We're All Angry Paupers in this New Economy

by Leonard Knath, staff writer

Hey folks, gather around. It's time for another episode of, "What in the hell is wrong with the world today?" Let's talk about the cost of food. Yeah, you heard me. Food. The stuff we need to survive. You'd think it would be a basic human right. But no. Instead, it's become a luxury item.

Have you seen the prices lately? Well, of course you have. How can you miss them? And what about those damn eggs? What's going on with that? Since when did having a dozen eggs in your shopping cart get raised eyebrows from people passing you in the aisles?

"Enjoy your scrambled dinner, Rockefeller."

Of course, you can't blame the stores or even who makes all this stuff. It's inflation that's done it for anyone who wasn't aware. It's an invisible hand reaching into our pockets pulling out whatever spare change we have left.

Kind of makes me think of a bad magician. You know the one. He says, "Give me a dollar and I'll make it disappear," only to grab it, spin around, and run.

As a matter of fact, I think this magician has long, dark hair and a rather grating cackle.

Speaking of politicians, they just stand with their thumbs up their asses telling us it's all under control. Yeah, sure it is. Just like we were once told that the Titanic was "unsinkable."

I am pretty sure they want me to be dirt poor. Those stinking Democrats. They want me poorer than poor. How else can they entice me with their free stuff so I will vote for them? I still won't, but you get the idea. Beyond that, any time I get a bill there's another fee, another service charge. 

The greatest inventor nowadays invents new ways to take my money. "Oh, you want to breathe air? That'll be $5.99 plus tax."

Leonard Knath, pronounced like math, is a seeker of truth and an adamant denier of the status quo. He makes his home in Stratford, New Jersey where he lives with his wife Dee and their two cats, Lawson and Saul.

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© 2024 Leonard Knath

Harsh Words for the 99%

I know it seems like a harsh thing to say but it also happens to be the truth a lot of the time. When it comes to money, most of the time people's financial troubles come from making excuses. Because the reality is that even though money, to some people, seems scarce—it is actually rather quite abundant.

I don't write these things to preach. I write about money and ways to achieve wealth to help people have a different perspective about money.

The thing is, there's always someone to blame if you don't have enough. It's the greedy rich exploiting people. It's the evil employers holding back wages. It's a rigged system. The reality is that it's none of these things.

At least when it comes to living in the United States. Like I said, and I mean it, money is plentiful. It's not to say it's easy, but that's the point. It's not supposed to be. People who achieve wealth largely don't do it by accident.

It takes know-how. It takes hard work. It takes commitment. It takes understanding how money works. It takes understanding what it really is that holds you back. It's being truthful to yourself rather than finding others and situations to blame.

"But you are going to talk about the stock market, and we all know it's rigged and pretty much gambling," you'll probably say.

Wrong. It's not rigged and it's not gambling at all.

In fact, what it is for a lot of people is a terrible and unfortunate missed opportunity. I can't tell you how many times I hear an employee say, "The company's just cheap and cheating me." Especially if it happens to be a publicly traded company I have to ask, "Are you an owner?"

In other words, if you see profits and the business thriving, and people making money from it, why not own it? Why not buy the stock and share in a piece of the action?

In a nutshell, why wait for the company to pay you more? Why not give yourself a raise? Why not be among the shareholders who benefit from your hard labors? It's not like you are barred from being an owner. You might think you are because you maybe feel you don't make enough.

"It's enough just to pay the bills, let alone buy shares." But the reality is, especially when a dividend is offered, that not buying shares is shooting yourself in the foot. You are literally leaving valuable money on the table.

Because one of the keys to building wealth is not from working alone. It's from owning things. It should be common sense. How did the rich guy get rich? He owned the business you work for. If you can also own it, why aren't you doing it? If the company is sharing its profits with shareholders, why aren't you a shareholder?

There are three things you need to have in order to finally get ahead and be less reliant on others for your financial wellbeing. 

You need vision.

