Serious LIFE Philosophy - Neal Boortz

[rdunk]

This is something that has been around a while, but I first saw it just today! It is quite simple, but it is a very straight forward and thought provoking read, especially for anyone who has children yet to begin, or finish, college. However, the thoughts presented have application, regardless of age.

He doesn't say this, I do - sometimes we just need to remember the old saying, "anytime we point a finger at someone else, with a complaint, we always should remember, the thumb is pointing back at us"!

FYI - with that said, I am only posting this for information and possible similar interests of folks here, and am not using this to make any kind of personal point! 

rdunk

****************************************************

Take the time to read this, it has some valuable life lessons.  I hope I have learned some of them this late in my life, however, it seems some of us never learn.

This is some serious philosophy!

  Texas A&M Commencement Address - The students gave a standing ovation; the faculty were deathly silent! See Truth or Fiction Article at the bottom of the page regarding this statement!!!


Neal Boortz is a Texan, a lawyer, a Texas Aggie ( Texas A&M) graduate, and now a nationally syndicated talk show host from Atlanta . His commencement address to the graduates of a recent Texas A&M class is far different from what either the students or the faculty expected. Whether you agree or disagree, his views are certainly thought provoking.

"I am honored by the invitation to address you on this august occasion. It's about time. Be warned, however, that I am not here to impress you; you'll have enough smoke blown up your bloomers today. And you can bet your tassels I'm not here to impress the faculty and administration. You may not like much of what I have to say, and that's fine. You will remember it though. Especially after about 10 years out there in the real world. This, it goes without saying, does not apply to those of you who will seek your careers and your fortunes as government employees.

This gowned gaggle behind me is your faculty. You've heard the old saying that those who can - do. Those who can't - teach. That sounds deliciously insensitive. But there is often raw truth in insensitivity, just as you often find feel-good falsehoods and lies in compassion. Say good-bye to your faculty because now you are getting ready to go out there and do. These folks behind me are going to stay right here and teach.

By the way, just because you are leaving this place with a diploma doesn't mean the learning is over. When an FAA flight examiner handed me my private pilot's license many years ago, he said, "Here, this is your ticket to learn." The same can be said for your diploma. Believe me, the learning has just begun.

Now, I realize that most of you consider yourselves Liberals. In fact, you are probably very proud of your liberal views. You care so much. You feel so much. You want to help so much. After all, you're a compassionate and caring person, aren't you now? Well, isn't that just so extraordinarily special. Now, at this age, is as good a time as any to be a liberal; as good a time as any to know absolutely everything. You have plenty of time, starting tomorrow, for the truth to set in.

Over the next few years, as you begin to feel the cold breath of reality down your neck, things are going to start changing pretty fast... Including your own assessment of just how much you really know.

So here are the first assignments for your initial class in reality: Pay attention to the news, read newspapers, and listen to the words and phrases that proud Liberals use to promote their causes. Then, compare the words of the left to the words and phrases you hear from those evil, heartless, greedy conservatives.

From the Left you will hear "I feel." From the Right you will hear "I think." From the Liberals you will hear references to groups -- The Blacks, the Poor, the Rich, the Disadvantaged, the Less Fortunate. From the Right you will hear references to individuals. On the Left you hear talk of group rights; on the Right, individual rights.

That about sums it up, really: Liberals feel. Liberals care. They are pack animals whose identity is tied up in group dynamics. Conservatives think -- and, setting aside the theocracy crowd, their identity is centered on the individual.

Liberals feel that their favored groups have enforceable rights to the property and services of productive individuals. Conservatives, I among them I might add, think that individuals have the right to protect their lives and their property from the plunder of the masses.

In college you developed a group mentality, but if you look closely at your diplomas you will see that they have your individual names on them. Not the name of your school mascot, or of your fraternity or sorority, but your name. Your group identity is going away. Your recognition and appreciation of your individual identity starts now.

If, by the time you reach the age of 30, you do not consider yourself to be a conservative, rush right back here as quickly as you can and apply for a faculty position. These people will welcome you with open arms. They will welcome you, that is, so long as you haven't developed an individual identity. Once again you will have to be willing to sign on to the group mentality you embraced during the past four years.

