I wish I could take credit for most of this...

Followers of the Musings...

In an article on CNN.COM referencing the Labor Strikes in Greece, an anonymous commenter posted the following... BradK would like to, as well as speak in the third person, endorse these ideas to the fullest. Please read this comment entitled "Food for Thought"

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Here is some food for thought. Can we as individuals, as a society and as a country do much better if we did the following?

(1) PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

a. As a teenager, each one of us should be personally responsible for listening to our parents, for focusing our energies on our studies, for taking care of our health, for keeping out of trouble, and for developing our moral character. It is during our early childhood and teenage years that the foundations of our lives are built, and it is important that each one of us builds the right foundation. A lot of our social problems today have roots in lack of sufficient and proper education, lack of marketable skills, poor personal habits that result in poor health, and a weak moral fiber.

b. As a working adult, each one of should be responsible for working hard, being productive, and saving for our futures. Each one of us needs to be ambitious, work hard, work smart, and be entrepreneurial. Ensure that you earn more than you spend. Spending is most of the time in your control. Moderate it to levels that you can comfortably afford. Invest wisely. Build a nest egg for your rainy day, for your retirement, for your children’s education, and for your parents’ care.

c. When married, each one of us should be responsible to our spouses. Make a commitment to somebody else only when you are sure you want to spend the rest of your life with the other person. A lot of social ills today can be traced back to broken families. Every successful relationship requires give and take. Make sure you find the right middle ground with your spouse.

d. As a parent, each one of us should be responsible to and for our children. If we cannot be fully responsible to our children, then it is a shame to have them. And if you cannot be even partially responsible for the costs of your children, then we should not have them. As a parent it is our responsibility to personally provide early childhood education at home. You don’t need a school to teach your children ABCs and 123s. Children learn fast when they are taught early. Stop expecting the government, i.e. your neighbors, to pay for your children’s education. K-12 education in parochial schools can cost as little as $500/month. Cut back a little on your lifestyle, forego eating outside if necessary, but pay some part of your child’s education even if you cannot pay the entire amount. Save up for your child’s college through tax-free plans. Encourage your children to save up the money that they make in their summer jobs for their education. You will be successful in doing this if you have taught them the right values. The value of education, the value of money, the value of self-help, the value of having good habits in life and the value of a strong moral character. And you can teach them these values only by living those values yourself in your lives. You have to lead by example. If you don’t want your child to smoke, drink, waste money or party late nights, make sure you do not do the same.

e. As an older adult, each one of us should be responsible to our parents. It is time for us to repay them for the sacrifices that they made for us during their lifetimes. Do not forsake your parents when they need you. Living with your parents is not ‘uncool’. Taking responsibility for them and providing shelter for them is the right thing to do. If your parents need your help, and if you are not wealthy enough to pay for separate accommodations for them, then bring them into your house and enjoy living with them. Do not let them become charitable cases. It is a shame on you if your parents are totally dependent on some charitable organizations or the government, i.e. your neighbors, through section 8 housing and social security checks. Having your parents with you has a lot of benefits. Grandparents are a great influence on your children. They can help you in bringing up your children and reduce or eliminate your childcare costs. They can take over some home responsibilities and give you more time to go out and earn more.

f. As a grandparent, each one of us should be responsible to ourselves, and to our children and grandchildren. Make sure you spend your retirement nest egg carefully, and to the maximum extent you can, live within those means. Be gracious in accepting help from your children. It is better your children help you rather than neighbors and strangers. If it is possible for you to do so, help out your children by taking care of their kids. You are a great influence on the grandchildren. Help the parents in bringing up your grandchildren as good productive citizens.

g. Take good care of your health throughout your life. It is the biggest wealth you will have. Healthcare is not about just going to doctors and hospitals. Healthcare is about each one of us eating right, exercising right, sleeping right and living right. Abusing our bodies with junk food, overeating, smoking, drinking, drugs, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise will invariably lead to bad health, no matter what type of doctors and hospitals the nation provides.

h. Throughout our lives, continue to educate ourselves. Education does not stop with a bachelor’s degree… and definitely not with just a high school degree. Times change, technology changes, business environment and opportunities change and life changes. It is the responsibility of each and every one to continue to educate ourselves (not necessarily get additional degrees) to acquire new skills that will make us more productive and more valuable in the marketplace.

(2) SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

a. As business managers and business leaders, make sure we do right by not only our investors but also by our community and our country.

b. Be generous. According to your individual capabilities, without unduly burdening yourself, contribute to good charitable organizations that help the poor through programs that promote education, jobs, health etc. Your contributions could be in the form of your money, time, or talent.

c. Pay your fair share of taxes. Even a person making only $1000/month can pay $10/month and get the satisfaction that they contributed towards building our nation. If you feel the tax structure is not fair, then through our democratic process elect officials who will make it fair.

d. Look for waste and abuse in our government and in our communities, and shine the light of truth on them. Bring them to the attention of the larger public and work towards eliminating them.

e. Lead or participate in causes that is close to your heart, and are for the larger good of the community, your country and your world.