You need to understand that your financial stability is not the responsibility nor the obligation of anyone else but you. Your employer needs to fill a position and they pay what they pay. You accepted the job at the pay offered, and that's that. You need to view your situation as an opportunity and have the vision to believe that wealth is achievable even when all the odds seem stacked against you, because other people do it all the time.

You need goals.

Nothing is ever achieved without a plan and a well thought out one. Realize what's possible and then try to figure out how you can achieve what's possible. More importantly, set realistic goals. Wealth is not about luck. It can be in rare situations. But most of the time it's not about luck at all. It's about vision and having a plan and staying committed to it against all odds.

You need courage.

No one achieved wealth without risk. It's just part of the game. You have to be willing to make certain short-term sacrifices in order to achieve long term gains. You have to be willing to put money on the table to gain from it. You have to trust not in the system, but in your judgement. You have to have faith in yourself. Never, ever sell yourself short. Never, ever give in or give up. Never, ever settle. Have an I can attitude. And never, ever look at someone else's success as having held you back from your own.

The world is full of opportunities. Seize every single one of them and never tell yourself you aren't supposed to be part of it.

Because that's the other part of wealth creation many people fail to understand. It's not about them. It's about you. If you don't know something, learn something. If you don't understand something, seek out people and things that can help you to understand things better. Most importantly, look up to successful rich people rather than look down on them.

Concentrate your time and energy on appreciating that rich people represent what is possible if you mimic what they do.

And as I said early on in this post, don't make excuses. Read, learn and execute. Do it early. Don't wait. Because time is money and the more time you waste not doing it, the harder it will be to reach your goals. 

Make money your friend. Not your enemy. Make the rich and the businesses they own your opportunity.

Okay. There's one other thing here. And it may sound controversial. But I am going to tell you it is some of the best advice I ever got in my own personal financial pursuits. Do not listen to your poor friends. Because it's dumb to listen to poor people talk to you about money. They obviously don't know what they are talking about.

They are the ones telling you the rich are just greedy, evil people out to get you. They are the ones telling you the system is unfair and rigged. They are the ones telling you that the stock market is rigged and gambling. They are the ones telling you that you are being exploited. They are the ones saying you can't get ahead. 

They are the ones fortifying the excuse.

Look, say what you want about the 1%. But if you are listening to the 99%? It's the reason you aren't in the 1%. It's also the reason you don't stand a chance to become the 5%, 10% or even the 50%.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page or on X to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them.

© 2024 Jim Bauer

The Entire Country Seems to be in Chaos

It seems to be all over the country, and even spilling into other parts of the world. Shootings, violence, unrest, chaos, fighting, and just overall angry people. Police offer some help, but police are often targets in all of this as much as anyone is. And, police are not the "figures" they once were. They are not respected or even feared in situations of violence where they may otherwise provide some calm to things.

From schools to shopping malls and retail and grocery stores, to parades and festivals, inside of state fairs and during other events—you can't even call it a zoo anymore. Even zoos have much more order and calm than all of this that's going on.

It's also the level of anger that is increasingly alarming, and typically over things that would not normally cause anger at such levels. A simple overcooked hamburger or getting an order wrong at a fast-food restaurant could launch someone into a violent tirade, terrorizing other customers and staff in ways that are almost unimaginable.

It has simply gotten out of control and seems to be getting worse, and the question becomes why is it happening and how do we fix it? What's the solution to it all? How do we restore law and order at this point? How do we restore a sense of humanity and community? Where is all the anger coming from and why the intensity, especially over very small issues?

At some point it does have to end. Because if it doesn't and only gets worse, there may come a point where there is no going back to the way things were. Sometimes once a particular disease takes hold, there is no cure. There is only treatment for the symptoms.

There is one thought that I do have, and that's a political one. Unfortunately, it just is. We have been largely polarized as a people—and dare I say that's been something of a product of the democrat party and their constant campaign to divide people from all walks of life and pit them all against each other.

Whites vs. blacks, blacks vs. Asians, rich vs. poor, gay vs. straight, trans vs. binary. Everyone hates everyone.

