Seth, the author of (among other books) Meatball Sundae, is something of an acquired taste. Sometimes what he writes is so esoteric, so philosophical, that you have difficulty getting your arms around his point. Other times he provides very workable formats, as he did earlier this week with his "8 Questions and a Why" blog entry. Still other times he hits you right between the eyes with some very insightful analysis.

This "Think Like Me, Agree with Me" entry I’m going to link you to is a hit you right between the eyes for followers of politics. Consider this excerpt.

"Marketers of successful ideas rarely market the facts. Instead, they market stories that match the worldview of the people being marketed to."

So, instead of asking ourselves what the actual problem is and how the problem can we solved, we busy ourselves with demonizing the other side. Which is why I say to you (again) we need a viable third party represented in the Congress. So long as you only have two parties represented (not counting Sanders and Lieberman in the Senate) the discussion will be about demonizing the other side. Having a third party would force the debate to be about definition of the problem and solutions to the problem.

Check Seth out here. sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/think-like-me-agree-with-me.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

What are the differences between personal finance and governmental finance? Reading an article about personal finance leads me to explore this question. The article was entitled "10 Steps to Financial Recovery" and published in the winter edition of USAA magazine.*

Reading the article reminds me once again of the basics taught by people like Dave Ramsey and Suzie Orman.

When you find yourself in so much debt it threatens to overwhelm you, then cut spending and seek ways to increase your revenue. Make paying off that debt your top priority, beginning with the most expensive debt you have.

The woman who was the example for the article did some very extraordinary things. She moved in with a friend to cut housing costs. Think what it must mean to consolidate or sell possessions in order to make that happen. She found less expensive food to eat. She took a second minimum wage night job and directed the extra $6000 to debt reduction. Of course, the ability of a household, compared to government, to make such decisions is much easier, given the number of decision makers involved.

Contrast the woman’s situation with that of our nation and our government. The woman was already in significant debt when . . .

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