How can it possibly be December? Somewhere I have lost a couple months. Apparently it has to do with the mild weather we have experienced this fall. Most years by this time we have a good snow cover, the lakes are frozen solid enough to drive on and we have settled in for the long winter. This year is different. It is December 2nd and we don’t have snow, the lakes are not very much frozen over unless it happen last night, but I suspect the roaring wind we have had for the past 24 hours slowed the freezing process down, at least on the larger lakes.
Many people will attribute this mild year to “global warming”, that great evil caused by our modern society. I will agree that we are having a warming trend over the last quarter century or so, but I will not agree on the “cause” of it. I am also no scientist and would not represent myself as an “authority” on climate changes.
I do consider myself a ‘student of history’. It is history the convinces me that the earth’s warming and cooling trends are a natural phenomenon that occurs from time to time. But this is not the point of my post.
I think of December as the “old man of the year”. Whatever has taken place during the year is mostly “history” by the time December rolls around. Not that we have not had major events happen in December, but the mindset we develop is one of winding down the past year and making plans for the New Year. Naturally the holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Years also has an affect on the way we view December. There are a lot of holiday activities that take place during this time, more than any other time of the year.
For me December is generally a “hard month”. No, it is not from ‘holiday trauma’, as some might think, that would be those who know me. I pretty much ignore a lot of the hoopla that goes with the “Holidays”. Not that I don’t enjoy seeing children get gifts, that is a pleasure even to an “old scrooge”, such as myself will never tire of. I was a youngster once. You can have full assurance that I was as excited as anyone to get some “goodies” for Christmas and I have fond memories of that excitement. Furthermore, I can think of at least two items that my parents gave me for Christmas as a youth, that I still have in my possession and don’t plan to part with anytime soon. One, is an old .410 single shot H & R shotgun that I got for Christmas in 1969. It was used even then, but to a 12 year old ‘what-a-be’ hunter, it made not difference what sort of firearm it was, it was “mine”. It hangs in a place of honor on my wall. The other item came from the same Christmas and is what we called a “coal oil lantern”. It leaks oil if I try to use it, but it sits in an outbuilding and I have not seen fit to part with it yet. I have a lot of memories every time I see that old lantern. It was with that dim light that I remember going out to milk my cow on cold December mornings before school. For many years it was my main light for camping or any other dark outdoor activities. For children, Christmas is an exciting time and I am not one to throw cold water on the tradition.
December is stressful for other reasons. We lose a lot of daylight very quickly from the 1st of the month to the end of it. I suppose December must be the “darkest” month of the year. For people who have much of their work to be done in the great outdoors, daylight is a precious commodity. By mid-month in MN we are hard pressed to get a full 9 hours of daylight, it being almost 8 AM before it is light enough to see well enough to inspect lumber and by 4:30 PM, we will have our headlights on when driving. I suppose it is a good thing the month has the interruption of Christmas activities or people would go “batty”, even more than they do, in December.
One thing is sure, we have to endure the ’death of a year’ by having the month of December, in order to reach January, that first month a New Year, when so many people make all kinds of “short-lived” resolutions, even if they are made in total sincerity. For a long time, I have swore off making New Year’s resolutions, simply because it seems so “lame”, at least in my mind. For truth be told, if I want to resolve to ‘do something’, I find it is best to “do it now”, than put it off until a certain day on the calendar, for by the time that day arrives, I will likely have lost my motivation to make a change anyway.
There is one thing I like to do at the end of December. Rather than resolving to change habits or form new ones, I find it useful to go over in my mind the events of the year just past. Therein I am dealing with factual “history” rather than “fanciful plans”. By thinking over my past year, I do sometimes find helpful hints as to what I should do in the coming year and so approach the new year as if it was a “new day” to start fresh, but with some solid guidance by having the experience of recent history.
