste land where food can be grown. If you’re not happy with local services, vote with your feet, and persuade others to join you! It’s hard to hear murmurs and whispers. We have to shout if we want to be heard, and a concert of voices makes a lot more noise than a single person warbling alone.
6. Look for The Next Big Thing
Maybe the Next Big Thing will be property, but don’t invest unless you have money available that can lie around for a few years. We haven’t seen the last of the property price crash just yet.
My own gut instinct is that alternative energy is a strong area for potential investment. Everyone is concerned about global warming, and no-one likes the current unpredictability of oil prices. Pollution is everywhere. The solution is to go green, and the sooner the better.
The Next Big Thing will take a while to build to a crescendo. Change doesn’t often happen over-night, so we must be watchful, and look out for signs. Take note of the things that people complain about most, because sooner or later there will be a tipping point. Perhaps there will be a new wave of low-cost health insurance providers in the States, or a new chain of budget coffee shops, or a grass roots recovery in Western industrial manufacturing. Human beings are a herd species by and large, and once fashions change, the old order might just as well be King Canute trying to hold back the tide.
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Comments
These are very good points and ideas. I like the kitchen garden idea and the learning new skills best, since I am doing those! However, I am taking the opposite approach on the Chinese. I am teaching them to speak English! :D
Fantastic Hub, Amanda. It got my wheels turning. We lost 40% on our home, so far. Do me a favor? If you find the next big thing before I do, could you please email me privately and let me know? I'll definitely do the same for you.
:)
Amanda, this is so good. So often when I get on a rant I never get over it and on to something constructive, but you listed LOTS of great ideas. Thank you and good on you!
I've come to a similar conclusion--for me at least, the age of 'the job' is probably over and I've pretty much accepted I'll have to find ways to make my own money. It's oddly comforting. I've noticed that ever since I realized that I'm going to have to work for myself (a day or two after my last 'job' melted down) I've been sleeping like a baby. Usually I don't sleep well, but ever since then I'm out like a light when my head hits the pillow.
I've stepped up the freelancing and have a few other ideas. I love your idea about using vacant lots to grow food. Boy, I'd love to get involved in something like that--like, be ready before spring hits. Fantastic hub!
This is a fantastic hub, Amanda, chock full of great ideas and constructive ways of dealing with the problems facing the world.
Well, Amanda, hats off for the ideas!! It's shitty this side of the Atlantic, too, eh? Laugh!
You're so right when you say one can profit from opportunities in these difficult times. I met a couple at Santiago de Chile airport, they were Peruvian on their way to Spain because they love it here, and they explained they hadn't been able to come for the last couple of years. When I asked why, they said because of the dreadful earthquake that stroke Peru in summer 07'. I said how sorry I was, and they go, "oh no! Don't worry! We own a glass manufacturing company and we haven't been able to get away 'cause the business was booming on account of the quake, we're loaded now and we're spending the next 3 months touring Spain!"
See how things are!
Hi Brian,
Yes, I remember Black Wednesday too! And the interest rates that kept climbing higher and higher. We were promised an end to boom and bust this time around, and now it's looking even worse than the 90s! But you're so right. Where there's a will there's a way. We don't need to be down-hearted, we just have to look for the positives.
Hi Justmesuzanne,
I've always loved kitchen gardens ever since I was a little girl helping my Grandad in his vegetable plot. He used to have onions hanging in his garden and the freezer was always stocked with home-grown goodies.
Also, being naturally indolent (and English) I like the idea of foreigners learning my language, rather than me having to learn theirs!
Hi rockinjoe,
Thanks for stopping by. I'll certainly let you know if I track down the Next Big Thing. Just wait for that e-mail, and I'll look forward to yours!
Hi Pam, I think that the days of solid 9-5 jobs have long gone for many of us, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. The problem is that we grew up with the expectation of regular employment, and it's all a bit of a culture shock at first. Perhaps schools should start teaching kids how to start and run businesses. At least the next generation would be geared up for the future!
About the city garden idea. I got that from a documentary I watched about Havanna. Apparently Cuba has found things quite hard since losing the support of the old Soviet Union, and they've had to get to grips with food production. City gardens are springing up everywhere apparently!
Great hub. A lot of memories and a lot of ways to make new ones. Thank you.
Hi Kerry,
Glad you enjoyed the hub. I think we're going through a period of great change, and I'm hoping it's for the better!
Hi Elena
I love that story! Your Peruvian acquaintances have experienced the up-side of other people's disasters. They came out of a bad situation with a positive, and they didn't need to prey on the misery of others to do that. They just needed to be in the right place at the right time. And that's all it takes!
Hi Netters,
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for sharing your wisdom. I went through that rough time, too. I appreciate where you're going and where you've been. Thanks again.
Hi Tom,
The 90s were quite a learning experience for me, and it's so true what they say, hindsight really is twenty-twenty vision!
