My personal nomination for the six most important words in America would be: form, establish, insure, provide, promote, and secure.
All six words are action words, and they collectively define the specific objectives for which our Constitution was created. An evaluation of how well we're meeting these objectives is worthy of a brief moment of reflection:
1. FORM - "to form a more perfect Union" - How united are we?
2. ESTABLISH - to "establish justice" - Is our judicial system providing equitable justice for all, both rich and poor?
3. INSURE - to "insure domestic Tranquility" - Are our laws reasonable, manageable, and equitably enforceable?
4. PROVIDE - to "provide for the common defence" - Are we defending more than our sovereign nation? Has our defense become too offensive?
5. PROMOTE - to "promote the general Welfare" - Are we providing instead of promoting the general welfare? If the original objective was to provide, should it not have been written, to "provide for the common defence AND the general Welfare"?
6. SECURE - to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" - Are we unitedly pursuing the discovery and application of truth so that we can maximize our freedom today and tomorrow?
The Constitution may not be perfect, but it certainly has proven to be the greatest political document written throughout the entire history of the world. It was created to allow for amendments so that as greater truth was discovered, the original objectives could be more successfully achieved.
Of the 27 amendments, which one's have championed the original six objectives? What amendments could be added that would better focus our attention on meeting the original six objectives? What changes can we make individually and collectively that would allow us to receive greater benefits from the Constitution as it was originally written?
Form... Establish... Insure... Provide... Promote... Secure...
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Price of Freedom
We took our teenage boys (13 and 17) to San Antonio, TX on Friday to visit the Alamo. As a “warm up” to arriving at the actual plaza, we went to the IMAX theatre in the mall to watch The Alamo: The Price of Freedom.
As you walk down the large corridor to the theatre's entrance, on the right is a massive movie banner with the focal point highlighting the words, "The Price of Freedom." On the left side of the corridor is Victoria's Secret, with approximately eight (I didn't actually count them) bigger-than-life pictures of scantily dressed models with obsessively seductive expressions on their faces. Because we were in a hurry to make the show time, I didn't think much of it.
The movie was excellent, and in 42 minutes it detailed as accurately as possible the facts surrounding one of the most famous acts of sacrifice for the cause of freedom. As we left the theatre, and the first of those seductive pictures came into view, I was quickly reminded of the corridor we were going to pass through. Thinking of our teenage boys, I wanted to quickly cover their eyes, and then realizing that I couldn’t, I said the first thing that came to my mind as I tried to act out the part of a tour guide: “On the left, we have ‘the price of freedom,’ and on the right, we have ‘the price of enslavement’; let’s keep our eyes on freedom.”
After the words were spoken, and we exited the corridor on our way to the Alamo Plaza, I then had time to reflect on the irony of those opposing walls.
Let’s choose real freedom. At 26 years of age, William Barret Travis did, and is a hero in the truest sense of the word.
As you walk down the large corridor to the theatre's entrance, on the right is a massive movie banner with the focal point highlighting the words, "The Price of Freedom." On the left side of the corridor is Victoria's Secret, with approximately eight (I didn't actually count them) bigger-than-life pictures of scantily dressed models with obsessively seductive expressions on their faces. Because we were in a hurry to make the show time, I didn't think much of it.
The movie was excellent, and in 42 minutes it detailed as accurately as possible the facts surrounding one of the most famous acts of sacrifice for the cause of freedom. As we left the theatre, and the first of those seductive pictures came into view, I was quickly reminded of the corridor we were going to pass through. Thinking of our teenage boys, I wanted to quickly cover their eyes, and then realizing that I couldn’t, I said the first thing that came to my mind as I tried to act out the part of a tour guide: “On the left, we have ‘the price of freedom,’ and on the right, we have ‘the price of enslavement’; let’s keep our eyes on freedom.”
After the words were spoken, and we exited the corridor on our way to the Alamo Plaza, I then had time to reflect on the irony of those opposing walls.
Let’s choose real freedom. At 26 years of age, William Barret Travis did, and is a hero in the truest sense of the word.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
It's Your Money - NOT
Take a deep breath, make sure you're sitting down, and prepare yourself to try to be entirely unaffected by this experience I'm going to narrate...
