Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Eclipsing Pollutants
While going down the highway, the other day, I saw something that renewed a tiny fraction of my faith in humanity. Mounted on the side of a power pole was a solar panel, hooked up to augment the supply of power. When I saw that, I literally jumped for joy. Well, as much as one is able to inside a cramped van.
Why does this partially renew my faith in humanity? It means we are FINALLY taking measures to help ourselves by helping the planet as well as the economy. By using this solar panel we are cutting down on how much energy we need to produce through destructive means. That means energy will not only cost less money but won't produce as much pollution.
Imagine if all power poles for all power lines had a solar panel attached to them? During the day, we might not even have to run the power plants! Using power in the daytime might not even cost you money. If they give you a solar panel to set up in your yard to supplement even more power, they might actually have to pay YOU for the power that they will be storing and sending back along the grid at night.
Just think about that for a moment. Imagine the electric bill you get every month. See all of that money you spend on something as essential as electricity. Now imagine that amount lowering, and lowering, and lowering as more and more solar panels are installed. The bill gets lower and lower and lower. You see one of the digits fall off, bringing the bill lower than it was even when you first started paying it. Lower, and lower, we're down to single digits! You can set your bill to auto-pay and not even notice the difference on your credit card! And it keeps getting lower! Finally it hits zero. You think you're set. You never have to open that bill ever again. Now you are offered a solar panel of your own. You get it set up and start checking that energy bill again, and you notice you are no longer receiving an energy bill. You are now receiving an energy check.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful feeling? They are paying YOU for the service! Seems like a dream come true for me. Unfortunately we're not there yet, but we're getting there. Slowly but surely, we're getting there. And we're saving the environment at the same time by not using the power plants as much.
Saving money and saving the planet in one fell swoop. Can't get much better than that.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Economic Prophit
I would like to make a prediction. I don't do this very often, as most predictions end up being wrong. However, I feel this one might be fairly accurate. So accurate, in fact, that if it doesn't happen in this universe, the next one over definitely has it. So what is my prediction?
In the near future, we will no longer have currency or trade.
A bold statement, I know, but it has the benefit of being possible, unlike quite a few other predictions or prophecies. This prediction has all of the best parts of any good prediction. It has a set goal, an approximate time frame, and is bold. “In the near future” means anytime between now and the distant future, so history can look back on this when the event eventually happens and say I was right about everything. Neat, huh?
I'm sure, however, that you are wanting more information. After all, an event of this magnitude is bound to have an effect on all of those who read this, if for no other reason simply because you read it. So, for your sake, I will be kind enough to elaborate a bit. Just be sure not to quote me, as the rest of this isn't officially part of the prediction.
So, how near of a future are we talking about? A few days? Months? Years? My lifetime? Well, as I said, there is no exact date. However, for the sake of the conspiracy theorists, apocalypse nuts, and argument, let's say it'll happen... late 2012. Around the time of the next presidential election. Wait... that may have been a bit too much... Oh well, I might as well give the rest away now, you've probably already guessed it anyway.
In 2012, against all odds, Sarah Palin will be elected as the next president of the United States. I know, I know, it seems ridiculous. I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't figured it out. Think about this, though. If she does get elected, don't you think that'll have serious repercussions on the economy? If you think the drop when Bush took office was bad, this one will make it look like the toss of a coin. EVERYONE in America will pull back their money from the banks, all at once, buy personal safes and store all of their money in those. People will come up short at the bank, panic will spread about the US being out of money, people will start to save rather then spend, and the economy will CRASH. With how bad it is now, this will be significantly worse than the Great Depression.
Without money and with widespread panic, the citizens of America will begin stealing and looting, just to survive. After a little while they will get accustomed to stealing and looting and be more comfortable with bigger, more luxurious items, like refrigerators and ovens. Eventually everyone will be taking anything they want. Where will the law enforcement and army men be when all of this happens? Looting, of course. Only the die hard patriots with any guts will be willing to defend the nation from thievery and they would be easily outnumbered by the rioters.
