Anna said (July 21, 2007):

Being in debt has always made me uncomfortable, more so all the time. When I was still in my twenties I met a Quaker family who had a policy of no debt.

The young couple rented an apartment for two years and saved money for a small piece of land, where they literally camped. (Good weather, San Diego).

They built the house room by room and added kids as well. All on whatever money was available from his paycheck. I talk to my kids a lot about staying out of debt as much as possible. I'm almost debt-free, will be in a year. I
took out a construction loan for my house, 15-year mortgage, and it will be paid in 9. But the house is still not finished! So what, it's a great house and I borrowed the absolute minimum and we do the rest our selves, buy as we
go. Lately, since reading about the global elite and their scams, I have come to the conclusion that the best thing would be for people to just stop playing. Stop playing the borrowing-at-interest game. Gird up your loins and
muster some discipline. People in the old Soviet Union waited for things because they had no choice. I had a friend who stood in line for two hours in the rain to buy some sugar. Buy an old clunker and save your money for a better car, then pay cash. As surely as the night follows the day, if you don't borrow money at interest you will have more of it.

I do spend too much time thinking about money and I need to stop. I thank you for the reminder. I worry about the future, and I prefer time to money, so I don't want to work until 65. My neighbor tells me in that case I need
investments. I have tried and tried, but I can't bring myself to invest in the stock market. I borrowed his book, Start Late, Finish Rich and I came so close to signing up!!

But I can't do it. Am I a fool?

Max said (July 20, 2007):

I no longer fret over money, I work my job and that's it,
money is a simple tool and I'll live with what I've got. I use to have lots of
money in stocks and would check them daily, no more, I'm out of the market and
couldn't be happier. Playing the market just empowers the elite bankers to
control your assets for their benefits, they may buy your loyalty but it's
still all about their control.

Gold is useful for conducting electricity, I have no need for this stone worshiped by the kings of Babylon. If you want to store wealth supply for hard times for yourself and neighbors. The
best storage is doing good deeds in your community. Who would give their life
to save a hero? Who would do the same for a shiny stone?

A key foundation to a better world is to understand that the Illuminati have engineered our society's value system to be based on money, something they control and not on our goodwill towards human life, something they don't
control and want to destroy. We must all be a part of changing that.

Ellen said (July 19, 2007):

As for the question you asked, I too have gotten addicted to the stock market. It gets me up in the morning. It's very like a computer game, and it's definitely a gambling addiction. When I first got divorced and started managing my own money several years ago, I lost 20% in a year, a throat-clutching experience. But this year (a good year), I've made 30% already, largely in commodities, including gold. I have some gold coins that I bought several years ago that came in sealed boxes, which I have never opened. They could have rocks in them. I don't know why I didn't open them; I just don't want to get addicted to seeing it and feeling it I guess. Anyway here's a broader question: the market is clearly going up because it's being manipulated. There is no reason for the Dow to be topping 14000. Bush Sr. went down because it was "the economy stupid," and Bush Jr. is going to make sure that doesn't happen again. The problem is that it's working; as you say, we're all addicted. How do we break the stranglehold of the banks when there's this egalitarian democratic lottery for making money that's been pretty dependable of late? I'm lined up for several talk shows, and I know somebody will say, "But the market is doing great! What's the problem?" What's my answer to that?

---

Answer: "Man does not live by bread alone" ?
It's a diversion-they will crash it when they are ready. -Henry

Tony said (July 19, 2007):

"Richard" is a bit ignorant of how things work in "modern finance" himself.

Apparently he is unaware that it is "the bankers" who own most of the world's gold (about as worthless a commodity as one can imagine). This
fact puts them in actual charge of the "limited supply" of gold and they know well how to manipulate markets, including money markets, as much as they choose to with it. They find that far more advantageous than "destroying" it.

