Yes on I-1183. Quit being so fearful.

End Government intrusion

Support Liquor Privatization

I filled out my Washington State mail-in election ballot yesterday and eagerly scribbled in the YES bubble for Initiative 1183 getting the government out of the liquor industry. I think this measure will pass. It’s important. Its good government. And it’s responsible. But then again, I was shocked efforts to get our state government out of what is and should be a private business failed last year.

In hindsight, it’s not surprising that the two measures put forth last year went down in close votes. They went down because, to a large extent they were competing measures. As such the vote was split or voters were confused. And any time an electorate is confused or unsure it will vote for the status quo over change. So don’t believe the bogus claims by the No-on I-1183 campaign ads that “We” voted against privatizing liquor sales last year. In fact its believed by some last years second initiative was only put forth specifically to successfully confuse voters and kill the first initiative.

If you’ve been paying attention to the No on I-1183 campaign ads and tactics I have to believe they are desperate. They’ve lied and now they’ve gone anti-Capitalism on us. The fact is their claims that liquor will more easily be acquired by minors is simply a lie and fear mongering. For several reasons, but number 1, I’ve never met a teen who couldn’t get their hands on alcohol any time they set their mind to it. Second, hard liquor is not the drink of choice of teens in this state or any other. It’s beer. Liquor is sold in many states across the country in grocery stores and it doesn’t change what minors consume there. It’s still beer. And beer sales are not effected by this initiative.

Then for the pro-government anti-I-1183 crowd to turn their sites on Costco is maddening. Combined with the Occupy Wall Street crowd I’m getting very sick of the Capitalist bashing we keep tolerating from the left. I have to ask, so what if Costco is putting a lot of money into this initiative? I have to ask, so what if they make LOTS of money if the initiative passes? Isn’t that what they are supposed to do? Costco sells liquor inside its stores in other states not still clinging to the last vestiges of the “Blue Laws“, like Washington is. They KNOW they’ll make lots of money. Good! I’m fine with that. If you’re not, please explain to us why in the comments section below this post.

Ultimately its fear that would prevent this Initiative from passing and that’s just simply not a good enough reason. I don’t understand living in fear the way so many Democrats do. I don’t understand the need to have Big Brother protect us from so many of the terrible things that could possibly happen to us. A life free from government restriction, limitation and taxation is called a life lived in Liberty. And isn’t that why our nation was founded. We don’t need government in the liquor business to control us. We will be better off without them. Vote Yes on Initiative 1183.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

November 4, 2011
Categories: Washington State . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: 1 Comment

The fishermen, the hungry man, and the wise man.

Michael Schuett in a river

The Author hooking something

This is an essay written and originally posted on-line for a small select audience in May 2009. It’s timeliness remains appropriate.

 

 

A hungry man sat along side a vast river in the early evening sun. His clothes are old and worn. He watches the fishermen returning to the shores from a day of harvesting God’s plentiful waters.

The hungry man has no boat, and he doesn’t know the craft of fishing. He knows of no craft for which he can adequately feed himself or his family. For in his youth opportunities passed him by, as he passed them by. And though he caused no harm to anyone and though he wished no one any ill will he was left with a sad existence of hunger and despair.

One day a liberal fisherman who happened to be a Democrat saw the hungry man sitting along the shore. The liberal Democrat thought how sad that this man should sit along the shore hungry while all these many other fishermen brought forth God’s bounty from these blessed waters. The liberal Democrat correctly thought “there are plenty of fish to go around. Nobody should go hungry”. So the liberal Democrat surveyed the shoreline and spotted the conservative Republican unloading his boat. As usual the conservative Republican was bringing forth a hall of fish greater than that of anyone else along the shore; for the conservative Republican had toiled many years to earn what he had and to buy the best boat and to procure the finest nets, and to hire the best workers. So naturally he regularly brought in the most fish.