By this time, the rest of the world is feeling the burden, too. Whether America is the greatest country or not, no one can protest that it is one of the biggest spenders and one of the main cogs of the world's economic machine. So, the entire world would enter a depression, except for the third world countries. In the midst of this crisis, the third world countries, having not felt very much of this, will take this opportunity to attack the first world countries. This will cause many wars around the world to be fought at the same time, including America for a short period before the rioters and looters get too crazy to be controlled. These wars will stimulate the economies of some nations but destroy the economies of most, resulting in the inevitable, worldwide economic collapse.
So, no economy, looting and rioting around the globe, and not enough resources or control to properly start a war, let alone fight it out. Eventually everyone will calm down, realizing that everyone can have everything by just taking it. Survival of the fittest will take over for the government for a little while, then replaced by survival of the smartest, then replaced by survival. There will be brief moments of order, where the people choose someone to lead , but they will be dealt with when the people get bored of them and revert back to anarchy.
At some point, everyone will notice a peculiar thing, they'd gotten so used to the anarchy that they hadn't even noticed that there was no longer any chaos to it. Everyone did what they pleased and took what they wanted, but they are all nice about it.
People will begin producing things just to give them away to other people. In an effort to make this easier, they will make automated factories that will mass produce their product and automated delivery services so people don't have to drive so far. All products will be created in the most pleasant and efficient way, rather than the way that brings the most sales. And, eventually, everyone will be happy, and no one will have any currency or trade to get in the way of that happiness.
Over time the countries will resettle themselves and elect ambassadors to speak for them, but they will be carefully watched and moderated by the people so that they are never ruled again. This will bring the world closer together and eventually unite everyone on the planet. This ideal society will carry on as we explore the galaxy and the universe, which will take a huge leap forward without a budget to get in the way of the materials they need. As a result, the ambassadors will be brought back to coordinate with the other planets and colonies.
And, having orchestrated this entire miracle from start to finish, I will finally fulfill my dream of being President of the world.
… Wait...
Forget you read any of that.
In the near future, we will no longer have currency or trade.
A bold statement, I know, but it has the benefit of being possible, unlike quite a few other predictions or prophecies. This prediction has all of the best parts of any good prediction. It has a set goal, an approximate time frame, and is bold. “In the near future” means anytime between now and the distant future, so history can look back on this when the event eventually happens and say I was right about everything. Neat, huh?
I'm sure, however, that you are wanting more information. After all, an event of this magnitude is bound to have an effect on all of those who read this, if for no other reason simply because you read it. So, for your sake, I will be kind enough to elaborate a bit. Just be sure not to quote me, as the rest of this isn't officially part of the prediction.
So, how near of a future are we talking about? A few days? Months? Years? My lifetime? Well, as I said, there is no exact date. However, for the sake of the conspiracy theorists, apocalypse nuts, and argument, let's say it'll happen... late 2012. Around the time of the next presidential election. Wait... that may have been a bit too much... Oh well, I might as well give the rest away now, you've probably already guessed it anyway.
In 2012, against all odds, Sarah Palin will be elected as the next president of the United States. I know, I know, it seems ridiculous. I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't figured it out. Think about this, though. If she does get elected, don't you think that'll have serious repercussions on the economy? If you think the drop when Bush took office was bad, this one will make it look like the toss of a coin. EVERYONE in America will pull back their money from the banks, all at once, buy personal safes and store all of their money in those. People will come up short at the bank, panic will spread about the US being out of money, people will start to save rather then spend, and the economy will CRASH. With how bad it is now, this will be significantly worse than the Great Depression.
