Nihilism

#514


Nihilism argues that life is without objective meaning, a form of agnosticism or atheism. In other words, very much like the lower animals we just act and react depending mostly on instinct.

There is not one doubt in my mind that even before the foundation of the world (John 1) God chose me as his own. In many commentaries on my blog, and even in the biographical information available, there can be no doubt in anyone's mind that I am totally possessed by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. Knowing ahead of time that I would spend most of my life in absolute blackness, God wanted me to see the world while I still had a shadow of vision in one eye. He made all of the financial arrangements, kept me from falling into many holes on third world countries streets, helped me find my way around many third world country hotels and arranged for me to meet some of his most fascinating children...even though I had great difficulty understanding them as we tried to speak one another's language. Every time I met someone whom God wanted me to know, and until this day, and I know this seems nutty to an unbeliever, God gives me an indication of the appearance of the person.

Starting in the 60's, living alone still active in the world of real estate and securities...certainly not able to practice the profession to which I spent my entire life preparing, it was necessary for me to hire assistants.

I could write a book on the various people who have come into my life “supposedly to help me”. Living alone, houses full of nice things which I had accumulated over many years of antiquing and collecting, I knew I was an easy mark for someone. Let me make one thing very clear, the amount of pay has nothing to do with the employees involved. I have had several personnel services operating out of the buildings which I own, and I know about the pay a job is worth. I know full well, just as you have already suspected, that there are business people and others who have no compunction or hesitation whatsoever about ripping off a blind person. I do not own a refrigerator that would hold the money short changed from me over my life. One barber cheated me of $4 each time I went to him for years. The fact that I am a totally blind, 100% disabled service connected, Medical Officer Veteran has nothing to do with anything. The sinners simply don't care. They do not believe in scripture, judgment, decency, or anything. I truly believe there are people born without a conscious.

Each and every time I interviewed anyone for a job working for me, I would always make the same statement...”I was born and raised in absolute poverty, I starved myself through eight years of university education, working nights, going to school in the daytime. God has been too good to me for me to complain about anything. The finest men I have ever known are buried in Military Cemeteries. I have worked several jobs all the time my entire life. You see, I am a believer in self denial, living frugally so I can give much of my blessings to others. If you learn nothing else working for me you will learn how to save a dollar and you should get some inspiration from a life well spent in spite of disability. I want someone working for me who needs a job, who needs a paycheck, and someone I can trust. If you are smart enough to work for me, you should be smart enough to understand that it would be easy to rob me. I simply do not need the stress of not being able to relax when you are in my house. As you look around, you can see that I have a house full of nice things...expensive things...items I have brought back from all over the world. They are mine, they belong to me, but, compared to your immortal soul, it is all junk. I would not have you tempted and lose the eternal security of your soul, if you are a believer by taking things from me...a combination of everything combined in the seven most deadly of sins”. I usually do some testing, it is so easy, the first day or two, to leave a $5 bill laying around on the floor just to see if the person will pick it up and give it back to me or put it in their own pocket. It is so easy to lay a book or document on the floor just to see if the person is concerned enough about my things to pick it up. One cleaning woman, her first day, stole my bottle of Communion wine out of my refrigerator. I have my time of Communion each morning of my life at 5:00 a.m. A time of prayer...a small piece of bread celebrating the broken body of our blessed Lord...his stripes for our healing...the wine...his precious blood for our sins. You see, over a long life of blindness, I have learned to handle most things. I take care of myself totally, my own food, my own laundry, cleaning, investing, rental property, buying and selling, managing several businesses, all in absolute blackness.

The worst citizens I have dealt with are connected with my many rental units...air conditioning and heating, exterminators, plumbers, and the most insidious incompetent corporation on Gods earth; Progress Energy of North Carolina. The electrical corporation is even worse than the water and sewer authority which is terrible beyond all words to describe. You see, just as God cuts no slack to a disabled person, the politicians and bureaucrats and law enforcement take an insidious hateful attitude towards the disabled. Most disabled people do not use the facilities for which they are taxed...parks, jails, schools, libraries, and in most cases even sidewalks. In the area of which I live, crime is so bad that the Chief of Police sent a uniformed officer (Sergeant Buster Yost) to my house to tell me “not to walk on the streets but to stay in my house with the door locked”. So you see, the criminals have the American Freedom of the streets while the Disabled Veterans and aged stay locked up. The positively worse thief I have ever endured in my house was a woman, very competent at the computer, good work ethic...we are still listing things she stole while she was in my employ. Just yesterday, we found that she stole my entire coin and foreign money collection and a whole series of antiquarian Collier Magazines. My entire collection of sterling silver pepper and salt shakers are gone as well as much other silver and artwork. You see, it takes a long time for me to miss things.

