I believe that everyone should have healthcare coverage, but if you are going to reform the system do it from the ground up. Promote preventative methods first like gym memberships, classes about nutrition, quit smoking programs. Start in schools and teach children at a young age how to live healthy. We should have neighborhood clinics for small illnesses, such as a doctor at places like Walgreens. The healthcare providers should not try to charge the maximum possible to make sure they milk every dime out of the insurance companies. They should also allow insurance companies to cover multiple states and allow small business to group with a larger pool of businesses to enable the small business to get the same pricing discounts that large corporations currently get to use. This would allow more small businesses to provide healthcare as a benefit.
This is not meant to have all the answers but it is a start. Part of the solution is up to individual families. We need to make better choices like not smoking, have a healthy diet, enjoy some sort of spirituality, and do a little exercise.
This is the time of the year that the businesses expect you to run out with your charge card and buy stuff for your loved ones. This is the heart of how capitalism works. People create something of perceived value and other people buy it. Now this is not a bad thing, but most people use credit buying it on borrowed time. The time of get it now and pay for it later caused the whole mess that we are in now. The best thing to do is work smart and hard, save your money for planned future purchases and pay cash. If you can’t afford to buy STUFF for people donate your time, your skills, or items you no longer need. You will remember the good feelings, emotions, and memories for years to come.
This will last so much longer that the item you buy that will be discarded after it breaks of becomes obsolete. Arts, crafts, services, pictures, videos, music, notes, and letters can last forever. Picture a grandmother receiving a video of her grand children telling her how much they love her.
With digital cameras, in expensive computers, and video cameras it is very easy to make an emotional heart felt gift for a loved one. I have found that the easiest to make is a picture DVD that can be played in any DVD player. Most the photo software included with the various operating systems out there let you select your pictures, video clips, and musical background with a few clicks. This is a very inexpensive way to share with your family the love that you have for them.
Another great gift is getting together and doing something, creating memories to last years. You will look back and go remember when we did, we saw, ect…. You never look back and go remember when I bought you…. This is the time to return to what is true with life. Have fun, help people, and just get out their. If you don’t have any friends, volunteer, you will meet people. Don’t lose sight of what is real. Contribute anyway that you can and you will not regret your life when you look back and ask yourself did I leave a positive mark.
Halloween, the time of fright and delight. The kids get dressed up in their store bought or home made outfits and go out to get as much candy as possible for free in one night. The best time that I have had on Halloween was a couple of years ago. A church across the street from our house had an event that was fun and safe. It had a large tent set up and inside was several game stations that the kids could go and play. If they won they received a prize and if they lost they received a prize. It was warm and there were refreshments. They did not push any religion on anyone; it was just a good time. Tonight my wife is taking our daughters and their friends out in the neighborhood in the cold, luckily no rain in hope of the big score of candy. Good luck!
I just got back from one of the small events in our area. The Blackberry Festival is a small event that has local bands and many people selling various items. Some of the items are based around blackberries, but most were crafts or chiropractic clinics offering a free trigger point message.
Our area is missing a weekly craft or art fair. In Portland Oregon they have The Saturday Market that has been around since I was a kid. In California they have huge swap meets at the fairgrounds on the weekends that the fairgrounds are not booked. This allows people with a hobby to bring in a little extra money without having a garage sale. It gives families something to do on the weekends and it is local.
I love the small booths with people pushing their wares. You kind find some really nice items without having to search on Ebay. Lately I have been collecting small inexpensive artifacts from different locations around the world. Today my wife and I found some small wooden statues for $10 each. They were on clearance because it was the end of the season. They were being sold by a little old lady. She was very grateful for our purchase and that is what it is all about.
I started reading the book, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins about six months into the current recession. I am always reading business books to help stay ready. In the book Jim talks about several companies that turned from good to great companies and what they did to do that. One of the companies that he talks about is Circuit City. As you know it is now dead and gone. It made me think what did this company do to go out of business? Did they not adapt to changing technologies? Did they have an inferior product? Did competition undercut them? It is hard to say.
The first place to look is at the cash flow. Did they leverage to the extreme and expand too fast? What was their dept to income ratio? How did these situations compare to companies such as Best Buy and Fry’s Electronics? What ever it was the expenses ended up exceeding their income and they had to file bankruptcy.
This brings me to an interesting point about the individual’s financial situation. The financial experts are talking about the consumer deleveraging and losing the credit markets. They are supporting an economy based on debt. This is exactly what caused the failure of these companies and almost the collapse of capitalism as we know it. People were using their houses as ATMs and buying a bunch of stuff that they did not need or could afford. If we took a step back and started to save and pay cash for stuff the economy may grow slower, but it would not collapse. It would be built on a solid foundation.