Without money and with widespread panic, the citizens of America will begin stealing and looting, just to survive. After a little while they will get accustomed to stealing and looting and be more comfortable with bigger, more luxurious items, like refrigerators and ovens. Eventually everyone will be taking anything they want. Where will the law enforcement and army men be when all of this happens? Looting, of course. Only the die hard patriots with any guts will be willing to defend the nation from thievery and they would be easily outnumbered by the rioters.
By this time, the rest of the world is feeling the burden, too. Whether America is the greatest country or not, no one can protest that it is one of the biggest spenders and one of the main cogs of the world's economic machine. So, the entire world would enter a depression, except for the third world countries. In the midst of this crisis, the third world countries, having not felt very much of this, will take this opportunity to attack the first world countries. This will cause many wars around the world to be fought at the same time, including America for a short period before the rioters and looters get too crazy to be controlled. These wars will stimulate the economies of some nations but destroy the economies of most, resulting in the inevitable, worldwide economic collapse.
So, no economy, looting and rioting around the globe, and not enough resources or control to properly start a war, let alone fight it out. Eventually everyone will calm down, realizing that everyone can have everything by just taking it. Survival of the fittest will take over for the government for a little while, then replaced by survival of the smartest, then replaced by survival. There will be brief moments of order, where the people choose someone to lead , but they will be dealt with when the people get bored of them and revert back to anarchy.
At some point, everyone will notice a peculiar thing, they'd gotten so used to the anarchy that they hadn't even noticed that there was no longer any chaos to it. Everyone did what they pleased and took what they wanted, but they are all nice about it.
People will begin producing things just to give them away to other people. In an effort to make this easier, they will make automated factories that will mass produce their product and automated delivery services so people don't have to drive so far. All products will be created in the most pleasant and efficient way, rather than the way that brings the most sales. And, eventually, everyone will be happy, and no one will have any currency or trade to get in the way of that happiness.
Over time the countries will resettle themselves and elect ambassadors to speak for them, but they will be carefully watched and moderated by the people so that they are never ruled again. This will bring the world closer together and eventually unite everyone on the planet. This ideal society will carry on as we explore the galaxy and the universe, which will take a huge leap forward without a budget to get in the way of the materials they need. As a result, the ambassadors will be brought back to coordinate with the other planets and colonies.
And, having orchestrated this entire miracle from start to finish, I will finally fulfill my dream of being President of the world.
… Wait...
Forget you read any of that.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Life Revoked
I think it’s safe to say that our future is pretty well set in stone. Not literally, of course. Scientists have found the answers to many secrets that we have been asking questions about for a long time, normal people have been finding their own answers to these same questions. Even the media has figured out that something is happening that others would like to know about that doesn’t involve ruining someone’s life. The secrets I refer to may be too hard for some to grasp, for the secrets are the keys to longevity.
Allow me to simplify this term. Longevity is, in a nut shell, the ability to live for a long time. According to scientists, people being born now have a strong chance to live to be 150 years old. In that time frame, scientists will have come up with something else to increase the life span of the populace. Already, as we are now, people in their forties can, almost literally, turn back the clock to when they were twenty. So, those people living to be 150 may only seem like they are in their seventies, by that point in time. And, since there are people alive now, going into their hundreds, seventies isn’t much. In order for them to reach the new equivalent of 100, they would probably need to reach 200, and, of course, by then they would have figured out something else.
Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I am happy to announce that your children will be able to live forever, with the new advances of science, and probably yourselves as well. Sure, at first we will live into eternity as old, frail beings, but, as time goes by, we will regain our youth and revert to whatever age we want. Eventually, you will be able to pick an age and stick with it for the rest of your life, for however long you think that should be.
Unfortunately, no good thing lasts forever, not even immortality. As the years drag on, you will become bored with your new existence. You will go to work, find you don’t know the job anymore, go to school, learn what you need to know, go back to work, lather , rinse, repeat. Eventually, the routine will become dull. One day, you’ll find yourself quitting your job because you will have become bored of it. You’ll go to a new place to work and you will start at the lowest level, not because you are inexperienced, but because you want to have the full experience and you’ve got enough money to last you for a while. It will be like you were a character in The Sims and someone turned off aging. After a while, your life ceases to have personal meaning.
