Tips to Creating Wisdom Through Respecting Virtue and Understanding Perceptual Lenses

We hear people talk about values and people talk about other's values regularly through a process of social evaluations. We are all guilty in one form or another of making quick judgements. That is pretty normal as we seek to gauge ourselves and others to find a type of homeostasis with our social world. There are some differences we should consider. Respecting virtue in self/others as well as understanding perceptual lenses leads to greater rational decision making.

Some people who value and respect concepts such as virtue and moral conscious are often wiser than others. These are the type of managers and executives that are less quick to judge and less likely to use lower values to assess others’ behaviors heuristically without much thought. They are in essence the wise leader. People who Value Virtue Show Wiser Reasoning

We all have lenses in which we see the world. These are a combination personal, behavioral and cultural factors in many ways learned since childhood but also influence by our biological and psychological make up. To have the metacognitive learning ability to see one's cultural lens, mold it, and improve its accuracy takes significant reflection. Social Cognition Theory

Gaining the ability to understand self means we also gain the ability to understand and predict others behaviors/goals. There are certain "truths" about human nature that transcend cultures, locality, and companies. Managing a global enterprise through different lenses requires a level of humbleness. This is why most of the exceptional people I have met who have high skill are humbler then those with lower skill sets but bigger egos. Humble People See the World Differently "The Glue"

A Few Tips:

-Understand the difference between reality in terms of physical facts and preception in terms of interpretation of reality. An evidence based approach. Know what you know and know what you don't know. Intellectual curiosity.

-Before making a decision think about what the best long term strategic outcome would be and align accordingy for maximum flexibility. Long and short term strategic thinking.

-Accept that you make mistakes but are going to do the best you can with what you have. Be humble and avoid arrogance/ego because people will trust you if that value is truely present within you. Mistakes in leadership are common so don't be quick to judge others. See and recognize yourself in others.

-Ensure you accept differences in how people process information, their level of understanding, and be a guide to their development. When you are the guide and want the best for others they will follow you anywhere. Make sure you are leading for a purpose, for them, and around certain values people can support.

Learning Lesson: Information and studies like this help us understand the difference between good people trying to do the right thing and and those who don't. Leaders and executives should have a moral and ethical component to their personality. How they decide, act, think, and encourage outcomes comes to define them and overall trust and performance.

University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey March 2025

Keeping up with the news leads to greater awareness of shifts, changes, and adjustments. Consumer sentiment has experienced some challenges.

University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Survey March 2025

A couple of key points in the publication:

-Yearly inflation expections moved from 4.3% to 5% inflation expectations jumped up from 4.3% last month to 5.0%.

-Long-run inflation moved from 3.5% to 4.1%

-Concerns revolved around personal finances, business conditions, unemployment, and inflation.

-Unemployment expected to rise.

*The American Association of Economists has an older publication on the relationship between consumer confidence and spending. A little discussion on what causes consumer confidence to change. Consumer Confidence and Spending

Free Trade Winners and Losers

There are winners and losers of free trade. For the most part people have gained overall but there are instances where it is not even and those who didn't have high skilled trades or a high education seemed to lose out in global skills competition. Further, income disparity went higher as a class of people who had resources moved up but those without resources receded. Since Covid the U.S. has obtained some benefits from free trade but will need to ensure that its industries stay competitive internationally as well foster new industries (Theoretically there is a method to that.).

Feel freee to buy
a book on Free Trade
A few other things
I got listed. Other Things

The case for encouraging innovation, human capital development, research/science, small/medium business, infrastructure development, and international partnerships has not gone away. If anything, it has risen. A discussion on short term versus long-term tariffs is ongoing while ensuring fair trade through appropriate negotiations with international partners is helpful.

The Federal Reserve of Cleveland discusses the uneven nature of free trade in The Winners and Losers from Trade

You may be interested in reading a 2009 book on Free Trade and what people thought out it then. Very interesting because it was just becoming an important issue at that time. The author debates the pros and cons but seem to be a little more against. In today's world, it would seem that having free trade is generally positive but there should be some safeguards for things like product dumping, unfair practices, etc. Economists will continue to debate into the future.....

Side Note: I have a lot of books sitting on the shelf and seem to keep collecting them, speed reading and then throwing them somewhere. So, I decided I would try and sell a few and see if I can raise a little money for charities. I generally sought to give over 50% of profits for my hobbies away. Mostly I have given away 100% I believe except the occasional charity dinner. I recently bumped up some of my books and art to 30% direct charity deduction and the rest will go to local stuff as well as a special cause for orphans (Donate to Orphans). Also, I noticed that the LA Fire Department has a donation option there and I think I will try and create that selection for our local department when I get some time. If your interested in providing a corporate donation or personal donation to a great fire department let me know to the right and I will point you in the right direction. Anway...buy a book.

A Study on Social Trust and GDP (Hypothetical Thought Experiment)

Social trust is the part of the glue that keeps society working together, ensuring institutional health, exchanging information, engaging in commerce, and all types of other behaviors that lead to thriving community resilience. While many economists have a hard time evaluating such person-to-person trust it is an essential bedrock of how people interact and relate to each other to successful navigation a wider environment (We can discuss micro transactions at a later date but just for now keep in the back of your head why communities form and around what purposes).

We have been exploring an interesting hypothetical philosophical theoretical thought experiment for pontification and to learn about the fundamentals of good societal health. In this example, the general members of a community developed social trust from ongoing prosocial behaviors and shared commitment to building a brighter future. People were inclusive and cared about each other's well-being (You can see that in how they donate to community members who suffered from a calamity, how they volunteer to support institutions, how they do nice things for each other, so on and so forth.)

