Quote of the Day: Winston Churchill

"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." - Winston Churchill

(Smart guy, Old Winny.)

Taxes, Bananas, and More!

 

Hey guys, I'm back!

Karl took the day off
today (he said it is part of his "entitlement" to have any day-off he chooses), so you have me to deal with….

Today I want to share with you my thoughts on… (Drum Roll, please)… Taxing the bananas out of people!

(Yes I actually said that…)

 

Don't worry! I will do my best to make this as interesting as possible…..

 

FIRST of all,

I think it's a brilliant scam; I wish I had thought of it first! I mean, think about it: you make someone give you money just because you happen to be a citizen of the country. I love it!

Only downside is, we have so many illegal immigrants who DON'T pay their taxes. (SHAME ON THEM! It's patriotic to pay your taxes, you know!)

 

But on the other hand, there are some people who think we are TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY!!! T! E! A!

"Kick out the aliens!" they say.

 

ALIENS!!!?!?!?! WHERE!?!?!?

Okay, so that wasn't very funny after all….yeah, yeah, I know... SHEESH!

 

I do wonder, though: what would happen to our tax-base if we ever did give amnesty to the illegal immigrants? Would THEY have to pay taxes??? And if they DID, what would they do?

 

MAYBE they wouldn't be too happy about it……and MAYBE they would leave the country! And then SO MUCH for amnesty!

 

Don't you just love the complexities of life? After all, it isn't every day when you find out that the recession actually ended in 2009….really??????????????????????

 

WOW!!! I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!

 

I feel so dumb in comparison to our dedicated
servants
in
Washington; they are so smart! Wisdom just oozes from their minds, apparently. Wish We the People were as smart as that! We can't seem to do anything right without the government's help – and it's all because of people who live in a fantasy world they have created for themselves…

When you become a victim of "government is our savior syndrome," you will suffer the consequences…

Remember the 10 principles of responsible government???

Here they are again:

 

1. Government exists to protects rights, not to create them

 

2. The legitimate power of government begins and ends with the people, while its authority comes from the Creator.

 

3. Just because a problem exists doesn't mean government should try to solve it.

 

4. Long-term and cumulative consequences should be considered more carefully than short term benefits.

 

5. Government has nothing to give anyone except what it first takes from someone else.

 

6. Individuals are ultimately responsible for governing themselves and for the consequences of their decisions.

 

7. Free enterprise, not government, is the engine of personal economic prosperity.

 

8. The free market should not be distorted by government-designed dictates or advantages.

 

9. Government has a responsibility to protect the foundational institution of society: the marriage-based, two-parent family.

 

10. Parents, not government, are responsible for the education and upbringing of their children.

(Check out the Mississippi Center for Public Policy to learn more about these principles)

 

 

You see, when you start to back away from principle, all you do is take a sledgehammer to your foundations….And we tend to do that far too often.

We have attacked our foundations to the very core, and today we can clearly see the consequences.

Don't be fooled! GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR SAVIOR. Not even remotely so…

 

Some people never learn….reminds me of my poem:

 

I wish

That you could see.

But no, you never will;

Because you never want to see

The truth.

 

(Hey it looks a little bit like a tree...Cool!)

 

Rock on America!

 

 

“Understanding the Great Manifesto” – Part 1

WELCOME!!! This is the SECOND in a series of guest posts by my DEAR FRIEND Karl Stalin, spokesperson for the Great Community, emissary of the Eternal Collective, and Chief of Staff to Big Brother. He is a very educational speaker, writer, and a master expositor of propaganda. Please welcome him as he gives us another inspirational session in civics, entitled "Understanding the Great Manifesto – Part One")

Hello once again, my dear comrades!

It was a pleasure to be able to share with you yesterday a little about the basics of Collectivism (The GREATEST form of society in the world!), and I hope you enjoy this next session as I much as I do.

This lesson will be split up into five posts because there is so much to cover!

 

Let us begin right away, then….

