Thursday, October 21, 2010

Optimist or Pessimist? Neither, I Am a Realist

I'm sure you have heard about the recent financial mess the whole world is in. They all probably thought they were right, too. "Err in haste, repent at leisure."

End of the Rainbow
I am something else. It's called a realist. While I look for good, I am certainly not blind to evil, or in denial about the reality of things not always working out the way I might like them to.

Just because you wish things to be wonderful, doesn't make it so. Not every cloud has a silver lining, nor does a rainbow have a pot of gold at it's end. It just ends. Live, laugh, love, just don't be either gullible or a fool. Use the brain that god gave you, and think with your head instead of always following your heart.

I think it is wise to investigate before investing my money or time and energy into something or someone because others may well either overlook a serious flaw, or be in denial when it comes to motivation of others.

Just because the medical community and drug manufacturers say that some new "miracle drug" is the answer to everyone's specific health problem, doesn't make it true. It has been widely told in the news that the drug manufacturers many times hide negative results of their in-house studies, opting to only use what they say is conclusive proof that the medicine does more good than it really does. Many, if not most doctors are only used by the drug companies to dole out their newest and so-called best medicines, and really haven't a clue how dangerous it may well tun out to be in the future.

Look what happened to investors in recent years, who believed their investment counsellors, and put their hard-earned money into bonds, and other instruments that had been manipulated, with home buyers mortgages being chopped, split, and sold sometimes into thousands of places, leaving investors afloat on the sea of bad investments, and at the mercy of ruthless dishonest people, and firms.


I have a friend who has lost almost everything he had invested. He has a lot of money in Lehmann Brothers, as well as GM, and a few other places that had been misrepresented as to their integrity, and their credit rating. Now, he's in his mid seventies, and is in a serous mess. He isn't even sure how he will make it to pay for his car or homeowner's insurance now.

Even investors in fine art have been defrauded, being sold reproductions instead of the original piece they thought they were buying. How much more-so with something else being sold a bill of goods, that in fact isn't what it is represented to be?

"Caveat emptor" (Let the buyer beware). Never accept everything at face value, or follow along only because, "everyone else is doing it." While they may be doing it, doesn't make them right, or even wise. They may have been mislead. Investigate before you invest, so to speak. Use your reason and common sense. It's pretty amazing how many people don't do that, even in today's skeptical society.





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