Of course, boredom is the least of your worries. We all know how the government works. If anything is worth having, it’s worthwhile to limit it. Get used to the phrase, only the poor die young. It will get to the point where you will need a license to live forever. If you are productive, wanted, needed, or wealthy enough, you will gain a license to remain alive. This Living License will cost tons of money, and will be the most fought after card you’ll ever find, and yes, it will be a card. This card will fit nicely into your wallet, or fit on your keychain, depending on which one you bought. The smaller one will cost more than the larger one, because it will be made after the initial card, thus everyone will want it, which will raise the cost more. At some point, the card will be so expensive that only the richest people in the world could afford one, and only the most needed people would be given on for free. As this nightmare becomes reality, the ones who discovered the cure to death will be long since dead, not wanting to go on anymore, and those that bought the licensing rights will become rich men, live forever, having got their licenses before anyone else, and continue to get richer.
Seems like a strange and horrible future, doesn’t it? There will be quite a few people that won’t believe this. It may be hard to accept, but don’t come crawling to me when your license to live gets revoked.
Allow me to simplify this term. Longevity is, in a nut shell, the ability to live for a long time. According to scientists, people being born now have a strong chance to live to be 150 years old. In that time frame, scientists will have come up with something else to increase the life span of the populace. Already, as we are now, people in their forties can, almost literally, turn back the clock to when they were twenty. So, those people living to be 150 may only seem like they are in their seventies, by that point in time. And, since there are people alive now, going into their hundreds, seventies isn’t much. In order for them to reach the new equivalent of 100, they would probably need to reach 200, and, of course, by then they would have figured out something else.
Ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I am happy to announce that your children will be able to live forever, with the new advances of science, and probably yourselves as well. Sure, at first we will live into eternity as old, frail beings, but, as time goes by, we will regain our youth and revert to whatever age we want. Eventually, you will be able to pick an age and stick with it for the rest of your life, for however long you think that should be.
Unfortunately, no good thing lasts forever, not even immortality. As the years drag on, you will become bored with your new existence. You will go to work, find you don’t know the job anymore, go to school, learn what you need to know, go back to work, lather , rinse, repeat. Eventually, the routine will become dull. One day, you’ll find yourself quitting your job because you will have become bored of it. You’ll go to a new place to work and you will start at the lowest level, not because you are inexperienced, but because you want to have the full experience and you’ve got enough money to last you for a while. It will be like you were a character in The Sims and someone turned off aging. After a while, your life ceases to have personal meaning.
Of course, boredom is the least of your worries. We all know how the government works. If anything is worth having, it’s worthwhile to limit it. Get used to the phrase, only the poor die young. It will get to the point where you will need a license to live forever. If you are productive, wanted, needed, or wealthy enough, you will gain a license to remain alive. This Living License will cost tons of money, and will be the most fought after card you’ll ever find, and yes, it will be a card. This card will fit nicely into your wallet, or fit on your keychain, depending on which one you bought. The smaller one will cost more than the larger one, because it will be made after the initial card, thus everyone will want it, which will raise the cost more. At some point, the card will be so expensive that only the richest people in the world could afford one, and only the most needed people would be given on for free. As this nightmare becomes reality, the ones who discovered the cure to death will be long since dead, not wanting to go on anymore, and those that bought the licensing rights will become rich men, live forever, having got their licenses before anyone else, and continue to get richer.
Seems like a strange and horrible future, doesn’t it? There will be quite a few people that won’t believe this. It may be hard to accept, but don’t come crawling to me when your license to live gets revoked.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Time to hang up old red and white socks, clean out the chimney, cut down a perfectly good tree, and hang flashing lights all over it that get hot very easily right next to all of your wooden family heirlooms that were made for just such an occasion.
