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International
investment opportunities are best when we spot important
trends. If we watch closely we can see the future developing
in the
here and now. One trend we’ve looked at in these
messages is the
emergence of a demographic subgroup called Cultural Creatives (CCs). This
subgroup is growing as a buying and political force and represents a
quarter of consumers in the US….or more.
One hallmark of this subgroup is its desire for authenticity. They
hate phony marketing, spin. The Cultural Creatives website says that
they appreciate good stories but want views of the whole process. They
want to know where a product came from, how it was made, who made it,
and what will happen to it when they are done with it. They hate to
read mail or articles that come in bullet points and race to the
bottom line. They also want symbols that go deep, and, more than most
Americans, they actively dislike advertising and children's TV.
These desires have brought the criterion of "authenticity" to the
marketplace. They lead the consumer rebellion against things that are "plastic",
fake, imitation, poorly made, throwaway, cliche or high fashion. CCs are very
well informed buyers who avoid companies that use
tricks to sell their wares. CCs want the real deal.
These CC desires create a clash for truth in a time of cynicism. The
world’s big problem is a lack of leadership. The leadership void is
viewed by many as inevitable and realistic. Such a negative image can
create a failure to invest in the children, future and a better
world. CCs demand a positive image of the future to be invented.
So I am not surprised to read a CNN article that said:
“ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- A panel of linguists has decided the
word that best reflects 2005 is "truthiness," defined as the quality
of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the
facts.
The American Dialect Society chose the word Friday.
Michael Adams, a professor at North Carolina State University who
specializes in lexicology, said "truthiness" means "truthy, not
facty.
"The national argument right now is, one, who's got the truth and,
two, who's got the facts," he said. "Until we can manage to get the
two of them back together again, we're not going make much progress."
There are several trends developing that we can glimpse from this
reflection.
One of these trends is this growing desire for truth. Last week’s
message about happy endings mentioned the public’s interest in magic,
secrets and codes. Society as a whole feels fooled and is looking for
truth. However the difference between truthy and facty leads to an
even bigger movement that goes way beyond daily leadership and gets to
the very core of existence.
This root shifting trend is the growing acceptance of quantum ideas
and the way we process truth and facts.
When Merri and I first moved to Ecuador we discovered a special group
of leaders in the Andes called Abuelos (old ones). They told us that
the people of the equator (they call themselves condors) live too much
in their hearts and did not think enough. The people of the north whom
they call eagles (that’s us westerners) live too much in their minds
and do not feel enough.
Then they told us a 500 year prophesy (handed down generation after
generation) that a time would come when the Eagle of the North would
fly together with the Condor of the South. When this happened a great
new equilibrium would be given to mankind.
This prophesy was a message that mankind needs to learn how to balance the heart
and the mind to better unite the truth with the facts.
Now we see truthiness, the word of the year showing that the eagle is
beginning to acknowledge truthiness and (as noted above) “the
importance of balancing truth with facts”.
What does knowing this trend offer us right now?
We can see that businesses need to offer more transparency. Those that
do will profit more. We can enhance our chances for profit and success
if we seek such businesses and invest in them.
Until next message, I hope that you find truthiness and
factiness united everywhere!
Gary
P.S. Learn how to cash in on investment trends at our next
International Business Made EZ course in NC. Join Thomas Fischer of Jyske
Bank and me to review which markets and currencies may be strong in
the year ahead.
Learn more Cultural Creative DETAILS
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