Instant Gratification

Here's a great rant on the shortsightedness of the average investor and the poison that is the instant gratification mindset.

Danger! 'Mad Money' and the 'Power of Now'
Need for 'instant gratification' is undermining American investors

"It's instant gratification in both cases. And yes, I'm talking about Jim Cramer and Eckhart Tolle. Total opposites, yin and yang. But they do have something in common."

"Both are helping people ignore, dismiss and deny reality."

"Step back: If you look past the myopic narcissism inherent in what those two preach you'll see America's economy and stock markets at a crucial turning point. Reminders of 2000 are exploding all around us, examples like:"

"Yale economist Robert Shiller, author of "Irrational Exuberance," says America's housing bubble is the worst since 1890, a totally psychological bubble unlike the post-WWII boom which was based on strong fundamentals and demographics."

"And in his latest Forbes column, economist Gary Shilling says the coming "house-price collapse will be far worse than the 2000-02 bear market on Wall Street and will bring a serious global recession.""

"And yet we're psychologically oblivious of the coming storm. From Washington and Wall Street to America's 95 million investors, our collective psyche seems clueless and unprepared for the coming bear."

"Unfortunately, this focus on the "NOW" is an insidious long-term trend undermining America, our economy, our markets and our future as a world power."

"This trend is headed downhill. During the same 25-year period America has fallen from a nation saving 10% annually to taking on massive foreign debt to feed our obsessive short-term consumption and make up for our zero-saving rate. In short, America's obsessive need for instant gratification is weakening our ability to think long-term, beyond instant pleasures. And that's weakening America by weakening individual Americans."