This year looks to be a tough one, budgets are mostly in the red so we must proceed carefully. Again we are blessed compared to most of our neighbors and most of the world, as families struggle to provide necessities. I caught this piece this morning when I opened up this computer. I can verify this is true as we work closely with many families and are continuously asked our advice on making important decisions.
Our children are easiest to answer as they have worked very hard to put away a year of two or more of salary in case of emergency. The average American family does not have this. The more I put God first, the more I see this. My friend Eddie sent me the series he is working with in his church, family and community, I am second. If you explore that website, you will find many good testimonies about finding peace and joy by not putting yourself first.
We live in a me, me, me society today and it's only natural to put me first. We are bombarded with this message every day. That was never healthy for me, though I fell into it as much as any human being. Most of my readers act like they put others first so I am probably preaching to the choir. If I am and my message can help someone in need, please pass this on to them. When I hit a good topic, my readership goes from 100 to 1000 on just one blog. That happened again this week.
I don't claim to be any better than anyone else but I am trying to be my best. I realize I was created for a purpose and if I don't strive for that, I am not doing that part. CVA said this about one of my posts on crop talk this week, "once a teacher, always a teacher." That made me smile.
I hope you can all smile today. I told a friend yesterday about getting out of the negative and into the positive as we shared our problems. I said I learned to go to sleep some nights counting my blessings by assigning each letter of the alphabet to a gratitude I have. A is for Arianna, B is for Bryn, C is for Corbin, Clair and Caoilin, E is for Emily Elizabeth, Mark Edward, Eric C and Erik B. This list goes on and on.
I hope we can help each other to more than just "get by" this year, one day at a time.
Ed Winkle
Thus spoke Z for Zarathoustra... ;)
ReplyDeleteContrast the $191,000 debt per U.S. citizen with the $163,000 assets per citizen of the Kingdom of Norway national pension fund, not counting all their other income (4th highest in the world,) savings, and other assets, and you can see why I think centralized government can work. Although I doubt it can ever work in the U.S. the way the lobbies and 2-party system are controlling everything and blocking any progress for "me, me, me" reasons. ;(
U.S. Debt Clock: http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Norwegian pension fund: http://news.yahoo.com/norwegians-become-crown-millionaires-oil-saving-landmark-172511178--sector.html (from a link on NAT yesterday)
So Chimel, do you think capitalism has failed in America? You think the liberal move to socialism in our country will be an improvement?
ReplyDeleteEd Winkle
Both capitalism and socialism could be success stories, they could easily both be failures too.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the U.S., I blame the lack of regulations that allows most corporations to outsource production offshore (less jobs, less internal competencies and knowledge), to pollute freely, to control the government (lobbies should be illegal, it is nothing but institutionalized corruption), to widen the gap between the richest and the poorest to levels never seen since the 1940s Great Depression, to create a great healthcare system at the cost of indecent prices that few can afford, or to escape taxation (Apple and other American corporations with headquarters or subsidiaries in fiscal paradises such as Ireland come to mind.)
I know people say there is already too much regulations, and I'd gladly agree that some federal agencies seem to be abusing them, or that the Constitution never mentioned anything about social justice or "redistribution of wealth", but it seems to me that it is a fair price to pay for being part of society.
The world is also not the same as 250 years ago, the country is not the same, the population, the expectations, the technology, etc. It seems very difficult to stick to rules decreed in another age. I am sure a parallel can be made with the Bible too, but I won't go there! ;)
I don't know much about socialism, but I tend to agree with the basic principle that society must protect its members to build a healthy and wealthy country. No doubt there could be abuse and bad management, you need good economists regardless if it's a capitalist of socialist country. And personally, I think it is probably a balance between the two, some social benefits and public enterprises, without discouraging entrepreneurship and a strong economy. Purely capitalist or socialist/communist countries seem to have all failed.
Talk of a coincidence: http://www.ted.com/talks/harish_manwani_profit_s_not_always_the_point.html
ReplyDelete