(3) PRINCIPLES AND HABITS

a. The principles that you lead your life by are very important. Universal morals and truths should drive our principles. Come up with a set of principles that your conscience can comfortably live with, and live by those principles. In formulating your principles, please remember to treat others as you would want them to treat you.

b. Everybody’s principles are not the same. We have to live harmoniously in our society and country. Therefore learn the art of compromising in coming to agreements that affect the entire society. Don’t try to impose your principles on others through force or through the power of the government. A majority imposing its principles on the minority will lead to unrest.

c. Humans are creatures of habits. Habits in turn make you successful or a failure in what you do. Identify the habits that will make you successful at work and in your personal life and inculcate those habits.

(4) ENTREPRENEURISM

a. Even if you are working for some company and not for your own business, always think and act like an entrepreneur. Think of it as your own business, and put your pride, passion, talent and energy into it with full gusto. You will be well rewarded for it.

b. Cast away the ‘employee’ attitude. Truly care for your company and your colleagues. If you start thinking like an owner of the company, you will soon become one.

c. Look for ways to innovate, be cost-effective, more productive and to gain a competitive edge. This is what will make you successful as an employee, as an executive or as a business owner.

d. Be entrepreneurial and see how quickly your future will be in your own hands.

(5) GOVERNANCE

a. Self-govern. Make sure you do what is expected of you and more at work. Make sure you do what is expected of you and more in your society.

b. Governance is a necessary expense. But it does not have to be a hugely burdensome expense to us. If more people in a company govern themselves, the company will become more competitive and successful. If more of us in this society govern ourselves and live by the laws, and if more of us take care of ourselves, then the cost of governance and government will come down. Unless we do that, we will continue to have increasing costs of governance and government, to a point where it is no longer sustainable.

(6) ENTITLEMENTS

a. Know that ‘none’ of us are entitled to anything. If you feel you are ‘entitled’ to something, you are fooling yourself. Others will only give lip sympathy to you and your entitlement attitude will get you nowhere other than the bottom of the social ladder.

b. Entitlements are a disincentive for hard work and progress. If each of us felt that we are entitled to receive a section 8 home and a charity check through the courtesy of the government, i.e. our neighbors, then where is the incentive to work and succeed?

c. Accept the entitlements you receive with gratitude, and strive to get off of the entitlement rolls ASAP through your motivation and work. Remember living off of entitlements is not better than being a beggar. Somebody else is paying for your keep.

(7) MYTHS

a. That politicians will solve our problems, or will tell us the truth. They will mainly do the things that will get them elected and reelected. How many of them have had the guts to tell the American people that we are causing our health care crisis by our own profligate behavior? How many of them have told us that we should be primarily responsible for our own children, and that government is not the one that should be primarily responsible for the welfare of our kids?

b. That the government will take care of us from cradle to grave. We the people are the government. We have to take care of ourselves. All our entitlements programs are stretched thin.

(8) YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

a. Yes you can make a difference. If each one of us starts taking personal responsibility for our lives, our society will soon change dramatically. Remember little drops of water makes a mighty ocean.

b. Don’t be distracted or upset by others who are not taking responsibility for themselves. Lead by example. Soon others will also come around. It takes only one lit candle to light a million other candles. Be the source of light for others.

c. Be kind and sympathetic to those that are less fortunate. Help them light their own candles so that they can also become a source of light for others.

d. Change the lazy and irresponsible by being a role model for them to emulate. Bring them towards responsible ways through your leadership.

e. Make your company, your community, your country and your world better off because of your actions. Measure your self-worth by what you do for others and what you build.

(9) TRUTH

a. Whether you like it or not, in a poker game and in life, you have to play with the cards you are dealt with. Remember that the cards you are dealt with initially are not the ones that you will end up with in life. There are thousands of rags to riches stories, and likewise riches to ashes stories as well. Where you will end up in life has less to do with what you were dealt with initially in life, and more to do with what you personally make out of life.

b. It matters not how much you accumulate in your life. At the end of our lives, all of us take with us the same amount, which is absolutely zero. What matters is how you have lived your life and if you are happy and content during your life. Happiness and contentment has less to do with what we have and more to do with who we are. Happiness and contentment come from within and not from outside.

c. You are loved by others for who you are and not for what you have. You may have a lot of ‘friends’ who flock around you during fair weather. But are they really friends?

d. You will be remembered for what you do for others and not for how much you made for yourself. Do you personally care for somebody who is rich, or do you personally care for somebody who is good to you? Were Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King rich? Does not humanity admire Bill Gates more after he gave away his billions to charitable causes?