I recently engaged in a business transaction that required me to keep track of a few thousand dollars. Because the bookkeeping was for a short time period, and it didn't make sense to create a new bank account specific for this purpose, I decided to use a personal savings account that was joint with my primary checking account.
My has a nice online system that makes it very easy to transfer money from one account to the other. So I transferred all of my current savings (unfortunately a very small dollar amount) into my checking account, and then deposited into savings the money I needed to keep track of. When money needed to be spent, I'd use a check or debit card tied to my checking account, and then reimburse the funds by transfering the same amount (with an identification note) from the savings account. It was clean, simple, and easy to track.
Then I got a notice in the mail from the bank. It was a verbose explanation that I had exceeded the transfers permitted by law (Reg D). Huh? So I held off making two more transfers and called the bank to get an assessment of the damage. In the current statement cycle, I had done eight transfers and the law only allows for six. The penalty is $10 per violation, and so I was being charged $20.
I kept my cool, and calmly asked the customer service rep if there was any way to not be penalized for not knowing this illogical rule. He asked if I had read all the account information paperwork I had signed when I set up the account. I thought a lie "yeah, I went straight home, read for an hour and a half, and I don't remember reading the part about six max transactions," but instead I said evenly, "that's not very realistic." He read me the most relevant parts of the law and then said that unfortunately there wasn't any way to wave the penalties.
Out of curiosity, I asked where the $20 would go. He responded, "That's a good question, let me find out." After four minutes on hold, he returned and said, "It all goes to the federal government." As I processed this information, my grasp of reality began to rapidly deteriorate. Hanging on to anything I could grab, I asked if I could go into the branch and withdraw any money without being penalized. He replied, "No problem. So long as you're in a branch office, you can transfer funds, withdraw money, whatever you want, and it doesn't count towards your limit of six. Just remember though, if you do keep violating Reg D, you'll receive another notice and your savings account will be shut down."
I didn't want any more clarification. I didn't want any more information. All I wanted to do was to hang up, to resolve in my mind that twice a month I'll make a trip to the bank to do all of my transfers at once, and most importantly to just move on with my life. The bars of enslavement Congress had placed around me, were incomprehensible, but they weren't going to hold me captive indefinitely.
I jumped over the bars. Hopefully in the future the bars won't get so high I can't jump over.
I recently engaged in a business transaction that required me to keep track of a few thousand dollars. Because the bookkeeping was for a short time period, and it didn't make sense to create a new bank account specific for this purpose, I decided to use a personal savings account that was joint with my primary checking account.
My has a nice online system that makes it very easy to transfer money from one account to the other. So I transferred all of my current savings (unfortunately a very small dollar amount) into my checking account, and then deposited into savings the money I needed to keep track of. When money needed to be spent, I'd use a check or debit card tied to my checking account, and then reimburse the funds by transfering the same amount (with an identification note) from the savings account. It was clean, simple, and easy to track.
Then I got a notice in the mail from the bank. It was a verbose explanation that I had exceeded the transfers permitted by law (Reg D). Huh? So I held off making two more transfers and called the bank to get an assessment of the damage. In the current statement cycle, I had done eight transfers and the law only allows for six. The penalty is $10 per violation, and so I was being charged $20.
I kept my cool, and calmly asked the customer service rep if there was any way to not be penalized for not knowing this illogical rule. He asked if I had read all the account information paperwork I had signed when I set up the account. I thought a lie "yeah, I went straight home, read for an hour and a half, and I don't remember reading the part about six max transactions," but instead I said evenly, "that's not very realistic." He read me the most relevant parts of the law and then said that unfortunately there wasn't any way to wave the penalties.
Out of curiosity, I asked where the $20 would go. He responded, "That's a good question, let me find out." After four minutes on hold, he returned and said, "It all goes to the federal government." As I processed this information, my grasp of reality began to rapidly deteriorate. Hanging on to anything I could grab, I asked if I could go into the branch and withdraw any money without being penalized. He replied, "No problem. So long as you're in a branch office, you can transfer funds, withdraw money, whatever you want, and it doesn't count towards your limit of six. Just remember though, if you do keep violating Reg D, you'll receive another notice and your savings account will be shut down."