As for interest, he seems clueless that practically all modern medium of
exchange is loaned into existence at interest but only the principal of the loan is created. He needs to ponder a bit on how this demanded
interest can ever be paid. This interest on the issue of exchange medium is the controlling interest which gives the private bankers of issue eventual ownership of everything. It doesn't matter what this rate of interest is, it cannot be paid as it does not exist. If borrower one is slick enough to "repay" his loan plus the interest, some other borrower down the line eventually has to default, meaning his
"collateral" (real wealth) is going to be "repossessed" by a banker. A banker who loaned only fictitious "bank credit," a bookkeeping entry of nothing of real value.

Bankers "sow their crop" by making easy loans and "reap their harvest" by discontinuing new loans, therefore guaranteeing that the medium of
exchange will dry up as loan payments are met, with many unable to meet the agreed obligation of "repayment" for the simple reason that there is
less exchange in existence than there are loans due. Moreover, easy loans put more exchange medium in existence, thus guaranteeing less
value per unit of exchange, while curtailing loans causes the opposite.

The only "market" that matters is the market of private issue (and later, curtailment) of the medium of exchange. By this criminal "privilege," bankers of issue absolutely control ALL markets. "Bears" and "bulls" are their willful creations for their profit; that is the totality of "Richard's" "natural trends."

"Richard" is too close to the trees of market gambling to see the forest of criminal issue and control of the very medium of exchange necessarily
used by the gamblers. Suckers, all except the insiders who control the medium and those they choose to make wealthy along with themselves.
The corporations which are gambled upon in the "market" are themselves at the mercy of, and therefore pawns of, bank loans.

Yes, wake up.

Michael said (July 19, 2007):

Great article for sure!

I too get trapped in the money thoughts. For the past 4 years, since my divorce, I have been trying to gravitate to the simple things in life. My relationship with God has become the most important thing in my life. I have been trying with minor success to “weed” out the money stuff, but I tend to continually fall back into the money trap. Money to take a vacation, money to go to movies, money to pay for mortgages, etc...

The endless pursuit for these things makes me empty inside, but I have faith in God that my continued struggles will bear fruit some day!

Keep writing the good articles!
I appreciate them!

Tor said (July 17, 2007):

I do think that "satanic" is a fair descriptor of our global monetary system. What else to call a system that enslaves and dehumanizes
everyone, rich and poor alike, while destroying the very fabric of physical life that makes the game possible? It is terrible to be
oppressed, but it is possibly worse to be made an oppressor. Any which way you slice it, we have made ourselves one tasty shit sandwich, and
it looks like the dinnerbells may have started ringing. It'll be an interesting time, this next decade or two.

Richard said (July 16, 2007):

You know nothing of gold or interest rates.

NOTHING.

all market are manipulated and have been for decades. awaken!

be that as it may manipulators have NEVER been able to alter a bull market into a bear market or visa versa against the natural trend. this is simply beyond scamers and governments.

if bankers could have destroyed gold they would have already.

they can not destroy that one item, gold, which evidences unlimited demand 24/7, limited supply and all this at the slowest decline in marginal utility from one oz. to another of any item known to man.

as for interest rates, the simple fact is this: a rising rate of interest is a low rate and this is the message telegraphed to the bond market. as the rate goes higher in increments bond holders are decimated on their extant holdings. whereas when the rate of interest is falling this signal tells the market the rate is too high. bond holders love this state of affairs as each bond increases in price with each downtick in rates.

we are now firmly in a bond bear market and rates will rise for a decade or more to come. bond holders will be absolutely destroyed before this is over and THIS is the message bankers are sending to astute bond holders in the market each time rates rise.

Don said (July 16, 2007):

Great article, and for me, it's all too timely. I've spent the last eighteen years in academia, the first ten as a student, and found myself increasingly frustrated and despondent within 'the matrix', reaching my nadir this past year teaching at an 'elite' private institution that earned such a designation only in regards to its chutzpah. The turnover rate at this place is enormous, as the employees are regarded as little more than serfs, expected to work late nights and weekends on a consistent basis, and expected as well to buy into the institution's way of doing things, without question. To me, the place is a microcosm of what our self-appointed leaders have in mind for everyone who is deemed a 'useless eater'. My physical and emotional health suffered, and I finally said 'Enough!', quitting the job, taking my savings, and moving to the Pacific Northwest.