Amanda- When I read so many people are having a tough time then it does make me feel bad about even spending money unnecessarily. I do agree that we need to look at alternatives and always come with solutions that work for us. We need to work with the system to our advantage. Another great hub and nice suggestions.
Hi CW,
Don't waste time feeling guilty when you spend money unnecessarily. When you are spending your cash you're helping the economy, (well hopefully, anyway)
Amanda- Thanks for making me not feel guilty about spending money. I recently have started evaluating also more about what I really need, what I want and what I desire for. I guess I am still very naive about so many things but trying to learn everyday something new.
I keep hearing about the 'bail out' strategies being formulated every day at the 'high level' but I guess when it comes to people, we have to fend for ourselves. No one to pull us up. I hope the situation improves faster than what is predicted. Thx for valuable tips.
Nicely done, Amanda! I do hope the current financial crisis will bring about the change we need to create more self-sufficient local economies, localize food production, and protect the environment. We've allowed wasteful, destructive, and unethical business practices to persist for far too long and I'm glad we have this platform (the Internet) to speak our minds, organize, and help create a more sustainable global society.
A great hub Amanda. Both realistic and practical. I'm currently re-evaluating my skill set with a view to putting them to work when the economy turns around. Thanks.
well it seems to me all this is like it used to be...Work hard and they even bardered...Many areas here have neighborhood co-op gardens...and to get back to the basics is a wonderful idea...and yes you had many,many wonderful plans here and seem a wise person...It takes all of us to make it work....but the big companys have been knocking down all the natural ideas man has come up with...They make it impossible to take advantage of so many good ideas .
California has had the idea for years for windmills...I had all solar heat in my house...we had farmers markets...there have been so many ways to save gas...but do you think BIG business is gonna allow this? Money is the root of all evil...Nice hub sweetie and thanks...G-Ma :o) Hugs & Peace
Hi CW
It must be the turn of the new year. I've also been thinking about my direction in life. As the year turns, we all grow older, and hopefully wiser! Have you made New Year's Resolutions?
Hi Anjali,
All these bail-outs are great, aren't they? They look fantastic on paper, but as you say, for you and me and other people, well it's business as usual. We have to do what we can. There's no bail-outs for us!
Hi Melissa,
Yes I agree. Small and local is the way to go. We need more sustainable communities so that we are less dependant on outside help. Local food and energy production for all is a fantastic goal, and I hope the change we need begins to happen.
Amanda- I have made some resolutions and over here at hub pages I would prefer to participate where I would be able to add some value or make somebody happy. Btw I started a new thread just to read something to make myself and others have a good day. As the new year started with sad news on TV about the Thailand tragedy then Gaza bombings when it was supposed to be "Happy New Year". Anyway here is that thread hope you like some of the information and you can also add anything you like over there: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/10345
Hi Penmanzee,
It's good to see you here. I haven't seen you around on Hubpages lately, but maybe that's just the time zone difference?
I agree with you that now is a good time to re-evaluate our skills and get fit for any improvement in the economy. I hope things improve soon, but there does seem to be a bit of a nose-dive going on here in the UK at least. They have lowered our interest rates, and pumped money into the banks, but still long-established businesses and high street names are biting the dust. I think this is a different kind of recession to those we've had in the past, and I suspect that the old world order is about to be shuffled like a deck of cards.
Great hub Amanda. I have to say the 90s were a blast for me. However, I still believe your advice applies broadly across ages and economic backgrounds. A person can be rich, cheap, and eco-friendly to.
Hi CW
That's a good plan. I sometimes think I dally too long on the political and religious hubs, and not long enough on the practical and positive thinking hubs which I'm sure would be better for me! LOL!
I'll check out your link now. Thanks and take care.
Well anyway in the office I can't avoid those political discussions (guys I tell you). Now even on hub pages the same sad news about 800 deaths in Gaza and who is right/who isn't right just makes me tired. I just need to be able to control what information to feed into my mind and accordingly take responsibility for my emotions. Hope you are having a great year so far.
Hi G-Ma
You're so right. Money is the root of all evil! But as I just said to Penmanzee, I think their may be some big changes on the way. Money isn't everything, and one day the worm will turn, and ordinary people will start to be heard.
I'm glad that you have solar and wind power and farmers markets in California. That sounds like a big step in the right direction!
Hi Writer Rider,
I'm glad you had a blast in the 90s. I did too, just not financially! I met my husband in 1991 and both our children were born in the nineties. I agree that everyone can contribute to society, rich or poor, and I don't think that we should strip the wealthy of their riches, just encourage them to share a little, and use what they have to benefit the wider community more.
Hi Cw
No-one is right in Gaza. Both sides have so much hate in their hearts that they are blind to the fact that it's their fellow human beings over the border and not some alien race. It makes me tired thinking about it too.
