Please note that while the following begins with truths found in the Bible, this is not a religious discussion. Galatians 6:5-10 reminds us that what we reap, we will sow. Some have called this the “Principle of the Harvest,” others try to frame this discussion as Isaiah proclaimed (Isaiah 10:15) “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.” Each iteration proclaims the same truth, where you invest, you shall gather the interest thereof.
I could stop right here, and the entire lesson will have been taught to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. However, there is something else I wish to communicate and will beg your attention a little longer, dear reader, for the principle of added upon does more than merely render unto a person that which they carefully sowed.
As a child, I grew up in a home full of abuse. Mental, sexual, physical, spiritual, if you can name the abuse, we suffered it. Carefully sown, this abuse has grown bitter fruit indeed. Except, those who planted were not only my parents; the fruits were bitter indeed for the receiver of the abuse and the deliverer of additional abuse. Shortly after working out a plan to commit suicide and failing, boy did I feel like a loser; I came to my senses and committed to breaking, forever sundering, the chains of abuse. I would not have my children raised in the turmoil, abuse, chaos, hate, strife, and pain I was raised in.
See, the investment principle is powerful. Interest must be paid, and the principle of added upon works like this:
If I act in a specific manner, it will be observed by those around me, and they will multiply my behaviors (for good or ill) 10-fold. Those who see this second generation of behavior will imitate that behavior 20-fold, multiplying and forever working to exceed the earlier behaviors observed.
The principle of added upon works in other ways. In the 90s, I read a research report about how high school students who thought cheating acceptable stole from their employers. But, the children of those who stole from their employer took the behaviors of theft and added upon them to steal purses, rob stores, murder, lie, and cheat, all with no abandon. The interest came from the behaviors of the original sin of cheating on a test in high school, and the fruit destroyed potential lives.
But, I am not without hope in discussing the principle of added upon, as the reverse also occurs. A dear friend of mine was raised by his single mother, his father was an alcoholic, and there were generations steeped in abhorrent behavior. Yet, my friend broke the chains, invested in learning, and his children were free of the evils of abuse, alcoholism, and sexual abuse and were raised in a nuclear family. My friend worked exceedingly hard and continues his efforts to protect, teach, guide, mentor, and build his children into productive and valuable members of society.
The principle of added upon holds such power as to bloom potential in the darkest abyss, bringing light, life, and deliverance to future generations. Why is this important right now; America is in trouble. Too many have sown seeds of destruction and are reaping the whirlwind as natural consequences. Too many broken homes, too much welfare destroying the principle of work, too many imaginations have uprooted common sense and decency for the politically easier path, and so much more. Personal interest fuels wars, contention, strife, and every social ill from coast to coast.
Consider this, the government “Of the People, By the People, and for the People” has intentionally been sown with seeds of complacency, bureaucratism, hate, envy, strife, malice, and abuse of all kinds and flavors, done in the name of securing power and personal wealth. That which the government has sown is being reaped in her citizenry, and the citizen’s tears must be answered by those wielding government power for personal gain.
Much has been written about Liz Cheney’s recent loss, and the personal wealth garnered while serving in the US House of Representatives. Some have called this karma; others believe it is a heaven-sent miracle. I hope that which she reaps will build a new person. How many of us are in a similar position? We have sown, and are praying, hoping, wishing that the fruit of our labors is not bitter?
I have some suggestions, and I hope you may find peace in some of all of these thoughts. Please take the time to learn, and choose the seeds you sow more wisely.
- If you hate who you are right now, do you want to change? Do you desire the ability to change with every fiber of your being? Do you want to change your consequences? If the answers are YES! Then make a choice to change, and start rooting out the seedlings sown. This alone is a good first step, but it will not be easy; yet I echo words from the master teacher, it IS worth it!
- Start RIGHT NOW! I cannot emphasize this point enough. Procrastination is the enemy of change, as surely the enemy of food is a starving beggar. How do you start? Forgive yourself, commit to change, and begin acting. Even if you think you are incapable of changing, let the desire feel your mind, write down your ideal person, and start rooting out the weeds and bad behaviors of sown seeds.