I didn't want any more clarification. I didn't want any more information. All I wanted to do was to hang up, to resolve in my mind that twice a month I'll make a trip to the bank to do all of my transfers at once, and most importantly to just move on with my life. The bars of enslavement Congress had placed around me, were incomprehensible, but they weren't going to hold me captive indefinitely.
I jumped over the bars. Hopefully in the future the bars won't get so high I can't jump over.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Best Part About a Sporting Event
Most sporting events in America begin with the athletes lining up on the field or court of play, the fans standing and looking in a particular direction, hats coming off, hands placed on top of hearts (or not), and our national anthem played or sung; it's a moment of personal, quiet reflection.
For some reason that I've never been able to understand, many of the athletes, and some fans, keep their hands to their sides. A logical reason might be that the individual is not a citizen of this country, while some illogical reasons might be that even though they are a citizen they hate this country, or maybe the act of putting their hand over their heart isn't "cool" and they are "cool," or maybe it makes their arm tired and they need to save their strength for the sporting event. But whatever the reason, I wonder during those few moments, what is being reflected in the mind of the "hands-to-the-side-person" versus the individual whose palm is placed against their chest such that they can feel their own heart beat?
I don't know the answer to this question, and I probably never will, and personally, it probably doesn't matter. What really matters is that everytime I go to a sporting event (on time) and get the opportunity to put my palm against my chest, I DO feel the beat of my heart. This beat reminds me that I am blessed to be alive, and that so long as my heart continues to beat, I have the opportunity to study, understand, experience, and live for freedom. It also reminds me that I need to be wise and to take the best care that I can for my heart, so that the health decisions I make will not cause it to stop beating prematurely.
And as I thus reflect, the reality is once again reinforced, that while the clash of opposing athletes may hold captivating entertainment value, the real value of the event was only realized in those few short minutes with my hand on my heart.
For some reason that I've never been able to understand, many of the athletes, and some fans, keep their hands to their sides. A logical reason might be that the individual is not a citizen of this country, while some illogical reasons might be that even though they are a citizen they hate this country, or maybe the act of putting their hand over their heart isn't "cool" and they are "cool," or maybe it makes their arm tired and they need to save their strength for the sporting event. But whatever the reason, I wonder during those few moments, what is being reflected in the mind of the "hands-to-the-side-person" versus the individual whose palm is placed against their chest such that they can feel their own heart beat?
I don't know the answer to this question, and I probably never will, and personally, it probably doesn't matter. What really matters is that everytime I go to a sporting event (on time) and get the opportunity to put my palm against my chest, I DO feel the beat of my heart. This beat reminds me that I am blessed to be alive, and that so long as my heart continues to beat, I have the opportunity to study, understand, experience, and live for freedom. It also reminds me that I need to be wise and to take the best care that I can for my heart, so that the health decisions I make will not cause it to stop beating prematurely.
And as I thus reflect, the reality is once again reinforced, that while the clash of opposing athletes may hold captivating entertainment value, the real value of the event was only realized in those few short minutes with my hand on my heart.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Bondage of Inefficiency
Tax collection is a necessary and critical function of any good society, and while most of us may wish everything could be free, it's not. Fortunately, few people argue in favor of no taxation. What we do frequently argue, as a whole, is how much should be collected and from whom. Commonly missing from our dialogue, however, is the recognition and correction of what may be the greatest abuse of our tax system: inefficiency.
This bondage of inefficiency originates with thousands of pages of rules and regulations designed openly and specifically to manipulate and control our decision making, which is an entirely separate topic of its own. The inefficiency becomes readily apparent when acknowledging the mammoth and constantly expanding army of regulators who try to interpret and enforce the rules, the many professionals hired to try to understand the same rules and protect their clients against retribution, and the excessive non-productive hours spent by citizens tracking and accounting for decisions made and actions taken.
