"There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter: From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men and become the instruments of their own undoing."
-Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
29 December 2008
25 December 2008
You Have to Mean It
It's Christmas day and I'm sitting at home watching the kids play. "The Family Man" is on TV. This is the Nicolas Cage vehicle about a Wall Street whiz who gets a glimpse of what his life might have been had he stayed with his girlfriend instead of taking a prestigious internship in London.
I get it. Family is where it's at. And even though I've seen the movie before and I know where all the sappy parts are and I know what the message is I find myself stopping the kids for hugs practically every time they wander by.
The message is a good one. It gets a lot of lip service in movies and TV shows like this one. But when it comes down to it, you really have to mean it.
My kids drive me insane most of the time. When they aren't at their favorite pass time they fill me with more than enough joy to make it through the insanity. My wife never drives me insane. So my joy is all the more full.
So though my days are so often resets of the day before, the bright, bright moments carry me through. My family carries me through. Love carries me through.
And I mean it.
I get it. Family is where it's at. And even though I've seen the movie before and I know where all the sappy parts are and I know what the message is I find myself stopping the kids for hugs practically every time they wander by.
The message is a good one. It gets a lot of lip service in movies and TV shows like this one. But when it comes down to it, you really have to mean it.
My kids drive me insane most of the time. When they aren't at their favorite pass time they fill me with more than enough joy to make it through the insanity. My wife never drives me insane. So my joy is all the more full.
So though my days are so often resets of the day before, the bright, bright moments carry me through. My family carries me through. Love carries me through.
And I mean it.
02 December 2008
20 November 2008
The Votes Are In
The American people have voted and it is overwhelmingly against the current domestic car status-quo.
Capitalism says that the market will determine which companies survive and which ones thrive. Consumers get to vote with their dollars. Over the last three decades the market share for the big three American car manufacturers have decreased steadily. No votes. Hondas and Toyotas abound. Yes votes.
This morning CNN posted the edited transcript of an interview with indie film-maker Michael Moore. Saith Moore:
"Well, what really went wrong is that General Motors has had this philosophy from the beginning that what's good for General Motors is good for the country. So, their attitude was we'll build it and you buy it. We'll tell you what to buy. You just buy it.
Eventually, the consumer got smart and said, 'You know what, I'd like a car that gets a little better gas mileage. I'd like a car that's safer on the road,' so they started to buy other cars. General Motors still wouldn't change. They still kept building the wrong cars, and more and more people stopped buying them. "
Sounds about right to me. The No votes are the result of GM's failure to listen to the market. Fine, but then he goes on to say...
President-Elect Obama has to say to them, yes, we're going to use this money to save these jobs, but we're not going to build these gas-guzzling, unsafe vehicles any longer.
We're going to put the companies into some sort of receivership and we, the government, are going to hold the reigns on these companies. They're to build mass transit. They're to build hybrid cars. They're to build cars that use little or no gasoline.
Wait. What happened to the market that wasn't being listened to? Is the clueless government dictating what gets made any different than clueless management?
Liberals say the darndest things.
Capitalism says that the market will determine which companies survive and which ones thrive. Consumers get to vote with their dollars. Over the last three decades the market share for the big three American car manufacturers have decreased steadily. No votes. Hondas and Toyotas abound. Yes votes.
This morning CNN posted the edited transcript of an interview with indie film-maker Michael Moore. Saith Moore:
"Well, what really went wrong is that General Motors has had this philosophy from the beginning that what's good for General Motors is good for the country. So, their attitude was we'll build it and you buy it. We'll tell you what to buy. You just buy it.
Eventually, the consumer got smart and said, 'You know what, I'd like a car that gets a little better gas mileage. I'd like a car that's safer on the road,' so they started to buy other cars. General Motors still wouldn't change. They still kept building the wrong cars, and more and more people stopped buying them. "
Sounds about right to me. The No votes are the result of GM's failure to listen to the market. Fine, but then he goes on to say...
