The other day, I went into a Wal-Mart store to make a purchase. Why do I go there? Because it’s cheap!

“I wonder how you ever overcome this model,” I thought. “This and franchising have to be the end-all of innovation! The crescendo! It will overcome eeeeverrrryyything (insert wicked laugh)!”

As I looked around, I was observing the loads and loads of useless crap lining the isle ways. You know… the six colors of dumb stuffed animals, trinkets, and things… the kind of stuff no one would ever buy if they didn’t see it.

While observing, the thought came to me, “I wonder how much of this junk is never purchased?” Then I thought what a massive amount of waste must occur. Then the shift: THIS CAN’T BE SUSTAINABLE!

As I pondered this thought, thinking about human behavior and inserting the innovations and public discussions that have transpired over the last few years, I started to see a picture of a very different world—a world that is not overrun with franchises and big box stores. It is the next revolution: One-demand production.

Could you imagine the retail footprint disappearing? It’s a hard picture to imagine when a big part of our life is fighting traffic to go to the store.

Picture this: the new consumer purchasing model begins online. You order what you need and want (no more cheap garbage and no more waste). State of the art facilities, located all over the world, each specializing in specific products produces your items. Then a revolutionary distribution model rapidly distributes every order over night.

Here are some things that have begun to happen that illustrate this change: 1) The saturation of Internet search and ordering; 2) the advent of digital delivery and on-demand book printing; and 3) the awareness, limited supply of, and frustration with fossil fuels and its effect on environment and health. I even saw a company that can deliver on-demand vitamins based on your specific needs (mass customization).

What would we do with all that new free time? If our focus was shifted off of consumption, what would we do? Would we focus on Greater Causes and Higher Purposes? I don’t know. Maybe it would cause more wars with all the bored people standing around! In either case, the change will come. Maybe not in my lifetime, but it will come.

With a U.S. financial crisis looming, what could be done to bring it back into control and allow for more long-term economic security. Here are 3 bold ideas to bring it into control:

1. Reduce transportation costs – With gas prices there are a couple of things going on that you may, or may not think about: 1) high-prices on consumable staple of American society means that wealth is being centralized. Oil, of course, is a massive industry in which whole countries depend upon for economic growth. When wealth is centralized whether it is governments or corporations, power is centralized along with it. In our case, government greatly profits by law along with the corporation in the form of fuel taxes. 2) Our country is based on median income of around $40K per year (probably around 80 percent of our citizens), which means that oil dependency has begun to monopolize the average monthly household budget. This slows spending and pulls money away from other industries leading to general economic breakdown.

Getting fuel costs to under a $1 per gallon would loosen household budgets and reduce the cost of goods as a whole. The way to do this would be to flood the supply chain by aggressively introducing alternative propellants for cars and radically increasing domestic supply and exploring feasible ways to increase the efficiency of vehicles. We would then open our markets for foreign competition.

1. Eliminate the production of Bio-Fuels – Thou Bio-Fuel sounds like a really cool alternative, it has too many pitfalls. First, it reduces the supply of food to the food chain and again begins to encroach on the household budget. Second, it actually takes more crude oil to product bio-fuel than it displaces. It’s a loosing proposition; we should introduce a perpetual hydrogen motor that requires very little to no refueling. That would shock the world economy!

1. Radically reduce the Capital Gains Tax – This strategy would allow off shore holdings (some say several trillion dollars worth) to come back into the country.

The new availability of cash, with low cost of living may introduce an inflationary state, which could be curved by increasing the interest rate and stiffening the standards of lending. This may help to bring housing costs in line with 1990 levels in relation to household incomes.

In light of the current economic conditions that are seeing the implosion of the housing bubble, the self-inflicted lending crisis, and high gas prices let’s take a look at real root cause.

LACK OF CHARACTER

I’m not a doomsayer, but to say the current situation is bad is an understatement. Can we rebound? Yes. And we will… we always have.

Ponder this thought: “Capitalism without character, positions people to be positively motivated to do negative things.”

The current economic condition stems from a series of choices motivated by personal gain, or greed. Greed influences policy and business decisions. It has become not about what is right—only about being right.

The outcome from making decisions on the foundation of being right is wrong and bad for the whole. Policy makers and business owners must make decisions because it’s the right thing to do. We must expect to operate from a foundation of character.

A foundation of character must be established individually and used as a standard gauge to make judgments that lead to the correct outcomes for the whole when we make choices for our country and for our business.

I’ve identified 5 foundational attributes that identify a person as having character. I will discuss each of these foundational characteristics in individual articles in the coming weeks.

When it gets right down to it, to survive turbulent economic times caused by the greed of others, value is the key component to success. If you learn how to create real value, you can easily maneuver through difficult financial times. As you combine the ability to create value with a foundation of personal character, you have the ability to secure a real promising future for all.

(To learn more about how to create value, CLICK HERE to pick up my audio program titled Perpetual Wealth).

Technologies and the proliferation of technology have given the “little guy” a powerful voice on the global stage.

The Internet, computers, mobile devices, and easy-to-use publishing software has made anyone, anywhere part of a multi-fragmented, uncontrollable public relations weapon of mass destruction.

Public Image, referred to as brand image, is very fragile, expensive and difficult to create today. In the old days, it was easy. For a relatively large investment in advertising, you could control your message to the masses.

Now days, consumer cheap to free blogs, YouTube, email, and cell phone cameras have created Voice chaos in the consumer minds. People generally follow the opinion of their friends and respected figureheads. I call these Voices.

To survive today, you need to become a Voice. Customs need access to you and feel that they can personally interact with the decision makers in your company.

I think this can be done by empowering the person on the phone. You may want to have the leadership of your company writing online through Blogs, YouTube, and direct access emails. You need to build a relationship with your customers.