SHORTENING THE TIME HORIZON

The most important resource that we possess is time. Time is a spiritual concept. Time is not something that can be objectively manufactured and everyone can get more time. It has been said that each of us get the same twenty four hours as everyone else is. This is an area of equality for us all. This means that the productive of society add value to their time. People get paid according to how valuable their time is. The vast majority of people get paid low wages because their time in not that valuable.

People with low job skills lack understanding of cause and effect. They are willing to work for low wages because they are too lazy to improve themselves spiritually. If they improved themselves spiritually, then their job performance would improve and their pay would correspondingly rise. People who do not improve their job skills waste their off time. Their free time is filled with one unproductive activity after another. They do not understand the wise use of time. If they did understand, they would use their time wisely, but since they do not, it objectively demonstrates that they lack understanding of the wise use of time.

Contrasting is an effective way of getting a point across. The principle is that if something is true the opposite is also true. Most writers, who view the world through the prism of the visible, do not give both sides of an issue. This is because they view the world through the lens of effects only. They do not and cannot see both sides because to see both sides requires that one thinks in terms of cause and effect.

People with high job skills get paid more because their output per hour is more valuable. The reason that their output is more valuable is because they have prepared themselves spiritually. To be prepared spiritually means that you possess understanding. In other words, you have figured out that things work based on cause and effect. High achievers are not content with where they are at. They need challenges.

The most effective way to use time is to schedule your time. You will waste your time unless you schedule it. This does not mean that you have to necessarily write down a schedule, unless this will help you. I keep my schedule in my head. My schedule drives my wife crazy at time. A schedule is effective because it is an absolute. Those who realize that the world is governed by absolutes will prosper and get the most out of their time. They add value to their time. Deadlines can only be met by keeping to a schedule.

Keeping to a schedule will enable you to get the most out of your time. A schedule is a systematic way of using time. A schedule can be likened to a step ladder. Each increment of scheduled time allows you to take steps toward a goal. In my vending business, with one exception, my stops are timed stops. This means I have to be able to check in the store, put up the product and get to the next stop in time to meet the time deadline. This requires rigid scheduling and efficient use of time. Time cannot be wasted with idle chatter. Scheduling of time keeps you going forward. Without a schedule, you will waste time. Scheduling enables you to shorten time horizons and makes time manageable.

IS IT PAYDAY?

Most people know when it is payday. Usually those who do are ones that are living from paycheck to paycheck. Living paycheck to paycheck is for those who are just beginning to work. Young workers have not built up reserves. They spend most of what they make on current needs. It takes time to build up reserves. Getting established takes time. Even young workers can begin to save some of what they earn if they learn the discipline of savings.

By setting aside something out of each paycheck, eventually a worker can build up enough reserves so that they are not living paycheck to paycheck. The first savings account to be established is an emergency fund. For any of us the future is uncertain. We do not know when an unplanned expenditure will come up. This is why it is wise to plan for the future by having at least an emergency fund in place.

What is sad to see is that older workers have never learned the discipline of savings. Many older workers are still living paycheck to paycheck. They are bad examples to younger workers. These older workers look forward to payday and ask others "Do you know what day it is?" You will hear them say that they are glad it is payday. They work, not to achieve any worthwhile goals, but for payday. They also have low job skills. They see money as the sole reason for having a job. They do not understand the principle of service as the way to increasing their earnings. Those living from payday to payday can see a paycheck. What they cannot see is the reason for a paycheck.

I had something happen to me recently that would have devastated someone living paycheck to paycheck. I own my own business. I am an independent operator of a bread vending route. I get paid 20% of net sales. I am a trained accountant, so I have an Excel spreadsheet where I track my weekly earnings. I know approximately how much my paycheck should be each week. My paycheck is directly deposited every Thursday. This past Thursday, I called my Credit Union to find out about my paycheck. There was no deposit. So I called on Friday and still no deposit. I knew at this point that something was wrong.

I printed out a settlement statement for the week ending 7/11/09. This one page summary sheet said I owed the company $3,651! No wonder I did not get a paycheck. I printed out the entire settlement sheet (about 15 pages) and found the error. I was being charged $4,800 for 2012 Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. I do not even order 2012 Cinnamon Raisin Bagels in a year! Someone had made a mistake. I called the settlement office and the matter is resolved and I will get my paycheck.

The lady at the settlement office told me that I was handling the matter better than she would. What she did not realize is that I was going to get my money and also that I do not live paycheck to paycheck. Though it would have been nice to have my paycheck arrive on time, waiting a week was no big deal. For those who live paycheck to paycheck, an incident like this could devastate them financially for a long time. If you have not established an emergency fund, begin now.

REINFORCING DEPENDENCE

There are some things in life that are what R.J. Rushdoony called inescapable concepts. One of those inescapable concepts is welfare. It is never a question of welfare, no welfare but who pays for welfare. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines welfare as, "Exemption from misfortune, sickness, calamity, or evil: the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; prosperity; happiness." Welfare is a state of being that has its roots in economics.

Dependence is also an inescapable concept. It depends upon whom we want to be dependent upon. There are only two options. One is being dependent upon God and this is called providence and the other is being dependent upon the government. In modern vernacular, being dependent upon the government is called welfare. The government desires control over the citizenry. The way that this is done is twofold. The government has the power of coercion, so it extracts wealth from the productive citizens and gives this wealth to the unproductive. The unproductive in turn vote for those who will give them the most goodies. The unproductive outnumber the productive, so the productive are at a decided disadvantage.

A recent AP story is headlined as "In Philly schools, most students get a free lunch." When I was in college, an economics professor came to the first class with a sign that said that there was no such thing as a free lunch. The headline of this article should read, "In Philly schools, most students get a coercively based free lunch," or "In Philly schools, most students get a taxpayer funded free lunch." We know the media will never be accurate in their reporting and present both sides of the story. This is because the media’s thinking is based solely on effects. They do not understand the law of cause and effect.

Those in the Philly school system do not consider the consequences of giving most students free lunch. This has the opposite effect that is intended. It will never make these students independent and able to take care of themselves when they grow up. Instead, these free lunches will have the effect of making these students dependent upon the government. This is what the government really intends. The last thing that the government wants is a free and independent people. They cannot control that type of citizenry.

Those on assistance or welfare should feel stigmatized but when they are given these free lunches they will feel that they are entitled to them. Janet Hernandez was interviewed for this article. Hernandez said "Sometimes we need that extra little help as far as food goes." Sure she wants free lunches for her children. What parent would like not to have to pay for their children’s food? One thing that those who accept these welfare payments lack and this is the most important thing is, self respect.

Only those who are independent of the government but dependent upon providence have something that no amount of free lunches can supply, self respect. The independent get what they have by achievement and this makes them feel good about themselves. Those who have the entitlement mentality have no self respect and also have no sense of achievement. They are given things without earning them. They cannot and do not feel good about themselves.