I'm not making the big bucks anymore, and frankly am not interested in rejoining the rat race anytime soon, if indeed ever again. If I can't work from home or do something I love and find fulfilling -- and which will NOT force me to work far more than 40 hours per week, for my time and my peace of mind are priceless -- I won't do it. My health is finally starting to improve, and my outlook is improving each day. I just moved into a room in a home owned by a family, and I'll take my new 10 x 12 domicile and my 15-year old car over what I once had any day.

Life becomes a LOT better once you begin to realize that less truly IS more, that keeping it simple in ALL facets of one's life is the way to go.

-----
"Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still." ~ Henry David Thoreau (1848)

Maurice said (July 16, 2007):

Yes we in the first world are duped into thinking money is everything. All we do is work work work for what? More trinkets?
It is all by design as we are all so busy working that we have no time to just "be" to reflect to "remember ourselves"
We are slaves to fractional banking and FIAT.
What is the best way to own a slave? Make him think he is "free"

Tom said (July 16, 2007):

During the /Age of Greed, /the rip roaring 80's, I was getting paid big money in real estate. From January through September of 1987 I
earned $20,000 per week just in commissions! When the crash hit in October the market screeched to a halt. Not one property sold for the
rest of the year.

Like a good soldier I filed my income tax papers, all duly prepared by an accountant; an older man in declining health. In very short order, my bank accounts were levied, liens placed on my property, both real and personal. They even levied my client trust account. I had no idea, no
notice of levy and was shocked when my business checks came back to me marked as "insufficient funds."
I reviewed the paperwork that had been submitted and discovered that there was no schedule C enclosed. Without the business deductions my tax liability was huge. I couldn't go back to the accountant because he had
died. The typical response to my phone calls to the IRS were met with foul language. They denied receiving the six revised packets which were
sent by certified mail, fax and UPS.
It was the end of a marriage. Home, fancy cars, all of it gone overnight and I descended into the pits of shame and despair. indeed the
shame was so great that I moved to a small island off the Coast of Maine. The winter rentals were affordable and there were only ten year
round residents. One of islanders was a grand old woman well into her eighties. I used to help with firewood and she'd bake the most outrageous blueberry muffins. To eat one of these muffins was to commune with the gods. One day she asked me what I was so sad about. I told her
that adverse circumstances had come upon me overnight.

She laughed. "Oh no," she said. "Adverse circumstances don't come overnight. They come after a very long nap."
Over time the dreams of revenge gave way to a spirit of gratitude.
Thankful for being unencumbered. Thankful for the freedom to retrieve my soul and delve into deep spiritual work and the ancient timeless wisdom
that no amount of money can purchase.

Bill said (July 16, 2007):

The acquisitive impulse that's been so sadly hijacked by the Whore of Babylon into serving her is really, IMHO, one aspect of a much more encompassing need people have for stimulation -- the flow of new impressions.

This is why prisoners held in solitary confinement go mad after a while. It is also why women have an intrinsic need to periodically dress up and go somewhere. (This is really, truth be told, the rock upon which most churches are founded). It doesn't matter that they've gone shopping and come home without buying anything. The need to experience the flow of new impressions has been satisfied -- for the time being. The female gossip syndrome is another aspect of the same impulse. The attraction of the New : the staff of life for newspapers, magazines, movies, television and most of the Internet (the word "new" sells a lot of product).

It goes without saying that lust can easily (and tragically) accomodate this impulse in both sexes. A new mate offers novelty. Similarly drugs, cults and the rest of the sorry panoply of dead-end diversions of an essentially healthy (if dangerous) proclivity. It's all one and the same pattern : the need for the flow of fresh impressions. Calling one aspect of it curiosity, another greed and a third enui or boredom only disguises the commonality of all expressions of it as one, unitary phenomenon.

