a reset?

Quotes become truth at times when people seek truth to explain the unexplainable. In January, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric said, in reference to the recession/depression that “this is not a cycle; it’s a reset”. Great idea to ponder. Actually not such a great idea as in good but more of an ominous possibility to consider. Plenty of Op-Ed articles quoting Jeff. Everyone wanted change during the election but it seems we received more than we bargained for or voted for, whichever way you want to end that thought with a preposition. Anyway, Tom Brokaw wrote a column in the New York Times on Monday, using Jeff’s quote as an introductory phrase where he argues for consolidating local government. I’ll leave the link below so you can read it for yourself. Recently, I wrote about “the end of big”, where I see a trend of things getting smaller. Brokaw may propose that local governments consolidate and economize, collaborate and therefore save money, but the trend just doesn’t seem there. In other words, the idea seems logical, but ideas are not always trends. Jeff Immelt’s quote is very abrupt and thought-provoking, but comparing society to a CPU, or an appliance where we can just hit a reset button seems a bit of a metaphorical stretch to me. Jeff is 53 this year. He’s been GE’s CEO since 2001. The reset for his company probably occurred on 9/11/2001. Since that time, aircraft engines have become obsolete in the fight against ideas. I can understand why he would feel that this is more than just a cycle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/opinion/20brokaw.html