I like creating things.

I like creating things that creates things for me.

Recently I watched a video about the first computer ever made. It was roughly the size of an operation table and could do less than half of what your calculator on your phone can do. It was a big deal, though, because even though it couldn't do much it meant that what it could do, you no longer had to do yourself.

This was one of several events that has sparked my interest in the power that comes in creating things that do things for you. I have mentioned before that I think everyone should learn a programming language. I think it should required in schools like English, or like foreign languages. This is why:

Imagine a being able to speak and have the elements combine in front of you. Imagine saying to the elements "Combine and create a world." And the elements combine and create a world. That would be an amazing power.

Now consider for a minute that the very computer you are reading this blog with is capable of handling the computations that the worlds largest and most powerful machinery run on. These machines can bend and shape and carve material to create cars, airplanes, houses, even computers themselves. If you know the language of computers, you can speak and say "Combine these elements and make a car." And the elements combine and create a car. That is also an amazing power.

Speaking of power, I remember reading some of the Harry Potter books, as well as watching some of the movies. I remember thinking to myself that out of all of the characters Hermione best represented my attitude. If I had magical abilities you can rest assured that I would spend every waking moment, (and most likely every non-waking moment) research and developing those powers.

Let me give an example:

Ron might look at the ability to levitate a feather and think "Hmm, this is boring, why would I want to lift feather's anyway? This isn't very useful." Then he would go and perhaps eat some weird enchanted candies.

I would look at that same ability to levitate a feather and the first thing I would think is "Does anybody else see what I'm seeing? Is anyone else realizing the potential this has?" Looking around I would see the Ron's and the Harry Potters who all just care about passing a class so that they can return to their enchanted candies or to dealing with the Voldemorts in their lives. Meanwhile, I would do the following:

First I would expand my portfolio of objects that I could levitate. First feathers, then everything else. If I can levitate things, why not myself. Soon I have gained the ability to fly because I levitate my bones, ligaments, and muscles, and everything else follows.

If I had an invisibility cloak I wouldn't leave it in a box in my room, I would cut it up and make long underwear out of it, with fold back footies, gloves, and a hoodie. Walking around people would see me in my robes and think everything is fine. On a whim if I wanted to disappear I simply take off my robes and I'm gone. If I really wanted to leave no footprint I would add a napsack that I could store my robes in.

So now I can fly and be invisible. Imagine how the books would have turned out if Harry Potter was flying around invisible since book two, or whenever it was that he got the cloak.

When power to improve one's environment is so blatantly obvious it doesn't take much to find the drive to master the steps necessary to gain that power. It is when the steps to that power are obscured or appear unobtainable that their is no drive.

In this way a lot of people:

Don't see the benefit in learning the language of computers.

Don't think that benefit is obtainable given their situation.

I have to admit that, for myself, the power to create more than mere websites has also seemed obscure and unobtainable. It hasn't been until recently that the true power that already lies underneath my fingertips has been discovered.

I believe this is related to the gospel as well. Many have an obscured view of what blessings are in store for them if they would only take the necessary steps. There are also those who might understand the blessings but do not think they are capable of obtaining them.

We can be comforted with the good news that the blessings are real, and the blessings are obtainable. Obtain the vision, obtain the steps, perform the steps, then obtain the blessings.

I invite you to live the gospel and obtain those blessings that are very real, and very obtainable.

Life in Abundance

Life in Abundance

There are a lot of excellent books written about the secrets to obtaining an abundance in finance, as well as in life. Many of them have changed the way I see the world. This is a summary of the best concepts I have discovered in these readings:


Abundance in Finance

Income Expenses
Assets Liabilities

Income - Money you receive in exchange for your time and/or work
Expenses - Money you give in exchange for things
Assets - Things that make you money without requiring your time
Liabilities - Things that take your money without requiring your time

Having a high paying income helps a person become financially well-off. Income comes in the form of jobs, commissions, and salaries. Those who have them have money, but their time is still bound to maintain it.

Having high paying assets helps a person become financially independent. Assets are things that one owns and lends to others to use for a price, such as royalties, patents, property, and stock. These people are free to work how, when, and on what they decide to. They can take vacations when the want because they are always being paid.