A couple of insights follow from this. One is that, for someone whose life is over-filled with old, stagnant "stuff," the best way to re-establish flow (hence the satisfaction which eludes him) is not through accumulating even more stuff, but by releasing some of it (sometimes called "charity"). Which, in the way things really work, initiates flow by making room for the new. (The irony of avarice and greed as classic vices as opposed to charity -- a classic virtue -- being alternate strategies for coping with the same impulse will not have gone un-noticed).

Another is that -- once the mechanics are grasped -- one can design an accomodation which satisfies this need while keeping the exercise within prudent (and moral) limits. It's a management issue at root.

Warren said (July 16, 2007):

Although I'm "living" (existing?) on $25K, I don't envy the super-rich one tiny bit. My small but tightly-knit family is my greatest treasure and my biggest asset.

Knowing I have the power to contribute to the salvation of America through my political activism is all the motivation I need to keep my brain young, agile and deliriously happy.

My prayer is that young Americans, connected as they are through the Internet, will be the overwhelming factor that leads to Ron Paul's ascension to the Oval Office via either the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party.

Onward and upward!

Warren said (July 16, 2007):

Although I'm "living" (existing?) on $25K, I don't envy the super-rich one tiny bit. My small but tightly-knit family is my greatest treasure and my biggest asset.

Knowing I have the power to contribute to the salvation of America through my political activism is all the motivation I need to keep my brain young, agile and deliriously happy.

My prayer is that young Americans, connected as they are through the Internet, will be the overwhelming factor that leads to Ron Paul's ascension to the Oval Office via either the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party.

Onward and upward!

Jack said (July 16, 2007):

"A man is what he thinks about all day", Emerson. It is little surprise most Americans think about money, in that they have no savings and in debt up to their eyeballs and we are consuming more than we're producing
as a nation..

On the emotional level, an individual has either a feeling of fulness or a feeling of emptiness. No amount of possessions can compensate for a
feeling of emptiness. The feeling of fulness comes from a self reliant,active and productive way life. And there is a fine line between Need or
Greed. What we truly need and what we feel we need.

As far as money goes, Marchal McLuhan, the english professor who wrote "Understanding Media", said the invention of money only speeded up commerce and exchange. Technologies, being an extension of man, are neither good nor bad, but just add on to what we already are.

The old adage "money is the root of all evil" is incorrect, it should be "the debasement of money is the root of all evil". Case in point is the
international banking cabal.

"Madness in individuals is rare, but in groups, crowds and nations, it is the rule", Nietzsche

Jack

Dan said (July 16, 2007):

I concluded long ago that the commodity that I really crave is time. There is never enough of it. as noted, there realistically has always been enough money.
I was forced to work a huge amount of overtime some years back my famous quote was "you can sell your life to (insert employer's name here), but you can't buy it back".
My work career is as a skilled trade in an industrial setting, so I am not "rich" by today's standard, we live in a house that cost $8k (thirty years ago) and the car in the driveway is an eight year old Honda hatchback purchased used.
But by historical standards I am fabulously wealthy, the house is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, warm water squirts out of a hole in the wall of the bathroom so we can be clean and comfortable, human waste disappears down a hole in an effortless and sanitary manner, the problem with food is not too little, but too much, entertainment and intellectual stimulation abounds, a real blessing is that we are relatively very safe, no bomb craters in my yard, I can't remember the last time the house was strafed with a machine gun.
What else could a person want?
If you can't pay cash for it, don't buy it, being in debt means you lost control of your life.

Jean said (July 16, 2007):

He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
A contented man is never disappointed.
He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble.
He will stay forever safe. /Laotse/

David said (July 16, 2007):

I haven't worked for five years and have less than one hundred dollars in the bank. However, my mother, who I assist with the golden years gets 24/7/365
genuine love and attention. She just turned 80, is not taking any medication and the last night she spent in a hospital was 50 years ago when she gave birth to a daughter. This kind of health care isn't available for any amount of money, HMO's don't cover it, it isn't offered at senior centers or advertised in the yellow pages. All the while her modest estate remains intact and appreciating, aggressively guarded from the blood dripping talons of the medical mafia, while the rest of her descendants are preoccupied with fiat money worshiping, replenishing the earth and taking care of their pets and lawns.