Being a self-employed person makes the reflection very personal. It is not as if I have an employer who will set my working hours and pay me accordingly. I am the ‘employer’ as well as the ‘employee’. That creates opportunities as well as ‘hazards’. The opportunity is that I can pretty much plan my own course of action to advance my business affairs and work just as hard as I want, in order to accomplish whatever new “bright ideal” I have for the coming work year. But on the same hand there is the “hazard”, and it is a “big hazard”, especially this year. The hazard of self-employment is that it is very easy to loose our ambition. The current state of economic reality makes it extremely hard to have a positive attitude that next year will hold any hope of a better economic environment than 2011.
At the end of every December I go over my business records and compare my sales and business activity to prior years, I don’t know if I have the “heart” to do that this year. I already know what it will look like, sort of like the “morning after” a train wreck. I have to ask the question; “will next year improve”? The answer is ‘blowing in the wind’, I have no reason to expect that it will and the “wishing well” does nothing to advance the course of reality. Do I make drastic changes? If so, what?
These questions are what make December a stressful month for me. Maybe it is a good thing that we have the “holiday season” to distract us from all the things, that we know, we are going to have to make decisions about.
I have reached an age that makes the decision process more difficult than it was when I was in the prime of my youth. During those years of our lives, for most people, we have lots of ambition and there is not much that can drag us down for very long, if we need to make drastic changes, it is just a matter of waking up one morning and putting into action our plan and the consequences will take care of themselves, we have all the confidence in the world that if we do make a miscalculation, we have plenty of time ahead of us to overcome whatever setback we might endure. Not so when we reach mid-50’s, with time speeding up, as if it went from a steam power, to jet engine speeds in just a few years time.
The joke is on us. When we are young we look at older folks, and think, they have lived their lives and are content to take to their rocking chair and enjoy the memories of their youth, while watching their children and grandchildren, to see how they get along in this “short life”. Now when I see that “rocking chair”, I want to throw it out the window! I have too many things to get done. That chair will be without me for the next 50 years! Of course, I don’t have 50 years, so the old chair will have to rock its own self, if it gets rocked. I have too many things to get done before the “grim reaper” gets the hook in me. But first, I have to make it through December!
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Friday, December 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Is History Worth Knowing?
History. To some, especially school age students the very word sounds boring, but so does math, English and a lot of other subjects. I was no different than a lot of my peers back in the “dark ages” of my school life. (60’s-70’s) Until! A ‘good teacher’ made history exciting. The sad part is that I can’t even remember his name, but I cannot forget the influence this high school teacher had on my interest in history. In some way this teacher reached my very distracted mind, (as in having a whole lot more interesting things to do than read history) to the point that the study of history has become one of my favorite subjects for lifelong learning.
Often it is said that if man does not learn the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them. I might let the so called ‘scholars’ debate the actual facts of that argument, but the reality is we will do well to learn some things by observation rather than experience.
To illustrate the point. If I read in the news that someone attempted to fly off a high bridge, flap their arms as if they were wings, but hit the water in a splashy death, I should learn a lesson without repeating the experiment, that being, a human‘s arms are a poor substitute for wings. A rather simple example, but the reality is that if we would make a rational study of history we would find a whole world of mistakes and failures that man has already made and thus be educated without the consequences being upon our own head.
Some describe this as the ‘wisdom of the ages’. How many ancient nations have come and gone? The great ones we are aware of, the Greek kingdom of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire being a classic case study of a republic, so-called, that more or less self destructed from within. No outside force was big enough to destroy that Empire. But when it decayed from within by individual and government moral decay, it fell. Some of the most visited sights in the world come from those marvelous ruins, of massive structures, build by the Romans. Many volumes have been written on the history and fall of that great Empire. So, is history worth knowing? I would answer it is, unless we want to find out everything the hard way.
