A Lesson in Economics and Politics

Abraham Lincoln once said, "You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."

I know what you are thinking. Lincoln lived a long time ago and he didn't have to deal with the stresses we have in today's government. Horse pucky! The truth is the truth! Our local Nazarene Church recently had these words on its sign, "People can't change the truth but the truth can change people."

I have come to believe that many of our politicians, CEOs and bankers don't live in the same world you and I do. They consider themselves above the laws that bind us. They consider themselves immune to investigation and prosecution. They violated what I call the Rule of Eaton; it says simply "Never, ever, ever believe your own B.S. It is vitally important that others believe it but when you believe it, you are headed for a fall."

Folks, this is not rocket science or brain surgery! If the rules don't apply to everyone you don't have rules - you have suggestions. If you regulations don't apply to everyone you don't have regulations - you have instructions. If you laws don't apply to everyone, you don't have laws - you have anarchy. This is one of the most basic laws is the law of survival of the fittest, also known as "only the strong will survive".

Mankind suffers from many problems, two of them being greed and special interest. When these conditions infect politicians, bankers and CEO's the infections become cancerous. Now I know we have some good politicians, I know some personally. I know we have good CEOs, I've met some. I know we have some good bankers, I've used them.

I'm talking about the bad ones that have created this economic mess, they are the cancers. Currently, we are not imposing "chemotherapy and radiation" on the tumors (the bad politicians, CEOs and bankers); instead we are attacking healthy tissue and feeding the tumors. Or in simpler terms, we are rewarding bad management, lousy judgment and forcing the rest of us to pay for someone else's mistakes and criminal activity.

"The maintenance of good order and discipline..." is a phrase most of us have heard. It is applicable to the military, school administrators, prison officials, sports teams, businesses and corporations, and any other organized human activity; excepting apparently - politicians.
Anderson's Rule of Large Numbers states: "Eighty-five percent of your people will do the best job the first time. Ten percent require more assistance, training or direction. Three percent will contend with directions and cause problems, but when they get 'it' they become your elite. They have the courage to fight the status quo. The last two percent have already decided not to be successful; they don't want it and will not allow you to help them. Get rid of them and do it publicly! The success of a company, a military organization, a school system or a government depends on judgment to separate the three percent and the two percent and act accordingly."

I have an answer to a question people are asking, but aren't getting straight answers. How did we get in this economic mess? Answer - go back to the Carter administration then fast forward to the Savings and Loans debacle under President Clinton - that is where the deregulation and eventual collapse started. I won't bore you with the details, just go read about it for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich" (Abraham Lincoln). Progress takes investments and capital. It is the "rich and evil capitalist companies" that pay the majority of taxes. They are the ones that provide medicine, services, products and even the gasoline we need. I say, let the good ones prosper and the bad ones fail! That is the free market and that is the only way oversight can be managed.

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong" (Abraham Lincoln). You can't improve a business by punishing it for being successful.

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift" (Abraham Lincoln). You can only spend so long and THEN YOU ARE OUT OF MONEY! You and I understand that - somehow our politicians don't. That's because they don't have to work for the money they spend - we do!

"You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down" (Abraham Lincoln). When this occurs you see jobs go away forever lost to technology, eliminated all together or sent to foreign shores never to return.

"You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred" (Abraham Lincoln). Do I even need to comment on this? Then I will. I want our young people to see what opportunity is available to them in America. Seeing people that model success, who drive nice cars and prosper, will provide a "goal" for our young people to strive for and thereby making the "American Dream" something they want to seek. What a vanilla world it would be if everyone drove a Dodge pickup and wore blue jeans like I do.

Here is a reality - not everyone is going to be a super star. Not everybody has that ability, but even a super star has to be part of a team. A "team" is made up of people ALL trying to be the best they can be. Dr. King once said, "If you are a street sweeper, be the best street sweeper you can be!"

"You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves" (Abraham Lincoln). These two are irrevocably tied together. Charity has become an addiction for many. Why work if someone is going to give you everything. Why strive for excellence when mediocrity is an accepted social standard. Progress is only accomplished through striving against the norm. Excellence is only achieved by hard work and sacrifice.

Now to give you some perspective on "human nature" and the political theater we are subject to today. "Respect for religion must be reestablished. Public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of public officials must be curtailed. Assistance to foreign lands must be stopped or we shall bankrupt ourselves. The people should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence." - Cicero, 60 B.C.