That’s right folks! Christmas is upon us! One of those holidays that not only let people, but encourage them to make a fire hazard in their own homes. We leave the fire place burning all night, with very flammable socks hanging from it. We cut down a real tree, made out of wood, and place wires all over it that heat up easily with lights that also heat up easily and hang glass, plastic, and wooden ornaments on this tree to suffocate the wires and lights even more. Some people actually place candles around this same tree on Christmas eve! Talk about wanting a fire! And, if that’s not enough to cause one, we can now buy fake snow to place or spray on the tree to suffocate it more! If the tree was recent, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem, but it needs to be up at least 12 days BEFORE Christmas! That’s almost half a month with a dieing tree sitting in your house, with all of these flammable or heated objects all over it, and suffocating it to trap the heat on the tree! So, we are trying our hardest to set our houses on fire in the spirit of Christmas!
And, if that’s not enough for you, we must, simply MUST, buy as many useless objects as we can to give to as many people as possible to place under this tree! So now, you are required to place hundreds of dollars worth of highly flammable material under a tree that might as well be on fire already, and keep them there as long as possible. Now the rest of the decorations must be placed, also before the 12 days start. So, by December 12th, we have lights, fake snow, wooden and plastic decorations, and anything else you can come up with in the spirit of this holiday, getting ready to set you on fire or blow a fuse, and they still expect presents to be bought. I’m convinced that the only thing keeping the house and tree from catching fire for most people is the real snow outside that is keeping everything cooled off. I’m not sure what kind of magic is used everywhere else, but it must be some good stuff to stop this blaze.
Now, this is celebrated as a Christian holiday, but it seems to have gone a completely different route. Aside from the music that hasn’t changed much since before AD, the only thing even relating to Christians or Jesus Christ is the name, Christmas! Other than that, you have a fat man, sliding down a chimney, placing ANYTHING you want under a nearly dead tree, hoping not to knock anything over or catch it on fire in the middle of the night. He flies around the world, in one night, in the direction of the sun, in a giant sleigh that’s pulled by 8 reindeer, all male, with horns, which is opposite of their standard cycle. NONE of this has anything to do with the religion or the event of Christ’s birth. The only thing left is the spirit of giving, which has become the spirit of getting! I hate to be the one to break this to the Christians, but Christmas is no longer a Christian holiday. It is now a store holiday.
Think about it. This is now the holiday for buying stuff. You buy a tree, new decorations, presents, food, cards, everything you can get your hands on! The entire holiday is about buying as much as you, and everything but some of the decorations is either disposed or given away! You spend hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars, for basically nothing! What a great holiday, eh? If you own a store, of any kind, you’ve got it made this season.
In closing, I hope you all enjoy your X-Mas holiday, the X representing the amount of money you will spend before the month is out, and give a present to everyone you know, whether you like them or not, because it’s the only way you will feel good about getting a whole bunch of stuff for free, even though what you get isn’t worth what you bought. And eat some holiday ham for me, since no one cooks goose on this holiday like they used to.
Merry Giving Day, everyone!
That’s right folks! Christmas is upon us! One of those holidays that not only let people, but encourage them to make a fire hazard in their own homes. We leave the fire place burning all night, with very flammable socks hanging from it. We cut down a real tree, made out of wood, and place wires all over it that heat up easily with lights that also heat up easily and hang glass, plastic, and wooden ornaments on this tree to suffocate the wires and lights even more. Some people actually place candles around this same tree on Christmas eve! Talk about wanting a fire! And, if that’s not enough to cause one, we can now buy fake snow to place or spray on the tree to suffocate it more! If the tree was recent, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem, but it needs to be up at least 12 days BEFORE Christmas! That’s almost half a month with a dieing tree sitting in your house, with all of these flammable or heated objects all over it, and suffocating it to trap the heat on the tree! So, we are trying our hardest to set our houses on fire in the spirit of Christmas!
