Sometimes we have to step back and ask ourselves what is really valuable and what sort of investment will really pay off in the future. Certainly, the stock market is a necessity for the financial integrity of the future, but who will make sure the companies that the market is backing will continue to run in a successful way? It will be the children. It’s so cliche, but it’s true. They are the the future, and how they handle it will definitely affect the investments we make today. It makes sense to make sure that the kids are taken care of. That pitch is for the person who can only measure success in money. Money in the market is more financially rewarding than money in human services, but if we don’t finance child advocacy groups today, we won’t have a market to invest in 30 years from now.
As budget cuts make the rounds this legislative session, state and federal money will be pulled away from human services and child advocacy groups. Education is on the chopping block, too. In many ways, this is a cultural response from a country that can only see to the next financial quarter. Long term growth is a foreign concept. However, kids are the most valuable commodity in any society, and private citizens have to make that investment if the stock is going to pay off at all. It’s a tough way for people who are greedy for money to think about investments, but it’s the smartest, most sure footed way to make our markets and our society survive.
Private citizens will have to finance schools, mentoring programs, child abuse advocates, and medical and nutritional programs in order to grow a large, successful human commodity for the future.