When a citizen commits a crime, they do so in trade for some of their rights. In other words, were I to kill someone, I would give up my rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness and depending on the scenario, I could lose my right to life.

This is natural cause and effect. Every action has a consequence. Certain consequences are desirable, others are not. We learn what to do and what not to do based on receiving these consequences. This is a law of the universe. It cannot be changed.


When we do try to change this law of the universe and take away consequences, we damage not only the person to whom those consequences rightly belong, but we also damage our society.

The damage to the person is that they do not learn what they were supposed to.

The damage to society is that the individual will continue to commit crimes because there is no fear of adequate negative consequence. This leads others to see a lack of negative consequence who then are more likely to commit crime as well.

What exactly the adequate consequences are for any particular crime is a topic for another discussion.

The fact that there is are not adequate negative consequences in place for many crimes is obvious by the number of citizens inhabiting prison cells. What we need is to stop thinking that citizens who commit crimes still have all their rights. They commit crime? They lose most of their rights. They commit crime, they owe a great debt to society. A criminal needs reform and they need to be able to make restitution. They need to repay their debt to society.

In other words, we need to bring back work programs to prisons. We need to rip out all the cable and satellite TV from the prisons. We need to make the food less enjoyable and more utilitarian. Nourishment is all the food should provide. College education? Why should a criminal get a college education for free when honest citizens have a hard enough time getting grants and scholarships? The education a criminal should get is through service to the community. Service and hard work is what builds character and is what is missing from society. If they do not learn it in their families or communities, prison must be the next best option for these wayward citizens.

To that end, a friend of mine had an idea. We should put prisoners to work producing electricity. Put a dynamo in every stationary bike and then hook those bikes up to the grid. Every time a prisoner pedals the bike, they produce power. Put them to work pedaling every day. Energy crisis averted!

How about roads? Prisoners used to make roads. Put them back to work making roads!

Jobs that citizens do not want to do? Let the prisoners do them.

Let us put our prisoners to work. Let them repay their debts. Let us not rob them of the valuable negative consequences for their negative actions. Put our prisoners to work! But not for money. Heavens no! Make them work for Restitution.

If negative consequences are adequate, our prisons will stop filling up. Prison used to be a punishment. These days prisons seem to be 5 Star hotels. A prisoner is released and they do whatever they need in order to get back in? Why?! Because prison is not a deterrent! It is a haven!

Please share your comments with me on this topic.

3550000000000 / 309000000 = $11,488.67/person/year

That is quite a bit of tax. Although, consider what we pay in taxes across the board in sales, property, gas, income, SS, etc, etc.

I just read some articles that I found interesting.

Tax the Rich!

“1. Poor Americans do pay taxes… including federal payroll taxes. Between gas taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes and other taxes, no one lives tax free in America.”

“[D]uring seven of the eight Bush years, the IRS report on the top 400 taxpayers was labeled a state secret, a policy that the Obama administration overturned almost immediately after his inauguration.”

“Since 1980, when President Reagan won election promising prosperity through tax cuts, the average income of the vast majority—the bottom 90 percent of Americans—has increased a meager $303, or 1 percent. Put another way, for each dollar people in the vast majority made in 1980, in 2008 their income was up to $1.01.”

Tax The Rich? 14 Facts You May Want To Consider

“The ultra-rich simply are not going to be taxed into oblivion. They will do whatever it takes to avoid high tax rates.”

“The truth is that our tax system is completely and totally broken.”

“When you crush small businesses you crush job growth in this country.

“If you wanted to truly ‘tax the rich’, you would need to completely throw out our current tax system and come up with something completely and totally different.

And actually, when you get right down to it, an income tax is not even needed to run our country. Until 1913 the United States did just fine without a federal income tax.”

“[T]he solution is to change the rules of the game so that money and financial power does not become so concentrated in the hands of just a few. Our founding fathers intended for all Americans to be able to start businesses and compete. They never intended for gigantic mega-corporations to dominate everything.”

What are your thoughts on taxes?

1) My friend lands a new job that pays a lot more than money than my job does, and it has amazing benefits, including 4 weeks of vacation.

1. I feel very excited for my friend and congratulate them.
2. I feel jealous, angry, and wonder how they get all the luck.

2) There is enough money in the world for everyone to be fabulously rich.

1. True
2. False

3) I just bought a new couch. Now the Boy Scouts are knocking at my door for $25 to help them get to summer camp.