- Ask for forgiveness, and render forgiveness. Saying sorry and committing to not repeating destructive behaviors are HARD. But, the German axiom is well remembered, “The hard IS good!”
- Forgiveness will eventually bring the fruit of forgetting. Please, be kinder to yourself and others, forgiving and repenting daily. How do you change the past; you practice forgiveness and repentance in the present, and the future will shine brighter, eventually.
I was privileged to hear a person speak about hourglasses in my youth. When trying to change, we are in the bottom glass, and there is plenty of room. But, as we swim against the tide coming down, the space diminishes until we are in the neck of the hourglass. If we can but hold onto the change we desire, then as we exit the neck, still moving upwards, we get a little more space from the problems and troubles, the tide pulling against us lessens as we get further from the neck, and the added room provides places of safety. The hourglasses stacked on top of each other form the pattern, and we can succeed gloriously, as we were not created to fail!
If you need more help, confidence, or a shoulder to lean on (but not rest), choose someone as committed as you are to change and make them central in your life. You CAN do this! Believe, and then go to work!
© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.
PSA: I am not a cynic; I understand the concepts being discussed, and it might appear that I am cynical about insurance companies by the tone of the writing. Please note, I am generally in favor of the insurance industry. However, when government mandates insurance coverage to spread the risks out for the benefit of the insurance industry, insurance has become a tax. When a business offers insurance, but the co-pays and the costs are too high, insurance is no longer a benefit, and I want the option to opt-out of the employer “benefit.”
Interest, in this usage is referring to the advantage to a group or single person, as well as improving one’s welfare. Maritime shipping would take on several loads, and people who owned those loads had a vested interest (having a personal stake in something) in seeing that ship arrive on time at its intended destination. For example, sugar has been a huge commodity in history, and a sugar mill would ship the sugar to destinations for sale. People interested in improving their welfare could invest in the sugar mill, or with a higher risk, expecting a higher return, invest in the shipping company, or the ship. Thus, investing became one where opportunities to increase interest became popular.
One final point, government’s have interests, generally traced to those paying the highest taxes, or with the most political connections. Government’s do not have allies, as much as they have groups of governments that share a common interest. For example, countries belonging to NATO. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and was designed for those countries with interests in seeing trade safely through the North Atlantic. Not all the countries in NATO are friendly with all the other countries, but the common interest in seeing trade and markets operate smoothly has generated NATO and kept it alive since 1949. Government never has friends; they only have relationships based upon mutual interests. These are cogent points that must be remembered! Incredible as it seems, interests change, and when interests change, relationships between countries and governments force ideological changes, and today’s relationship might not be the same tomorrow, which is one of the reasons why the United Nations is such a pile of hypocrisy and uselessness!
Hence, lawyers and bankers have a vested interest in seeing insurance companies not have to pay claims, but still collect premiums. Thus, contract law was established, and the insurance companies took full advantage of language to protect their premiums from paying a claim. Another growth industry directly tied to the insurance industry, was special courts for hearing claims and awarding damages (Tort Law). Cornell Law university provides some clarity on tort law, “A tort is an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability. In the context of torts, “injury” describes the invasion of any legal right, whereas “harm” describes a loss or detriment in fact that an individual suffers.” Placing insurance companies squarely into the middle of tort law, and thus opening up new avenues for protecting against paying a claim from the premiums paid and invested.
Important to understanding, Carl Marx and communism uses the ideas of mutual insurance companies to create a society where all share the risks, all benefit in the gains, at least in theory. However, like insurance companies, someone in communism must enjoy all the benefits for taking the risk of establishing the community, and the reality of China, Cuba, and USSR become evident. Where the leaders take everything for themselves, and the regular people live in squalor and depredation.