After teaching in rural Siam, the most valuable lesson I was taught, was the value of taking care of ones parents. In America, its become nothing more than another for profit enterprise.

Tony said (July 15, 2007):

I got some good advice that stuck. Someone made me understand that debt, with its accompanying
interest, is to be avoided at all costs. Only a home should be bought with borrowed money - and then only if there was no other way to purchase it.

Too, after having a bank cause me problems by not processing my checks in a reasonable time so that my checks bounced one week, I closed my account and put my cash in my pocket, a practice I find gives me financial privacy in today's era wherein it is almost nonexistent.

Matter of fact, I cannot obtain a telephone in my own name because, as I deal in cash only, I have no "credit rating" that can be sold to other corporations. Informing the phone corporation that cash is the best possible "credit rating" meant nothing to them. I had no salable item
they could obtain free and sell to any bidder. But I am never called on for an ID. In the few cases where some chain wants one for purposes of
sending me advertising, I simply refuse, telling clerks to write "cash" in the space. Propaganda has overridden the old and true adage that
nothing a person possesses is more valuable than his name. It is not to be given away free for any purpose.

If I don't have cash for some good, I don't need the good. Advertising has no effect on my purchasing habits. I do not need a watch that costs $50 or $100 because for less than $10 I can obtain one that keeps just as good time. I will never buy an overpriced new car as I can get one
used for a tiny fraction of the new price. Besides, I pay cash and have no monthly payments. It is damned foolhardy to lay out 300 to 500 dollars a month for a car that gets 30 miles to a gallon of gas when an $800 "clunker" will still get 15 or so with no monthly payments. Do the math.

Due to my lack of need of advertised "flash," I have never been mugged and never will. A would be mugger looks at my cheap clothes, lack of
gold chains, cheap watch, etc., and goes onto the next guy - who probably has only maxed out credit cards behind his showy glitter - while I have often carried thousands of saved dollars on my person without fear.

My kids HAVE fallen, to a degree, to advertising, and are not of the same cut (but getting more so). I find it interesting that they, when
making a big move in life such as buying a house, borrow from me when they all make over twice the wages I ever made in my life. I paid cash
for my own home out of savings from my below average paying jobs.

Borrow not, want not.

Cliff Shack said (July 15, 2007):

Henry,

I lost my money obscession thirty years ago, in the summer of '77, when I experienced "self-realization" on an acid trip. Since then having to make money has been more of a burden than a temptation, especially with a wife and a bunch of stuff-addicted kids in tow. My mystical experience taught me that the desire for material riches is really a desire for the ever-elusive inner peace that can only be achieved through the grace of God. The Illuminati's industrial civilization, though clever, cannot compare to the world of a carpenter , shepard or beggar who has been bestowed with a "knowing heart" filled with eternal Divine peace and love.

The Illuminati "spider" can only devour those "flies" that find themselves entangled in their web. If we take to heart the teachings of the enlightened carpenters, shepards and beggars than we can steer clear of sticky webs designed to ensnare and control the unenlightened - the un-illuminated. Perhaps the webs exist so that the unenlightened masses don't devour each other alive in their greed? Food for thought, eh?

Cliff
www.geocities.com/cliff_shack

http://cliffordshackforum.blogspot.com/2006/07/day-i-met-god.html

Jim T said (July 15, 2007):

Throughout my Christian life, I have had to struggle with this, and as I became older, I was struck down with arthritis, and had to slow down, and found myself on pension. Since then, now that the thought of excelling in the pursuit of carnal happiness [riches] was taken from me by illness, I have not ever been better!

I am not able to have those things that were readily purchased years ago, but I have found living within my means, and doing the work of the Lord Jesus, wonderfully fulfilling, and I now know I need not those things that were very important to me in the past. Illness taught me I can live on very little, and with my wife sleeping in Christ, and my children grown, I am most blessed.