By removing the objective of decision making control, employing common sense, and deploying technology, the collection of taxes can be seamless and non-intrusive, or in other words, efficient. Efficiency removes the chains that inefficiency fetters.
This bondage of inefficiency originates with thousands of pages of rules and regulations designed openly and specifically to manipulate and control our decision making, which is an entirely separate topic of its own. The inefficiency becomes readily apparent when acknowledging the mammoth and constantly expanding army of regulators who try to interpret and enforce the rules, the many professionals hired to try to understand the same rules and protect their clients against retribution, and the excessive non-productive hours spent by citizens tracking and accounting for decisions made and actions taken.
By removing the objective of decision making control, employing common sense, and deploying technology, the collection of taxes can be seamless and non-intrusive, or in other words, efficient. Efficiency removes the chains that inefficiency fetters.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Toll Slavery
A few months ago I moved to Houston, TX and immediately became aware of the many toll roads that link the metropolis together. Fortunately, my most frequented destinations allowed relatively convenient travel on free roads and so I resisted the "need" to get the magnetic tracking device required for toll road travel. But one day after making a trip across town through 17 stop lights, I took a deep breath, and visited the nearest EZ Tag Store.
My wife complimented me for not complaining during the 45 minute ordeal. I even engaged in small talk with one of the eleven service reps and credited myself with helping replace her glum "I don't want to be here" attitude with a few smiles. My good attitude faded, however, immediately upon exiting the "store" and walking to the car; I felt compromised, like my freedom had been forcibly violated. After expressing the sentiment, my wife peaceably suggested, "Just try not to think about it; it's easier that way."
I had to think about it. While we took the same trip across town using toll roads and avoiding 12 of the 17 stop lights (35% red), I tried to calculate at each "zap zone" what the total cost was going to be. When we got home, I just couldn't be sure so I went online, spent ten minutes setting up my account, only to be greeted with: "Transactions may take several business days to post to your EZ TAG Account." What? An entirely automated, electronic system costing tens of millions of dollars has an unpredictable data delivery speed of days, not seconds? Do they purposely not want me to easily be able to keep track of my expenditures? I unrealistically vowed that I would avoid all toll roads unless it was a matter of life and death.
I was a fool. A few weeks later I was mapping a different trip across town, and after ten minutes of finding and then trying to understand the toll road map, I determined that I was either going to drive an extra 22 miles on the freeway or pay $7.90 in toll fees. Suddenly I remembered that I hadn't returned to my account to see what the last trip had cost me. After looking up the URL and being grateful that I had used my most common username and password when I had set up the account, I was incredulous to realize that I had spent $10.40 to avoid 8 red lights, not to mention the $15 spent to purchase the EZ Tag. Now it’s sounding like I’m a cheapskate.
I’m not. It’s about the difference between freedom and tolldom. The roads need to be paid for to be built and maintained, but what’s the most efficient way to collect these infrastructure dollars? The overhead costs already exist to operate the systems necessary to collect taxes, a portion of which funds are used to build and maintain roads. Creating an entirely separate overhead of hardware, software, signs, marketing material, operators, application takers, buildings, janitors, managers, executives, attorneys, accountants, fixed assets, IT personnel etc…is an unproductive and complete waste of time and money. Granted, if it costs less to collect tolls than it does to collect taxes, then maybe it would be logical to make EVERY road a toll road. However, by mixing the two collection systems, you pay for it once whether you use it or not, but if you want the “freedom” to use it (as the marketing material suggests), you pay for it again in order to cover the extra and unnecessary overhead.
Excess taxation (tolling) and wasted tax (toll) dollars is an insidious form of economic enslavement; it’s theft.
My wife complimented me for not complaining during the 45 minute ordeal. I even engaged in small talk with one of the eleven service reps and credited myself with helping replace her glum "I don't want to be here" attitude with a few smiles. My good attitude faded, however, immediately upon exiting the "store" and walking to the car; I felt compromised, like my freedom had been forcibly violated. After expressing the sentiment, my wife peaceably suggested, "Just try not to think about it; it's easier that way."