And let's face it. Whites have become an extreme target as well. And white seems to check more boxes. Privileged. Rich. Part of the "establishment." Supremacists. Racists. And the list goes on.

The word entitlement comes to mind as well. Another culture bred from the democrat party over many years of so-called "advocating for the less fortunate." When you breed into the minds of people the idea that they are victims of everything, everything and everyone becomes an enemy. A target. And a reason to lash out.

A reason to be angry at the world and everyone and everything in it.

Whether it's about being underpaid or unappreciated—even if these things are just a perception—the culture of the idea has been firmly planted and is creating part of the chaos. You owe me something and therefore I have the right to demand this, that and the other thing. 

I made the comment more than once on social media like Twitter that listening to the democrat party anymore is like watching that now-famous episode of Oprah when she gave away those cars. "You are a victim, and you're a victim, and you're a victim. Everyone's a victim."

Rather than promote togetherness and strength through unification, targets are being promoted as something to lash back at and attack. 

You can't have a world like that and expect it to be peaceful. You can't live in a world like that and expect it to be successful. From employees not wanting to do the job they are asked to do, feeling entitled to simply take their money and run to people demanding reparations, tuitions to be paid, free healthcare and whatever else one can think of. Everyone feels entitled to something that frankly, they are not entitled to at all.

But that's been what's been infused into their mindsets. And there's no getting through anymore. There's no logical way to logically explain why they're wrong. 

As well, beyond what the democrats have done to incite all this unrest, it is also the breakdown of the American family that I think is fueling some of this. Kids are left without any real structure. They lack guidance and principled parenting. And in many inner cities especially, kids are taught victimhood like some kids in other circumstances might be taught to stay within the lines in a coloring book.

In many instances, the kids really don't have any parents at all.

Did some of this start with the doing away of corporal punishment? Another tenet of the democrat party and liberal ideology by the way. Did it start with "everyone gets a trophy?" Did it start with every normal childhood action being "treated" with a drug? 

Lack of fear of consequences is a very real thing in this country right now. But where did that come from?

I asked before, what's the solution? And I still want to know. Because right now the only thing being explored is the apparent cause, not the actual cause. Just like with the gun argument. Is it the gun? Or is it something else? I think it's something else, but few people want to explore what that something else is and simply want to address the weapon of expression rather than what weaponizes the expression.

It is a rather depressing time, if you ask me, watching what was once a great country falling on such hard times emotionally, mentally, as a culture, and getting worse day by day. When you lose your sense of personal pride, of patriotism, of unity, of opportunity—how do you get these things back? 

Because honestly, if you think about the struggles we have today, they pale in comparison to the struggles that our forefathers went through. Times were many times more difficult, many times more unfair, many times more trying than they are now. And yet, our unrest is as great as it has ever been as though our condition were much worse today than it was yesterday. Which is not true at all. We have it easier than we have ever had it. More people are free than were ever before. More opportunities exist than ever before. 

As a nation, we are so much more divided than we have ever been in our past history, and it is a deep-rooted problem without a solution right now. Not only is it depressing, I find it to be downright scary. Like watching someone die before your very eyes a slow and painful, cancer ridden death, I fear we are watching the death of our great nation in much the same way. The fear is whether or not the cancer has taken hold so badly that we can't stop what becomes the inevitable outcome.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on Twitter at @jimbauer601 or follow me on my Facebook page.

Inner Cities CAN Be Rebuilt from Within

I live near East Saint Louis, Illinois and drive through the town often as it is a quick route to I-55 to get into downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and I also use Apex Recycling in East Saint Louis to turn in my aluminum cans. 

Years ago, when I lived in Wisconsin, I did a stint with a pest control company and my commercial route was largely in the inner-city portions of Milwaukee on the north side. When it comes to most inner cities, the observation is always the same.

Boarded up houses, garbage in the streets, run down, dilapidated buildings, high crime, and one other major thing stands out like a sore thumb.

There are no major businesses there.

In other words, little is ever invested in these communities. The unfortunate truth is that in America's inner cities, the primary source of their economy is largely derived from social welfare programs. And that's not a knock on the community. It's just that without much going on in terms of businesses offering meaningful employment within the community, it is harder for the economy to be sustained by much of anything else.