Agape,

JimT

2 Corinthians 4: 6
Have no doubts: all of His promises are enablings!

Annette said (July 15, 2007):

I am not concerned with money beyond what I need to have a financial worry free life.
If I had a lot more money than at present, I would not change my life, but maybe buy more expensive vacations. Expensive cars do not interest me, I would still ride my bike to go shopping.

People who need a big fancy car to feel good about themselves are for the most part lacking somewhere else in their lives or personalities.

Money can not buy personality or class. Either you have it or you don't.

The whole issue about money is to be happy and content with what you have. That is not to say, that you can't work hard to get money for a better life, as long as you don't lose sight of human qualities in yourself and others.

In other words...don't sell your soul for money or buy someone else's.

Anthony said (July 15, 2007):

"Worship is serving our ideal selves, the person God created us to be."

I agree with what you have said. We are to live or offer up our lives "a sacrifice of praise" pleasing unto the Lord, such that we become the manifestation of His mind in us, or written epistles of His Word.

I appreciated what you had to say in your current posting. Money and possessions can be a burden and hindrance that steals our liberty. Money is merely a means of exchange - no longer a storehouse of values - and I believe it will not be too long before it is not a means of exchange.

Anthony
www.biblebelievers.org.au

Paul in Ireland said (July 15, 2007):

Henry, thanks for your latest article. It made me think and often the comments are equaly interesting. For me I hate thinking about money but I'm drawn constantly to thinking about it. All I want is a reasonable sized house and a bit of land where I can do things, build, grow
vegtables, relax and enterian my friends and family in and have somewhere I can call home. But for the last ten years Irelands house
pirces have doubled and now quadrupled, we have become obsessed, thinking we need to keep saving but interest rates go up and 100% mortgages ( 35 year ones at that ) are now the norm. As soon as my mind turns to money a part of me is repulsed but then the logical side kicks in and says Paul everyone else is doing the same and if you dont you'll miss out. It's like the "bankers" are turning the wheel ever faster and we have to run faster just to stand still. Thank you for making me think and for your readers comments. It's good to know deep down we think the same.....money IS repulsive to the body and the Soul.

Slán

Richard in FL said (July 15, 2007):

I am a sixty one years old immigrant from South America. Back in the early sixties,when I was a young man around 16 - 17 , I had the opportunity to move to the U.S., the land of freedom, opportunities and the place to pursuit your happiness. Wow, it sounds good to the ear, doesn't it? I came up here and my welcoming committee (U.S. Government) told me:"Kid welcome to America, we have a war going on". I immediately registered with the Draft Board and soon thereafter, I was inducted in the military. I left it in 1969 and went to work with a simple desire in mind: TO MAKE MONEY. This IS what America is all about isn't it? Well, I worked my tail off for many years and I actually had a small, successful business. You are right Henry, money gives you a sense of power, control. Back in 1990, I met a real voluptuous and cunning woman. I was so blind, I married her.Just few years later, the Divorce Courts, awarded her 1/2 of everything I had worked for ALL MY LIFE and the rest went to the attorneys.Some others lose everything as a result of medical problems. Now, at this age, I am too young to get Social Security and too old to get a decent job. I have a hard time just making ends meet. My health is slowly deteriorating and all my friends are gone, yet, I am as happy as I have ever been. I have a peace I never had. Two wonderful sons whom I am finally getting to know and Daddy's little girl who thinks of her Dad as her hero. (I fought this cruel and corrupt system for almost ten years, to gain the right to be a Father to my own child).She is only 14. There is no money on the planet that can buy the satisfaction of having them.. I've arrived.

Jarone said (July 14, 2007):

In my mind people aren't working for money they are working for time to do what they want to do without anyone else telling them what to do. I know thats why all of my friends went to college. It wasn't for the knowledge. It was for the earning potential. The potential to earn more money in less time. I also received a cool email from a friend of mine. I'm going to paste it below. It's called "It's The Coffee".