And, if that’s not enough for you, we must, simply MUST, buy as many useless objects as we can to give to as many people as possible to place under this tree! So now, you are required to place hundreds of dollars worth of highly flammable material under a tree that might as well be on fire already, and keep them there as long as possible. Now the rest of the decorations must be placed, also before the 12 days start. So, by December 12th, we have lights, fake snow, wooden and plastic decorations, and anything else you can come up with in the spirit of this holiday, getting ready to set you on fire or blow a fuse, and they still expect presents to be bought. I’m convinced that the only thing keeping the house and tree from catching fire for most people is the real snow outside that is keeping everything cooled off. I’m not sure what kind of magic is used everywhere else, but it must be some good stuff to stop this blaze.
Now, this is celebrated as a Christian holiday, but it seems to have gone a completely different route. Aside from the music that hasn’t changed much since before AD, the only thing even relating to Christians or Jesus Christ is the name, Christmas! Other than that, you have a fat man, sliding down a chimney, placing ANYTHING you want under a nearly dead tree, hoping not to knock anything over or catch it on fire in the middle of the night. He flies around the world, in one night, in the direction of the sun, in a giant sleigh that’s pulled by 8 reindeer, all male, with horns, which is opposite of their standard cycle. NONE of this has anything to do with the religion or the event of Christ’s birth. The only thing left is the spirit of giving, which has become the spirit of getting! I hate to be the one to break this to the Christians, but Christmas is no longer a Christian holiday. It is now a store holiday.
Think about it. This is now the holiday for buying stuff. You buy a tree, new decorations, presents, food, cards, everything you can get your hands on! The entire holiday is about buying as much as you, and everything but some of the decorations is either disposed or given away! You spend hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars, for basically nothing! What a great holiday, eh? If you own a store, of any kind, you’ve got it made this season.
In closing, I hope you all enjoy your X-Mas holiday, the X representing the amount of money you will spend before the month is out, and give a present to everyone you know, whether you like them or not, because it’s the only way you will feel good about getting a whole bunch of stuff for free, even though what you get isn’t worth what you bought. And eat some holiday ham for me, since no one cooks goose on this holiday like they used to.
Merry Giving Day, everyone!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Dreams Come True... Unfortunately
Have you ever heard the term, “Be careful what you wish for,” thrown about? Most people use this term as a joke, but I find the meaning behind it to be very serious. Because, like it or not, quite a few of the wishes that people make come true.
You don’t believe me, do you? You’ve made all kinds of wishes that haven’t come true, right? Well, the petty stuff doesn’t matter one way or the other. “I wish I had that bike!” That kinda thing won’t happen. The wish coming true would be too obvious. However, something like, “I wish I made more money than him,” has a very good chance of coming true. The problem with these wishes is that you have to really want them. If you want a wish bad enough, it will come true, whether you try for it or not. The problem with that is, if you don’t try for it, but you really want it, you’re not going to like how it happens.
If you really want your wish to come true, and you’re willing to put forth the effort to make it come true, then it will happen, in exactly the way you wanted it to. However, if you want that wish badly, but you aren’t doing anything about it, a force takes over and redefines your reality to make it happen. If you work really hard to earn more money than that other guy, you will earn more, and be happy. However, if you don’t work at it at all, they will lose their job, and you will be making more money than them by simply continuing what you are currently doing. You won’t make any more money, they will be making less.
The trick to this is that you can’t be too specific about your wish. If you say you wanna be making $327.54 by Thursday, you’re outta your mind. If you wish you were making more money, you might get what you want, though it won’t be very much more, and even then you’d have to be working at it because it would benefit you. If you wish for something bad to happen to yourself, it may never occur. Even if you work at it, something like that is hard to pull off because nobody else would want that to happen.
