The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of SVB Financial Group, or Silicon Valley Bank, or any of its affiliates.
I like to drive fast. I admit it.
Rarely do I drive less than the speed limit plus 10. This has been my rule since taking a state reeducation course on driving (after one of my speeding tickets, of course) where the instructor stressed time and again that no police office will give you a ticket as long as you are within 10 mph. This information, so far, has proven true for me.
But I don't drive recklessly. Too many times my wife has seen me "go around the block" as I find myself in the wrong lane as opposed to attempting some wild cross-lane maneuver. Life is too long to consider an extra 5 minutes on the road to be of equal value as a 5 percent chance of collision. It just isn't worth it.
So, this morning doing 75 or so across the San Mateo Bridge when an eighteen wheeler's blinker started flashing in my direction, I eased on the brakes and flashed my headlights, providing the national signal for "come on over, all is clear." Many in that spot would have attempted zooming by.
But that's the problem with where society is going today. It goes beyond immediate "satisfaction" and into immediate "deserved satisfaction." It's not enough to get what we want. We now feel it is owed to us.
And so complicates the challenge faced by our elected leaders today who are asked to provide many handouts and goodies without knowing (or caring) who will pay. The nameless, faceless "children" - who are really seen as our grandchildren's grandchildren - are expected to pay for our debts today. And our response?
"Let them. We owe it to ourselves."
Instead, let's go around the block and maybe do with less for a decade or two. What we lose in "goodies" we will make up in posterity.
Perhaps a little austerity isn't so bad after all.
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