In the words of my friend and fellow theologian, Chris Morton, I have begun to "own my own crap"!

Some people do not think Xanga is as "serious" a blogging site as other blogging arenas.  I say, it depends on your readership.  Where you post does not matter as much as who is reading. 

And if they know where you are, they will come and read.  If you build it ...

Fortune favors the prepared mind.  - Louis Pasteur, chemist

In the new world economy, you are not competing against other Americans for your job. You're competing against the world for your job. I highly recommend everyone read The World is Flat to begin to understand how current technological and socio-political forces, in the span of my lifetime, have dramatically changed the world in which we live. 

The changes have been staggering ... but there is still more to come.  It has effected everything from government to economics to religion and nothing since the invention of writing (3300 BC) and the printing press (1436 AD) has so rocked our world. What does this mean? It means you ain't seen nothing yet, Johannes Gutenberg.

This new world is going to require you to work harder and longer in competing against people from India and China who can do your job for cheaper.  It's going to require you to become a specialized collaborator as you find a niche only you can do. 

The gap between the "have's" and "have not's" will widen as people who do not wish to work as hard or who have been left behind are seperated from those who embraced the new world and came up with a game plan for their continued education and skill development. 

Those of you who are educators, medicine, or in law enforcement are some what safe based on the fact that we cannot outsource the physical enforcement of our laws or necessary life saving treatments. You may or may not make a whole lot but at least you'll have a job.

Accounting, computer science, engineering, anything in any field of study that can be digitized will be.  People in India prepare hundreds of thousands of American tax returns each year all ready.  Programmers from China can  program for a fraction of the cost.  Acxiom just revealed that it is outsourcing its "push button" jobs to India.  Just one of many companies.

Did I mention that India's emerging middle class is 300 million strong? That is currently larger than the entire US population, which according to the US census bureau last Tuesday at 7:46am EST, we rolled over to our 300 millionth person (actually, the 300 millionth person probably crossed from south of the border a few months ago...).

There are many challenges and opprotunities in the new world economy. My advice is to keep your head, watch the trends, and instead of fighting it, figure out how to flow with it.  The wheels have been set in motion and no government or law can stop this, even the United States of America.  In the end, trying to do so will only hurt us, so don't whine. No fear, embrace it.

Dalchini Palau, anyone?