Regards,

Jarone

It's the Coffee

A group of alumni, early in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -telling them to help themselves to the coffee. After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves; that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself, adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive, and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cup...........enjoy your coffee.

Toma said (July 14, 2007):

When someone begs money of you it is not your task to judge whether they are worthy of your pocket change or not, nor whether they will
appreciate it or what they will use it for. It is only up to you to realise that when you give money to those who beg you are doing god's
work it loving and looking after them. It is said that god loves all of us no matter what, and we will always have what we need to survive.
Well, this is God loving those who do not necessarily love him (drunks,drug addicts etc) - through you! Maybe one day those who beg of you will realise this, maybe they won't, but you will always know that if you are left to beg then it will not be in vain. You will also learn a
selflessness and an appreciation for the very fact that you are in a position to even think about whether or not to give money away no matter
how little it may be.

Dave on Nantucket said (July 14, 2007):

Sadly, western culture's obsession with wealth,
excess, and laziness is now considered to be "natural" and uncorrectable. Most parents have lost touch with their children or fallen into the arrested development trap of wanting to be cool. This goes along with every aspect of our media projecting eternal youth as the ultimate goal. The transformation of our culture
created by rapid technological advancements has not even been questioned. Getting small children hooked on stimulating audio/visual electronic devices during their developmental years ensures we are raising a generation of zombie consumers. Each generation has less personality, and as a result more and more of social interactions revolve strictly around sex and drugs. Young people have nothing to talk about, except for the common experiences our mass media delivers to them. Parents have nothing to judge their
children on other than irrelevant school grades and money making potential. This lack of culture has been all played out, and most people can feel it.

Everyone seems to be waiting for whatever is going to stop this machine. Jesus? Ron Paul? I'm afraid this tragic comedy will run its full course before mankind can rebuild in a positive direction.

Ed said (July 14, 2007):

Good question, Sir. I was born with one very strong advantage: We were truly poor. My father worked, as did my mother some, but I was a
teenager before we could actually afford to buy a house. We really did try hard to adapt to the middle class world, but it rejected us at
every turn. We quit trying, but I still managed to get a decent education -- I surrendered to the ministry.

Too much of a maverick, I was never called as pastor of any Southern Baptist church. After various jobs, and two attempts with the US
military, I was disabled. All through those years we raised two children, I was never comfortable with prosperity. It always felt dirty. Finally, my VA pension hit 50% and I "retired." My wife agreed to this, knowing my physical limitations were real.

But it was the spiritual calling which kept me out of the mainstream. In recent years, I've been trying to rediscover a more Eastern/Hebrew
viewpoint, the viewpoint from which the Bible arose. Seeing property and wealth as merely a tool in the Kingdom of God has really made
sense.

We now survive nicely off some $1300 monthly, along with a few gifts here and there from people I help out with computers, and a man going
blind who pays me to drive him around in his car. We have chosen to limit ourselves, don't use credit, and as much as possible, make things
we used to buy. I ride a bicycle instead of driving.

It's a wonderful, freeing experience to renounce being owned by things. I wrote a little about that today:

http://soulkiln.blogspot.com/2007/07/blinded-by-shadow.html

We know things will get very rough quite soon, but we are ahead of the game. We are ready to suffer whatever is necessary to serve the Kingdom
of Heaven. Nothing we own is worth more than that.

Daniel from Alberta said (July 14, 2007):

I believe that money is like a drug used by The Illuminati to seduce and create slaves out of us. A couple of times in my life I have had large sums of money. What I did with it was
I shared it. The most pleasure I had or found was being able to help others, buying the homeless food, paying for a prescription, making up shortages of mothers at tills, giving small amounts to people I knew were in need, and of course buying those I love gifts.

You make a very valid point on how it spoils a person, as during those times I found many things that were once rare treats became stale and boring. I am poor, I live well below the poverty line, and have been on disability for 10 years now, and despite the financial troubles that do happen, my wife and I live happy lives. We
enjoy the rare treats we are able to afford, and spend more time focusing on things that matter to us, not what the world says we should buy, have,
possess, or need.