Welcome to Movie Monday. Make a commitment to your future self.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
WW: Charity
Welcome to Word Wednesday. The word of the week is Charity.
It seems there are three views of charity. The first view is that of, "I will share what I have when I have more than I have." The problem with that view is that we will never have more than we have. The point of charity is to give of yourself, a sacrifice, to help others. If you will only give in the abundance that exceeds your imagination. If you are reading this you are probably in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world (check and see: http://www.globalrichlist.com/).
The second view on charity is that it must be forced. This usually starts with someone saying, "Someone should do something about this!" and ending with a new government program. There are three problems with this approach. The first problem is that what one person sees as a problem another sees as the way the world should be. Two examples would be Bibles handed out in schools or condoms handed out in schools. Handing out either, funded by tax dollars and distributed through a tax funded organization, would draw cheers from some and criticism from others.
The second problem with "government funded charity" is that it is run by money that is run on third party money. For instance, if you buy a present with your money for yourself you balance cost and quality. If you buy something for yourself but with someone else's money, you look for best quality. When you buy a gift for someone else with your money, you generally look at cost. These are human nature, and there are some exceptions. Government programs are spending money they didn't make for someone else. Neither quality nor cost is a factor for them. This explains the quality of our schools, welfare programs, etc.
The last problem with tax dollar funded charities (or social programs) is that they never go away. As Milton Friedman said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." No matter how bad the program is, or unnecessary or duplicate, it will exist near indefinitely. This is especially true as it becomes the general populace come to accept and then depend on it. Take Social Security, for example. The idea was to take money from people while they work and give it to those who are "of retirement age." In theory the money was to be set aside for the worker, however, Social Security started paying out on day one. Those first recipients did not pay in as much as they got out. And then the government went and "borrowed" from that money to cover other expenditures it didn't have the money to fund.
The last view on charity is that it must be given voluntarily at a personal sacrifice. The sacrifice helps make sure that the money will actually go to help others (if I'm eating Ramon to help this group out, I better make sure it is actually helping them out). I believe this is the most effective for of charity and the best hope for improving the lives of those around us.
Go out and give of yourself to make the world better, starting in your corner of the world.
Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.
John D. Rockefeller
Show IPA
Related forms
It seems there are three views of charity. The first view is that of, "I will share what I have when I have more than I have." The problem with that view is that we will never have more than we have. The point of charity is to give of yourself, a sacrifice, to help others. If you will only give in the abundance that exceeds your imagination. If you are reading this you are probably in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world (check and see: http://www.globalrichlist.com/).
The second view on charity is that it must be forced. This usually starts with someone saying, "Someone should do something about this!" and ending with a new government program. There are three problems with this approach. The first problem is that what one person sees as a problem another sees as the way the world should be. Two examples would be Bibles handed out in schools or condoms handed out in schools. Handing out either, funded by tax dollars and distributed through a tax funded organization, would draw cheers from some and criticism from others.
The second problem with "government funded charity" is that it is run by money that is run on third party money. For instance, if you buy a present with your money for yourself you balance cost and quality. If you buy something for yourself but with someone else's money, you look for best quality. When you buy a gift for someone else with your money, you generally look at cost. These are human nature, and there are some exceptions. Government programs are spending money they didn't make for someone else. Neither quality nor cost is a factor for them. This explains the quality of our schools, welfare programs, etc.
The last problem with tax dollar funded charities (or social programs) is that they never go away. As Milton Friedman said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." No matter how bad the program is, or unnecessary or duplicate, it will exist near indefinitely. This is especially true as it becomes the general populace come to accept and then depend on it. Take Social Security, for example. The idea was to take money from people while they work and give it to those who are "of retirement age." In theory the money was to be set aside for the worker, however, Social Security started paying out on day one. Those first recipients did not pay in as much as they got out. And then the government went and "borrowed" from that money to cover other expenditures it didn't have the money to fund.
The last view on charity is that it must be given voluntarily at a personal sacrifice. The sacrifice helps make sure that the money will actually go to help others (if I'm eating Ramon to help this group out, I better make sure it is actually helping them out). I believe this is the most effective for of charity and the best hope for improving the lives of those around us.
