Miscellaneous

Here are a few random, or not so random, thoughts from the past few weeks:

A jolt into thinking
Have you been jolted into thinking recently? Listen to Joshua Sheats in his podcast # 473 – What’s Wrong With Radical Personal Finance? This podcast is a heart-wrenching and honest confession; it is also an exploration of our reasoning to exist. In this podcast, Joshua also refers to a book called “Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture” by Anthony Esolen. At least the introduction of the book sounds provocative, thought-inducing and nostalgic, when read by Joshua. I found a few highly negative comments about the book on Amazon, but as any provocative work, there would be a wide range of emotions evoked. I have no opinion yet, I have not read the book!

Let bygones be bygones
Recently I watched a documentary on poverty in India. The days of the poorest were revolving around the trash – the mountains of garbage that were piled daily. The condemned people were going through the remnants and the discarded of other people’s lives. Digging into the dirt of yesterday … trying to find a single thing worth anything. As I watched, this picture of people sifting through the past turned into a symbol – the symbol of us sometimes looking back at the past, at the darkest, lowest moments of life, trying to find anything of value, anything redeeming. But sometimes all of the search is in vain. I do not claim that we should forget where we came from and what we went through, but a daily dive into the past keeps us poor. A daily dive into the past leads to poverty of the spirit and morale, it limits initiative. What do you think?

Freedom

Here is a great though that I shared with my daughter recently: "What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." -Bob Dylan
My girl will be soon deciding on what to do with herself after high school. I hope that she takes the right decision. I try not to meddle. Sometimes I think that by being passive, I am insuring myself against giving the wrong advice, but then I know my child – she would not change her mind no matter what I say. So, I am just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for her decision.

What happens to our children after high school
I recently found these stats on education:

"But for too many graduates, no matter the level of education they’re just completing, the transition to their next destination will be fraught with potential hurdles. Nearly 70 percent of this year’s high school graduates will go right on to college this fall, but if history is any guide only about half of them will graduate in four years. For those who do graduate, more than 40 percent of them might be underemployed, working in jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."
This is frightening, and discouraging. The education system needs to change. We need apprenticeships similar to these in Switzerland . After the apprentices learn about the real work world, then they can access more education, if they are inclined to do so. Watch what the future student may look like.

Quo vadis, Domine
Where are we going? Where is America headed?
These questions come to mind when watching the interview with Linh Dinh: America Is The Poorest First World Country. It is a scary, but honest view on America.