Today, Tuesday 20th January 2009 has, I suppose, to belong to our cousins across the ocean in the ‘land of free and the home of the brave’ as the line in their national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner refers, but obviously the shorten version (just The Land of The Free) can be confused with the national anthem of Belize… and Belize, like its bigger sister in the north was once subjected to British interest.

Although I don’t think there is going to be that much interest in Britain toady. We have just seen our largest bank… RBS… post the largest corporate loss in British history and our government bail it out again… which I think now puts our national debt up to around £2,000bn whereas 6 months ago it was a mere £500bn… not bad going. The problem is the loans need financing and we have no savings… unlike our German friends who also have large debts, but they are backed up by savings… we don’t have any… our government likes spending and doesn’t believe it is ever going to rain… so no point saving. Therefore we have to rely on other nations buying our debt, but is Britain a good investment?… apparently not and that’s where our problems are really going to bite.

However, our American cousins also have debts and not that much saved, but the world likes the dollar and people will buy their debt… our bankers did… and that’s why we are in trouble… sub prime and all that. Just as a little aside, it is so tempting to sometimes substitute the letter B for a W when referencing a certain profession… anyhow, rather meekly I digress. However, those Bankers can certainly not be considered as ‘meek’ as they once looked for global domination through greed and arrogance and look where it got them… or more importantly look where it has got us… it seems Matthew (5:5) may be right now there’s not much left… maybe the meek shall inherit the earth… those greedy bankers certainly wont… anyhow more digression… because as I said earlier, today belongs to the United States of America.

Today as we all know will be known for the inauguration of America’s first African-American president of a nation once torn apart by slavery and racially segregation… and to say that the nation has high expectations of their 44th president would be an understatement. There are many people who see him as a symbol of the changing face of America… just as I believe two former presidents were also seen as the new face of America in their time and the two I’m thinking of had some pearls of wisdom that we would do well to heed in our own troubled times.

“You have nothing to fear but fear itself” so said FDR in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 at the height of the depression. The second president to mention is JFK and in his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 he said the famous … “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.

So, if we are to get ourselves out of this current mess then let us heed the words of FDR and not be afraid… we got ourselves into this mess and we can get ourselves out… sure the bankers have been greedy, sure the governments have failed to regulate, sure the governments have not saved for a rainy day and sure as individuals we have borrowed too much and haven’t saved for a rainy day either… so we are in this mess together and we need to get ourselves out together… and we can’t be stifled by fear. This leads me to heed the words of JFK… what can we do for our country?

If there is one profession out there that can make a difference, can make a real difference, then that has to be the sales profession. The thing that is going to get us out of this recession is selling. The governments have to keep the banking system going and kick the greedy bankers into touch by getting them to lend again. We must not be afraid to borrow… we need to borrow and spend to stimulate the economy… however, this time we need to be sensible. So rather than selling we need the sales professionals in the B2B space to step up and help their customers to buy… help their customers to be more efficient and thereby help them ride the recession and then in turn the B2Bs will sell to the B2Cs so that they can stimulate the consumer market. Consumers must not be afraid and when they ask what they can do for the nation… the answer has to be… to buy.

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