The liberal Democrat, wanting to help the hungry man, walked away from his own day’s catch and marched righteously to the dock of the conservative Republican and grabbed up an armful of fish, He then loudly proclaimed for all to hear “You have more than enough fish Mr. Conservative Republican. I am taking some of your fish to give to the hungry man there on the shore so that he will be hungry no more”,

Well, the conservative Republican was most upset. How could this liberal Democrat righteously and arrogantly come and take that which is rightfully mine. But seeing that the eyes of many others were now upon him, and fearing that he would somehow seem greedy to those who witnessed the liberal Democrat proclaiming that he would give the fish to the hungry man, the conservative Republican fisherman said nothing. Instead he harbored his ill feelings for having his possessions stolen from him. And he became embittered.

The liberal Democrat indeed did take the armful of fish to the hungry man. He then jumped up and down, waving his arms to attract the attention of anyone else along the shore who was not already watching him. He then said loudly, “Here Mr. Hungry man. I HAVE BROUGHT YOU FOOD. Through MY generosity you will now eat.” The liberal Democrat then walked away feeling quite good about himself, never to be seen again by the hungry man.

A week later the hungry man was again along the river’s banks hoping for the generosity which had been bestowed upon him the previous week to come his way again. Sadly, the liberal Democrat was nowhere to be seen and the hungry man feared he would go with no food. As the final fishermen completed their days work and indifferently walked by the hungry man to their homes, the hungry man spotted the conservative Republican. As was the norm the conservative Republican was one of the last fishermen to wrap up his days work for he again had a very large haul of fish and such bounty required hard work.

As he walked toward the hungry man in the direction of his home the conservative Republican noticed the hungry man shyly smile at him and extend his hand in the direction of the prosperous fisherman. Still bitter from having his hard-earned reward diminished the previous week by the liberal Democrat who took from his catch, the conservative Republican tersely said to the hungry man, “I will not give you any of my fish. Why is it that you don’t go fish for yourself instead of sitting here all day doing nothing? Why is it that you should be hungry again this week instead of fixing the situation with which you found yourself last week when the liberal Democratic fisherman took from me and gave to you?” The conservative Republican then walked away more embittered than before. The hungry man went hungry.

The next day the hungry man was again beside the river bank, for he had no place else to go. He had no trade. He had no family. A wise fisherman approached the hungry man and gave him one fish. Having witnessed the false generosity of the liberal Democrat and the embitterment of the conservative Republican the wise fisherman wanted to help the hungry man and boldly told the hungry man what he intended to do.

“You are hungry and that is unfortunate. But you are hungry because of the opportunities you failed to take advantage of in the past. So your hunger is of your own creation. If you wish to toil as you have in the past you will remain hungry. But if you wish to learn and work you will never be hungry again.” Never being hungry again did interest the hungry man so he humbly paid attention to the wise man.

The wise man continued. “This one fish I give you will only feed you for today. If you do not change your circumstance yourself, you will be hungry again tomorrow. This fish will give you sustenance and strength to carry on tomorrow. When the sun rises in the morning you will meet me at my boat and you will work hard for me all day. You will sweat in the hot sun; you may develop calluses on your hands from throwing and pulling on the nets; you may even get sea sick being that it will be your first time in the boat. At the end of the day you won’t feel very good. You’ll be tired. But you won’t be hungry, for you will take with you that which you reap from the river. And you will have learned how to fish.”

So the hungry man did work hard the next day. He sweated, blisters developed on his hands, and he vomited from having sea sickness. The wise man let the hungry man fish with him for the whole week and as the days passed it became easier for the hungry man. At the weeks conclusion the wise man told the hungry man “I can no longer take you on my boat for you have been taking place of another man who I must honor by keeping employed. But you now know how to fish.” The wise man’s final gesture to the hungry man was to give him an old worn fishing net.

“Take this and fish from shore. It’s not as nice a net as my others. You won’t catch as many fish from shore as from a boat. But if you start early and work late you’ll feed yourself, and you will eventually earn enough to buy a new better net, and in time your own boat. And you will catch more and more fish.” Then the wise man admonished the hungry man and said, “If you return to sitting along the banks hoping for the generosity of others you will again be hungry.”

The hungry man took the words of the wise man to heart for the foolishness of his youth had left him and now because of the wise man he knew how to fish. He started early and worked late and he prospered. In time he became wise. In time he taught another man to fish.