Go out and give of yourself to make the world better, starting in your corner of the world.
Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.
John D. Rockefeller
char·i·ty
[char-i-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural -ties.
1.
generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, orhelpless: to devote one's life to charity.
2.
something given to a person or persons in need; alms: Sheasked for work, not charity.
3.
a charitable act or work.
4.
a charitable fund, foundation, or institution: He left his estateto a charity.
5.
benevolent feeling, especially toward those in need or indisfavor: She looked so poor that we fed her out of charity.
Origin:
1125–75; Middle English charite < Old French < Latin cāritāt- (stem of cāritās ), equivalent to cār ( us ) dear (akin to caress,cherish, Kama, whore) + -itāt- -ity
1125–75; Middle English charite < Old French < Latin cāritāt- (stem of cāritās ), equivalent to cār ( us ) dear (akin to caress,cherish, Kama, whore) + -itāt- -ity
Related forms
char·i·ty·less, adjective
o·ver·char·i·ty, noun
pro·char·i·ty, adjective
Synonyms
5. kindliness, consideration, humanity, benignity, sympathy.
5. kindliness, consideration, humanity, benignity, sympathy.
Antonyms
5. malevolence.
5. malevolence.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
WW: Time
Welcome to Word Wednesday. The word of the week is Time.
Time is the only real resource we have. Many people sell their time, trade time for money, and then use the money to provide for their needs and wants. The biggest difference between the poor and the wealthy is what they do with the time they've been given.
In Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant, the left side, Employees and Self Employed, trade time directly for money. Some have improved their skills and made their time more valuable. The right side, Business Owners and Investors, spend time creating income streams, thus investing their time in streams of income instead of trading for money directly.
Do we waste time, spend time or invest time. How we handle the time we have determines how our life will play out. I encourage you to invest time wisely, spend time on what matters most and waste little time.
If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
John Wooden
noun
1.
the system of those sequential relations that any event hasto any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite andcontinuous duration regarded as that in which eventssucceed one another.
2.
duration regarded as belonging to the present life as distinctfrom the life to come or from eternity; finite duration.
3.
( sometimes initial capital letter 
) a system or method ofmeasuring or reckoning the passage of time: mean time;apparent time; Greenwich Time.
) a system or method ofmeasuring or reckoning the passage of time: mean time;apparent time; Greenwich Time.
4.
a limited period or interval, as between two successiveevents: a long time.
5.
a particular period considered as distinct from otherperiods: Youth is the best time of life.
adjective
27.
of, pertaining to, or showing the passage of time.
28.
(of an explosive device) containing a clock so that it willdetonate at the desired moment: a time bomb.
29.
Commerce . payable at a stated period of time afterpresentment: time drafts or notes.
30.
of or pertaining to purchases on the installment plan, orwith payment postponed.
verb (used with object)
Idioms
32.
to fix the duration of: The proctor timed the test at 15 minutes.
33.
to fix the interval between (actions, events, etc.): They timedtheir strokes at six per minute.
34.
to regulate (a train, clock, etc.) as to time.
35.
to appoint or choose the moment or occasion for; schedule:He timed the attack perfectly.
37.
against time, in an effort to finish something within alimited period: We worked against time to get out the newspaper.
38.
ahead of time, before the time due; early: The building wascompleted ahead of time.
39.
at one time,
a.
once; in a former time: At one time they owned arestaurant.
b.
at the same time; at once: They all tried to talk at one time.
40.
at the same time, nevertheless; yet: I'd like to try it, but atthe same time I'm a little afraid.
41.
at times, at intervals; occasionally: At times the city becomesintolerable.
Origin:
before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English tīma; cognate withOld Norse tīmi; (v.) Middle English timen to arrange a time,derivative of the noun; akin to tide1
before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English tīma; cognate withOld Norse tīmi; (v.) Middle English timen to arrange a time,derivative of the noun; akin to tide1
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