Having expenses take money, these are things like food, rent, and entertainment. This results in financial reduction.

Having liabilities drains money, these are things like credit card debt, mortgages, and car payments. The debt lasts a long time and is difficult to get rid of. The result is financial bondage.

Income = Financially well-off
Assets = Financially free
Expenses = Financial reduction
Liabilities = Financial bondage

Key to financial freedom : Invest as much as you can in obtaining assets. Stay away as far as you can from liabilities.


The Abundant Life

Consider these keys to the Abundant Life and how they relate to the keys of Financial Freedom:

In the talk The Abundant Life by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, Elder Wirthlin mentions three keys to obtaining the Abundant Life:

- Drink deeply of Living Water
- Filling our hearts with love
- Create of our lives a masterpiece

The Living Water referred to is the happiness and joy that comes from knowing and living the truth that comes from knowing Christ and living his teachings. Christ has Eternal happiness. He has happiness and joy, Eternally, and Eternal is abundance. He never runs out. He is the one source of value that a person can constantly tap into. Many things in life sap our energy: trials, hardships, misunderstandings. These things create voids within us. Christ offers to replenish these voids, and teaches us ways to avoid creating these voids in the future.

Filling ones heart with love, as explained in the talk, is done through reaching out and lifting and serving others. The promise is a greater happiness than one has ever known.

Creating ones life into a masterpiece involves hard work and dedication, the dedication of a life time.

Consider the following as it relates to the Key to Financial Freedom and the Abundant Life:

Physical		Spiritual
Hard work in the service of others	=	Spiritual gratification that stays regardless of time.
Expense		Asset
Stealing something of value from another	=	Spiritual haunting that stays regardless of time.
Income		Liability

Notice how in exchange for hard work and service, one can receive Spiritual Freedom.
Notice that in exchange for a temporary income, the result is Spiritual Bondage.

Hard work and serving others are two of the requirements for obtaining the abundant life. I don't find it surprising that the combination of these two principles results in a Spiritual Asset. The third requirement is to tap into an already existing Spiritual Asset, Living Water, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ.




I invite you to apply these principles of Financial and Spiritual Abundance in your own life.

The Value of Human Emotion

The Value of Human Emotion

Recently a friend asked for our opinions on a subject that involved the human form in art. Specifically what degree of the human body was acceptable to be shown when modeling for art studies. This is part of my response to her:

Message:

I think it's smart of you to think through such a sensitive subject, and I hope my feedback can be helpful:

My thought process concerning it:

The human body is designed to be attractive to the opposite sex. And for good reason! The body can evoke very good and strong emotions.

When emotions are reserved it creates value, they become special. There are two ways that emotions can be reserved:

Timing: When things don't happen all the time they become special, like Birthday's and Weddings.

Audience: When a limited amount of people are allowed, the event increases in value. Like front row seats at a football game, there fewer who can participate the more valuable the opportunity.

The human form contains the strongest of human emotions. These emotions can be transformed into value by reserving when and with whom they occur.

The body and fine art:

Art, like other industries such as science and medicine, benefits greatly from an understanding of the human body. For artists, this means better control in rendering realistic and believable images. This understanding then becomes a tool for creating beautiful things.

Just like a hammer can be used for creating beautiful things, like a house. At the same time, a hammer could be used for destructive things, like breaking a window.

Likewise an artist could destroy the value of special human emotions in the way they use their understanding of the human body. On the other hand, they can create beautiful and uplifting and inspiring art that still values the sacredness of human emotion.

So for me, it really depends who is using the knowledge and how they use it. I personally own some art books that have nude drawings, and they have been tremendously useful in understanding proportion and anatomy! But the models weren't displayed nude to evoke emotion or for admiration of their bodies, they were there to understand form. Like Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. This way their value (virtue?) was still maintained.

Those are my thoughts. I hope they help! Good luck!

Mine Intent

For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.

Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.