With all the ties to investing, savings products, and the flow of money into and out of an insurance company, the discussion of insurance companies remains critical. Especially when the government can create an insurance company, then mandate that company be used to provide coverage, creating a tax and fee that the taxpayer might not realize. For example, around the time that states began demanding drivers have car insurance, GEICO began selling policies to non-government employees. GEICO is an acronym for Government Employees Insurance Company, and by selling policies to non-government employees, the government is able to reduce the risk of insuring their employees. Thus, an argument can be made that the government only created GEICO to reduce the risks of insuring government employees, as well as benefiting from a flush of cash from premiums paid.
Both Lloyds of London and GEICO leave me worrying for taxpayers. However, since the US Government is the only provider for some types of insurance, specifically flood insurance, which is mandatory for homeowners living in a flood plain, one must ask more questions about where the money goes and why? What steps have been taken to protect the public from large scale incidents where the insurance company will have to make massive payments? What does the government invest in to protect the premiums paid against the time of claims?
America, when it comes to cash flow, money, and government fiscal policy, we need answers. We need the elected representatives to understand basic economics, and we need to hold a tighter rein on those elected representatives. The current fiscal health of America is poor, solely because of the elected representatives and their bureaucratic minions. We must have a solution that protects America, and this solution needs every citizen involved and engaged.
Do you understand money? Honestly, is how money is created, used, and tracked understandable or a complete mystery? I have advocated for economics to be taught in high school to understand the actions of government since I was in high school. I was forced to take a class to write checks, balance a checkbook, and other simple economic topics in US Army Basic Training. I thought I knew how money worked after this class, but only later realized I knew enough to get into trouble with money, but not enough to fix the problems I had gotten myself into. I was mid-way through my MBA when I finally took a class on money, economics, and how money works.
Green money is the dollars and cents in a bank account or your pocket and is quickly spent. Green money is often called liquid money or liquid assets, liquid because the holder is presumed the owner, owns it, and can spend it freely any way he wishes. Possession is nine-tenths of the law where liquid assets are concerned. One of the first lessons most of us learned growing up was if you wanted to buy something and your pocket was empty, you went without. Liquid assets are cash, green money and are available to be spent in any way the holder chooses.
Historically, if a debt could not be paid, the debtor’s blood was allowed to be spilled; hence debt is red money. Red money always comes with a penalty called interest. Interest is green money turned red to return the profit to those who lent the initial funds or principle. That debt, be it a loan, a credit card, or another debt model, remains a burden to the borrower, continues to accumulate interest, and can be called due at any moment in time. While some laws protect the borrower from excessive interest rates, it remains essential to know about and be cognizant of the interest rate trap. The legalese on a contract to launch a debt is important to understand, especially where prepayment penalties, late payments, and the ability to call the note due are concerned.
While paying off this loan, you lose your job. You can lose your car because your car is sometimes used as collateral for your payday loan. If the resale value is insufficient, you lose your car, you lost your job, and now you still owe a considerable sum that gains interest. Red money is dangerous; like Damocles’ sword, the danger hangs by a tiny thread above the borrower; one wrong move and the sword falls. Debt, red money can be helpful; but, careful planning and budgeting are required before entering into debt obligations. Always it is better to save and budget green money or obtain investors before contemplating debt.
The next type of money is blue money, also referred to as potential money. Consider a hammer. The hammer might cost $20.00 in green money to buy and bring home. In the hands of a trained construction worker, a $20.00 hammer, over the course of the hammer’s useful working life, has the potential to earn thousands of dollars in green money for the construction worker. In the hands of an inexperienced worker, the hammer has the potential to cost thousands of dollars in green money through waste, destruction, and learning. Training a person to improve their performance might cost $300 in green money; but, if that employee can improve his performance on the job, potentially millions of dollars can come into the company because of the training provided.
Joe’s loan to Jack showed on Joe’s books as red money until the loan and interest were paid. During this time, Joe was also making green money, or profits sufficient to pay his workforce, his other obligations, and still retain adequate to pay himself. Small business owners are not paid until everyone else is paid. It is not uncommon for small business owners to be scraping by on the smallest margins because all their non-liquid assets are locked up in loans to keep the business afloat. When poor business practices begin risking inventory and equipment and shareholder investments are added into the equation, is it any wonder why small businesses struggle.
