Mike,

Thanks so very much for amplifying the thoughts on my post.  Excellent points, all of them.

To the your point of "it's up to you" and personal responsibility, I discovered this post by GL Hoffman (on Twitter @GLHoffman) called "He Ain't Comin', Folks." I'm still reflecting upon and chuckling at his assessment of the human tendency to wait for our ships to come in.  See it here: http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2010/01/18/he-aint-coming-folks/

Thanks to my friend @LisaRosendahl whose tweet led me there.