 

As you know, there are TEN basic foundations to a Collective Society (Oh, what a glorious thing!), and they are as follows:

1. Abolition of private property

2. Heavy progressive income tax

3. Abolition of rights of inheritance

4. Confiscation of property rights

5. Central Bank

6. Government ownership of communication and transportation

7. Government ownership of factories and agriculture

8. Government control of labor

9. Corporate farms, regional planning

10. Government control of education

 

 

We are going to examine each one of these principles during the next few sessions, beginning with the first two:

1. Abolition of private property

2. Heavy progressive income tax

 

To begin with, we will address the foundational principle that in order to have a utopian society, all private property must be abolished.

First you have to understand what this means… it DOESN'T mean that everyone is homeless! It simply means that all property belongs to the state – I mean the community! That way no one has more than anyone else, and there is no jealousy of greed…or LAND WARS! Wasn't that a movie??? Land Wars?

 

What? STAR WARS you say? Oh…….so sorry….. moving on….

Yes….well…um……..so……..

 

Right, then! No jealousy or anything like that! ALL are EQUAL!

 

WHAT???? You STILL don't understand? Oh my…. let us look at an analogy in order to get a better grasp on this:

Say, for instance, that you have a goldfish bowl, and a frisbee. The ONLY way to create true happiness and prosperity with that situation is to disallow the fish from the sole property of the fishbowl, and to disallow the frisbee from having the sole private ownership of… whatever it is that frisbee's privately own.

What, you say? That didn't make any sense at all!?

 

Well, it's like I told you: you simply don't understand the complexities of the issues at hand. That's why we must all Trust in Big Brother to lead us, and to make those decisions that only he has the knowledge, competence, and wisdom to understand.

 

All right, now that we have a better understanding of the property issue, let us now take a look at the second principle, that a heavy progressive tax must be instituted.

The REASONS for this should be rather obvious: OBVIOUSLY we must have an income tax!

The more money you make, the more you should be required to give! It's only logical, and it's only fair!

 

That's what the PROGRESSIVE part means: the more the merrier (and the more taxed). It is a very simple concept once you ponder it for a while. Basically, you can remember it as this:

To each and every citizen, according to his need, FROM each and every citizen, according to his ability…or something like that.

 

At any rate, my dearest comrades, I am trying to show you the dire need for SOCIAL JUSTICE! That is what is what the GREAT MANIFESTO is all about. It is about making all men equal, if necessary by FORCE!

Justice is blind, but Big Brother sees ALL!

He knows how to bring true happiness to our land, and we must all do our part to help reach this goal of eternal happiness and Collective Welfare.

Carry on, my fellow soldiers in this war of social revolution! In the collective we are STRONG!

A Short Lesson in Civics: Wisdom from the Far Left

(WELCOME!!! This will be the first in a series of guest posts by my DEAR FRIEND Karl Stalin, spokesperson for the Great Community, emissary of the Eternal Collective, and Chief of Staff to Big Brother. He is a very educational speaker, writer, and a master expositor of propaganda. Please welcome him as he gives his first short lecture, which he likes to call "Intro to the Collective Society.")


Greetings comrades!
It is a SINCERE PLEASURE to be able to guest post on the blog of my dear friend, El Pensador. I hope this lecture will inspire, educate, and enlighten you. But let us get straight to the point:


Imagine a world where there was no private property; where everything was state-I mean publicly owned.
….…Doesn't that sound like a MARVELOUS world to live in??? I should THINK it would! Especially if your first name is Karl, and your last name is Marx… Not that anyone would have those names… except me, of course
Just imagine…
……….Actually you can stop trying to imagine now, because there is no way you possibly could.
Instead, I shall explain it to you!


The TRUE system of economics is very simple: all you have to do is take stock of all that you own, and offer it as a gift to the Great Community. It's such a heartwarming gesture.


What?! You don't like the idea of offering up your hard-earned money to the Collective???


You must not understand the System very well then. Look, you don't need to worry about keeping your profits (or even making them, for that matter), because Big Brother will take care of you. He always has, and always will. The eyes of Big Brother are in every place, keeping watch over everything you do.


Even so, you must not be so worried about your "individuality," and concerned with only your own problems...You must focus you attention on the Society! That is what is paramount! What are the parts without the whole?
In Communal Unity we are strong!