Something is going to happen soon that is going to really open your eyes. You're going to actually get a full time job!

You're also going to get a lifelong work partner. This partner isn't going to help you do your job. This partner is just going to sit back and wait for payday. This partner doesn't want to share in your effort, but in your earnings.

Your new lifelong partner is actually an agent; an agent representing a strange and diverse group of people; an agent for every teenager with an illegitimate child; an agent for a research scientist who wanted to make some cash answering the age-old question of why monkeys grind their teeth. An agent for some poor demented hippie who considers herself to be a meaningful and talented artist, but who just can't manage to sell any of her artwork on the open market.

Your new partner is an agent for every person with limited, if any, job skills, but who wanted a job at City Hall. An agent for tin-horn dictators in fancy military uniforms grasping for American foreign aid. An agent for multi-million dollar companies who want someone else to pay for their overseas advertising. An agent for everybody who wants to use the unimaginable power of this agent's for their personal enrichment and benefit.

That agent is our wonderful, caring, compassionate, oppressive government. Believe me, you will be awed by the unimaginable power this agent has. Power that you do not have. A power that no individual has, or will have. This agent has the legal power to use force, deadly force to accomplish its goals.

You have no choice here. Your new friend is just going to walk up to you, introduce itself rather gruffly, hand you a few forms to fill out, and move right on in. Say hello to your own personal one ton gorilla. It will sleep anywhere it wants to.

Now, let me tell you, this agent is not cheap. As you become successful it will seize about 40% of everything you earn. And no, I'm sorry, there just isn't any way you can fire this agent of plunder, and you can't decrease its share of your income. That power rests with him, not you.

So, here I am saying negative things to you about government. Well, be clear on this: It is not wrong to distrust government. It is not wrong to fear government. In certain cases it is not even wrong to despise government for government is inherently evil. Yes, a necessary evil, but dangerous nonetheless, somewhat like a drug. Just as a drug that in the proper dosage can save your life, an overdose of government can be fatal.

Now let's address a few things that have been crammed into your minds at this university. There are some ideas you need to expunge as soon as possible. These ideas may work well in academic environment, but they fail miserably out there in the real world.

First is that favorite buzz word of the media and academia: Diversity! You have been taught that the real value of any group of people - be it a social group, an employee group, a management group, whatever - is based on diversity. This is a favored liberal ideal because diversity is based not on an individuals abilities or character, but on a person's identity and status as a member of a group. Yes, it's that liberal group identity thing again.

Within the great diversity movement group identification - be it racial, gender based, or some other minority status - means more than the individuals integrity, character or other qualifications.

Brace yourself. You are about to move from this academic atmosphere where diversity rules, to a workplace and a culture where individual achievement and excellence actually count. No matter what your professors have taught you over the last four years, you are about to learn that diversity is absolutely no replacement for excellence, ability, and individual hard work. From this day on every single time you hear the word "diversity" you can rest assured that there is someone close by who is determined to rob you of every vestige of individuality you possess.

We also need to address this thing you seem to have about "rights." We have witnessed an obscene explosion of so-called "rights" in the last few decades, usually emanating from college campuses.

You know the mantra: You have the right to a job. The right to a place to live. The right to a living wage. The right to health care. The right to an education. You probably even have your own pet right - the right to a Beemer for instance, or the right to have someone else provide for that child you plan on downloading in a year or so.

Forget it. Forget those rights! I'll tell you what your rights are. You have a right to live free, and to the results of 60% -75% of your labor. I'll also tell you have no right to any portion of the life or labor of another.

You may, for instance, think that you have a right to health care. After all, President Obama said so, didn't he? But you cannot receive health-care unless some doctor or health practitioner surrenders some of his time - his life - to you. He may be willing to do this for compensation, but that's his choice. You have no "right" to his time or property. You have no right to his or any other person's life or to any portion thereof.

