Those mean ol' rich folks..... they are greedy, they are powerful, they are spoiled, they are mean, they are evil, THEY are the one's who create most of the jobs.
For the last few years, when I read the newspaper or .com news rich people are considered to be more evil then Lucifer himself. I will admit when I hear a RICH MAN say, "I must get away from it all," and go on a vacation two months after his last vacation.... It does make me sick. Afterall, me and my wife are lucky if we can afford spend a night alone in a hotel in Opelika...lol! Now we are going on a cruise next month. It is being paid for by a rich family because I paid for the trip with my sweat during the past year.
These words were inspired by my Dad when I was a teenager. I was fussing and complaining about rich people and how spoiled they were. My Daddy quickly gave me a lesson in economics. He used a local asphalt paving owner as an example. To paraphrase him...."Mr. Smith is a rich man. Rich folks are the one's who create jobs. How many poor people do you know who has provided and created a man a job? Mr. Smith is rich and has a nice home, but he also has created about 50-75 jobs for poeple who would not otherwise have a job. Everytime his employees buys a home, buys a car, goes out to eat, buys clothes.... they are creating jobs as well with the money Mr. Smith gives them for their work. So, don't complain about rich people."
Which brings me to me and my family. I work for a rich man and his family. Because of the rich family I work for, I have a job as well as about 1,900 other people. This one rich family employs about 1,900 people who like me buys vehicles, occasionally eat out at a local restaurant, buys gasoline a local gas stations, and basically spends the money we earn from our jobs at local businesses.... which in turn helps fuel the local economy through spending and taxation.
But those mean ol' rich folks we must tax them more, we must punish them, we must regulate them, we be fair to all. So the rich family I work for are taxed more and regulated more, driving their expenses up..... so they start cutting and trimming..... My job is cut. My job is cut, because the rich folks I work for is punished for being successful. THE RESULT: I will lose my home, I can not afford to buy clothes, I stop eating at local restaurants and shopping altogether. That results in loss revenue for local establishments and local governments.
But no worry for me..... for now my family will be taken of by the federal govt.... now instead of contributing, me and my family will be taken of by good ol'Uncle Sam.
So let's go ahead and punish those mean ol' rich folks, quit work and let Uncle Sam take care of us from now on.
And that's the way I see it......
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Do You Know A Jake Spoon?
One of my favorite movies of all time is Lonesome Dove. My favorite character is Capt. Augustus "Gus" McCrae. I love Gus's sense of humor, his love of life, and his principle's. I also love Gus's qoutes...some I can't repeat.....
Gus is very fond of women, workless days, and "the pulling of the cork." Throughout the whole movie though, Gus has a standard of respect for others, the ladies, and the law.
One of the most interesting characters is Jake Spoon. Jake Spoon is also very lazy and loves women, gambling, and whiskey as does Gus. The difference between the two is Jake cares only for himself.... unlike Gus. Jake always takes the "easy way out".... which is most always the easy way out the door.
In a saloon playing cards with a bunch of outlaws, Jake follows the crowd or takes the easy out by riding along with the group. The gang of outlaws come across some farmers. They kill the "sodbusters", rob them, then hangs them, and then burns their hanging bodies. Jake, now Jake does not harm anyone, but he does nothing to stop the atrocities and continues riding with the outlaws in return for safe passage through the territory.
Gus and his business partner, Capt. Woodrow Call eventually catches up with the gang, along with Jake Spoon.... their friend and former fellow lawman. Gus and Woodrow hangs the murdering gang along with their friend Jake Spoon. Now Jake did not kill anyone, Jake did not rob anyone... Jake was no criminal.
Jake was guilty of one thing.... he was a follower and not a leader. Jake went along with the crowd. He offered no backbone, no objection to the killings, and no help for the victims. He simply turned his head and allowed for the evil to take place in exchange for his own selfish goals. Jake was hanged not because he committed the crimes, but because he refused to do the right thing and stop the crimes. His refusal to help the weak for fear of getting killed, still led to his death, and to the death of his own self-respect.
How many Jake Spoons do you know? Are you a Jake Spoon? Take time to think.... who is more to blame for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler or those that turned their heads in exchange for temporary security and comfort?....in the ends they all suffered the same fate.
And that's the way I see it.......
Gus is very fond of women, workless days, and "the pulling of the cork." Throughout the whole movie though, Gus has a standard of respect for others, the ladies, and the law.
One of the most interesting characters is Jake Spoon. Jake Spoon is also very lazy and loves women, gambling, and whiskey as does Gus. The difference between the two is Jake cares only for himself.... unlike Gus. Jake always takes the "easy way out".... which is most always the easy way out the door.
In a saloon playing cards with a bunch of outlaws, Jake follows the crowd or takes the easy out by riding along with the group. The gang of outlaws come across some farmers. They kill the "sodbusters", rob them, then hangs them, and then burns their hanging bodies. Jake, now Jake does not harm anyone, but he does nothing to stop the atrocities and continues riding with the outlaws in return for safe passage through the territory.
Gus and his business partner, Capt. Woodrow Call eventually catches up with the gang, along with Jake Spoon.... their friend and former fellow lawman. Gus and Woodrow hangs the murdering gang along with their friend Jake Spoon. Now Jake did not kill anyone, Jake did not rob anyone... Jake was no criminal.
Jake was guilty of one thing.... he was a follower and not a leader. Jake went along with the crowd. He offered no backbone, no objection to the killings, and no help for the victims. He simply turned his head and allowed for the evil to take place in exchange for his own selfish goals. Jake was hanged not because he committed the crimes, but because he refused to do the right thing and stop the crimes. His refusal to help the weak for fear of getting killed, still led to his death, and to the death of his own self-respect.