Human nature makes for a strange study. Even closer to our own lives we see many examples illustrated in ‘living color’ of human beings, assumed to be rational creatures, do things that defy what should be common sense. How is it that our modern American society spends more money on ‘education’ than any nation in history, but somehow we forget the most basic elements of education that affect our whole nation and every individual citizen? I speak here of economics. I don’t recall having taken a course in economics in high school, maybe there was one and I have forgotten it. We were required however to take common general math. Truthfully, simple math is all one needs to realize that you cannot subtract 90 from 10 and end up with a positive number. Yet it would appear that such accounting is what our society would have us accept. As if a negative balance sheet for our personal households and our nation is a “good thing”.
Through whatever insanity that afflicts our politicians, lawmakers, educators, banking firms and even our households we cannot grasp the simple fact that oppressive debt will destroy us, something is “upside down”, besides millions of home loans.
It is not so hard for us to understand how a company or individual can get into debt beyond their ability to pay. Sometimes it is by unfortunate circumstances, like medical bills or accidents that take away our source of income, or a sudden downturn in the economy that dries up a particular market that a business depends on and they simply ‘go broke’. Often it is being irresponsible in spending verses income, easy credit can be an addiction to some people and they can’t, or won’t, stop spending until they ‘crash’. When that happens most people look at them with a mixture of pity or in the case of unnecessary spending, they are judged to be ‘spending addicts’ and void of common responsibility.
In the most resent economic upheavals ‘capitalism’ has been blamed, with some people saying, “see, capitalism does not work”. When I hear such talk, the first thing that enters my mind is the late Soviet Union. They were not capitalist and they went broke, so maybe we should look at history in an attempt to learn why nations fall.
Here is my short answer, since I am not writing a book. Just as it was said by some of our founding fathers about freedom, and which one of my teachers in school strongly enforced that we learn; “freedom cannot exist without responsibility”. Taking responsibility for our own actions, whether it be a person or nation should be an easy concept to understand, even if it is not always easy for our egos. If you run a business and make a bad choice to invest a lot of money in a project that fails, you know (at least we used to know) that your decision could very well bankrupt your business. If we fail to teach our children to be responsible for their own actions, are we surprised when those children spend their whole lives blaming others for their own failures?
The Soviet Union is a prime recent historic example that we should learn from. They embraced the socialist/communist ideal that collectivism was a “good thing”. That Peter should share with Paul, even if Paul had no ability or ambition to provide his share of the labor. But Peter, being full of ability and drive could create income was forced to give up the fruit of his labor to bring Paul up to his living standards by sharing with Paul his hard earned wealth. The theory was that all human effort should be considered as equal in value. No matter that a doctor must spend years of intense dedicated study to learn the skills necessary to treat the ill, his time was worth no more than another’s, who might be doing work that any unlearned child could perform. The great socialist experiment proved one thing for certain. Take away a persons incentive to produce, by giving it to a non-producer, and what you end up with is two non-producers, not two equal partners. That theory tries to defy all of history. It denies basic human nature. For as far back as history records, there are some people who excel and achieve great things, while the mass of folks live a “common life” with no such ability, nor ambition.
How can it be consider as moral, if I, who have no great burning desire to create wealth, (nor ability that I am aware of) just tell Paul; “since you have more than I do, I am just going to take part of what you have and we will be equal?” In realistic terms this is what socialism attempts. The result is as predictable as the sunrise, Paul is going to do one of two things. He might say, “over my dead body” and go to war! Or the common alternative in history has been, if Paul sees he can’t win the war, he just quits producing.
Once his wealth is all gone, taken by the non-producers and consumed, they all starve together
Hum? Makes me wonder about a lot of details. How is our “social justice” movement any different than the communist ideals of the 20th century? Tax the rich and give to the poor, so we all can have a more “equal” living standard. Here will be the results, which in our own time we see taking place. One, the so-called “poor” come to depend upon a handout and thus are content with a few basic comforts, so they quit trying to pull themselves up and turn to idleness, which always destroys a people. Or, in our day of “Hollywood appetites”, the poor want more, and more and more. Until they, by sheer numbers, like a plague of locust, have consumed the wealth of a nation. Two, the so-called rich, sooner or later will pull the Atlas Shrug routine and just quit producing.