Beyond that, because of East Saint Louis' proximity to downtown St. Louis, and because it is a direct route to Busch Stadium where the Cardinal baseball team plays, and because many people bordering Missouri also work in St. Louis, there are potentially millions of dollars, if not tens of millions of dollars that pass through East Saint Louis every year.

Few people from outside of East Saint Louis will actually stop and patronize any businesses that may be there. And there are a lot of reasons for that. High crime being one of them. People simply won't feel safe.

Every time I have driven through any inner-city community, I have always felt that this can change. I have always felt, it doesn't have to be this way. And it often pains me that it is this way.

It is obvious that community leaders and elected officials have failed these cities in incalculable ways. Because when you get right down to it, they have the most opportunity to make the change that paves the way for greater success within the communities.

And really, it has to come from within first.

There is some thought that part of the reason more businesses aren't interested in making investments within certain communities is because of the current conditions that exist there. It's just not an attractive place to do business, and so they don't.

Why can't a big company like Proctor & Gamble build a factory smack dab in the middle of East Saint Louis, or some other inner city, that could provide a major boost to the people and the economy of East Saint Louis?

The thought is that they can, but there is reluctance to do so for other reasons. It's just not a place today that would provide a pool of resources that would be determined to be valuable to the business. At least, not in the short term.

It starts with the citizens.

And quite frankly, it has to start with the citizens. The people who live in these inner cities need to want to make their town successful. They have to want to make their communities a nice place to live, work, and for other people to visit.

If citizens rise up and say, "Enough is enough," change can happen. If the citizens are able to recognize their downfalls, and who or what is holding them back, change can happen.

Beyond that, I think if there were stronger leaders, and a certain culture of despair were dismissed and a strong change in attitude instilled that, "We can do it," were to permeate and define the culture, I think a lot of positive change could come from that.

There are many black athletes and black musicians, and even very successful black entrepreneurs who could not only become great ambassadors, but they also have the ability to make good and meaningful investments into the communities they could potentially serve.

Because that's the other part of the problem, isn't it? Even when an inner-city community produces success, that success is rarely returned back to the community. It simply leaves. If the goal is only to escape a community, it can never thrive.

Granted, restoring a community is not an easy thing to do. And even if it were to start today, it could take years for the results to have a major impact. Getting the community to come together and want the change, and to invest in the change is also not an easy thing to do.

Having churches and other community organizations come together and work to clear trash and debris would be a great place to start. Having wealthy people buy land and dilapidated buildings and tear them down and clear the parcels would be a great accomplishment as well. 

It could serve to at least restore faith within the community, and to have something to work towards. To have something to be proud of. And perhaps the businesses come. Perhaps more investments are made. Perhaps opportunities increase. Perhaps a massive cultural shift occurs.

Every community, I feel, should have the ability to serve itself in ways that make the community stronger and better. But it never necessarily happens by accident. It takes work. It takes pride. It takes commitment. It takes having an attitude that anything is possible. It takes leadership, and by that, I mean real leadership.

America's inner cities, as I see it, have enormous potential to be destinations, and places where people want to live and work and not just pass through. But to actually be enjoyed by all.

But again, the citizens have to take these cities back and be proactive about the restoration before any of that can actually happen. It literally takes a community to build a city as much as it takes a community to raze one.

The time is now to build.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on Twitter at @jimbauer601 or check out my Facebook page to keep up with my latest writings wherever it is I write.

No More Lifetime Handouts For the Poor

When it comes to the epidemic of poverty in our country, many people want to help. The truth is, however, that what we ultimately wind up doing is not helping the people, but perpetuating the problem. There are so many examples one can point to that clearly demonstrate that welfare and food programs are doing nothing to solve the issue of poverty. If nothing else, all of the statistics clearly point to the fact that the problem is only getting worse, and since the inception of welfare programs instituted largely during the Great Depression era the number of people on the poverty level is substantially higher today.