This is true for businesses also, I understand that sometimes money must be borrowed to make payroll in the slow season, but if the company is built correctly this would not be the case. The company may have to give up some control and sell some share of the company to get it off the ground, but that is how businesses are created. The reason that most businesses fail is because they run out of money and cannot pay their dept payments.
This could be true for marriages also, they number one stressor in a marriage is bills. If we did not go into dept to buy that car, tv, or boat we would not have the burden of dept. At the same time we are a now society, we see something and we want it now. Since we have access to easy credit we just buy it. Master card, Visa, and American Express love this. They make money all the way around without doing anything. They charge annual fees just to use the card. They charge the business to accept the card, and the charge you the consumer for carrying a balance on the card. They promises gifts and prizes, but they pay for theses in higher interest rates and higher fees to the merchants.
Anyways, just think about why these great businesses went out of business, it was dept and this is true in your personal lives. Do you really need it today? Is stress of the dept really worth the pleasure the item will bring?
As I get off the freeway I see a guy with a cardboard sign that states “Will work for food”. So I offer the guy an unopened bag of chips and he says “What am I going to do with that?” I said, “You could eat it.” It is too bad that these people are just out to scam people. It makes it much more difficult for people that really need help and are willing to work hard to provide for their families in tough times. The scammer do it for drugs, or because it pays well.
I passed a lady that was in a wheelchair with a dog and the sign said, “Disabled vet anything will help.” I happen to work very close to where this lady sets up to ask for money. At the end of the day, a Cadillac Escalade stops and picks her up. It was her husband, because I have seen him in the same location with the same dog. People give them money all day long. The make about $500 a day. It is just amazing, but if you lose your job and need to resort to this people may think that you are just scamming them. You do not have your story down as well as the con artists, so why they make $500 a day you may make $20. You take the money to the store and buy hotdogs, store brand mac and cheese, milk, and some cereal, if you have enough money. It is just a shame.
I suggest making cards that have the information for a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, and contacts such as work source to put in pan handlers’ cups. This will provide the people that really need help connections to the resources to get the help they need and the people that are scamming our good nature a big middle finger.
The physiologic need to feel that you are getting ahead is amazing. It is the reason that we speed in our car. You always have to go a little faster then the guy next to you. You have to have a bigger house, faster car, make more money, ect. You need a raise every year. It just can’t happen fast enough. This causes inflation, envy, and anger if it is not satified.
The problem is that as you want a raise the cost of goods must go up to pay for the raise which in turn makes your raise false. To buy the bigger cars, house, LCD televisions, we go into dept because we can have it now and may die tomorrow. The problem is that we don’t die, we just keep making those minimum payments into our elderly years, but you have a cool 48” LCD television that you can brag about.
There is a new need that can file that hole, the need to help others. You will feel 100% more satisfied then just telling people the things you have. People really don’t care about what you have. They want to tell you about what they have. It is better to asked leading questions and become genuinely interested in them. They will be your friend forever.
I am not saying that you should not go out and get the things you want. I am just saying that people will be your friend and have respect for you whether you have that stuff or not. The emotional bankroll that you receive is something that you can take with you. You however cannot take that house, car, or TV with you. Those items will be left hear for your children to argue and fight over, but the memories that you create by loving and helping others will be shared by all.
So, to fill your need of getting ahead, do it by volunteering, helping others, donating time, money, or services. You will be rewarded much more then the feeling that you have for the week after you buy something new. It is kind of like Christmas as a kid. You will play with the box and get sick of the toy that was in it.
This Fourth of July my neighbors are all getting together and pooling our money for a neighborhood fireworks show and barbeque. This allows everyone to save money and enjoy the fireworks at the same time. It also allows us to get to know our neighbors. This helps keep the neighborhood safe because we can tell if someone is around that is not from the neighborhood. It also minimizes the chances of anything catching on fire and burning down. The kids play games and the adults swap stories and exchange information about occupations. This allows for some networking and exchange of skill in the future. For example if someone knows computers and someone paints house, but does not know computers they can trade their skills. If people make stuff you can by local. Support your local neighborhood whenever possible. Build and support your communities and keep the area where you live thriving.
As a society we have moved away from just helping each other out. We scam each other or just want something without giving of your self. You must be willing to give of your self first then the abundant rewards will come. Don’t make excuses or blame other people. You chose to make a difference and change your circumstances.
Remember, keep it local. Oh yeah and give someone a hug.
With the economy the way it is, it is time for friends to support friends. I recommend starting a small business online. First create a website and join several affiliate programs. I recommend Amazon, click bank, and Linkshare. You should also create a google adsense account. You can create the website using a free template online. After you get the website setup, find the products that you would like to promote. Then put the links to the products that you chose on your website. Next tell all your friends about your website. Ask them that if they are going to buy something that they check out your site and purchase the items through you. It will not cost them anymore money and you will make a little money. More than likely you will not be able to make enough money to live off of, but every little bit helps.
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