You may also think you have some "right" to a job; a job with a living wage, whatever that is. Do you mean to tell me that you have a right to force your services on another person, and then the right to demand that this person compensate you with their money? Sorry, forget it. I am sure you would scream if some urban outdoors men (that would be "homeless person" for those of you who don't want to give these less fortunate people a romantic and adventurous title) came to you and demanded his job and your money.

The people who have been telling you about all the rights you have are simply exercising one of theirs - the right to be imbeciles. Their being imbeciles didn't cost anyone else either property or time. It's their right, and they exercise it brilliantly.

By the way, did you catch my use of the phrase "less fortunate" a bit ago when I was talking about the urban outdoors men? That phrase is a favorite of the Left. Think about it, and you'll understand why.

To imply that one person is homeless, destitute, dirty, drunk, spaced out on drugs, unemployable, and generally miserable because he is "less fortunate" is to imply that a successful person - one with a job, a home and a future - is in that position because he or she was "fortunate." The dictionary says that fortunate means "having derived good from an unexpected place." There is nothing unexpected about deriving good from hard work. There is also nothing unexpected about deriving misery from choosing drugs, alcohol, and the street.

If the Liberal Left can create the common perception that success and failure are simple matters of "fortune" or "luck," then it is easy to promote and justify their various income redistribution schemes. After all, we are just evening out the odds a little bit. This "success equals luck" idea the liberals like to push is seen everywhere. Former Democratic presidential candidate Richard Gephardt refers to high-achievers as "people who have won life's lottery." He wants you to believe they are making the big bucks because they are lucky. It's not luck, my friends. It's choice. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned was in a book by Og Mandino, entitled, "The Greatest Secret in the World." The lesson? Very simple: "Use wisely your power of choice."

That bum sitting on a heating grate, smelling like a wharf rat? He's there by choice. He is there because of the sum total of the choices he has made in his life. This truism is absolutely the hardest thing for some people to accept, especially those who consider themselves to be victims of something or other - victims of discrimination, bad luck, the system, capitalism, whatever. After all, nobody really wants to accept the blame for his or her position in life. Not when it is so much easier to point and say, "Look! He did this to me!" than it is to look into a mirror and say, "You S. O. B.! You did this to me!"

The key to accepting responsibility for your life is to accept the fact that your choices, every one of them, are leading you inexorably to either success or failure, however you define those terms.

Some of the choices are obvious: Whether or not to stay in school. Whether or not to get pregnant. Whether or not to hit the bottle. Whether or not to keep this job you hate until you get another better-paying job. Whether or not to save some of your money, or saddle yourself with huge payments for that new car.

Some of the choices are seemingly insignificant: Whom to go to the movies with. Whose car to ride home in. Whether to watch the tube tonight, or read a book on investing. But, and you can be sure of this, each choice counts. Each choice is a building block - some large, some small. But each one is a part of the structure of your life. If you make the right choices, or if you make more right choices than wrong ones, something absolutely terrible may happen to you. Something unthinkable. You, my friend, could become one of the hated, the evil, the ugly, the feared, the filthy, the successful, the rich.

The rich basically serve two purposes in this country. First, they provide the investments, the investment capital, and the brains for the formation of new businesses. Businesses that hire people. Businesses that send millions of paychecks home each week to the un-rich.

Second, the rich are a wonderful object of ridicule, distrust, and hatred. Few things are more valuable to a politician than the envy most Americans feel for the evil rich.

Envy is a powerful emotion. Even more powerful than the emotional minefield that surrounded Bill Clinton when he reviewed his last batch of White House interns. Politicians use envy to get votes and power. And they keep that power by promising the envious that the envied will be punished: "The rich will pay their fair share of taxes if I have anything to do with it." The truth is that the top 10% of income earners in this country pays almost 50% of all income taxes collected. I shudder to think what these job producers would be paying if our tax system were any more "fair."

You have heard, no doubt, that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Interestingly enough, our government's own numbers show that many of the poor actually get richer, and that quite a few of the rich actually get poorer. But for the rich who do actually get richer, and the poor who remain poor .. there's an explanation -- a reason. The rich, you see, keep doing the things that make them rich; while the poor keep doing the things that make them poor.