-Nephi

Immigration

Immigration

I had a conversation about immigration not too long ago with a few of my roommates, this is what we decided:

Lately I've been taking the bus to the mall, which has opened my eyes to the lower class of Provo, and all the unseemly things that BYU students are normally not exposed to in their day to day living. I've also had opportunities to talk to the bus drivers, who have seen it all. One time I was talking to a truck driver gone bus driver, who had literally driven through all of the lower 48 states. Talking to her confirmed to me again, there is a lot of space in this country.

Even driving down to St. George confirms it, there is a lot of space in Utah.

If there is all this space, why not just open up the borders and let all these huddled masses yearning to breath free be free? Let them come in and be productive and enhance this great country!

This is why not:

Everyone wants the benefits of being free. But not everyone who wants benefits wants to work for them. In that same group of huddled masses are those who want to be able to come in and be productive and enhance this great country! But there are also those who want something for nothing, they are tired of working hard to survive and want to live off of the wealth that others have generated. Providing for these people brings no return, they literally burn money on their lusts. Imagine taking a certain portion of your paycheck every month and burning it on the stove.

Naturally, I don't blame those who are in government positions who have realized this phenomena and therefore set up barriers to entrance. I think the words of Emma Lazarus poem could have been changed to: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, but only send those that are willing to work and be productive, we don't want your leeches."

Another problem with letting in the huddled masses is that unless otherwise coaxed, they will stay huddled in masses. This results in ghettoes. It's logical to stay together, but at the same time it then creates barriers and disunity with the locals. If huddled masses were allowed to come in large groups it could be quite unsettling when all of a sudden local legislature is taken over by new comers. In summary: immigrants need to integrate. Otherwise they aren't becoming part of the country, they are becoming they're own country in the middle of some else's.

If these two criteria are met: the immigrants are productive, and the immigrants are integrating. Let them come! The more the merrier! From what I've seen, we have plenty of room!

Hope Cycle

The Hope Cycle

Hope - Faith - Law - Happiness (-more hope)

Definitions:

Hope: is a belief that you can be happy

Faith: is action based on hope

Law: is action conformed to criteria

Happiness: the result of living certain laws. ( once happiness is obtained, your hope in that course of action is increased )

Examples:

A boy sees a cute girl in an ad smiling and drinking a Coke. The boy believes the girl is happy. He doesn't know for sure, but he has enough hope that happiness might be found here that he decides to act. The law, or criteria of action to obtain this happiness is simple, one must drink a Coke. The boy conforms to the criteria and drinks a Coke. The result, the high levels of fructose corn syrup and sugar spike his insulin levels and and gives him a quick surge of energy. It was a nice feeling, but the result did not fill any of the boy's real needs. The boy realizes that this course of action produces quick surges of energy, but is not the happiness he is in search for.

Someone hears that if they avoid judging others too quickly they will be happy. This person decides to conform to this law by postponing judgement out of a hope that they will be happy because of it. Soon the person finds that because they didn't judge so quickly they have gained several friends that they normally wouldn't have had.

God and law:

The glory of God is intelligence, or light and truth. (D&C 93: 29-30, 36) Truth is a knowledge of how things are, were, and will be.(D&C 93: 24) This includes a knowledge of laws that bring happiness. God knows what actions we need to conform to in order to be happy. God shares this knowledge through prophets: www.mormon.org

Some people wonder why religious people conform to laws. Some assume it is out of fear in something that is not true. If people conform out of fear in something that is false this is sad.

Some religious people conform because they are hoping in something that isn't true, this is also sad.

Finally, intelligent people conform out of hope in something that is true. By conforming they reap the result, and when they realize they are happy this increases their hope, and the cycle continues.

I invite you to find happiness through living the hope cycle. Find a law, live it, and if it brings you true happiness, keep living it!

17 If any man will ^ado his ^bwill, he shall ^cknow of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

John 7: 17

Mustard Seed

Faith as a Mustard Seed

Recently I read this scripture in Matthew 17:20

"...for verily I say unto you, If ye have ^bfaith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this ^cmountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove;"

I was intrigued by the choice of word "as" instead of "the size of."

I think when most people hear this scripture they think of faith the size of a mustard seed. Meaning, if they put forth just a little tiny bit of faith, mountains will move. I believe this can be true, sometimes all it takes is a couple washings in the Jordan River to heal a leper. (2 Kings 5:10) But I was also intrigued by the interpretation this way:

If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed has faith.

