In the aftermath of September 11, it has been made clear to us that our foreign policy can no longer afford to narrowly focus on short-term benefits. For our nation's long-term security, we must be active in promoting American values abroad through our foreign policy.
I don't think you expand entitlements when so many people are dependent on government and when the money the federal government is offering is going to be taken away from you after just a couple of years.
If you're looking for immediate rewards, you're only looking for the money.
Early investment in the lives of disadvantaged children will help reduce inequality, in both the short and the long run.
An international race in the relevant technologies is getting under way at this point, not necessarily with an understanding of where that race leads in the long run, but strongly motivated by the short-term payoffs.
But because human being tend to focus on short-term benefits and our own immediate needs, such tragedies of the commons occur frequently .
The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.
I have long been an advocate of starting an IoT journey with a small, low-risk project that can produce immediate benefits. But don't confuse small with non-strategic. Align each project, no matter how small, into your larger strategic vision.
Eat better or work out more, and you'll see the benefits weeks, months or years down the road. Sleep more, and you'll see the benefits tomorrow.
If you take a candy bar in the short run, it gives you a burst of energy, but after a while, it just makes you fat.
You have to live with your decisions every day. Why live with one you're uneasy with? 'Because it'll make you money' is a common reply. But I don't think that's good enough.
I am of the opinion, and have been for a long time, that any kind of big technological move is almost always positive in the short term but inevitably somewhat negative in the long term. And I think there are many examples of this in every possible context.
Don't sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.
Ironically, socialist countries do tend to have immediate short term decreases in poverty before collapsing.
I believe the moral losses of expediency always far outweigh the temporary gains.
Beauty, unlike the rest of the gifts handed out at birth, does not require dedication, patience and hard work to pay off. But it's also the only gift that does not keep on giving.
Complexity and innovation are not always good things.
But obviously, we can't afford to make some bad long-term decisions with regard to basic commitments our country has - trade those away for some short-term assistance that may or may not be there a month from now.
