Untitled...

I don't really have a specific topic yet so I thought I would just write a little bit and see what comes out. It's been awhile since I've written anything so I just wanted everyone to know that I am still alive and thinking about writing on my blog -- I just haven't done it. My not-so-busy life got a whole lot busier when I started my full-time internship a few weeks ago, which is normally more than 40 hours a week plus at least half an hour commute each way, sometimes more depending on traffic. The day after I started the internship the tutoring company that hired me a couple months before finally got a placement for me so I agreed to be a math tutor for a couple of hours each week. Then I also started training a couple of hours every week for a job that I will get after my internship ends. Today at church another person asked me to be a Spanish/geometry tutor for their daughter and I agreed to that so that's another couple of hours of work each week. (But money is money when you only get a stipend for your internship...)

I had said that I was going to write a few posts about the topic of money but I haven't come up with any brilliant ideas lately so maybe I should stop announcing beforehand what I am going to talk about in the next post since that hasn't been working out for me thus far. To not just drag on about nothing I think I will just leave a quote for thought and call it good. This quote was by the American revolutionary Thomas Paine:

"Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another… It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man.” (P.P.N.S., p. 134)

I think about this in the context of "the right to" vs. "entitled to" Does every man have a right to health care or is every man entitled to health care? (or you could choose a different issue such as property or education etc.) Do you think there is a difference?

Ooops...

Is there anyone in your life who is constantly making silly and stupid mistakes? In my life, that person is me. I never recognized it really until I met my husband, oddly enough, so maybe he has somehow influenced me but it seems like he never makes any mistakes. That is really hard for me sometimes because I feel foolish when I make mistakes and it can be really difficult for me to take criticism, which is what I always interpret laughter to be when I am the cause of the laughter. But, because this blog is about doing things that are "scary" and out of my comfort zone, I decided that sharing a personal vignette would fall into that category. Having recently moved to the great Northwest living about 20 miles outside of downtown Portland (where we work and go to school), transportation with just one car between two people becomes an issue. Fortunately, when we first moved here I met a really generous family at church who offered to let me borrow their extra car for awhile. After about 3 months of using their car I felt like it was time to give it back. Then they informed me that they decided to sell the car so I really had to give it back. In thinking about transportation options I decided that I would like to be part of the bicycle commuters community that is HUGE in Portland. So began the bicycle hunt. After agreeing on a price range with my husband we decided that craigslist would be the best route for searching. I started trying out at a lot of bikes but nothing fit me quite right. Then one day I found a super great deal on a nice bike. I tried it out and was instantly in love. Even though the asking price was slightly higher than Ken and I had originally planned on we agreed that it was a good deal. This past Saturday I excitedly picked up the bike, paid the man, and went home. Naturally, that evening I couldn't wait to go out for a bike ride. The bike was super light and a really smooth ride. Everything was going good until I started up a hill. I went to shift down a gear and ...what?! This is a SINGLE speed?! How did I buy a bike without realizing that it was a single speed?! I was so shocked and disappointed and frustrated and any other word you can think of that I might have been. I really don't know how it happened but I can only guess that in my intense infatuation with the bike I didn't realize that I had never checked the gears liked I had done with the many other bikes I looked at. Obviously the bike still work but it really stinks for living on a hill.

I had to try really hard not to be offended when Ken laughed. I know it was funny. I would have laughed at someone else if it had happened to them too. So this is me trying to get over people laughing at my mistakes, especially when they really are funny.

Now your turn; what stupid things have you done lately?

Money is the root of...what?

Once upon a time I read a book that literally changed my life. Until I had devoured "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand I could not have put into words what I already knew to be true about many different topics such as the value of work, what charity is and is not, the role of government and the role of money. This book helped me find clarity on these issues and much more. I think the overall message of this book is what would happen to this country if people were not allowed to use their innate ability to be creative and to produce through hard work. That might seem a bit strange or that it could never happen in a free country but you'd be amazed at how similar a chord this book strikes with the policies that are guiding our nation at this moment. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to look past a bit of swearing and sexual content. One of the powerful speeches from this book is given by one of the great industrialist characters in response to overhearing a comment that money is the root of all evil. I'd like to devote a couple of posts to elaborating on this topic.

So first, what is money? Money is simply a medium of exchange for goods and services rather than using a straight-up barter system. For example, if I want a loaf of bread from the bakery and the baker happens to need 4 eggs but I only have 2 gallons of milk then I can give the baker money, which he can then use to buy his 4 eggs from another farmer. That farmer may not want bread but he wants some milk so he can take money from the baker and give it to me in exchange for the milk that he wants. I in turn can use that money to buy some more bread or any other product that I happen to be desiring. Money represents exchange of products. Money saves time. With a barter system you would have to spend time finding someone who has exactly what you want and is willing to exchange it for something that you have and that you are willing to give up. This would not be an easy task. By using paper money men trade what they value; they trade hard work, effort, and their minds.

This form of trade by means of money is what Rand calls "the code of the men of good will." It is "the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value." This process of exchange of money for effort and effort for money is in fact the blood life of society. It requires men to recognize that they must work for their own benefit and progression. "Is this what you consider evil?" Rand asks. And to those who say well, actually it's the love of money that is the root of all evil Rand responds that to love is to know and love the nature of something. Therefore, when I acknowledge that money is created only through the power of the best within me, through my effort, then I am a lover of money because I am willing to work for it and I will know that I deserve the money that I make.

Again, money is the life line of the society which we hold dear. It is "the barometer of a society's virtue" or in other words, if a society is honest and hard working then there will be a lot of money and a lot of exchange. Those who are willing to put effort into making money through the power of their mind and their will and their physical labor are those who sustain society. As pointed out by author economist and author Richard Maybury in his book "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" the American nation was the first to use the phrase "to make money." (For example, in Spanish the phrase for making money 'ganar dinero' literally translates into 'win money.' You may know more examples.) Our great nation was built on the backs of self-made wealthy men who made money because they worked hard, not because they conquered it. They loved money.

The opposite of those hard workers are the people who expect to receive a lot of money in exchange for mediocracy or privileges in exchange for nothing. They would rather use force (weapons or laws) to steal money rather than to actually put in effort to produce. These are the leaches on society that drain it. These are the people who promote the idea that money is the root of all evil but would sell their soul to get a hold of a little bit of it. They do not truly love money, they hate it.

Therefore what? Let us not be leaches demanding that we receive the benefits of the efforts of those who have rightfully earned their money. We must respect money and the power that it gives us through our honest efforts to produce. Let us be deserving of the money that we make.

For a full script of this spectacular speech click here.