Yes I totally agree with you that nothing is achieved when people look at others with suspicion. It is too saddening and the guys in the office talk about the casualty numbers as if it is election updates. I just don't want to hear that news anymore and feel sad about it later. Too many people are dying unnecessarily when they don't need to die. Anyway I will now hit the bed it is almost 2 am although tomorrow is Sunday but still too tired to look at the screen anymore. Bye take care.
Kids are gone and I am finally sifting through my saved emails. This hub got me thinking at a very good time. My husband is laid off as of this week and I am applying for a position at a local tea shop- yes, run by a British couple and one of my haunts. Beyond that paltry pay, I am trying to expand my job vocabulary. I took Chinese in undergraduate school and was in a solar energy MBA program during the Carter Administration but that was back in the 80s!!! I am pretty irrelevant now. Thanks for tweaking the imagination portion of the brain. Kudos, as always.
I'm sorry to hear about your husband's job. These are tough times. I like to believe though, that age is on our side. We're old enough to have seen it all before and to have a good idea about what's likely to happen next. We also have a good set of life skills at our disposal (you most certainly do what with the Chinese and the solar energy expertise as well as your talents with the written word!) I think that the secret is to be open to new opportunities coming from surprising directions. Expect the unexpected and you won't go too far wrong!
"The great thing about history, however, is that we can learn from it."
Obviously not, as history itself has proven repeatedly.Great Hub nonetheless.
Maybe there are sufficient numbers of people who have learned enough to allow for the possibility of something better down the road. The very rough, rocky, dangerous and unknown road. Probably long too. Still, all great evolutionary advances on Earth have come at great cost to the contemporaneous life forms. Mass extinctions tend to have a significant impact on the direction life takes.
CWB, I have to confess that we humans have an amazing propensity for repeating our mistakes, and politicians seem especially prone! But that's the species as a whole. As individuals we have choices, or at least I like to think so. The last hundred years or so represents a unique and very distinct period in human history. We in the West are (mostly) well-fed and adequately housed with good sanitation, and the opportunity to acquire at least a rudimentary edcation is pretty much universal. The diseases that used to regularly wipe out vast numbers are controlled to a great extent. Compared to our ancestors we have very many advantages. The goal for the next hundred years should be to consolidate our achievements, and ensure that the rest of the world can come to the party. I hope that can happen. There just needs to be sufficient will amongst the wealthy and great.
The "individuals" you speak of are those I referred to in my comment with the hope that they exist in sufficient numbers.
Amanda,
I was a college student in my 20s so money was a concern as well. The vib was just more lively and serene, especially in the U.S. We weren't in a war, after all, nor a recession (or depression in my opinion). Things are very stale in this age. Of course, that's happiness dependent on external factors rather than internal factors (which one is forced to turn to these days).
Hi CWB,
Sorry if I misunderstood you. As you know, I tend to be quite optimistic (or possibly just deluded LOL!) about how things will turn out in the long run. I do see a time of great change ahead of us. I think we have a challenging road mapped out, and there will be some big shake-ups in the existing hierarchy. Too many people have become rich on the backs of the poor, and because this is unsustainable in the long term, something has to give. We're already seeing turmoil in the banking system, and our respective governments are busy creating a debt mountain for our grand-children and great-grandchildren to deal with. Here in Britain our illustrious leader has come up with a scheme to pay companies £2,500 to take the long-term unemployed back into the work-place. In the current jobs climate it is a scheme doomed to failure. Yet even though all this is going on, I do believe that things are getting better for ordinary people. Not in any tangible way as yet, but more in terms of world consciousness and accountability. Only time will tell however.
Hi Writer Rider,
I know where your coming from on this. I remember having desparately hard times in the 90s, and I don't actually recall whether you in the States were in recession at the same time or not, or whether it was just us in the UK. Maybe I was just younger and more philosophical then, but whatever was thrown at me, I just got on and dealt with. If I needed more money, I got another lodger, or got a second job. At one point, admittedly when I lost the good job I had in publishing, and was unemployed for a few weeks, I had to fall back on the bank of Mum and Dad. But I weathered it all quite happily, perhaps because, as you say, there was a different vibe in the 90s.
There is a different vibe this time, I suspect because we know that we've blown things big time. Our respective governments have sat on their hands whilst the banks have mis-managed our money, and our traditional manufacturing base has been allowed to wither on the vine in order to accommodate cheap imports.
I certainly don't disagree Amanda. We do think much alike.
BrianS says:
11 months ago
I love this lens, yes you had a moan (I think you and we are entitled to that) but then you came up with some great ways to turn things around and I mean really good ideas. I remember the late 80's and early 90's, black Wednesday, trying to the pay the mortgage on a house that was plummeting in value, my answer was to get 2 part time jobs in the evenings to go with my full time job working as an engineer, which should have been better paid incidentally. Bottom line is you have to take care of yourself and yours, there is no room for airs and graces and I think it is good to remind people that where there is a will there is a way.
Whoops I went into mini rant mode as well, sorry about that, I'll calm down again now.