President-Elect Obama has to say to them, yes, we're going to use this money to save these jobs, but we're not going to build these gas-guzzling, unsafe vehicles any longer.
We're going to put the companies into some sort of receivership and we, the government, are going to hold the reigns on these companies. They're to build mass transit. They're to build hybrid cars. They're to build cars that use little or no gasoline.
Wait. What happened to the market that wasn't being listened to? Is the clueless government dictating what gets made any different than clueless management?
Liberals say the darndest things.
13 November 2008
My New American Dream
Shortly after the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States, I heard the following quote:
“Now I can tell my kids they can be anything they want to be.”
I sincerely hope for two things. First, that any parent would not refrain from letting their children know that they can be anything they want to be, regardless what those they know or look like have accomplished. Second, that all parents tell their children about those things they absolutely must be.
My son is three and my daughter is four. They can accomplish anything. To me that is the American Dream. It’s part and parcel to being American. It’s what has brought so many to our shores and over our fences.
They will fail. I hope they fail. I have failed. I have also succeeded, and my successes are so much the sweeter for my failures. It’s an unwritten corollary to the American Dream and that pulling yourself up and dusting off, ready for the next round, is required.
I have accomplished more in education and profession than my parents. But it would be for naught if had I not learned from them some very, very important lessons outside the American Dream. These lessons are what makes the American Dream more than just a life path, but a life.
I learned from my parents that I absolutely must be the best husband and father possible. That I must be the best son and brother possible. That this comes before education and profession.
In this I have failed as well. I am now married to my third wife. I am so incredibly blessed that after two painful and miserable failures I have found sweet success. I feel I am finally being the husband I should be, and always learning how to be a better one.
With wife number three came children. This feels like constant failure. But at the end of a long day full of whining, crying, and a dearth of manners comes success. My little boy comes over and asks to sit in my lap. He climbs up and snuggles in. I am now the world’s greatest dad. Until bedtime.
Being a husband and father has taught me how poorly I have done at being a son and brother. So I work on those as well. Several times a year I get to work on being an uncle. It’s a lot of work on top of the American Dream stuff. Maybe I should make that my American Dream instead. I should make that my true life path. Be the best me possible, by being the best for those around me.
“Now I can tell my kids they can be anything they want to be.”
I sincerely hope for two things. First, that any parent would not refrain from letting their children know that they can be anything they want to be, regardless what those they know or look like have accomplished. Second, that all parents tell their children about those things they absolutely must be.
My son is three and my daughter is four. They can accomplish anything. To me that is the American Dream. It’s part and parcel to being American. It’s what has brought so many to our shores and over our fences.
They will fail. I hope they fail. I have failed. I have also succeeded, and my successes are so much the sweeter for my failures. It’s an unwritten corollary to the American Dream and that pulling yourself up and dusting off, ready for the next round, is required.
I have accomplished more in education and profession than my parents. But it would be for naught if had I not learned from them some very, very important lessons outside the American Dream. These lessons are what makes the American Dream more than just a life path, but a life.
I learned from my parents that I absolutely must be the best husband and father possible. That I must be the best son and brother possible. That this comes before education and profession.
In this I have failed as well. I am now married to my third wife. I am so incredibly blessed that after two painful and miserable failures I have found sweet success. I feel I am finally being the husband I should be, and always learning how to be a better one.
With wife number three came children. This feels like constant failure. But at the end of a long day full of whining, crying, and a dearth of manners comes success. My little boy comes over and asks to sit in my lap. He climbs up and snuggles in. I am now the world’s greatest dad. Until bedtime.
Being a husband and father has taught me how poorly I have done at being a son and brother. So I work on those as well. Several times a year I get to work on being an uncle. It’s a lot of work on top of the American Dream stuff. Maybe I should make that my American Dream instead. I should make that my true life path. Be the best me possible, by being the best for those around me.
03 September 2008
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