The good works of the community were in contrast to the Clan who were involved in all types of bad behaviors that were self-seeking and put people intentionally in harm's way (i.e. alleged rape of an underage girl, exploiting a child who needed help to extort money from parents, manipulating the elderly, threats, religious cleansing, mistreating veterans, false rumors, and much more.). As red flags went up everywhere it appeared no one came to help the community and they were on their own (Some of the harm can never be undone and there was no reflective pause before willfully ruining people's lives. Sociopaths would blush.)

A fed-up community over blatant foot dragging and unfair protections began an informal campaign of mass reporting of corrupted behaviors to various agencies at different levels. Remember, that other crimes were reported but were often quickly retaliated against and victims concerns dismissed at times. Some went out of their to encourage, brag about, and financial reward misdeeds. No longer could the false narratives and undeserved immunities shield perpetrators from behaviors that would not be acceptable in any society.

 A positive community identity formed that cannot come from any other place then overcoming a challenge (theoretically). The People/We the People began to undo in/out group misleading barriers put in place by more exploitive members (Divide and conquer was their goal). The community voted their conscious and removed poor actors. Patriotic officials and citizens worked informally hand in hand to protect what they deeply believed in, what their parents, grandparents, and forefathers/mothers sacrificed to protect (Many unsung heroes of democratic health).

 With each prosocial act, tomorrow got brighter......

In this example there are 5 stages that ranged from default to community resilience. We also may see a sixth stage form that includes not only restoring trust but also perhaps raising it to a new level unseen in a community’s history (Give people a sense of belonging, a purpose and a path and they can do wonderful things.). When people work together in a way where they can see the results of their efforts, be that economic growth, better schools, cleaner streets, a new project, quality of life improvements, etc., they will feel connected and optimistic. Shared optimism has real value on a root person to person level (Research on optimism, productivity, and innovation.).

We should consider how social trust and institutional trust have a profound impact on our environment. Social Trust and GDP Study

“Democratical States must always feel before they can see: it is this that makes their Governments slow, but the people will be right at last." George Washington

*This is a hypothetical, philosophical, theoretical thought experiment for learning purposes that explores numerous topics that include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, Constitution, social contracts, essential universal values, democracy, voting, etc. It is meant as a type of discussion and it is ok to agree or disagree. 

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2024/25 Indicates an Entrepreneurial Economy in US

Gladstone MI has one
of the nicest upscale looking 
downtowns in the area.
Coffee shop, barber, bars, brewery,
post office, bike shop, restaurants, etc. 
Escanaba is the next
area where entrepreneurship has
started to take off.

The U.S. is seen as a place where entrepreneurship can thrive, and we often find in capitalistic societies that entrepreneurs are honored champions of the economy. There has been some concentration of wealth over the past few decades and helping people start businesses also helps create the foundation of innovation and future job growth as a generative source as new products/ideas take off. Feeding long-term economic health is based in part in capital flowing to various new ventures and ideas in small and medium entities in addition to their larger cousins. 

You can read the report Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2024/25

-Total entrepreneurship reaches 19% 2024 in the U.S.

-2/3 indicate job insecurity an issue.

-7% of Americans running mature businesses.

-25% of entrepreneurs are 18-24. The Secrets to Success of Young Entrepreneurs

-Veterans and active duty have a higher rate of entrepreneurship

-Being born in the U.S. or immigrant didn't seem to have an impact.

-Largest percentage wholesale/retail and 44% introducing new product/service in the area.

-73% expected to hire at least one employee in the next 5 years.

-82% believe that entrepreneurship is a good career choice.

A couple of notes/thoughts:

One of the things I have been thinking about is about how attracting entrepreneurs to downtowns such as Escanaba can make a difference in long-term success. The downtown and area has attracted alot of attention in recent years. Escanaba is now known as a hot spot. Next to Escanaba is Gladstone as a sister town. It is actually just across the bay and people know each other. Rival highschool sports teams. Gladstone has a very nice little downtown that can be a model for other small entities. This can be especially true for serial entrepreneurs who may succeed or fail but ultimately keep going improving their environment. Attracting a number of them to the downtown and you might find different businesses starting and the downtown growing. Encouraging new business ownership relies in part on the existing businesses, grants, costs, permits/regulations, low-interest loans, and a number of other things.

2025 Veterans Benefit Guide, News and Phone App

Learning military history.
Marines
Iwo Jima 1945
Source: National Archives

Keeping veterans up to date on the news and information helps to ensure our patriots are healthy and living the full life that they deserve. Communities like Escanaba have gone out of their way to help veterans and started a number of initiatives that include a new Veteran’s Center, Museum, hiring of a Veterans Service Officer, additional resources and more. You can click some of the links in the right column under resources at Escanaba Amvets.

The links below will help you stay informed on the news, download the VA Phone App, and the 2025 Veterans Benefit Guide.

Thank you for your service!

VA News

VA Phone App

2025 Veterans Benefit Guide

Q4 2024 Corporate Profits Up and GDP Up

The fourth quarter of 2024 was pretty strong with GDP increasing at an annual rate of 2.4% over the year and corporate profits increased $204.7 billion. Relatively good news but one might like to see increased in exports while imports be based more in supplies/resources that can be used to create higher value products (i.e. higher export value). 

Read GDP 4Q, 2024 BEA

Source: BEA Q4, 2024

You`can also see which industries contributed and which did not. 

Source: BEA Q4, 2024