Speaking of the poor, during your adult life you are going to hear an endless string of politicians bemoaning the plight of the poor. So, you need to know that under our government's definition of "poor" you can have a $5 million net worth, a $300,000 home and a new $90,000 Mercedes, all completely paid for. You can also have a maid, cook, and valet, and a million in your checking account, and you can still be officially defined by our government as "living in poverty." Now there's something you haven't seen on the evening news.

How does the government pull this one off? Very simple, really. To determine whether or not some poor soul is "living in poverty," the government measures one thing -- just one thing. Income.

It doesn't matter one bit how much you have, how much you own, how many cars you drive or how big they are, whether or not your pool is heated, whether you winter in Aspen and spend the summers in the Bahamas, or how much is in your savings account. It only matters how much income you claim in that particular year. This means that if you take a one-year leave of absence from your high-paying job and decide to live off the money in your savings and checking accounts while you write the next great American novel, the government says you are living in poverty."

This isn't exactly what you had in mind when you heard these gloomy statistics, is it? Do you need more convincing? Try this. The government's own statistics show that people who are said to be "living in poverty" spend more than $1.50 for each dollar of income they claim. Something is a bit fishy here. Just remember all this the next time Charles Gibson tells you about some hideous new poverty statistics.

Why has the government concocted this phony poverty scam? Because the government needs an excuse to grow and to expand its social welfare programs, which translates into an expansion of its power. If the government can convince you, in all your compassion, that the number of "poor" is increasing, it will have all the excuse it needs to sway an electorate suffering from the advanced stages of Obsessive-Compulsive Compassion Disorder.

I'm about to be stoned by the faculty here. They've already changed their minds about that honorary degree I was going to get. That's OK, though. I still have my PhD. in Insensitivity from the Neal Boortz Institute for Insensitivity Training. I learned that, in short, sensitivity sucks. It's a trap. Think about it - the truth knows no sensitivity. Life can be insensitive. Wallow too much in sensitivity and you'll be unable to deal with life, or the truth, so get over it.

Now, before the dean has me shackled and hauled off, I have a few random thoughts.

* You need to register to vote, unless you are on welfare. If you are living off the efforts of others, please do us the favor of sitting down and shutting up until you are on your own again.

* When you do vote, your votes for the House and the Senate are more important than your vote for President. The House controls the purse strings, so concentrate your awareness there.

* Liars cannot be trusted, even when the liar is the President of the country. If someone can't deal honestly with you, send them packing.

* Don't bow to the temptation to use the government as an instrument of plunder. If it is wrong for you to take money from someone else who earned it -- to take their money by force for your own needs -- then it is certainly just as wrong for you to demand that the government step forward and do this dirty work for you.

* Don't look in other people's pockets. You have no business there. What they earn is theirs. What you earn is yours. Keep it that way. Nobody owes you anything, except to respect your privacy and your rights, and leave you the hell alone.

* Speaking of earning, the revered 40-hour workweek is for losers. Forty hours should be considered the minimum, not the maximum. You don't see highly successful people clocking out of the office every afternoon at five. The losers are the ones caught up in that afternoon rush hour. The winners drive home in the dark.

* Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.

* Finally (and aren't you glad to hear that word), as Og Mandino wrote,
1. Proclaim your rarity. Each of you is a rare and unique human being.
2. Use wisely your power of choice.
3. Go the extra mile, drive home in the dark.

Oh, and put off buying a television set as long as you can. Now, if you have any idea at all what's good for you, you will get out of here and never come back. Class dismissed"

Neil Boortz' Commencement Speech-Truth! & Fiction!


     Summary of the eRumor
It is said to be a commencement speech delivered by nationally syndicated talk show host Neil Boortz.  Among other things, he offends the faculty by saying they are the ones who can't "do" so they stay at college and teach.  Some versions say he delivered the speech at his alma mater, Texas A&M.


   The Truth
The speech is from the pen of Neil Boortz and is posted on his website at www.boortz.com.

Boortz tells TruthOrFiction.com, however, that so far, it's never actually been delivered at a commencement.

