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My new e-Book - "The Psychological Recession" Available Now on Amazon

A Summary of
The Psychological Recession
 
 
  • Why do many people see the future as being worse than the present?
  • Were you shocked by the size of the turn around in the midterm 2010 election?
  • Do you know today’s independent vote is larger than either the Democratic or Republican parties?
  • Are you angry, skeptical and cynical about business or government?
  • Is the U.S. losing its place as the #1 economic and military power to China?
These and other vital questions are answered in my new e-book, The Psychological Recession.

 
The Psychological Recession is my name for people’s feelings of being beaten down, vulnerable, of battling forces that are too large and unpredictable for an individual to control. Feeling insignificant and powerless, lacking control over what happens to you is the soil in which hopelessness flourishes. Hopelessness is the death of optimism and optimism is what enables people to take risks, innovate, invest in new ideas, and grow the economy. 
 
The current major recession is not the basic cause of people’s anxieties about their future or their fear about their jobs. After twenty years of large lay-offs, pensions at risk, and widespread outsourcing of work to less developed countries, about half of the employees in the developed economies have lost faith in their employers and are not committed to their employer or their organization’s mission. These employees no longer trust or respect their organization or their elected leaders. Without mutual trust and respect it is impossible for a viable, problem-solving, forward-looking relationship to develop.
 
There you have it: the dreary feelings of the psychological recession are the result of the prolonged terror of uncertainty combined with the perception that “leaders” are not trustworthy.
 
Mistrust and a lack of respect breed cynicism. Cynicism casts doubt on the truthfulness of every statement, and every act and intention of “leaders”. The impact of widespread skepticism was especially apparent in the 2010 midterm election when voters turned their backs on the president’s message of hope and the Democratic agenda. 
 
Today’s recession has impacted people of every age, ethnicity, geography and education level. With a high and long term unemployment rate, the fear of being unemployed and the anxiety about falling out of the middle class has eclipsed any little green shoots of hope. As a result many people no longer see the larger system as a fair meritocracy.
 
  • Governments and businesses must reinstate a sense of trust by telling the truth and by making the people’s greatest concerns their highest priority.
  • Governments and businesses must reduce uncertainty by striving to create and communicate longer term objectives.
  • Governments and businesses must recognize and respond appropriately to people’s powerful feelings.
  • Governments must stop using anti-business and anti-competition rhetoric because it is business and trade that create jobs and prosperity.
  • Governments must achieve balanced budgets because there isn’t and there never was “free money;” the piper always gets paid.
  • Governments and businesses must address immediate problems like unemployment as well as invest in and for the future.
  • Governments and businesses must recognize achievement and celebrate successes.
 
Feelings are four times more powerful than facts in determining what people will do. The depressing economic news created a psychological recession and, in recent years that combined with distrust of “the system and its “leadership.”  For the moment Americans have lost their traditional optimism and confidence in the future. 
 
But bad times lead to better solutions. As a nation we have faced many crises and came out of those terrifying times much stronger than we had ever been. Americans need to rediscover and recover our spirit of Go for it! We need to remember that our unique history and core values have led to our amazing ability to gain energy and momentum in the face of terrifying crises. We have always managed to ultimately succeed despite or because of hard times.
 
Best! to you,
                      Judy
  
If you do not have an e-reader, you can get an e-book with Kindle for PC, a free app from Amazon.com. The book will download into your PC.
 
  • Sign on to Amazon.com
  • Go to the Kindle Store.
  • Choose Kindle for PC
  • Follow the directions from Amazon to download the app.
  • Once the app is downloaded, go to the right side of the Kindle for PC app and enter the e-book title or author in the search window. If this search is not successful, go to Kindle, then Kindle Books and enter the title and author.

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Copyright 2008 Dr.Judith Bardwick