Do mustard seeds have faith? I think they do, faith is the agent by which all intelligent beings act, not that mustard seeds are the most intelligent creation around, but they are living things. They exercise that faith in growing, otherwise why on earth would they bother breaking out of that dirt in the first place? The hope that anything is worth while is always the motivation for action. Which action is not based off of a sure knowledge, there is still some risk involved, and this is faith: Acting without a sure knowledge of something. ( and it is after the trial of that faith comes the witness, or knowledge. (Ether 12:6)).

In other words, I'm claiming that faith as a mustard seed is not related to the size of the mustard seed, but to the amount of work that the mustard seed goes through to become a mustard tree.

This seems like a more realistic promise. I'm more apt to believe that God will move mountains for those people who would be willing to pull out their shovels and say, "Somehow, I'm going to move this mountain!" and then start digging. Or as President Uchtdorf explains:

“When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration.”

Healthy Living

Big and Ripped Cycles

Recently I upgraded my workout and eating routines. Most of my research I pulled from websites of people who were very health conscious, and in great shape. Here is what I learned:

To get big, and ripped, (not too big, or dangerously ripped, I mean healthy) is a goal of a lot of people I know. But it isn't possible to get big and ripped at the same time, they need to be broken into cycles. To get big a muscle needs ample amounts of water, carbs, and protein surrounding it all the time. This means that during a big cycle one would be carrying a little bit extra on them, and eating and drinking a little bit extra. On the reverse, in order to get ripped, a muscle needs just less then enough so that it starts pulling from the bodies reserves, but not so little that it starts breaking down other muscles as fuel.

It isn't possible to have more than enough, and less than enough at the same time. Getting big and ripped is like walking: you take one step to get big, and one step to get ripped.

BIG CYCLE

TIME: 2-3 weeks

WORKOUT: Warm up your muscles by lifting some light weights. Lift the heaviest thing that you can lift four to six times. Take a little break. Now go back and do it again as much as you can. Take another break and then top off the workout by lifting what ever makes you feel good.

RECOVER: Only lift that muscle group once a week. It takes about a week for a muscle to fully recover. In the mean time eat a lot of healthy food and get about 8 hours of sleep a day. On the other days of the week work different muscle groups.

EAT: Eat enough that you feel like you have ample energy. You can eat whatever you want as long as it is in the right proportion. Cake? Sure, you can eat cake, but you will only eat about one slice of it per week to keep it in the correct proportion. Here are the foods that should take up most of your diet:

-Whole grain, Oats, Brown Rice, and Vegetables | Balanced with a little bit of meat or milk

-A fruit when you want some extra energy

Everything else should only be occasional, cakes and things are great for special occasions, but they do not build your body. BE CAREFUL: A lot of food companies sell foods and advertise them as everyday staples, but they aren't. White bread is a snack, not a staple. Fast foods, pizzas, these things are snack material.

Drink lots of water. For everything you eat, imagine that that food is broken up and needs to float somewhere. How much water are you going to have to drink to move that food around? Now drink that.

Ripped Cycle

TIME: 2-3 weeks

WORKOUT: Warm up your muscles by lifting some light weights. Take your heaviest weight that you can lift and cut it in half. Now lift that as many times as you can. Take a little break. Now go back and lift that same weight as fast as you can as many times as you can.

RECOVER: The same as before: Only lift that muscle group once a week. It takes about a week for a muscle to fully recover. In the mean time eat a lot of healthy food and get about 8 hours of sleep a day. On the other days of the week work different muscle groups.

EAT: Eat the same things as mentioned above, but slightly less food, and a little bit more water. Cold water burns calories because it cools your body down so your body has to work harder to maintain state. It also makes it easier for your body to break down its fat stores.

I encourage you to experiment with healthy living and this information, see what it can do for you!

0$ Chicken Coop

The 0$ Chicken Coop

Yesterday I met with a guy who sold a table saw to my roommate's brother. I was interested in his CNC machine, which he built himself. He lived several blocks from campus, in an area that was populated by small houses in regards to apartment complexes. The residents of these houses appeared to be graduates that had not yet married, but who hadn't continued on to grad school or left Provo in pursuit of work. Most of them appeared to be miniature Entrepreneurs, DIY's ( Do-it-yourself-'s) running out of home businesses from their small houses or barns turned into shops.