He says he wrote the speech about 1997 in protest of never having been invited to give a commencement address.
It became the springboard for his first book, "The Commencement Speech You Need To Hear."
Later he produced an audio CD of the speech complete with crowd noise and applause, which has been aired on his radio program.

[undo11]

he's right and wrong at the same time.

he's right in that, having a good work ethic is a nice thing, although i recall working my butt off and getting very little in the way of additional compensation.  you can put outrageous amounts of time into some jobs and still make the same money they hired you at, cause the rich guys do get richer by taking advantage, to varying degrees, of the poor and middle class, and pretty much everybody knows that.  he probably still thinks it's 1950.

he's wrong that having bad things happen to you, that effect your ability to function normally in society, should be treated as lame  excuses.  sorry but last time i looked, they weren't hiring brain damaged people to fly space shuttles. least, i hope not. lol i mean, for each new bit of logic, he adds a completely inappropriate comment about people who are having hard times.

[rdunk]

he's right and wrong at the same time.

he's right in that, having a good work ethic is a nice thing, although i recall working my butt off and getting very little in the way of additional compensation.  you can put outrageous amounts of time into some jobs and still make the same money they hired you at, cause the rich guys do get richer by taking advantage, to varying degrees, of the poor and middle class, and pretty much everybody knows that.  he probably still thinks it's 1950.

he's wrong that having bad things happen to you, that effect your ability to function normally in society, should be treated as lame  excuses.  sorry but last time i looked, they weren't hiring brain damaged people to fly space shuttles. least, i hope not. lol i mean, for each new bit of logic, he adds a completely inappropriate comment about people who are having hard times.

undo, here is where we don't agree  - for most of what you say "Boortz is wrong on", I don't agree with you!

No one, and that is NO ONE, can be taken advantage of, unless someone chooses to allow themselves to be taken advantage of, with some exception for children, and handicapped. Blaming the "rich" is just a poor attempt of trying to find someone to blame, for their own shortcomings, deficiencies, hunger, joblessness, or failure in situational performance.

That last item means make changes when change is needed, in ones own life, to insure ones goals are successful. The easy way out is to do nothing, and to blame all of the good "targets".

Well, it may be a surprise to some, but businesses are not started to "create jobs" - not a lawn mowing business, and not an aircraft manufacturing business. Every business is started to sell products for which there is market demand. It is the market demand that creates jobs. And sometimes, for new products, market demand has to be created too!

Who creates businesses?? People create small businesses with small amounts of money. People with larger amounts of money and financial backing create larger businesses. And the basic goal of any business, regardless of size, is to make money for the owners - owners being individuals, stockholders, investors, etc.

In a free society, everyone needs money, and the only way to get that money, is to get a job, and to work for it - - or start a business. Some people go broke with business they started! Some people get rich with businesses they started. Most business of any size hire people to do the jobs needed for producing the products of the business. Employees get paid for work done.

No place in this equation are the "rich taking advantage of anyone", in my opinion. I am certainly not rich!! But I did work for a long time, and have been in positions at nearly every level in a large corporation, so I know in spades what I am talking about. And in addition, I worked directly with other corporations all over the country, and never saw anywhere, where rich were taking advantage of the poor, or anybody else.

The fact of the matter is, without the rich, everyone of us would be pretty much on the poor to beggar side of life, because it is the "rich" that sponsor significant businesses/jobs!

One point for sure - in a pile of any number of employees with a business, some are workers, some are supervisors, and some are in management. At every level there are at times, good workers, and not so good workers. And dealing with life in that situation requires individual attention and individual action as necessary. If one doesn't take the necessary action to remove himself from a bad work situation, who gets the blame, the rich guy who owns the company???

And, with all of that, a really good example of where in this equation the people of the United States are - - - - - over 50% of all American adults pay no Federal Income Tax. And that does mean a large part of those don't work, and don't pay taxes. Some of those work, but, in the final calculation, do not pay taxes.

So, this fact does broadly suggest that what Mr. Boortz lays on the line needs to be conveyed to everyone in a way that people can be brought to understand it is necessary to work for a living!!!