Part of the problem is the way that the welfare and food programs are set up. The system does not encourage work, and for many people once you are on the dole, you never get off of it.

And it's not just government programs that can be to blame for the failure of welfare and food programs. Churches, for example, are large contributors of food to families in need. To either the government officials, or church officials, one question should be asked.

If the same person has come to my door for the past 30 years needing some help, how has my program worked to help that person?

Fixing the problem is difficult. But not because it is complex. It is difficult because many people, especially politicians, are convinced that even bringing up the issue of welfare reform is political suicide. Moreover, many Americans are simply convinced that taking anything away from the poor is cruel and inhumane.

In my opinion, keeping a person on the dole is akin to keeping an animal in captivity. Or perhaps, it can even be akin to a form of slavery. The fact is that the true potential of an individual cannot be realized when it is trapped in a system for which there is no foreseeable escape.

Welfare programs should be designed to seek to help those who truly need some help. But it should not be designed to allow individuals who have no interest in helping themselves continue to receive benefits.

Imagine, if you will, being an investor. A businessman comes to you and says he wants to expand his business. He invites you to fork over some cash to invest with him. He tells you to contribute money every single month. All the while the business does not expand. The investment dollars are only paying for the daily operating expenses of the current business. How long do you continue to invest knowing that the dollars are not improving the business? How long do you continue to invest knowing that the businessman has no intention of using the money to improve the business? And if the money keeps coming anyway, what incentive does the businessman have to do anything about improving the business?

Welfare programs can be thought of the same way. You are investing dollars into an idea that you will help the poor to get back on their feet, and get off the dole. Only the truth is that the dollars are only paying for the daily operating expenses and nothing more. There is no expansion, and the result of the dollars spent are static at best. This is largely a zero gain investment.

It needs to be clear that welfare reform should not be considered by anyone to be cruel in any way. Even churches should appreciate welfare reform. After all, it is in the Bible where it says, "Feed a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Yet churches have virtually no work programs, but their food programs rule the day.

So, what should be at the heart of an effective system of welfare? Education and encouragement to seek employment. And I'm not talking about higher education when it comes to that term. But rather educating people on money management, how to conduct themselves in an interview for a job, and how to write an effective résumé. Things that will have greater impact on the lives of the poor than simply handing them a few dollars and a loaf of bread.

Some of the reforms I would institute would include many things. And again, the system would be geared to helping individuals who truly need the help, while leaving behind those who have no intention of truly benefiting from the help they are being offered. It may seem cruel. But at some point it simply makes no sense to me to be an enabler simply because. In no other areas of our society do we accept this, but when it comes to poverty we do it openly.

At some point the weakling chick must be tossed from the nest to ensure the survival of the stronger chicks. 

• Welfare recipients would be required to seek work, and would be required to report the results of their job search efforts.
• Welfare recipients would be required to do a specified number of hours of community service such as keeping up parks, street cleanup, and other projects deemed beneficial to the communities in which they are receiving benefits.
• Welfare recipients would be required to attend job training sessions such as how to conduct oneself in an interview for a job, how to write a résumé, and would be educated in areas of money management, how to open a savings account, and how to balance a checking account and how to avoid credit pitfalls such as payday loans and title loans which are devastatingly destructive to poor communities.
• Welfare recipients would be required to be tested for drugs. Welfare recipients tested positive would be required to seek rehabilitation in order to maintain their benefits. Failure to pass drug tests in the future would make them ineligible for future benefits.
• Welfare benefits would not be unlimited. Benefits would be reduced on a graduating scale over time, and at some point it would be expected that the benefit of work would outweigh the value of the benefits. Benefits would also eventually expire.

Comedian and radio personality Dennis Miller once said of the system of welfare, "I don't mind helping the helpless. I mind helping the clueless, and these days there are more clueless than helpless." An effective system must be one in which productivity, responsibility, and real hope is encouraged and offered. The system as it stands today offers none of that, and therefore poverty remains an epidemic, and one that is expanding rather than contracting even though more and more dollars are spent on these programs each and every year.