545 People – Part III Another Great Truth – Are People Really Fools?

I’m picking up from where I left off on Part I. Part II was a tangent based on an e-mail response I received from a long-time and valued friend. So, here are more of MY thoughts on the 545 people in Washington, DC who ultimately control, in one way or another, just about every aspect of our lives.

Business and life are gambles. If you go to a casino, play the lottery, bet on horses or dogs or football teams or whatever - if you bet on red and red comes in, you win - if it doesn't you lose - the same with horses, the lottery, etc. Wall Street, investments, real estate, insurance and all other businesses - are the exact same thing. There are no guarantees. IF you're smart - you learn as much about whatever it is you're going to gamble on, what the risks are and you take calculated risks. That's how professional gamblers make a living - and they know when to fold, too. And that's why people who lose everything they have gambling, lose. They don't know when to fold and shouldn't have been in the game in the first place. If you're going to skydive, you want to know everything about skydiving you can, learn the equipment from experts, pack your own parachute and don't take anyone else's word that the parachute is packed correctly. Then when you jump from that plane, the risk is calculated (still not guaranteed, though) and your chances of an exciting and exhilarating, safe, successful experience are on your side. But, if you don't, you've changed the odds, the risk isn't as calculated and there may be greater potential for this to be your last jump - NOT BY CHOICE.

The same goes for Auto Manufacturers, Unions, Wall Street Bankers, huge investment banks, credit card banks, huge insurance companies, mortgage brokers, mortgage investors, real estate agents, home and commercial property builders and home and real estate investors. NO ONE IS TOO BIG TO FAIL- PERIOD!!!! The bigger the risks you take, the bigger the potential losses or rewards - but again, There are no guarantees. NO! There is no reason anyone else - including and especially - the taxpaying public should bail you out. NO! There is no one so - "talented?????" that they deserve to get multimillion dollar salaries, stock options and bonuses if it’s not their own money and assets they’re playing with and risking. That’s especially true when their talent nearly (and may still, who knows) lead to the total collapse of the entire global economy. They don’t have the right to destroy the lives and life savings of untold millions of people and then be rewarded for it. Causing responsible, hard working, minimal risk taking individuals to lose their jobs, homes, retirements, everything that is - WAS - the American Dream - for Americans is not only unethical, it’s immoral. You asked people to put their trust and faith in you. When you screw up, they lose and you gain? That’s just WRONG! And, yes, the American Dream for billions of people around the world who looked up to us and aspired to our Dream in their own countries has been bashed to pieces.

If these "So-called - Talented (and extremely GREEDY, Unethical and Amoral)" people want that much money that bad - then go gamble for it like the Warren Buffett's, The Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Besos, Sam Waltons, Hewletts and Packards, Bill Lears, etc. who either invested in the stock market or invested in themselves and their own companies - many living meagerly, even long after they had more money then they could spend in their entire lifetime. Others have or are living more lavishly then King Solomon. NO ONE AND NO BUSINESS OR CORPORATION OR GOVERNMENT IS TOO BIG TO FAIL!

I have to wonder, when I listen to news sound bites, what rocks some of these people crawl out from under. They had a meeting in LA the other day at which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that they were going to have to cut about another 1000 public employees, with the possibility of more cuts looming - because the city has such a deep deficit and can't meet their commitments. This is simply another way of saying that THE CITY IS GOING BANKRUPT unless they find ways to stop the profuse financial bleeding. Immediately upon which some public employee union representative got up and began loudly and profusely protesting these cutbacks indicating how this was going to curtail the lives of these public employees. Now, I'm not sure what great liberal bastion of stupidity or academic institution this person attended. I question if he/she even had the intellectual ability to get the lowest SAT scores possible to be admitted to Parsons College (which, when I graduated high school, was the college anyone could get into as long as you could sign X on the application and your parents sent a check for the tuition that would be honored by a bank).

First, who the hell owes any of these people a living? Certainly not me! Second, where do these mental midgets get the impression that there is such a thing as "job security.” I guess they believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, too. Third, what part of “THE CITY IS BANKRUPT AND WE CAN’T PAY OUR COMMITMENTS” does this moron and his/her minions not understand. I've got an idea - let them keep their jobs and pay them in IOU's that will never be honored - or just give them rubber checks for a while. The result is ALL the same - there is no money to pay their salaries. Haven't these imbeciles watched what happened to industry after industry in this country after the unions raped them? Yes! Once upon a time the industries exploited and raped the workers. But, doing the same thing in return by the unions doesn't fix the problem - it only exacerbates it. Can you believe this? Los Angeles has - not one - not two – but, FIVE staff calligraphers on the taxpayers payroll. They are going to be laid off. (sob, sob) Excuse me while I get a tissue to wipe the tears from my eyes.

HEY CALIFORNIA - IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO WRITE BAD CHECKS! IT'S ALSO AGAINST THE LAW TO PRINT YOUR OWN MONEY! ONLY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN CONTINUE SPENDING WANTONLY WITH NOTHING TO BACK IT UP! BUT, THE FEDS CAN VOTE TO INCREASE THE NATIONAL DEBT TO KEEP PAYING TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR DOING TOO LITTLE! AND, THEY, ALSO, HAVE THE PRINTING PRESSES TO MAKE MORE USELESS PIECES OF GREEN PAPER.

I've been trying to figure out the difference between the U.S. Government and the U.S. Treasury printing plant and a counterfeiter. They both do the same thing. It's all "funny money" and worthless in the end. Listen, I only picked on Los Angeles and a little bit on the Washington bandits. I didn't even pick on the entire state of California or the other states or even little Winchester, VA where I am as I write this. Winchester is where they are spending millions of dollars putting in brick sidewalks and crosswalks, putting in beautiful antique looking, street lights, matching traffic signals (taking out existing traffic signals and replacing them with stop signs when the signals were really much more effective) and lighted street name signs. Yet, they also are having trouble paying their bills and raising the money to make up the deficit. Where do they find these people? Gosh, it's so easy to spend someone elses money when you have no accountability for it. I wish I could say I have experienced the feeling. But, alas, I've just always been an entrepreneur who has made some money and lost some money - and, like a lot of entrepreneurs (maybe most, I don't know), I've lost more then I've gained. But, at least I'm accountable for it - and I know exactly who to blame for my failures - I look at the scoundrel every morning when I shave.

That's enough for this post. Next time, lets talk about intelligence and education. Another Oxymoron?

Enthusiastically,
Ed