Now the "present lack of jobs" is a whole "nuther story"! Socialism does not make for jobs, just the opposite. Capitalism promotes businesses, and thus promotes the creation of jobs. People just naturally are happy and fulfilled, when they can make their own way in life.

But continuing to blame the rich (by many everywhere - not just a little here) is not only very wrong, it
causes very erroneous thinking toward outcomes that would far worse than anything one could even imagine!!!

[undo11]

rdunk

i'm totally shocked that as a christian, you have not encountered enough hard ships to understand.  for example, i was fired from 2 different jobs for stealing, when i hadn't stolen a thing.  in one case, it turned out it was the lady who came in in the morning to cook the donuts.  she stole the money and let me take the blame cause it was my shift and my cash register.  the assistant manager called me to let me know,  2 weeks after i was fired, and apologized.  of course, it was too late to give me my job back as i had been replaced and they would've had to fire the new person to rehire me.   

in the other case, the owner left town and left me and his teenage son in charge of his store. money came up missing, he blamed me (he wasn't going to blame his son.  doh).   at one point, i was working 3 jobs, 2 of which i had to walk to and hubby was working full time in the air force, and we still didn't have enough money to pay for just normal stuff because the military had cut back on soldier's salaries as a result of democratic budget cuts.  you don't just walk away from a job in the military. you stick it out. but it ain't easy.

and yes, hard times can be someone else's fault. such as gulf war syndrome. i did not ask them to inject him with dangerous vaccines.  don't say anything else or you'll get me in trouble.

[rdunk]

That is fair, I "won't say anything else"!! 

I would ask you to think about doing something, that over time, might help.

Start a list of things that make up what has been the "good" in your life. You know, like the Movie "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Well, not only leave out the other two, but really work to remove them from any thought what so ever. Dwelling on those things can lead to destruction.

undo, even with all of your life disappointments (the bad and the ugly), the real you needs to focus upon  that which you have in your heart as having been good experiences, in life, family, love, and everything else, including "spiritual". I just know that your experiences, while maybe very different, are in fact the typical things all of us face along the way.

But, life's happiness has a lot to do with where we "live", in relation to all of that! Focus, focus, and focus on what is good in your life. You may even be surprised at the many good things you can list, that haven't come to mind in a long time.

There is "one" that wants to remind you often of all of the "bad stuff" that has happened over your many years of life - (at least 25 years?) . He will play with your mind, and will do everything he can to keep you in the bondage of the bad experiences.

I think you know what I am referring to.

A change of focus like this, over time, can help create an entirely different real situation of happiness in life for you and for your family.   

Get that "list of good" together as a start, to have solid seeable proof that you can stand on. Add other items you think of, and new ones as they happen. Tape that list to your mirror, just so you will see that proof on a daily basis. (or look at it on your computer ever day) Update as necessary!!

This is something we all should do, including myself!! Good luck!!

P.S. - undo thank "whoever you hold responsible" for all of the good in your life!!!

[undo11]

you said:

That is fair, I "won't say anything else"!!

what's that mean?

[rdunk]

Hi Undo!  I was just playfully quoting back the last thing you said to me in your second reply here!

"don't say anything else or you'll get me in trouble" - I wasn't sure just what you meant, but I took it to mean to not talk about the original OP anymore, so I didn't!

I think what I did say might could help you, as well as the rest of us, if we would just take the time to do it.

Anyway, hope I answered your question! 

[Linda Brown]

Helped me. Reminded me of  all of the things that I try to tell myself... but I get beaten down sometimes and discouraged... sometimes it takes that other person to light the flame... or at least shield it from the wind.

I thank you for that.  Linda

[undo11]

i was just giving you examples.  not sure if you know this but before i went in the coma brought on by gulf war syndrome i caught (it's contagious) from hubby (who didn't have it but became a carrier of it), i went slowly insane from the infection in my brain.  i behaved entirely unlike myself because everything was messed up.   it nearly ruined my marriage, and had literally put me into a death spiral.  only reason i'm here is because of a miracle.  you just want to see the miracle, but i know what i went thru.  this impacts me personally, in ways that it doesn't impact you.  it's not a good idea to suggest people who are having hard times, did that to themselves, unless you mean to suggest that i was infected with gulf war syndrome as a form of punishment.  just let me know what you mean by that, and then we can see just how in touch neal was with reality.