My contact also was running a business out of his barn shop. His barn was equipped with saws and routers and a brick kiln as well as his CNC machine. There were also several wooden electric guitar bodies scattered around which they had milled out with the CNC.

After asking a few questions about the machine another guy walked in and asked us if we could help him move his chicken coop. He needed several people to lift it so I offered to help as well.

We all hopped into the bed of his small red truck and drove to his house. In the back was his chicken coop with about 5 chickens living in it. He proceeded to hand us chickens and we would stick them in the coop. At one point of our moving preparations he looked at me and said, " This is a 0$ chicken coop! Made completely out of scrap material!"

We all grabbed corners of the coop and set it sideways on his truck, it didn't fit in the bed itself, and even sideways it left two of us standing on the tail gate which he left down, with the coop protruding about 2 1/2 feet out of both sides of the truck. The wait of the coop was so much that the back wheels looked like they were in danger, and that was before we hopped onto the gate.

We drove several blocks around Provo, finally deciding that the best place to put the coop was in front of my contacts house in a neighbors old garden. That's where I took the picture.

The difference..

I was intrigued by the ambition of these people. They were applying the value for value trade over and over again, and as a result were having a certain amount of success, but they definitely weren't the multi-millionaire that I had learned the principle from. What made the difference?

I believe the solution lies in their target market. To make a million dollars, you will either have to provide something that one million people will think is worth trading a dollar for, or that one person is willing to trade a million dollars for, or anything in between. The electric guitar market is completely saturated, even for custom guitars.

It intrigues me that the way then to make money is to find what people value and then to provide it to them. Or in other words, service.

Rocks and Waves

Service as a staple..

A couple months ago as I was going through some girl drama I realized that the particular girl I was interested in was acting very much like a wave. Sometimes she would show a lot of interest, and other times she would be very cold. Riding this wave made me sea-sick, and at one particular low I had a profound realization. Basing one's happiness on waves is a false happiness.

I went to my large whiteboard that I have in my kitchen and wrote down all of the waves in my life. This including money, power, popularity, and in that case, girls. ( which offended my roommate ) so for his sake and other's I write this disclaimer: the term girls represented my experience of basing happiness off of the conditional love that I was receiving from this girl. Girls are great! It's creating a need/dependent relationship on them that isn't healthy for either side..

Which brings me to my realization. I was basing my happiness on how this girl treated me, which was wave like, but how I treated her was in my control, which meant it could be constant, like a rock.

I decided then and there to base my happiness only on rocks. Constants. This does not mean that there isn't happiness in waves, honestly when you are on top it feels great! But the downside is that the wave will ultimately, at some point, fall.

When climbing rocks, on the other hand, the higher you get, the better the view. And the altitude you get you keep.

It's simply a matter of choosing which form of happiness one will pursue, one that rises but then disappears, or one that lasts. I prefer those that last.

Service

On the other side of my whiteboard I wrote down a list of constants. How I choose to act is something that I will always have control over, regardless of what opportunities are available to me. Since choosing to serve others brings me happiness, and increases how I value myself, I knew that it is something I could depend on, a staple for happiness.

Service for the sake of improving oneself, and not for the sake of recognition or compensation, can be quite an adjustment form the pursuit of momentary happiness that is obtained from waves. Waves and rocks are very different in nature, but after one has made the switch they quickly find out that it is a much more gratifying and lasting happiness.

Considering this, I invite you to serve others, not for the sake of how those you serve will react, but for how you will feel about yourself.

Faith

Faith and Hope..

I believe more people act by faith then they are inclined to believe. Actually, I believe when ever anybody acts at all, it is an act of faith.

For example:

If I see a cute girl, I might have hope that she might also be a nice girl! And so I would act and try to get to know her better. This action is called faith, because I do not know for sure whether or not the girl is nice, but I'm willing to find out.

I contrast faith with fear,

If I see a cute girl, I might have fear that she is a mean girl, which causes me to doubt any need to act, and I end up not doing anything.

