A MarketPlace of Ideas                        

I found this passage in   Obama’s women reveal his secret by Spengler and felt I just had to expand its place on the internet.  The full paragraph by Spengler is as follows: 

America is not the embodiment of hope, but the abandonment of one kind of hope in return for another. America is the spirit of creative destruction, selecting immigrants willing to turn their back on the tragedy of their own failing culture in return for a new start. Its creative success is so enormous that its global influence hastens the decline of other cultures. For those on the destruction side of the trade, America is a monster. Between half and nine-tenths of the world’s 6,700 spoken languages will become extinct in the next century, and the anguish of dying peoples rises up in a global cry of despair. Some of those who listen to this cry become anthropologists, the curators of soon-to-be extinct cultures; anthropologists who really identify with their subjects marry them. 

Indeed English is overtaking China and India.  Its optimistic to believe that languages other than English will survive in normal times. Luckily for those languages and the human experiences that generated them we will be able to plug them into our minds as the singularity approaches.   Were it not for this languages other than English would go the way of Latin.

Likely you have heard this old adage about security and liberty.  The security they talk about is economic.  Things are likely to get tougher in the near future.   We are shipping too much money out of the country for oil.   We are too dainty to allow it to be drilled on our coasts and in ANWR.   Thus things will deteriorate more until the pain threshold is found. 

Many people will want to vote for the politician that says it will be ok if we only regulate this or tax that.  These are the unDemocrats who will say anything to get elected.  Say anything to get the power.  I would like to think you as an electorate will have the sense not to listen.  But I’m doubtful about this.  You listened in the past and you likely will in the future.   The problem is this sort of thing never helps economically and in fact damages something much more precious than your temporary economic circumstances and that would be your liberty.  I know this is true.  My favorite home away from home country is Brazil.   As currently constituted Brazil has a fully implemented form of government that the unDemocrats want to have here.  The people know their government and changing it is hopeless.  Nothing will ever change in that area and the Brazilians know it.   With liberty you can improve your economic circumstances.   With economic wellbeing you can not necessarily do diddly squat about your liberty.  I know its tough to be a good soldier.  You have to be brave.  And clearly about 50% of the population lacks any impulse toward liberty. Quite the opposite.  They lick their chops at the thought of another round of incremental carving up of liberty for the sake of financial gain. 

Remember losing a job is temporary.  Living in a land of curtailed liberty is pretty much for your entire lifetime.    So don’t be dour Gus Halls who secretly long for a beer, a recliner and a black and white television.   For an inspired life you have to dream of liberty.

You own and business and you want to encourage gym usage on the part of your employees.  What is the optimum method?  Do you pay the total cost of the membership? The smartest solution is how the owner of EFDATA Bob Fitting handled gym memberships. Gym memberships were subsidized but not free. His explanation was if its free EVERYBODY signs up and they 1 in 10 uses what his company paid for. His solution? It was to charge a nominal fee large enough that you had to really WANT to use the membership or it made no sense. It was like 20 bucks a month. Just enough to make them make a decision. This is a flip side view of the same idea that people do not respect things they get for a low cost.  For example if you are too nice unless the person(s) you are dealing with are very mature and have alot of experience dealing with people you are bound to get short shrift.  Even then it pays to toughen up sometimes.  But then some people are just so sweet they are really not capable of stinking the place up. Its a delicate balance knowing when to spray.  What does Mr. Skanks say?