I fear I have run out of time to explain all I wanted to about how this marvelous economic system actually works. But don't worry, I promise I shall do so in the future…
In the meantime, just continue to trust in Big Brother. He will show you the way!
Till we meet again comrades,
—Karl Stalin
(Karl
Stalin, Citizen of the Collective)


P.S. Thanks to Comrade Stalin for taking his time to share with us! We hope to hear from him again very soon!

Recreation Day: My attempt at poetry – Heaven help us all!

(Every once in a while, when I don't really feel like being smart, or approximately witty, I will have a "Recreation Day" post. This is basically a day off from all that "hard thinking," and a time to sit back and enjoy the random simplicity of life)

 

Okay, I'm obviously not the sort of person who is going to admit his utter lack of talent, so I decided I would try out poetry…

Now I don't necessarily have an INTEREST in poetry, per se (though I do have a sincere appreciation for the art), but I was just…well, let me try to explain:

 

I was studying for the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP test one fine day (more specifically looking at the glossary so I would at least know a few terms), and I came across a fascinating term:

CINQUAIN

Now a cinquain is a certain breed of poetry wherein there are five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables respectively (if my memory serves me correctly).

 

Well…if you are like me, then what you just read about the details of a cinquain should make NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! Goodness, I had no clue what that was supposed to mean!

 

Five lines of WHAT respectively?!?!?!

 

So, I decided I would try it out for myself. I actually created a cinquain poem!

 

I was so proud of myself, that I even gave it an epic title!

Would you like to see it?

…PROMISE YOU WON'T LAUGH???

 

Okay here it is:

 

Blindness Afflicted
Upon Ourselves,
by Jared Hooper

 

I wish

That you could see.

But no, you never will;

Because you never want to see

The truth.

 

 

 

I know…I know…Moved you, didn't it? This is what happens when you let a fool have too much time on his hands!

 

I think that, after this ruination of your eyes by my butchery of the poetic arts, I should make it up to you…

 

Therefore, the next few posts will be a SERIES.

what will this series be about????

 

YOU WILL NEVER GUESS! Not in a MILLION YEARS!

 

You never saw this coming! Stay tuned!!!

 

(El Pensador, over and out!)

MiThoughts on the subject of FAILURE

Do you want to be a success in your quest to help change the world? Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life! It's time we learn an essential key to success:

*FAILURE *

 

….Okay, okay, so I can tell that you are wondering: "What!!! Is this guy CRAZY!? How can you be successful by failure?"

 

Well, here are MY THOUGHTS on the subject….

 

All right, I know it may sound a little weird, but sometimes the truth is just really weird. No, seriously, it's true! Failure can be your best friend if you learn how to utilize it.

John Maxwell (THE guru on leadership), in his book Failing Forward, says that:

 

"You
are the only person who can really label what you do a failure."

 

So if you think you are a failure, you will be one. If you think that by failing you become a failure, you're wrong—DEAD WRONG!!! The whole theme in Failing Forward (a great book that everyone should read) can almost be summed up by saying:

If you aren't failing, then you aren't growing; if you want to stop failing, you are in for disappointment.

 

If you are still skeptical, consider this: Most successful businesspeople, the one who run the really big businesses, lose on average three companies before finally making it big. They know they secret to success, and that is failure. It's the world's greatest teacher!

 

Goodness knows I would know about that that…

…I remember the time when I was taking the USSF (U.S. Soccer Federation) Referee grade 8 certification test (the lower the grade, the higher the "rank")…I just KNEW I was going to pass that test! It was going to be a BREEZE! I had played soccer for about nine years already, so I already basically "knew everything" about soccer. (Keep in mind that this was my first time ever to attempt certification.)

The only problem is, what you have to know in soccer and what you have to know as a referee can be VERY DIFFERENT at times…you have to know a considerable bit more about certain concepts, and you have to remember all the little rules, technicalities, and stipulations and all that good stuff.

WELL, lets just say I didn't study quite as much as I should have for the test. you had to make at least a 74 to pass…………………………and…………………well………………….

…. ….

………………………………..I only got a 64.

 

Oh it was embarrassing alright! I was only ONE POINT AWAY from getting the lowest in the class! (I was SECOND lowest.)

