from the government to help

Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.

~ Ayn Rand

Proverbs 31 – relationships

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:10-12 from New International Version

This is the beginning of potentially the most famous, and longest, section in Proverbs. Yes, the Iron sharpening Iron verse is quoted often, but that is just one verse. [Read more]

Proverbs 30 – looking deeper

There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
Ants—they aren’t strong,
but they store up food all summer.
Hyraxes—they aren’t powerful,
but they make their homes among the rocks.
Locusts—they have no king,
but they march in formation.
Lizards—they are easy to catch,
but they are found even in kings’ palaces.

Proverbs 30:24-28 from New Living Translation

Is this saying that the measure of wisdom is the ability to produce unexpected, or seemingly imposable results?

Maybe it is saying that it takes wisdom to overcome the obstetrical in your life!?

Expect the unexpected and best out of people, creatures and life or a message of don’t judge a book by its cover. [Read more]

to and from

Every exit is an entrance to somewhere else.

~ Tom Stoppard

Proverbs 29 – Incentives

It takes more than talk to keep workers in line;
mere words go in one ear and out the other.

Proverbs 29:19  from The Message

If you were forced to limit your answer to only one thing – what would your answer be to this question:

What is the one primary thing that causes you to act?

[Read more]

Proverbs 28 – oppression

A ruler who oppresses the poor
is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

Proverbs 28:3 from New International Version

What is oppression?
After reading through both a Wikipedia article on it, and stuff from dictionary.com, lets settle on:

Making it harder for a group to be the best it can be, either collective or as individuals. [Read more]

building greatness

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You can not help the poor by destroying the rich. You can not keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You can not build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

~ Abraham Lincoln

Proverbs 27 – build or destroy

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood,
but jealousy is even more dangerous.

Proverbs 27:4 from New Living Translation

Other translations use the word envy as opposed to jealousy, either way there are two elements or places that the envy or jealousy could be:
- within you
- against you

In both places, or directions the feelings of inferiority, real or just perceived, can cause negative effects within an individual, group, or country.

I have been told of a research study where a group of people played a game where the goal was to amass as much money as each individual could. When the game was “over” some people had more money then others. The people with less money were given an option: You can give up some of your money to cause other people to give up more of their money. Many, if not all, did … this is a result of envy or jealousy.

They were willing to hurt themselves to hurt others, simply because the others had “more” … where they would have done better within the game if they had not.

Everyone was hurt.

There is a continuum that you will find yourself on when you notice a difference between you and someone else:
1. focus on bringing them more in line with where you are (smash, crush, destroy)
2. neutral – either ignore, dismiss, move on or praise, respect them for their accomplishment, either way, no real effect on yourself
3. focus on building, causing or getting yourself up

Odds are you will not always find yourself at one end, or the middle, nor am I saying you should. There are times that a person should be brought back to earth, yet it’s not directly based on what they created, accumulated, or own, but the methods that they did, or where they are going from now.

What if society was more focused on the neutral to motivation side, as opposed to envy?
Well, like with the research, in the end everyone would have more. What happens when a business has “extra” money? Either it goes to the owners, is used to develop new goods & services, or the employees are paid more; in each case the economy and opportunities are expanded. What if an individual has more money? Either they will spend, save, invest, or give it away. As long as the money is not sitting in a jar, or under a matters, it helps the economy.

What happens when there is no desire to improve ones own lot?
nothing … and that is not good. We don’t want everyone to do nothing, we want everyone to be the best they can be. We want everyone to produce as much as they can. We want everyone build as much wealth as they can. At least we should & I do … with one qualifier: it must be legal & morally good/right.

The primary way to build wealth is simple:
1. provide value – proof of that is you get money
2. spend less then you make
3. let others use your money to make more money – a cost of capital investing mindset (as opposed to the gambling mindset many attempt)

If our society focused on this, we would be able to make every other goal happen through our increased wealth, but giving, investing, funding, etc

Part of the Proverbs Challenge series.

Proverbs 26 – Your Business: Foolish Mad Dog Ears

Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;
you’ll only look foolish yourself.
You grab a mad dog by the ears
when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.

Proverbs 26:4 & 17 from The Message

It is normal for a person to have an instant reaction to correct a person who is wrong, especially on simple facts.

One technique in business espionage is to talk to an official in an organization, not high ranking, but someone who would know the data, and purposefully undervalue the numbers you want. Try it sometime, go ask someone about their job and make sure to downplay the importance, value, or achievements by stating a lesser number and see what type of reaction you get. [Read more]

Proverbs 25 – King and I

No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth,
or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

Proverbs 25:3 from New Living Translation

Lets take a few words and input them in instead of king, since we do not have many kings now a days, at least not in the traditional since in first world countries.
Instead, lets add in good parent, if you are not one, or President/Governor. Those are still not exact equivalents, but lets go on with it.

What about politician? [Read more]

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