Lyle's Blog

It’s not rocket science. We all know what that means but I’m beginning to think that everything is rocket science to dopes our colleges are turning out. What used to be common sense or just plain simple math has seemingly turned our best and brightest into a caldron of useful idiots. We’ve allowed our young to be indoctrinated by Marxist professors who like their mentors hate what America offers mankind: the freedom to express their thoughts in words. The old saying of not so long ago was: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. Political correctness has reversed that idea. Now it’s words that hurt people and if you say them the state will give you your just recompense. The ruthless state decides which words you can say and no mercy will be shown to anyone who defies the glorious state. As part of the fading generation my interest is only kindled by knowing that my children and grandchildren will suffer under the burden of leftist control. I heard a typical comment by a jug head in college; the new communism is good and it’s not like the old communism. I’ll have to admit the left have been very wise and thorough in the brain washing of our youth. And as many despots have noted whoever controls the learning of the young controls the future. So know I don’t expect conditions to change. Even though we have access to unlimited information the fact remains people are ignorant of basic fundamental truths.

Someone once said “A penny saved is a penny earned”. That almost sounds like one is putting the cart before the horse. But if you think it through, a penny saved has big advantages. You can invest the penny, there are no taxes to be paid on the saved penny, and saved pennies can accumulate and fund other necessities and ventures. Therefore saved pennies are less stressful than earned pennies. When you save, you rest; when you earn, you work. Further, passive income is better than earned income. To illustrate I’ll tell of my own tepid experience in this matter. In the army one of my friends would run out of money within a week of being paid. Many times he would come to me and ask for a loan til payday. He would borrow ten and payback fifteen. This happened several times. After the service I bought a small house on three quarters of an acre for $3000. I sold it a year later for $5000. After I married my wife and I bought a house, rented it for a period of four years and then sold it. The new owner assumed the existing mortgage and I supplied the second mortgage. At that time he paid 10% interest and stipulated he could pay $50 or more dollars a month. For three years the minimum was paid which meant that a large part of the payment was interest. I realized the advantages of being the lender! Years later I worked with a guy that, hard to believe, was always short of money. So just like my friend in the service, I would loan him a $100 and pay me back $125. I say all this to urge you to be frugal and prepare for any outcome. There are always opportunities to avail yourself of extra income without adding to your work load. And in doing so you provide a service to those that would otherwise not qualify for a home loan and on the smaller scale not be taken in by title loans and pawn shops. The Bible says the borrower is a slave to the lender. I’ve been both and the latter is so much more fun. Loaning money can have bad consequences, so if you do, make sure of the character of the borrower.