I thought it was strange, since she did not work on Friday, that she volunteered to come to work on Friday and clean the upper floors of my house since I work everyday in the lower level with other employees. I am convinced that she had someone, probably her husband, come in the house each Friday and take out the things which she had already looked up on the computer as being worth more money than others. I caught one man in the house with her, one day, simply by accident. The day I let her go, she had run a traffic light, with the inevitable picture, and had acquired a fine of $50 with my car. I told her that since she was doing something for me, even though I cautioned all who drove my car to be careful with the speed traps, that I would pay half the fine and I handed her $25. I checked and she never paid the fine and I had to pay the $50. So, I told her I would not need her anymore. As usual, she left with much cursing and ugliness.

She and her husbands problem they were “defrocked” Jehovah witnesses having been removed from the church for their sexual perversion. I did not know anything about this until I let her go. THEN, THEN, MY OTHER EMPLOYEES COULD INFORM ME OF HER PERVERTED ACTIVITIES. THEN, THEY COULD INFORM ME OF HER TATTOOS ALL OVER HER BODY. HER BIZARRE HAIRCOLOR ETC. Is it not strange, that “supposed” Christian men who saw her leading me around would not tell me about her appearance, knowing full well, that a woman who has no respect for herself or her body then to have that appearance should not be working for a man of my reputation? You see, as is always the case, there is never a con man that you do not like. They all have a glowing personality. She had a glowing personality as long as she was accomplishing her purpose...her purpose, to clean out my house of everything valuable. I have no idea what the total amount would be in dollars.

The tragedy, law enforcement could care less. Those who worked for me could care less. The neighbors and others who saw her in and out of my house and probably saw her loading her vehicle from my house, could care less. We live in a world where people simply DO NOT CARE.

Without God, you cannot know God. I cannot expect people who do not know God to care about me. I just ask for the grace to forgive...because I have been forgiven for so much. Only those who know our blessed Lord, who know his forgiveness, can understand true forgiveness. Only those who know what it is to be thankful, can know thankfulness. I am thankful that God allowed me to enjoy my nice things, that I had the joy of buying them, that I had the joy of using many of them and I have the joy of knowing that the sovereign God of the universe, who counts the very hairs on our head, who knows every sparrows fall, keeps a perfect score book and one day it will come her time to “settle up”. This is not the only time, but it was the worst time. One day, one employee told me about going to another employees house and he said, “she has the painting she bought from you hanging over the fireplace in her living room”...I never sold her a painting. “Be sure, your sins will find you out” (2 Samuel 12:9-14).

It is truly an immoral, evil person who would take advantage of the disabled and the disenfranchised. (Colonel Robert McCormick).

Minimum Wage

The French philosopher Voltaire, made the brilliant statement, “The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third.” In this nation, we have decided to let one-third of its citizens pay for the other two-thirds. As of last figures, November 2008, 40% of Americans pay no taxes; the top 6% of earners pays 63% of all taxes. This perhaps accounts for recent emphasis on minimum wage; because it is the minimum wage earners who are most afflicted by economic depressions and are the ones, usually, who take out their frustrations at the polling booth by voting for the politician and the political party which they believe will do the most for them in their plight for survival.

The federal minimum wage was first set in 1938 at 25 cents per hour. In 2008, the minimum wage was $6.55. As a child, I can remember working all day long to make $1. I well remember young men and women on the farm who worked in the hot, grueling sun for 10 cents an hour. Even as a university student, the minimum wage was 65-85 cents an hour. As deplorable as this sounds, we must remember that most of the world's population this very day, will work all day for less than $3. The national minimum wage in Haiti is $2.40 per day. In China and most communist countries, because there are housing and food allowances, the wage is $1 per day. The average salary in Cuba, for doctors as well as farmers, is $20 per month.

When we see the hyperbole about socialistic health care in Cuba, or other communist countries, it is easy to understand why there is a surplus of doctors (in Cuba there is a 2,000 doctor surplus) Every time there is a catastrophe in some other part of the world, these communist nations, such as Cuba, always send medical personnel. Much is made of their going to care for the distressed, but nothing is ever said of the 'mess' they make when they get there. Some of the wounded never recover from their treatment, and you can be sure that there have been no “peer reviewed” discovery articles coming from these countries. You can be sure, that Americans and others needing surgery do not go there for such.

For nearly 2000 years, scripture has been the determining factor in the economics of work and pay. The answer book, which gives guidance in every area of life, gives us the following, which we would be wise to use even in the 21st century.
Proverbs 10:4 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 16:26 The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on.
Luke 10:7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.

As one who has worked for minimum wage, as one who has enjoyed a good income, I am going to approach the minimum wage from 3 areas.

One- Morality: the morality of the minimum wage involves establishing the mindset that very few people start at the top of the economic ladder. Much to the chagrin of some university graduates, the work ethic, as well as survival skills, of most mortals, begin with a minimum wage job. In this country, so far, we have the freedom to apply for a job in which we are interested and which we can accomplish. There is no need applying for a job, regardless of the pay scale, for which we are not sufficiently prepared. This should certainly be ascertained in the application and interview.