1. I will give because I have plenty and I admire these Scouts for putting forth the effort to build character through fund raising.
2. I can barely feed my kids and that new couch was purchased on credit so I am now under a mountain of debt.

4) The news reports that the economy is in a recession, unemployment is at an all time high, and property values are down.

1. I thank God for the blessings I enjoy and look for opportunities to create value for others.
2. I feel scared, worry that I might lose my job and my house, and I stop spending money however possible.

5) I am poor. I barely have enough to make ends meet.

1. False
2. True

6) I am very richly blessed and wealthy.

1. True
2. False

7) I have thousands of dollars of debt.

1. Some of those debts were good investments and know there is a way for me to take responsibility of my bad choices and get out of debt.
2. I have nothing to show for all of my spending and I have no hope of ever getting out of debt. Bankruptcy looks very appealing.

8 ) I am eating a bag of my favorite snacks. My child comes into the room, sees what I am eating and asks for some.

1. Sure you can have some. I love to share my snacks with you.
2. No! These are mine snacks.

9) I am driving on the highway. Someone turns on their blinker indicating a desire to move in front of me.

1. I wave them in, thinking, “there is plenty of road for everyone”.
2. I speed up and give them a dirty look. My road! Mine!

In case you did not already figure it out, all the “A” answers indicate a mentality of “abundance” and all of the “B” answers indicate a mentality of “scarcity”.

We are what we think.

Scarcity is the mentality of a child. Many of us do not grow out of it, for many number of reasons. Most often we learn to stay in the scarcity mindset by example.

How do I fix a mentality of scarcity?

Scarcity is an addiction. We handle this addiction in much the same way that we handle any other addiction. The first steps are:
1 – Recognize that you have a scarcity mentality.
2 – Admit to yourself that you have a scarcity mentality.
3 – Admit to you spouse or someone significant in your life who can help to hold you accountable.

Which mentality do you have? And why?

I encourage everyone to read this speech. Here are a couple of quotes from it that caught my attention:

Too often, as a result, we overlook an obvious fact: finding the right answer is impossible unless we have asked the right question.

You just think that because democracy works for you that it will work everywhere. It only works where there is a strong foundation of this particular type of religion.

Those who seek to minimize the role that religions can play on the public stage are … seeking to minimize the very institutions that have given us our civil liberties in the first place.

The full speech can be found here: “The Importance of Asking the Right Questions”

(Thanks to Marie Norris for introducing me to this speech.)

A friend of mine had an idea and acted on it, to start a grassroots campaign to show Washington how the economy is supposed to work and give it a boost from the people who ARE the economy. WE are the economy.

Tired of waiting for Washington to patch up the economic mess we’re in? I am too. Everywhere I turn, I see or hear about Washington’s plans to ’save’ businesses, industries, communities, and the economy in general.

The only real economic stimulus is that which the citizens of this nation provide when they let go of fear and live abundantly.

I encourage everyone to “join the Green 317 movement” and together we can send a message to Washington and show them what a real economic stimulus is.

Here are some more helpful links. Podcast episodes that will help you change the way you think about money in a more positive and productive way:

• Money And The Great Paradox
• Killing Sacred Cows On Purpose
• What is Wealth?
• Real Value
• Investigating Investing

Congressman,

Tax cuts are certainly a better idea than trillions of inflated US dollars flooding the country, printed on the whim of the fed. It saddens me how many people that there is so much lack in our country. We are one of the most wealthy nations on earth, yet so many of our people think we are in a recession. I am overly disgusted with hearing about bailouts. There is so much entitlement and lack of responsibility going on in our nation right now. So much finger pointing and divisiveness.

Money is not the answer to the supposed “economic crisis” that our country is currently faced with.

Nor is the lack of money the source of the same supposed “economic crisis” with our country right now.

The problem is ignorance and a scarcity mentality. In other words, the problem is in the way people view the world around them. Any given person could have a “net worth” of a billion dollars and still feel financial insecure. At the same time, any given person could have a “net worth” of zero dollars and feel completely financial free peaceful.

It all comes down to personal choice. Either people choose to feel prosperous or they choose to feel scarce. Whatever they focus on is what they will get more of.

The feelings of scarcity are perpetuated by people believing the money myths that are constantly propagated throughout our society under the guise of “sound financial advise”.

The answer is to educate people.

