What made America Great...and is needed today!

Good Morning!

I have been thinking about what it will take to return our country to the greatness that it once enjoyed.  This is the challenge that our representatives (presidential candidates, Senators and the like) will face in the next few years.

It is THE most critical issue and it can not be laced with political rhetoric any longer...it demands the right action...

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One of my "Epiphanies of the Utter Obvious" is... 

"...History is a loving teacher...and she'll patiently repeat herself...until we learn the lessons that she wants us to learn!"

Albert Einstein is given credit for a quote that goes somewhat like this...

"Insanity is doing things the same old way and expecting different results..."

The political challenge is much deeper than addressing the nature of our economy...

It is all about what our society has become...

...SPOILED...

Our majority has been lead to believe that they are entitled to more than they have earned...

That there is a bigger return for the price that they have paid...

The fact is that every expected return has a cost!

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History is trying to teach us a lesson...RIGHT?

I think that it is to "learn from our mistakes and leverage (repeat those things that led to ) our successes..."

This begs the question...

Why do we constantly think that we have to invent something new?

"...nothing is new under the sun..."

What was is and will be...until we learn the lesson that "History" is trying to teach us!

The problems and challenges are the same...the antidotes are the same too!

Yet we remain arrogant and stubborn!

How long will we allow our egos to drive our problems solving strategy?

I think that it would be much easier if someone would just say..."let's just go with what we are good at!"

What do I mean?

Let's dig a bit deeper!

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Deeply embedded in every challenge is the answer!

These issues need to be addressed with logic and facts...it has to be solved with "the past" keenly in mind...this is a world completely controlled by cause and effect...

Don't think that you can break the immutable laws of nature!

Every effect has a cause...

Every achievement has a cost!

The higher the aspiration...the higher the cost!

If there is an attempt to repeat what was attempted in the past and it was a failure...and we expect different results from doing the same thing...

...you know what we should think about that!

If there is an attempt to repeat that which has worked in the past...and we expect the same results...

I would call that common sense!

It is that simple!

Let me repeat...

"...Nothing is new under the sun..."

Failed attempts were precipitated by flawed logic...and will fail in the future!

Successful attempts were the result of calculated and correlated Cause &Effect...

...now that I have laid a foundation...

Let's get down to the facts

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America was built by a few people...it was occupied by many who helped...not vice versa!

The upper class was and is the upper class because they earned it...somehow...

The middle class was and is the middle class because it is where they choose to be...

Yes there are many who aspire to rise but do not want to pay the price...

There are a few that want to rise...who use that desire to rise...and do so...

But those who do are a minority!

They do not need to be punished for their aspirations...but rewarded...

Cause and Effect!

Behavioral Psychologists tell us that rewards are a good motivator...

Reward those who succeed and they'll continue to strive...

Punish them and they'll quit!

I would...wouldn't you?

The rich are rich...

They chose to be that way and worked for it...

The middle is the middle...

They chose to be that way and worked hard enough to get it...

There is no "glass ceiling"

It is a deception of self...a jaded excuse for stopping...

It is admitting that they were not willing to pay the price for what they wanted!

It is entitlement...so sad!

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But you may argue that it was the needy who made America great...

Let's seriously consider...

Who built America?

When I think about it...it is a short list...

Cornelius Vanderbuilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, J. P. Morgan, John D, Rockefeller...

That was then...

There are a "New Few" now...

Yes these men rose from obscurity and followed their dream...

They desired to be rich...

They were afforded that opportunity...by our government...

They provided jobs and built industry...

They are among the few who aspired to have the following inscriptions on their headstones...

"I wish I spent more time at the office..."

All of the others lives (the middle class, et al) were made possible by the few who aspired for wealth and greatness...and put that desire ahead of all of their other priorities...

How many would truly give up their free time and family for the sake of wealth?

Who would dedicate their entire life to serve a business or an industry...

It is the relentless few who made America great!

It is not the middle class...

The middle class was made possible by the rich few...

Let's not deceive ourselves...

We are not entitled to wealth or opportunity without a cost...

The cost is HIGH...the sacrifices are HUGE...

So high in fact that many will not attempt because they are not willing to sacrifice their other priorities...

We have to make it worthwhile for the few who were and are willing...to make America great and reap a reward for doing so...

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This is the crux of our society...

Distributing wealth and opportunity does not work...

Not long ago there were 12-14 countries operating under this system...

Now there are 4...that are faltering at best...

Why did they fail?

Their governments went bankrupt...they lost support and enthusiasm...

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What is history trying to teach us?

We are surviving because of what we were...we emphasized free enterprise...

What history shows is that industry is built by people of high aspirations...and focused vision...

It is those "few" who employ the majority...

Is is "the few" who built the land of opportunity...

It is "the few" who had jobs waiting for the shiploads of immigrants that landed on our shores!

Alfredo Pareto learned that many years ago...and it holds true today...it is the 80/20 rule!

In my experience...I have seen few, if any, of the middle class employ people in numbers of sufficient numbers to effect our economy...

It is "the few" who made America the "land of opportunity..."

The "bell curve" shows us that these type of people are rare and "not normal"

...they are people of the "tails" and not people who among the majority...

Although we would love to believe that we are capable of the performance of "the few"...let's not deceive ourselves...

The majority are in the majority because they can not or do not want to do the things that are necessary to build economy changing businesses...the kind of businesses that employs a nation...the kind of businesses that make it possible for others to rise...the kind of business that makes it possible for America to invite the under-privileged with open arms...

Although I am often angered by the fact that it appears that "the rich" get all of the breaks...it is actually a reward for "what they have done and do for our society..."

It is an incentive to do more of what they have done...

The fact of the matter is...you want those tax breaks...work hard and get rich!

I do not know of a tax law that gives a specific individual or company (by name) a tax break...

When you achieve a certain level of success...you get the breaks!

You want those breaks...go and get them...

Sacrifice...PAY THE PRICE...

Earn them!

Some may argue that "enough is enough" and it is time to give the breaks to the "lesser people"...

We can do that...it doesn't hurt the rich...those who have acquired all they need to live opulent lives...

If we begin to punish them for their efforts...they'll just pull in their investments...live off what they have...stop growing...or move to another country...

That leaves us without a growing economy...

All of that "BIG TALK ABOUT EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION" may sound like a great thing to do...but it simply buys votes that are offset with excuses in the future when the promises can not be fulfilled...

I also believe that there should be rewards directly related to the cost or investment...made by the people who paid the price...regardless of current status...

Those who pay a bigger price should get a bigger return...

I could rant on this topic for volumes...

Let's close this thought with a quote from a VERY famous Democrat President...an individual who made that party proud...

"...ask not what the country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country..."

It is not time for to attack the "New Few"

It is time to realize that we are NOT entitled to anything that we have not earned...

EVERYONE HAS EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO THE TAX BREAKS...

It is time to "man-up" and sacrifice our self-deceptions and excuses for failure...and admit that we have what we worked for...

Another "Epiphany of the Utterly Obvious" is...

That many people fear that all they have is what they are going to get for what they have given...the fact is...they are right!"

You want more...WORK HARDER...

Stop asking the country to do more for you and ask what you can do for our country!

Enough Said!