Comments are welcome. Thanks for visiting.

November 3, 2011
Categories: National Politics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: Comments Off on The fishermen, the hungry man, and the wise man.

Envy will kill ya! Darned Sibling Rivalry.

Perhaps you’re like me. Perhaps you too have a sibling who is particularly high achieving. I do. I have a brother with whom I’ve always been compared and worse yet set against. I doubt my parents actually realize this.

I’m beset with high achievers with whom to be compared. All around me our family and friends who populate the 1% that so many Occupy Wall Street protesters claim to be greedy. For the record Dictionary.com defines greedy as:

1.excessively or inordinately desirous of wealth, profit, etc.;avaricious: “the greedy owners of the company.”

Were I defining the word I would add the phrase “…for that which is not rightfully yours”. For I don’t think its greedy to want to possess and enjoy that which is yours, that which you’ve earned.
My brother is just one year my senior. He used to brag to me what his income was for years. It was quite juvenile, but synonymous with the sibling rivalry he and I seem forever engaged in. He stopped telling me his pay 12-15 years ago when it became clear he had reached 7 figures per year.  He remains a 7-8 figure-income-earner per year.
But if a world travelling millionaire brother isn’t bad enough, there are also my in-laws. My sister-in-law is a Cal-Berkley educated lawyer for Microsoft. Her Dad, my father in-law, is a former 20 year state Senator and college football hero for the local school, University of Washington. Heck, even my best friend makes over $100k yearly driving a bus for Metro.
The Occupy Wall Street protesters who defiantly cry that they’re “the 99%” have an envy problem. They resent the wealth distribution in the country. They hate that the upper earning 1%, in which my family is well represented, earn 17% of our nations income. They claim that 1% should share more of what they have. Never mind that the same 1% pay for 38% of ALL Federal income tax, that the upper 10% paid 70%, and that 51% paid 100%. 49% of Americans paid 0% of all collected Federal Income tax, courtesy of those evil George Bush tax cuts. Talk about “Things that make ya go, hmmm?“
If anyone has a right to be envious its me! I was raised in the same house by the same single father as my millionaire brother. I met my wife when my professional attorney sister-in-law was 12 years old. And I met by best friend 25 years ago when he had just started his Government work, long before his seniority and good service pushed him into the upper income levels. I watched all these people grow from humble beginnings to good or great financial success.
My personal achievements have been comparatively humble. I’ve worked hard my whole life. Other than two short stints on unemployment I’ve never taken public assistance or a government hand out. I’ve never been in the upper 1% of income earners, though I was certainly in the upper 5%. I’m not complaining. I’m not poor. I’ve done well. I live well. But compared to some in my family…lets just say I’m a little lower on the food chain.
So am I like the OWS protesters desirous of more of my immediate family’s money? Do I feel ripped off? Absolutely not. In fact, sometimes I feel sorry for my wealthy family members. They are all tied to their jobs and the responsibilities therein. For six years I’ve been an independent small business owner answerable to no one. Before that I worked a sales job for thirteen years in which I seldom worked more than 30 hours per week.
My brother, sister-in-law, father-in-law and best friend worked long hard hours day after day, month after month, year after year to earn everything they have. So have I. But my wealth has yet to come. It will. But I’ve enjoyed a lot of freedom and independence in the meantime (…he laughs knowingly). I’m proud of my family.
For the most part the OWS protesters are young and seem to be experiencing a tough time. They come from a generation given everything, including trophies merely for participating on a sports team. They don’t have the experience of knowing what we know. Things get better. Work hard, don’t quit, overcome obstacles, don’t spend money frivolously, and always anticipate the dawn. So its my hope they will filter away in the increasingly cold days ahead and that their “movement” will be largely ignored. As it should be. Because its little more than entitlement and envy.
Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

October 29, 2011
Categories: National Politics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: Comments Off on Envy will kill ya! Darned Sibling Rivalry.

« Previous Page Next page

  • Calendar

    • January 2026
      M T W T F S S
       1234
      567891011
      12131415161718
      19202122232425
      262728293031  

  • Search