I find it’s always best not to wish for anything. The more you wish, the more trouble you will make for yourself or others around you. You wish for better food, your favorite store will close. You wish for a better job, you’ll get fired. You wish to move somewhere else, your house will be condemned. If you don’t wish for anything, you can set all the goals you want and work as hard as you want to achieve them. But if you wish for it, really want it, and don’t work hard enough to get it, you won’t like how it happens.
So, I’ll leave you with these words of wisdom. Be careful what you wish for, and wish for me to have $10,000. I’ve earned it.
You don’t believe me, do you? You’ve made all kinds of wishes that haven’t come true, right? Well, the petty stuff doesn’t matter one way or the other. “I wish I had that bike!” That kinda thing won’t happen. The wish coming true would be too obvious. However, something like, “I wish I made more money than him,” has a very good chance of coming true. The problem with these wishes is that you have to really want them. If you want a wish bad enough, it will come true, whether you try for it or not. The problem with that is, if you don’t try for it, but you really want it, you’re not going to like how it happens.
If you really want your wish to come true, and you’re willing to put forth the effort to make it come true, then it will happen, in exactly the way you wanted it to. However, if you want that wish badly, but you aren’t doing anything about it, a force takes over and redefines your reality to make it happen. If you work really hard to earn more money than that other guy, you will earn more, and be happy. However, if you don’t work at it at all, they will lose their job, and you will be making more money than them by simply continuing what you are currently doing. You won’t make any more money, they will be making less.
The trick to this is that you can’t be too specific about your wish. If you say you wanna be making $327.54 by Thursday, you’re outta your mind. If you wish you were making more money, you might get what you want, though it won’t be very much more, and even then you’d have to be working at it because it would benefit you. If you wish for something bad to happen to yourself, it may never occur. Even if you work at it, something like that is hard to pull off because nobody else would want that to happen.
I find it’s always best not to wish for anything. The more you wish, the more trouble you will make for yourself or others around you. You wish for better food, your favorite store will close. You wish for a better job, you’ll get fired. You wish to move somewhere else, your house will be condemned. If you don’t wish for anything, you can set all the goals you want and work as hard as you want to achieve them. But if you wish for it, really want it, and don’t work hard enough to get it, you won’t like how it happens.
So, I’ll leave you with these words of wisdom. Be careful what you wish for, and wish for me to have $10,000. I’ve earned it.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The root of all Evil? ... or Good?
There’s a phrase that’s been going around a lot lately. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But how much of this saying is true? How often does power actually corrupt? Sure, all of the famous figures with power seemed to be corrupt one way or another. But if you think about it, the one’s that weren’t corrupt wouldn’t be famous, now would they? They would have done nothing with their power, since it never corrupted them to have it. It never crossed their mind that they could “rule the world” or have anything they wanted at their finger tips. So, another guy, just sitting there on the throne, waiting for his turn to die and let his “corrupt” child take over.
But power doesn’t necessarily have to do with ruling people. In today’s society, anywhere in the world, money is power. Whoever has the money has the power, and whoever controls the flow of money controls that flow of power. There was a poll I saw once that said nearly half of all Americans are millionaires. That means that, in the eyes of the standard American, nearly half of the country is rich. Considering that money is power, nearly half of the country has significant power. Not all of them run businesses either. In fact, most of them sit on the couch all day, letting the money role in on its own.
But how many of these people are corrupted by their new power? And what does it take to be considered corrupt? If a change in personality means you are corrupt, then yes, they are all corrupt. Most of them are now happy, rich people, rather than sad, poor people. They’re more willing to throw money around, now that they can afford it, too. But a nice guy, becoming rich, will normally stay a nice guy.
However, there are still concerns with being rich: the family will fall apart, you’ll be taxed more money effectively destroying your fortune, and it takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. These are all true under certain circumstances, but with most situations, none of them have to be true. Let’s work it backwards.
It takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. Not true. In fact, most of the people that become rich do it online, now, through surveys and freelancing. A few hours a day gets you thousands of dollars a week. Just keep at it, and you’ll become rich, and stay that way. Only problem is that it takes money to make money. Sorry poor folk, but you gotta pay people for the info on becoming rich. It seems to be a rule.
You’ll be taxed more money, effectively destroying your fortune. Also not true. In fact, as today’s standards are in America, the rich get all the breaks. And if you get rich with the method above, you can’t even be taxed upon receiving your check. Sure, you’ll still have to pay income tax and all of the other usual taxes that come from simply living, but nothing is taken from the check. So you’ll have major tax breaks and major income. And finally...
The family will fall apart. Most people think this because you get too caught up in the money to worry about them. You buy a great big mansion, a car for each person (driving or not) and everyone stays to themselves. Kids are in their sections of the house, playing by themselves or with friends, the mother is off shopping for everything her heart desires, and the father is almost always concerned with his income. Well, with the way people are getting rich nowadays, the concern with income is brought down to one hour per day. The shopping can be done online, assuming it is even needed, and who needs a mansion? Just buy a house big enough for your family size, and live like a normal person. So what if you’re rich? You want the world to know it, post it online.
So, for everyone concerned with money (power) corrupting, and tons of money (absolute power) corrupting absolutely, as long as you don’t go overboard with your newly found wealth, no corruption is going to occur. It’s when you make the decision to flaunt your money that you become corrupt.
Good rule to follow, don’t be Bill Gates.
But power doesn’t necessarily have to do with ruling people. In today’s society, anywhere in the world, money is power. Whoever has the money has the power, and whoever controls the flow of money controls that flow of power. There was a poll I saw once that said nearly half of all Americans are millionaires. That means that, in the eyes of the standard American, nearly half of the country is rich. Considering that money is power, nearly half of the country has significant power. Not all of them run businesses either. In fact, most of them sit on the couch all day, letting the money role in on its own.
But how many of these people are corrupted by their new power? And what does it take to be considered corrupt? If a change in personality means you are corrupt, then yes, they are all corrupt. Most of them are now happy, rich people, rather than sad, poor people. They’re more willing to throw money around, now that they can afford it, too. But a nice guy, becoming rich, will normally stay a nice guy.
However, there are still concerns with being rich: the family will fall apart, you’ll be taxed more money effectively destroying your fortune, and it takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. These are all true under certain circumstances, but with most situations, none of them have to be true. Let’s work it backwards.
It takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. Not true. In fact, most of the people that become rich do it online, now, through surveys and freelancing. A few hours a day gets you thousands of dollars a week. Just keep at it, and you’ll become rich, and stay that way. Only problem is that it takes money to make money. Sorry poor folk, but you gotta pay people for the info on becoming rich. It seems to be a rule.
You’ll be taxed more money, effectively destroying your fortune. Also not true. In fact, as today’s standards are in America, the rich get all the breaks. And if you get rich with the method above, you can’t even be taxed upon receiving your check. Sure, you’ll still have to pay income tax and all of the other usual taxes that come from simply living, but nothing is taken from the check. So you’ll have major tax breaks and major income. And finally...
The family will fall apart. Most people think this because you get too caught up in the money to worry about them. You buy a great big mansion, a car for each person (driving or not) and everyone stays to themselves. Kids are in their sections of the house, playing by themselves or with friends, the mother is off shopping for everything her heart desires, and the father is almost always concerned with his income. Well, with the way people are getting rich nowadays, the concern with income is brought down to one hour per day. The shopping can be done online, assuming it is even needed, and who needs a mansion? Just buy a house big enough for your family size, and live like a normal person. So what if you’re rich? You want the world to know it, post it online.
So, for everyone concerned with money (power) corrupting, and tons of money (absolute power) corrupting absolutely, as long as you don’t go overboard with your newly found wealth, no corruption is going to occur. It’s when you make the decision to flaunt your money that you become corrupt.
Good rule to follow, don’t be Bill Gates.
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