[rdunk]

undo, I truly sympathize for you, with all of the stuff you have been through, as you have mentioned various things, at different times. Wow, I know that has really been tough for you and for your family. And I am sure I know only just a little piece of it.

Miracles like you mentioned only come from one place, and we praise him for that!!!

I don't think anyone in their right mind, would try to make anyone believe things like you mention are self induced! They absolutely are not. Many of the problems we face from time to time are completely outside of medical prevention, and often are very difficult to deal with, at best.

I could pass along my list of such personally experiences, but you know what, I just deal with what I have to deal with, in the knowing, all of this is going to change, someday soon!!!

Every day is a new day, and my strength is in Him!!! I would probably have been dead long before now, if I had dwelled daily on my MS diagnosis I received over 35 years ago. And since that didn't do me in, then came cancer diagnosis 30 months ago, resulting in radical surgery 28 months ago. and so far, I am still cancer free. I don't worry about it, but I deal daily with the after affects of the surgery.

I just mention that, to assure you undo, that most of us experience our own life situations. The key to those events, is going thru them, and then going on down the road, so to speak, with our daily lives of however they are left to us. Always focusing on the good that always remains, and waving bye bye to the bad stuff, as we go on down the road of life. 

Best wishes to you o the good stuff!!

[undo11]

thanks and same to ya!
i guess you can see from what i just said, people don't always have no valid reason at all, for why they aren't excelling at something or anything.  pretty sure, even for all his achievements,  steven hawkins has his limitations. had he not been blessed with a caring support group and a brilliant mind, he would've ended up either as a brilliant frustrated mind in a wheelchair, or a very handicap person stuck in the same spot most people are in with severe handicaps.

people like to think that he ended up there due to "luck" but if it's not just random chance that he was blessed enough to have a great support group, what was it?   if you say god, then what the billions of others ?  what did they do or not do?  doesn't the rain fall on everyone equally? 

well i think life taught me this much: if you inherited your umbrella of success or were able to achieve it, this does not mean you now have carte blanche to spit on people who don't have one or are unable to achieve it.  your task is prove you deserve your umbrella by being compassionate to those who don't have one or can't earn one. that is your burden to bear.  doesn't it also say, to whom much is given, much is expected?  what do you think he meant? he isn't just talking about your spiritual state.

  this is why we need the kind of judge capable of reviewing our entire lives, in a compassionate and just manner, cause we humans are horrible judges in our current conditions.  we rarely take into consideration environment, support structures, prior status of family members, the support structure of that family, genetic limitations, disease, detrimental effects of being spit on one too many times

psychological abuse can do alot of damage, depending on the individual's environment and support structures. for example, if you were told you were an idiot from the time you were 10 years old, chances are, you're going to have residual psychological damage from it that may subconsciously effect your chances for success in some or all of your later endeavors. this can have a butterfly effect, and may end up coming back to haunt the person or persons that did that to you. 

case in point,  describing black people as ignorant, has come back to haunt the ancestors of the people who originally said it and treated those people poorly.  they can thank their great grandpappies and grandmas, for that, cause after generations of ostracizing and belittling black people for their skin color, they now have inherited the burden and responsiblity to pay taxes to support the descendants who weren't able to achieve because of their environment.  who's the real dummy, hmm? 

screw that thinking cap on. this is serious business.  what neal was talking about, was, as i already said, good and bad. the good parts were pretty obvious. the bad parts were not remotely serious business. he's just a smart fellow who has decided he "earned" his smart. you didn't earn it, you had it to begin with.  i'd like to hear how his upbringing differed from someone who didn't manage to earn it. cause i think he's trying to make the case that he's priviledge because his work ethic is better but friend, you have to be able to work to have a work ethic.

i could go on, and on and on, on this subject.  like veterans who are screwed up in the head by the horrors of war, just sent back out into society without a safety net.   or the safety net they get, they have to fight tooth and nail for, because everyone hates that we need a military (particularly since it's being abused atm). 

oh boy you opened a can of worms on this one.

