Has Time Run Out? Some Cautions Regarding a Different Brand of Slavery
I've been in spring cleaning mode lately—washing and packing away winter clothing, organizing my pantry, sorting through fat file folders I haven't peeked into since who-knows-when.
That file reorganizing project can easily become a slippery slide down a rabbit hole. Steeling myself, I resolutely pluck out the To Blog or Not To Blog folder—a stash of clippings and scribbled notes that seemed urgently compelling the first time they caught my eye or entered my mind. I paw doggedly through its contents, only to surface 30 minutes later, having become engrossed in two articles.
First, I reread a piece headlined "Minnesota's Oldest Living Resident," dated June, 2012, when the title woman was 111, then another about a 98-year-old Minneapolis weight lifter, date July 2013. Fascinating stuff. The subject of successful aging might be my next blog topic.
Today, however, I am moved to share an older, more profound message that I initially discovered while clearing out my mother-in-law's stash ten years ago. Originally distributed on a three-by-five card as a promotional piece by Coast Federal Savings and Loan Association, Los Angeles, California, these observations are self explanatory.
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"What is Free Enterprise"
Basically, the free enterprise system means freedom of the individual. Under the free enterprise system, the individual is free to make something of himself if he has the enterprise to do it. Too many people put too much emphasis on "free" and too little emphasis on "enterprise."
The difference between a free nation and a slave nation can be very simply stated. In a free nation, the people accept the responsibility for their own welfare; while in a slave nation that responsibility is turned over to the government. Or, to put it another way . . . in a free nation the state gets its right from the people; while in a slave nation, the people get their rights, if any, from the state.
Representative Richard H. Poff in Human Events, November 3, 1962, p. 845.
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On the reverse side of the small flyer, this was printed:
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"Time is Running Out"
The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations progressed through this sequence:
From Bondage to Spiritual Faith
From Spiritual Faith to Great Courage
From Courage to Liberty
From Liberty to Abundance
From Abundance to Selfishness
From Selfishness to Complacency
From Complacency to Apathy
From Apathy to Dependency
From Dependency back again into Bondage
In 16 years our United States will be 200 years old. This cycle is not inevitable—Reprinted from Manage Magazine, January 1961.
It Depends Upon You!
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Benjamin Franklin warned in 1787, "A republic, if you can keep it."
I pray we can keep it.