So needless to say I had to take the test a little later, and I STUDIED THE BOOK TO PIECES! I passed that time, and passed every other time since then. Let me tell you, that was a lesson that failure taught me VERY WELL!

 

Naturally I have failed many other times before and since that little incident in my history, but I have always learned to appreciate what I learned from those failures. You can do the same.

 

So lighten up and smile!
If every day you wake up to write another chapter in "A Day in the Life of a Loser," you have the wrong viewpoint. You need to start over…THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!! We need to change our idea of failure, and learn to harness it for our benefit (and grow, baby, grow!).

 

It's very important that we do our best to LEARN from our mistakes (failures). Instead of failing over and over again on the same thing, try to find out WHY you failed in the first place…and it may take a few more failures to figure that out. But if you're not afraid to fail, you have nothing to lose!

So stop being afraid of failure, and wake up to find your new best friend, Failure.

 

Check out John Maxwell's book, Failing Forward, for a much better coverage on this subject. In this wonderful book you'll find out how to get a hold on your fear of failure, how to change your idea of failure, how to use failure to your advantage, and a whole lot
more—all covered in the book, and I highly recommend it. It's really had a huge impact on me.

Keep on climbing, and remember: failing
doesn't make you a failure.

How to Make Friends and Influence People…Starting TODAY!

This could very well be the most important subject in the world today. After all, EVERYONE wants to make friends and "carry some weight," right? I mean, we all want to feel important, don't we?

It's a common desire to want to be someone people look up to. Everyone wants to feel important, well liked, etc. But the problem is they go about trying the wrong way. They try to get people interested in THEM, and it makes them look vain and stuffy…and not an extremely likable person.
Then you get discouraged, and you begin to believe crazy things, like "everyone hates me," and "I'm a loser," and the list goes on and on.
But you can take the steps today to become a "someone."


Well the first step there is realize that you already
are "someone." You are very special—put on this earth by God for a reason—and you can become a person of influence. And as John Maxwell always says, "Leadership is influence," nothing more, nothing less.




But you want to know how to win friends and influence folks, right? Well the best way to make friends is to be a friend.
More specifically, you need to become the person you would want to be friends with


…for instance if you want to have honest, yet fun-loving people who care about other people (And honestly, who wouldn't want someone like that for a friend?), then you need to become a person with those qualities.


After you have accomplished that, all you have to do is learn how to deal with people.
The NUMBER ONE RULE when it comes to developing your skills in human relations is to develop a sincere interest in people.
This is PARAMOUNT! If you don't do this, then nothing you do will be able to transform you into a "people person," now matter how hard you try!


Become dedicated to becoming a "people person




There are a lot of books on this subject, and I suggest you read some of them.


Some REALLY good ones that had a huge impact on me were How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, and Be a People Person, by
John Maxwell.
These are probably the best books on the subject out there, and I have looked at quite a few of them.
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, you will learn:
-The six ways to make people like you
-The twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
-The nine ways to change people without arousing resentment…
And a TON of really great information! Dale Carnegie was probably THE GURU of his day when it came to the art of human relations, and his teachings still prove true today.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their "people skills."




You can also check out John Maxwell's blog for more info on influence and leadership. If Dale Carnegie was the human relations guru, John Maxwell is the Leadership Guru He's dedicated his life to helping people in these areas, and he's a great teacher. His book, Be a People Personis another really good resource for people who want to develop that sincere interest in other people.
I have read a lot of his books, and Be a People Person is definitely one of my favorites.


So check these books out, and start growing! You will be well on your way to being a "people person," and being fully competent to win friends and influence people.


If I were to sum up this post, and tell you the single most important thing you should know about "people skills" it would be this piece of advice:


Develop a sincere interest in other people. Remember, they
won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.


(THE WORLD IS AT YOUR DISPOSAL IF YOU ONLY LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE…PEOPLE ARE A LEADER'S GREATEST ASSET.Remember that! )

© 2010 Jared Hooper. All rights reserved

The Other Side of the Fence: 10 principles to RUN FROM!!!

ALL RIGHT,

So the last post was about 10 really good principles to live by and to make our politicians recite every night before they go to bed…

 

Well the following list of principles is a little bit different. These are the "10 Commandments" of another mindset.