[Littleenki]

First let me say, Undo, and Rdunk, your faith in god is what keeps you going, no matter what any of us say about religion or whatnot.
To just have a belief structure that you know is real, is the best and sharpest tool of all!
Kudos to both of you, and especially the family members who have been there for you...Jesus included.

I also want to thank your husband, Undo, for his service, not enough people understand the armed forces and the mental torture they go through, so for him to have come home to support and love you is a miracle, let alone your fight against TWO deadly diseases. Im sure he is a strong man, as you are a strong woman!

Take this next post from a standpoint of someone who has several successful businesses with and without employees, and has seen the damage caused by this want to become wealthy firsthand. Balance, and fairness was key in all my endeavours, and is what shepherded me through the tough and good times.

Now on the issue of Mr. Boortz, he said a lot within that lengthy and opinion filled speech, or whatever it was, and he shows that most wealthy and famous people have a good point as to how to get rich or famous while applying themselves and driving home in the dark. At others expense every time, though.

He does parrot some of the views of the right, but mostly he is just a repeater who has the talent for assembling thoughts and words others struggle to define. He is a wordsmith and uses them to achieve a higher than normal level of hubris, which effectively makes him sound obnoxious and single minded.

Another Rush Limbaugh spewing the same rhetoric his cronies have spewed for decades. Repeater. Its what these high on a horse guys are indoctrinated with, and theyll never get over it.

We all know what problems face us today, and we also know that we cant stop rich people from doing what they want, and it's these rich folks who make all the decisions for many of us daily.

They decide what your power bill will be next month while you sleep.

They decide where your money in the bank will get invested while you sleep.

They decide if you are worthy as an employee while you sleep.

They decide whether you have health care you can afford while you sleep.

Etc, etc

With so little control over these decisions, anyone not in the fold will obviously feel cast aside and find animosity within their mind and heart for the wealthy, but the truth of the matter is, our economy is a slave economy, perpetuated by slave drivers, who have held money to the highest level of importance and morals and love at the lowest.

Remember, wealthy folks dont get wealthy without using someone elses money!

Your's and mine? You betcha!

Everybody knows what would happen if the money disappeared...the wealthy would be just like us, and have exactly the same... no more-no less than every other Joe Schmoe.

They would have to stoop to another base level and actually agree and cohabitate with others of differing opinions, not live on a hill shielded after their efforts in the daily grind at work, behind a gated community.

Those who have more would suffer more as their standard of living would decrease to an average level, while those who are "poor" would be lifted up to a place they have never been.....comfortable worry free living.

Socialism? Call it what you may, but as those videos Zorgon posted last night about money and the whys and whats of it's history show, money has had numerous chances and has failed miserably at every turn.

Noone needs to be rich and famous, but some want to be, and that want for some is so great they achieve at a very high level. Of course it's at the sacrifice of friends and family, and when they drive home in the dark, who are they really serving?

Themselves and noone else.

Love binds and saves....Ego kills and destroys.

And, money sucks!

Cheers!
Littleenki

[Cosmic4life]

Well Mr Neal Boortz....

...There are no Elves, no Unicorns, and no amount of effort or hard work is going to get any-one past the Glass ceiling put in place by those who seek dominion.

Maybe when Goldman Sucks/Sachs and JP Morgan are exposed ....

I read his words and i get Corporate Fascist....work work work...40 hrs should be the minimum...you should be servile...left and right Hegelian Dialectic....BS !

We blame the rich for our society out of envy... oh right.....not because they shape policy then...

This guys a stooge for the 1%, the status quo is great...nothing to see here...just work hard and OBEY.

Cosmic..

[Littleenki]

Passionate, concise reply, Cosmic, and you have a handle on who is doing the riding and who is wearing the saddle! Gold for you!
Le

[Cosmic4life]

Passionate, concise reply, Cosmic, and you have a handle on who is doing the riding and who is wearing the saddle! Gold for you!
Le

Thank-you..



Cosmic..