The minimum wage job is usually one which does not require many sophisticated skills, but if one can not handle the work ethic involved in a low paying job, chances of advancement to a higher paying position become remote. Qualities of attention, observation, regimentation, should be established by parents in the home. Believe it or not, I have actually hired young people to work for me who could not get to work on-time, never listened when a job is explained, never seemed to observe anything going on around them. If you ask the largest employer in your area or the smallest employer in your area, what is their greatest problem in carrying on their business, you would get the same answer from both: employees. I have often wondered what those I did not hire were like since those I did hire, so many times, were totally unacceptable in spite of time and effort put on them and often I do believe it had nothing to do with money.

The employer is regulated in his payment to employees by his profit margin. He can not afford to pay an employee when the employee does not perform sufficiently to pay his way and it is far better when the employee at least makes some money for him. Often, while the employee is learning and advancing to the place where he is really worth his pay scale, the employer uses his personal savings. At about the time the employee begins to earn his pay, he has become dissatisfied with his pay, thinks that he is worth much more to someone else, often is making calls and makes no secret of looking for another job and then is off and gone to greener pastures.

Other than bed wetters, those too young and inexperienced to realize the economy of employment, most who are serious about a job in the first place want to succeed and at least have a recommendation for future employment. Recently, I have had the misfortune of employing two former members of the military; one Navy, one Marine. Another who applied, supposedly 100% disabled, never showed up for the interview. The two former military enlisted men not only did not have a work ethic, but a callous attitude about life. As a field grade Army officer, one with considerable experience with the military, I sympathize with those who are trying to fight battles (even in a time of voluntary enlistment) with men of such discipline and attitude.

Just as many companies are willing to give product in order for a customer to become familiar with the quality of the product, so a beginner in the area of employment should be willing to 'prove himself' to an employer who, in most instances, is anxious to give a raise in pay, give promotions, because it is only trained, disciplined, dependable employees that make a business successful. The employer, owner, knows that his success depends on his morality in treatment and payment of those who keep him in business. The employee, beginner or otherwise, should have the morality in his mind that his employment future depends on his worth to the business.

Two- Difficulty: When I was in professional school, studying to be a doctor, my friends who were Majors in English, Sociology, Business or other disciplines not requiring the type specialization to which I aspired, were often partying when I had my head in books and was involved in laboratories which they could not begin to comprehend. As my great Physics professor (Dr. Palmatier) said, “Anyone can understand sociology or English, but it takes a brain to understand physics.” So, those in the fields of technology, medicine, dentistry, etc. who expect to be in the 'high income' brackets, have conquered the difficult areas which will enable them to get there through board certification, state license, and the prestige of having knowledge and abilities beyond that of the average (so-called) educated citizen.

I just met a young pharmacist, living in one of my buildings, who makes over $100k a year, but it was necessary for him to put in long hours of study so you could trust him with life and death decisions. My oldest grandson, now finishing his law degree, is working with a firm and has put in the long hours and possesses the intelligence to be successful in this career. My other grandson, studying engineering at a leading university, puts in long hours in a most complex discipline of study, which should direct him into a career of professional integrity and above the average pay of the average college graduate.

It is all a matter of difficulty. Professions and disciplines of study which require intense intelligence, high tuition, expensive books and equipment, lead to the success that one observes in the homes in which they live, the cars which they drive. Most of us do not mind giving prestige to those who have earned it, to those who have doctorate letters behind their names, board certifications, national and international recognition.

Three- Ability: I remember so well, as a young person, hearing my father, one of the brightest and most hard-working men I ever knew say, “If I only had the education so I could express myself well” My mother, one of the brightest, hardworking women who ever lived, dropped out of school in the 6th grade to care for her brother and sisters. God alone knows what she could have done with her life, if she had a good formal education. Her mind was so sharp, and she had the ability to do anything and could hold her own in any social opportunity. I have little patience with young people, with good minds, from exceptional homes, who do not take advantage of the resources they have been given. All of us are not blessed in the same way; with health, looks, mental ability. All that is required, is that we do the best we can with what we have. I have known people with disabilities, (hearing, sight, deformity, etc.) who amazed me with their ability to accomplish so much.

The minimum wage, now as always, is a starting point. There have been times, in my life, that I would work for nothing just to be around and to learn from exceptional people in exceptional situations. I was never in another doctor's office, just observing, that I did not learn something, positive or negative. How many times, have you been in a business, and you would say, “I would like to manage this place for about 10 minutes.” How many times, have you seen some young person just simply not caring about anything, and you would say, “That person should have my father for about 2 weeks.” How many times, have you been in a government bureaucracy, observed the wistful, slothful, lackadaisical, attitude of bureaucrats and you think, “It is good they had enough political pull to get a job.”

People do what they do because they believe what they believe. It is usually 'stinking thinking' which causes anyone not to succeed. Most of us only get one chance at life, you only go around once. Get off to a good start, even with a minimum wage job. Get in line and stay in line. Life has its ups and downs, your greatest joy is in knowing you did the best you could.