Money is also created when saved in the various saving tools offered by banks. The diligent saver can save $40 a week until he or she is 65 years of age and potentially have millions in the bank for retirement. Why, because the bank will pay interest to the saver from the interest collected on the loans the bank makes with the green money invested from the savings account. Many different savings tools can be considered non-liquid assets because of the agreements made between the saver and the bank. Generally, the longer the bank’s contract to hold the savings money, the higher the interest rate paid as the bank can schedule payments and loan the same dollars more efficiently when the saver’s funds are expected to be in the bank for a more extended period.
Often Federal treasury departments of governments create money by printing more or larger bills. The problem with printing more money is one of surplus, which begins to increase interest rates and decrease the value of the green money held by citizens participating in the economy. Consider that if the only way to create money is to work money through lending, improving business, etc., and then printing only makes it harder to put money to work. Too much money on the market creates negatives; negatives include lower dollar value, which makes items cost more and increases interest rates, making borrowing costs rise, and inflation begins to increase prices for goods in the economy. More importantly, except for necessities, producers’ willingness to spend money stops; these are typical cause-and-effect actions. A long enough period of decreased desire to spend money and an economic downturn is initiated.
State, City, County, Town, municipal governments are even more pernicious with their plots and plans. On the local government level, money cannot be printed. Hence, debt is entered into, and municipal bonds are sold to create money in the private sector, which is then paid to the government in increased taxes, but the money lent to the local government was already spent. One truth discovered about government, when taxes are increased, money is asked of the voters to borrow. The truth is, the government body asking for more has already spent the increase, spent the budget, and usually spent twice as much as they are asking the voters to allocate. Consider special elections for increasing taxes; the money being asked for has been spent, the budget was spent, and now the voters are asked to pay for the special election cost to decide if the local government can spend some more money. The increase being asked very often has been spent three to four times before the election is considered to ask for permission to enter larger amounts of debt in the public’s name.
In several different locales, municipal bonds can be held as unseen debt or black money, also referred to as unfunded liabilities, kept on other books, not currently open to the public. The monies owed are not considered red money because there is no plan by those in power to pay these debts; thus, the city’s debt could be significantly higher than reported. Unfunded liabilities never have a plan for repayment by those in power. Unfunded liabilities can be a mixture of many different debts (employee retirement, some municipal bond types, unpaid bills to local service providers, etc.). The common denominator remains, there is no plan or money to repay this debt. Thus, black money is created because there are no plans or money to meet these obligations. The taxpayer remains on the hook for the principal and the interest of those unfunded liabilities. Unfunded liabilities are hopes of current politicians on future prosperity, and sometimes, depending upon laws, unfunded liabilities are part of the government’s credit rating. Low credit ratings by the government increase taxes, the risk increases, making borrowing money more expensive, and the taxpayer generally has no idea how poor their municipal government’s credit rating. Never forget, municipal government, many times includes the local school board.
While this explanation is elementary, the lessons contained are sufficient to protect the bottom-line, improve knowledge, and provide an opportunity for improving circumstances. When bottom lines fail, before anything else, look to lost blue money as the cause. When blue money is disregarded long enough, red money increases exponentially, and green money evaporates; this formula is set in stone. Potential blue money is not elusive, but it takes keen observation to protect and grow. Grow enough blue money, and green money multiplies exponentially.
Fiscal literacy improves freedom and liberty. Fiscal literacy is required to maintain the US Constitution and US Bill of Rights. Budgets are not bad things for government to live on; in fact, the government should be the first exemplar of budgetary soundness and fiscally literate action. A Liberty FIRST Culture will require fiscal sanity and fiscal restraints, a reduction in debt, and a payment plan for all unfunded liabilities.
DNC-Consulting 