I understand the anger and frustration that is experienced by thousands of Americans in the face of some “close-by” historic facts. There really appears to be no doubt that some of the “big bankers” and corporations have economically raped our nation. However, we must look at the root of the problem rather than just on the surface. The root is that we have a “moral problem”. That is, when those in positions of power have no moral foundation of right and wrong it is easy for them in an environment of “freedom” to steal from others, anyone and everyone.
Capitalism has not failed, our “moral standards” have failed.
Capitalism is the vehicle that produced the greatest nation to arrive on earth. It thrived as long a we had a basic moral standard where most people were not out to cheat, steal and plunder, but create wealth by hard work and imagination, fueled “freedom” which gave them the right to attempt whatever honest enterprise their minds could think of. Some failed, some succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. But if we remove the underpinnings of “moral behavior”, then not only will capitalism fail, freedom also will fail.
There has never been a nation supported and sustained by a few producers, while the masses ate drank and were happy. As long as the known principles of nature exist, there will also never be a nation that can provide a “free ride”. The USA cannot just, out of thin air, keep printing money to prop up failed enterprises or individuals.
I say, “History is worth knowing”.
.
Often it is said that if man does not learn the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them. I might let the so called ‘scholars’ debate the actual facts of that argument, but the reality is we will do well to learn some things by observation rather than experience.
To illustrate the point. If I read in the news that someone attempted to fly off a high bridge, flap their arms as if they were wings, but hit the water in a splashy death, I should learn a lesson without repeating the experiment, that being, a human‘s arms are a poor substitute for wings. A rather simple example, but the reality is that if we would make a rational study of history we would find a whole world of mistakes and failures that man has already made and thus be educated without the consequences being upon our own head.
Some describe this as the ‘wisdom of the ages’. How many ancient nations have come and gone? The great ones we are aware of, the Greek kingdom of Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire being a classic case study of a republic, so-called, that more or less self destructed from within. No outside force was big enough to destroy that Empire. But when it decayed from within by individual and government moral decay, it fell. Some of the most visited sights in the world come from those marvelous ruins, of massive structures, build by the Romans. Many volumes have been written on the history and fall of that great Empire. So, is history worth knowing? I would answer it is, unless we want to find out everything the hard way.
Human nature makes for a strange study. Even closer to our own lives we see many examples illustrated in ‘living color’ of human beings, assumed to be rational creatures, do things that defy what should be common sense. How is it that our modern American society spends more money on ‘education’ than any nation in history, but somehow we forget the most basic elements of education that affect our whole nation and every individual citizen? I speak here of economics. I don’t recall having taken a course in economics in high school, maybe there was one and I have forgotten it. We were required however to take common general math. Truthfully, simple math is all one needs to realize that you cannot subtract 90 from 10 and end up with a positive number. Yet it would appear that such accounting is what our society would have us accept. As if a negative balance sheet for our personal households and our nation is a “good thing”.
Through whatever insanity that afflicts our politicians, lawmakers, educators, banking firms and even our households we cannot grasp the simple fact that oppressive debt will destroy us, something is “upside down”, besides millions of home loans.
It is not so hard for us to understand how a company or individual can get into debt beyond their ability to pay. Sometimes it is by unfortunate circumstances, like medical bills or accidents that take away our source of income, or a sudden downturn in the economy that dries up a particular market that a business depends on and they simply ‘go broke’. Often it is being irresponsible in spending verses income, easy credit can be an addiction to some people and they can’t, or won’t, stop spending until they ‘crash’. When that happens most people look at them with a mixture of pity or in the case of unnecessary spending, they are judged to be ‘spending addicts’ and void of common responsibility.