Help people see how much wealth and goodness abounds in this great nation. Help people understand that how they think about money and value greatly determines how much they have of it.

Bailout’s and “stimulus packages” are small bandages on gushing wounds. Just like any “stimulant” there may be an initial increase in activity, but the effects quickly wear off and leave the users feeling even worse and often addicted.

“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him forever.”

The more people are given, the less responsibility they have. We do ourselves a great disservice by giving instead of teaching. The more we allow our government officials to run our nation, the fewer freedoms we enjoy.

The federal government should stay out of the economy as much as possible. It is not the place for federal government.

Congressman, please tell Washington to stop trying to babysit this nation. If we have a bad economy it is our fault and we need to face up to the responsibilities we have for our actions or inactions. Bailing the country out is very unwise. The country needs to bail itself out. In other words, let this people show it’s mettle! Let us, the people of the United States, show what we are made of. Let us struggle with our own hard times and tribulations, for it is only through the overcoming of tribulations that we will become stronger.

Congressman, please tell Washington to stick to maintaining the defense of this nation, both internal and external. Tell them to let the people take care of the economy.

Thank you

Write to your elected officials and tell them what you think about all of this:

Contact Elected Officials

Then, tell me what you think of my opinion.

DOES THE AUTO INDUSTRY NEED A BAILOUT?
The big three automakers say they need $25 billion in emergency short-term loans to avoid bankruptcy. Opponents say we shouldn’t reward poor management. Some in Congress say if we do provide loans we need to attach conditions such as environmental regulations or management changes. Tell Congress and President George W. Bush what you think.

(congress.org)

I Oppose the $25 Billion Emergency Loans

If you do not oppose it, then you can find the link to not oppose on your own.

This is what I told Congress:

I oppose the $25 billion in emergency loans to the auto industry because:

1) The government should not be involved in the economy. The economy is an ecosystem. When the government tries to force it’s will upon the economy, the economy suffers. Much of the economic ailments we currently endure are unwelcome side effects, if not direct results, of government intervention.

2) The economy demands survival of the fittest. If corporations have no fear of failure then they have no accountability. If they have no accountability then they will feel free to continue to make bad decisions and roll in their ill-gotten profits, while the populace suffers.

3) Economic bail-outs are a bad thing in general. The price of bad choices and failure will be paid. There is no way around it. Either those who make the bad decisions will pay it or we will pay it. If we bail them out, they will learn nothing, and we will pay the price. That is not justice, nor is it merciful to either party.

The free market is only a free market if it is not tampered with by the higher powers (ie governments). A free market has natural laws and natural consequences. If market members are not held liable for their actions, the free market breaks. If a business of any size is in trouble financially, it needs to be allowed to flounder and suffer. It is only through this trauma that it will either grow stronger or die. If some greater power intervenes, that business is ruined, and “we the people” pay the price.

Remember the story of the little bird, growing in the egg. At a certain time the bird no longer needs the egg and so it decides to try and break free of the egg. A helpful human with the best of intentions sees the little bird in it’s seemingly helpless and fatal plight. The human thinks it sad that the bird should suffer so needlessly. So it carefully breaks the egg and frees the bird from captivity. Soon after the bird dies, unable to muster the strength and will necessary to survive.

The nature of economics is the same as the nature of the bird. If businesses are not allowed to suffer then they will not grow. If businesses are not allowed to die, they will instead become a burden on society. A business by definition, should never be a burden on a society, but instead an asset.

A government should be the only business that we allow to become a burden on our society, and a very limited one at that.

If the auto industry, or any other industry (eg banks), is suffering and even dying, then they need to suffer and even die. Either they will learn the lessons they need in order to live, or they will die and leave room for a new industry. A business needs to be accountable to the consumer. If they do not please the consumer, the consumer walks and they business dies. This accountability engenders innovation.

The same goes for raising children, or even raising adults. If we are not allowed to suffer and experience trials and pains, how can we ever be expected to grow and enrich ourselves. Tribulation breeds success. The dole breeds laziness, selfishness and greed.

I beg anyone to differ with me. I would love to hear other sides to this issue.

If you are not on the mailing list for the Congress action alert mailing list, I would suggest you register. It is a very easy way to make your voice heard by those we have elected to govern our country. If you do not use your voice, the voices that Congress does hear may be ones that you do not agree with. The choice is your. Act, or be acted upon.