Q&A, Cspan, 031712
WALTER WILLIAMS, www.WalterEWilliams.com:
This last winter you had Texas cattle ranchers getting up in the middle of the night, running out feeding stray calves, trying to take care of stray calves, making this huge personal sacrifice to make sure New Yorkers had beef on their shelves.
This summer you'll have Idaho potatoe farmers getting up in the morning, doing backbreaking work, sun beating down on them.. Dirt underneath their fingernails, making this personal sacrifice, making sure New Yorkers also have potatoes.
Do you think they are doing this because they love New Yorkers ?
No, they're doing it because they love themselves. They want more for themselves.
In a free market, the way you get more for your self is to serve your fellow-man, to make your fellow man happier, to cater to his needs and desires.
How much beef and potatoes do you think New Yorkers would have if it all depended on human love and kindness?
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Sunday, March 18, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Franklin D. Roosevelt Inaugural Address 1933
an excerpt:
This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. 1
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. 3
Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. 4
True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. 5
The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. 6
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. 7
Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. 8
Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. 9
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.
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This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. 1
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. 3
Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. 4
True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. 5
The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. 6
Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. 7
Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. 8
Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. 9
Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Advice From a Mentor
"WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON'T GET YOU THERE" by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter :
Imagine that you're 95 years old and ready to die. Before taking your last breath, you're given a great gift: The ability to travel back in time - the ability to talk to the person who is reading this page, the ability to help this person be a better professional and lead a better life.
The 95 year old you understands what was really important and what wasn't, what mattered and what didin't. What advice would this wise "old you" have for the 'you' who is reading this page ???
Take your time and answer the question on two levels: personal advice and professional advice. Jot down just a few words that capture what the old you would be saying to the younger you.. pg. 221
Many older people say they were so wrapped up in looking for what they didn't have that they seldom appreciated what they did have..to find happiness NOW, not next month or next year (or when you have a more stable future) when you buy that house, or .. when I get that money..or the next achievement .. follow your dreams. Figure out your true purpose in life and go for it!..go to that exotic local that's always held your fascination, learn how to play the piano....... p.222
I don't remember where I read it but it went something like this:
What would you like your family and friends to say about you in your eulogy?
Live that LIFE
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Imagine that you're 95 years old and ready to die. Before taking your last breath, you're given a great gift: The ability to travel back in time - the ability to talk to the person who is reading this page, the ability to help this person be a better professional and lead a better life.
The 95 year old you understands what was really important and what wasn't, what mattered and what didin't. What advice would this wise "old you" have for the 'you' who is reading this page ???
Take your time and answer the question on two levels: personal advice and professional advice. Jot down just a few words that capture what the old you would be saying to the younger you.. pg. 221
Many older people say they were so wrapped up in looking for what they didn't have that they seldom appreciated what they did have..to find happiness NOW, not next month or next year (or when you have a more stable future) when you buy that house, or .. when I get that money..or the next achievement .. follow your dreams. Figure out your true purpose in life and go for it!..go to that exotic local that's always held your fascination, learn how to play the piano....... p.222
I don't remember where I read it but it went something like this:
What would you like your family and friends to say about you in your eulogy?
Live that LIFE
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