In the most resent economic upheavals ‘capitalism’ has been blamed, with some people saying, “see, capitalism does not work”. When I hear such talk, the first thing that enters my mind is the late Soviet Union. They were not capitalist and they went broke, so maybe we should look at history in an attempt to learn why nations fall.
Here is my short answer, since I am not writing a book. Just as it was said by some of our founding fathers about freedom, and which one of my teachers in school strongly enforced that we learn; “freedom cannot exist without responsibility”. Taking responsibility for our own actions, whether it be a person or nation should be an easy concept to understand, even if it is not always easy for our egos. If you run a business and make a bad choice to invest a lot of money in a project that fails, you know (at least we used to know) that your decision could very well bankrupt your business. If we fail to teach our children to be responsible for their own actions, are we surprised when those children spend their whole lives blaming others for their own failures?
The Soviet Union is a prime recent historic example that we should learn from. They embraced the socialist/communist ideal that collectivism was a “good thing”. That Peter should share with Paul, even if Paul had no ability or ambition to provide his share of the labor. But Peter, being full of ability and drive could create income was forced to give up the fruit of his labor to bring Paul up to his living standards by sharing with Paul his hard earned wealth. The theory was that all human effort should be considered as equal in value. No matter that a doctor must spend years of intense dedicated study to learn the skills necessary to treat the ill, his time was worth no more than another’s, who might be doing work that any unlearned child could perform. The great socialist experiment proved one thing for certain. Take away a persons incentive to produce, by giving it to a non-producer, and what you end up with is two non-producers, not two equal partners. That theory tries to defy all of history. It denies basic human nature. For as far back as history records, there are some people who excel and achieve great things, while the mass of folks live a “common life” with no such ability, nor ambition.
How can it be consider as moral, if I, who have no great burning desire to create wealth, (nor ability that I am aware of) just tell Paul; “since you have more than I do, I am just going to take part of what you have and we will be equal?” In realistic terms this is what socialism attempts. The result is as predictable as the sunrise, Paul is going to do one of two things. He might say, “over my dead body” and go to war! Or the common alternative in history has been, if Paul sees he can’t win the war, he just quits producing.
Once his wealth is all gone, taken by the non-producers and consumed, they all starve together
Hum? Makes me wonder about a lot of details. How is our “social justice” movement any different than the communist ideals of the 20th century? Tax the rich and give to the poor, so we all can have a more “equal” living standard. Here will be the results, which in our own time we see taking place. One, the so-called “poor” come to depend upon a handout and thus are content with a few basic comforts, so they quit trying to pull themselves up and turn to idleness, which always destroys a people. Or, in our day of “Hollywood appetites”, the poor want more, and more and more. Until they, by sheer numbers, like a plague of locust, have consumed the wealth of a nation. Two, the so-called rich, sooner or later will pull the Atlas Shrug routine and just quit producing.
I understand the anger and frustration that is experienced by thousands of Americans in the face of some “close-by” historic facts. There really appears to be no doubt that some of the “big bankers” and corporations have economically raped our nation. However, we must look at the root of the problem rather than just on the surface. The root is that we have a “moral problem”. That is, when those in positions of power have no moral foundation of right and wrong it is easy for them in an environment of “freedom” to steal from others, anyone and everyone.
Capitalism has not failed, our “moral standards” have failed.
Capitalism is the vehicle that produced the greatest nation to arrive on earth. It thrived as long a we had a basic moral standard where most people were not out to cheat, steal and plunder, but create wealth by hard work and imagination, fueled “freedom” which gave them the right to attempt whatever honest enterprise their minds could think of. Some failed, some succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. But if we remove the underpinnings of “moral behavior”, then not only will capitalism fail, freedom also will fail.
There has never been a nation supported and sustained by a few producers, while the masses ate drank and were happy. As long as the known principles of nature exist, there will also never be a nation that can provide a “free ride”. The USA cannot just, out of thin air, keep printing money to prop up failed enterprises or individuals.
I say, “History is worth knowing”.
.
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