I had to think about it. While we took the same trip across town using toll roads and avoiding 12 of the 17 stop lights (35% red), I tried to calculate at each "zap zone" what the total cost was going to be. When we got home, I just couldn't be sure so I went online, spent ten minutes setting up my account, only to be greeted with: "Transactions may take several business days to post to your EZ TAG Account." What? An entirely automated, electronic system costing tens of millions of dollars has an unpredictable data delivery speed of days, not seconds? Do they purposely not want me to easily be able to keep track of my expenditures? I unrealistically vowed that I would avoid all toll roads unless it was a matter of life and death.
I was a fool. A few weeks later I was mapping a different trip across town, and after ten minutes of finding and then trying to understand the toll road map, I determined that I was either going to drive an extra 22 miles on the freeway or pay $7.90 in toll fees. Suddenly I remembered that I hadn't returned to my account to see what the last trip had cost me. After looking up the URL and being grateful that I had used my most common username and password when I had set up the account, I was incredulous to realize that I had spent $10.40 to avoid 8 red lights, not to mention the $15 spent to purchase the EZ Tag. Now it’s sounding like I’m a cheapskate.
I’m not. It’s about the difference between freedom and tolldom. The roads need to be paid for to be built and maintained, but what’s the most efficient way to collect these infrastructure dollars? The overhead costs already exist to operate the systems necessary to collect taxes, a portion of which funds are used to build and maintain roads. Creating an entirely separate overhead of hardware, software, signs, marketing material, operators, application takers, buildings, janitors, managers, executives, attorneys, accountants, fixed assets, IT personnel etc…is an unproductive and complete waste of time and money. Granted, if it costs less to collect tolls than it does to collect taxes, then maybe it would be logical to make EVERY road a toll road. However, by mixing the two collection systems, you pay for it once whether you use it or not, but if you want the “freedom” to use it (as the marketing material suggests), you pay for it again in order to cover the extra and unnecessary overhead.
Excess taxation (tolling) and wasted tax (toll) dollars is an insidious form of economic enslavement; it’s theft.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Individual Economic Freedom
If you depend on someone else to provide your needs and wants, you are economically dependent and enslaved; this is the state of a child. If through your own initiative you provide for yourself, you are economically independent and free; this is the state of an adult. Most governments believe that its citizens should be children.
For many decades since its inception, the United States of America has been a bastion of individual economic freedom by both promoting the value of independence, while at the same time protecting ingenuity, which unique combination ignites the human spirit to take risk for the possibility of reward. The risk is the sacrifice of time and sometimes money, and the reward is realizing various levels of economic freedom.
See.... THE 7 LEVELS OF ECONOMIC REALITY
The common misconception regarding these levels is the belief that an individual should hope and try to skip levels. Two examples expose this fallacy. Consider the lottery winner who is financially dependent: The sudden introduction of wealth without the refining process of learning the principles that lead to economic independence, results in the “lucky” winner seeing the money go up in smoke before they return to financial dependence. The second example is subtlety deceiving: The spoiled heir of a fortune, who has never earned any of the wealth, remains entirely dependent on others to provide the “freedom” because they are not capable of maintaining or growing it themselves.
An individual cannot be economically independent and free unless they have provided for themselves; otherwise, they are still dependent.
For many decades since its inception, the United States of America has been a bastion of individual economic freedom by both promoting the value of independence, while at the same time protecting ingenuity, which unique combination ignites the human spirit to take risk for the possibility of reward. The risk is the sacrifice of time and sometimes money, and the reward is realizing various levels of economic freedom.
See.... THE 7 LEVELS OF ECONOMIC REALITY
The common misconception regarding these levels is the belief that an individual should hope and try to skip levels. Two examples expose this fallacy. Consider the lottery winner who is financially dependent: The sudden introduction of wealth without the refining process of learning the principles that lead to economic independence, results in the “lucky” winner seeing the money go up in smoke before they return to financial dependence. The second example is subtlety deceiving: The spoiled heir of a fortune, who has never earned any of the wealth, remains entirely dependent on others to provide the “freedom” because they are not capable of maintaining or growing it themselves.
An individual cannot be economically independent and free unless they have provided for themselves; otherwise, they are still dependent.
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