Look them over and see what you think:

 

1. Abolition of private property

 

2. Heavy progressive income tax

 

3. Abolition of rights of inheritance

 

4. Confiscation of property rights

 

5. Central Bank

 

6. Government ownership of communication and transportation

 

7. Government ownership of factories and agriculture

 

8. Government control of labor

 

9. Corporate farms, regional planning

 

10. Government control of education

 

 

You don't by any chance recognize some of these principles that our government has already implemented, have you?

Would you like to know where these little principles come from? Ever heard of the Communist Manifesto?

 

That's right, these were written by Karl Marx, also known as the father of communism.

 

Beware these principles! And beware ANY government that tries to implement them…

 

(Kind
of makes you wonder what kind of shape our nation is in…doesn't it?)

How Should We Then Govern? … 10 principles every politician should learn

"Big Government," be it on the local, state or national level, could learn a thing or two from the people at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP).

They are a nonprofit, public policy organization based in Jackson, MS, and they are dedicated to promoting and protecting "the concepts of free markets, limited government, and strong traditional families."

They have a great little booklet entitled Governing by Principle: A Framework for Governing. It outlines the 10 basic
principles for responsible government.

Here are the 10 Principles in Summary: (taken from Governing by Principle)

 

1. Government exists to protects rights, not to create them

 

2. The legitimate power of government begins and ends with the people, while its authority comes from the Creator.

 

3. Just because a problem exists doesn't mean government should try to solve it.

 

4. Long-term and cumulative consequences should be considered more carefully than short term benefits.

 

5. Government has nothing to give anyone except what it first takes from someone else.

 

6. Individuals are ultimately responsible for governing themselves and for the consequences of their decisions.

 

7. Free enterprise, not government, is the engine of personal economic prosperity.

 

8. The free market should not be distorted by government-designed dictates or advantages.

 

9. Government has a responsibility to protect the foundational institution of society: the marriage-based, two-parent family.

 

10. Parents, not government, are responsible for the education and upbringing of their children.

 

 

People, we need to teach these "Ten Commandments of Governing" to our elected officials in every area of government. And we need to know these principles in order to be principled citizens.

 

It's our duty as Americans to see that we don't let our nation fall into moral decay. And it is our responsibility to keep our governments accountable for its actions.

 

Go tell it to the folks up at Washington. Go tell it to your state capitol. Go tell it to your County Board of Supervisors.

It's time we get the word out: America needs to take a stand for PRINCIPLE!

 

* Rock on, America! *

 

 

 

Uncle Sam: the great, responsible spender

So what are MY thoughts on government spending?

It's quite simple to explain, really:

(…..Please feel free to sift through all the following sarcasm if you wish…..)

I think that the government, when it comes to spending and handling finances, is a great and brilliant asset to America.

After all, we NEED all those experts up there to show why what we are doing or thinking that is wrong. Personally, I would never have known that the way to get out of dept is to borrow your way out of it – had the government not taught me this little trick of the trade.

 

I used to think that money doesn't grow on trees, and I was right. The government has proven this. Money comes from little printing presses owned by Uncle Sam, and we know it is good money because dear old Uncle Sam tells us so.

 

The average citizen is not intelligent enough to create money, and thus it is a crime to even attempt it. However, Uncle Sam knows all, so it is perfectly understandable that he should be the sole person allowed to create money.

 

The average citizen, like you and me, simply doesn't have the capacity to understand how "big spending" should take place. We just don't realize that money is just an idea…its not like we can't borrow or make more.

 

We don't understand that when it comes to our best interests, Washington knows best. It's very simple when you actually THINK about it:

 

We only see what is going on around us. We only make all the money and give it away in taxes, and live normal, boring lives. WE can't be trusted to handle big money like that.

 

And we don't want our children to have to pay for our debt because we think it is bad business. What do we, the average, simple businessman, know about business? We think we know SO much!

 

But aren't we so foolish to doubt Uncle Sam's competency! Government must spend all this money so that we can be happy.

 

The government's job is to keep us happy and safe. All we have to do in return for this gift is simply to stop thinking this nonsense that we the people know what is best for us.

 

What do we know anyway??? We are ONLY the PEOPLE!

 

Silly Americans…..