How many Jake Spoons do you know? Are you a Jake Spoon? Take time to think.... who is more to blame for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler or those that turned their heads in exchange for temporary security and comfort?....in the ends they all suffered the same fate.
And that's the way I see it.......
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Praying For Wisdom and Humility?.... Be Ready For a Journey!!!
As a young man growing up in church I was very judgemental. Everything was black and white, good and bad, sinners and saints... no grey area. Every night as I said my prayers, I always asked God for two things. Two things which would affect my life and thinking for years to come.... two things that God gave me just as I asked for........
1) Wisdom 2) Humility.... When I prayed those prayers I didn't really understand what I was asking for and what those two words REALLY meant. When you are 18 years of age, you know everything or at least I did. I was going to change the world whether the world wanted change or not. I had a plan. By 21 years of age those plans were in millions of tiny pieces....
All of a sudden my Dad went blind, Mama was dying of cancer, and in Nov. of 1995, I was knocking on Heaven's Door.... almost dead with a blood pressure of 60/0!!!! One gland in my body stopped producing a necessary ingrediate of life. God saved my life, but my Mama...well He took hers. With no money, medical bills to pay, and a Dad to help see after, college was a distant memory. I made many bad decisions in years to come, but I made them and I learned from them. They made me into who I am and they prepared the way for me to meet my future wife, Rhiannon, and the creation of pretty little Boo.
Humility.... well, I was beginning to understand the meaning. Over the years I have grasped the meaning of humility and wisdom. They are both great and necessary assets a person can have to become not only successful in life, but a good person in general.
As a young man, I looked down on a person with a can of beer, cigarette in their mouth, or a person ravaged by addictions..... or anything I deemed as "sinful." Over time, God showed me humility and wisdom.... the true meanings of those two words. The world is NOT solely black and white. There is alot of grey areas.
Atticus Finch, a fictional Southern lawyer in "To Kill A Mockingbird," talked about judging a man before walking in his shoes. Now, when I see an alcoholic, or a man that can not pay his bills, or man locked up in jail.... I am much more careful to paint the scarlet word, "SINNER" upon his shirt. Because, I do not know him, I do not know his story, and I have not walked in his shoes. I do think it is in our nature for all of us to judge, as I have been guilty of, but we must all do our best to restrain our thoughts and words, and read the entire book before just looking at the cover.
I have a story, you have a story, the whino in the alley has a story, the man sitting in prison has a story, the homeless man has a story. Just because someone is not living in a two-story brick home, with a three car garage does not mean God does not love you over them. Jesus died for their lives as well as the rest of us. May God have mercy upon all of us who finds a person guilty before learning all the facts. Money, wealth, material items can disappear in the fraction of a second. Being PROSPEROUS does not mean you are a SAINT and being POOR does not mean you are a SINNER.
I encourage everyone to pray for wisdom and humility in 2011. Praying for those two will greatly improve your life and your character, but also be ready for the Potter to drastically reshape and redesign your image, your life, and your future.
And that's the way I see it.....
1) Wisdom 2) Humility.... When I prayed those prayers I didn't really understand what I was asking for and what those two words REALLY meant. When you are 18 years of age, you know everything or at least I did. I was going to change the world whether the world wanted change or not. I had a plan. By 21 years of age those plans were in millions of tiny pieces....
All of a sudden my Dad went blind, Mama was dying of cancer, and in Nov. of 1995, I was knocking on Heaven's Door.... almost dead with a blood pressure of 60/0!!!! One gland in my body stopped producing a necessary ingrediate of life. God saved my life, but my Mama...well He took hers. With no money, medical bills to pay, and a Dad to help see after, college was a distant memory. I made many bad decisions in years to come, but I made them and I learned from them. They made me into who I am and they prepared the way for me to meet my future wife, Rhiannon, and the creation of pretty little Boo.
Humility.... well, I was beginning to understand the meaning. Over the years I have grasped the meaning of humility and wisdom. They are both great and necessary assets a person can have to become not only successful in life, but a good person in general.
As a young man, I looked down on a person with a can of beer, cigarette in their mouth, or a person ravaged by addictions..... or anything I deemed as "sinful." Over time, God showed me humility and wisdom.... the true meanings of those two words. The world is NOT solely black and white. There is alot of grey areas.
Atticus Finch, a fictional Southern lawyer in "To Kill A Mockingbird," talked about judging a man before walking in his shoes. Now, when I see an alcoholic, or a man that can not pay his bills, or man locked up in jail.... I am much more careful to paint the scarlet word, "SINNER" upon his shirt. Because, I do not know him, I do not know his story, and I have not walked in his shoes. I do think it is in our nature for all of us to judge, as I have been guilty of, but we must all do our best to restrain our thoughts and words, and read the entire book before just looking at the cover.
I have a story, you have a story, the whino in the alley has a story, the man sitting in prison has a story, the homeless man has a story. Just because someone is not living in a two-story brick home, with a three car garage does not mean God does not love you over them. Jesus died for their lives as well as the rest of us. May God have mercy upon all of us who finds a person guilty before learning all the facts. Money, wealth, material items can disappear in the fraction of a second. Being PROSPEROUS does not mean you are a SAINT and being POOR does not mean you are a SINNER.
I encourage everyone to pray for wisdom and humility in 2011. Praying for those two will greatly improve your life and your character, but also be ready for the Potter to drastically reshape and redesign your image, your life, and your future.
And that's the way I see it.....
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