-Hope leads to faith, which is when we do what ever we can to find out something we don't know. Hope leads us to act.

-Fear leads to doubt, which is when we resist exerting our own energy to find something out. Fear leads us to re-act, or be acted upon. We are literally saying to our environment, "provide me with enough reason to act."

The result of exercising faith is knowledge: by acting and talking to the cute girl, I have discovered, at least for that moment, whether the girl is nice or not.

People act by faith all the time. When ever they have enough hope that their reasons to act become greater than their reasons not to, they take a step into the dark to see what really is out there.

In my terms: "Faith is when we use our light to discover truth. Hope is our motivation for doing so,"

or as it says in scripture:

"therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true"

Milk Wins Again!

Milk Wins Again!

After discovering how great milk is, I began another study. Of all of the protein heavy foods that I knew of, which one provided the most amount of protein per dollar? My earlier studies showed that potatoes win the carb per dollar count, what about protein? Protein heavy foods tend to be more expensive, tuna, beef, meat, animal products have complete proteins but tend to cost several dollars/lb. After throwing the numbers into my google spreadsheet, the results came back. Lean ground beef was pretty high, with 42 grams of protein per dollar with tuna and eggs trailing not to far behind. Whey protein shake mix from the store offered an impressive 50 grams per dollar. I thought this would be hard to beat. Cottage cheese also contains whey protein, but is rather expensive, providing less than 20 grams per dollar. Then I calculated milk:

Milk: 77 grams of protein per dollar!

Milk wins again!

Milk Wins!

Milk Wins

I learned recently that the ideal ratio of carbs/protein/fat in the average person's daily diet is 50% carbs, 40% protein, and 10% fat. This brought new meaning to the term "balanced diet." This meant that if I was eating a carb heavy food (like oatmeal) then I would want to balance it out with a protein heavy food (like eggs.) All of a sudden traditional meals started to make more sense. Oatmeal and scrambled eggs for breakfast, tuna-fish sandwich for lunch, steak and potatoes for dinner, all of these are balanced. This made me curious though, is there a food out there that has a perfect ratio of carbs to protein and fat? After some calculations on my google docs spread sheet I was surprised that there was only one food that matched it perfectly... and the winner is!

Milk - In between 1% and skim is ideal: 50% carb/40%protein/10%fat.

This means you can drink milk and you don't have to eat anything else to balance it. Milk is a meal. Careful though how much you drink in one sitting, if you drink too much your stomach acids will curdle it, and that doesn't feel good. (I learned this the hard way :) )

The Value of Girls

Girls and Money

Girls should be fairly familiar with the value for value trade. Guys will spend a lot of value for something of equal value, and for them, that equal value is: finding a female companion, helpmeet, and mother of their children. Dating is worth it.

But note that I said finding and not necessarily securing, and dating and not necessarily marrying, even though those are end goals. I know some guys who will spend a lot of time preparing for a date, and then say "This better be worth it." What do these people mean? These people do not know what worth is! What is a companion/helpmeet/mother of your children worth? Think about it. Once you are married where will all your money go? Where will all your time go? An Eternal companion is worth all of your time, all of your money, and really everything of value with one exception (this is God, I will explain this in a different post.)

So if that is what an Eternal companion is worth, then what is a date, or a chance to get one step closer to this value of all values worth? Certainly it is worth 2 hours and a $10 meal.

The Value of Money

Value and Money

Two years ago I attended a ward where the first counselor was a multi-millionaire. He made his fortune through financial consulting. One Sunday he was asked to give a fireside to teach us some of the tricks of his trade.

One of the most important concepts I left with was the concept of money, and value.

He shared that once he was able to see things in terms of value, instead of money, he started to maintain a temporal wealth. This was interesting, I will return to this concept in a second..

Lately in my ponderings of poverty I was thinking about money, and how a culturally and economically disadvantaged individual might be able to make some.

I realized that money is a social creation, and is also socially dependent. If there is no other person to exchange money with, literally no other person, then what is the point of it? Money was created as a tool to enhance the bartering system. Two people with two objects of value would trade those objects if they agreed that the trade was equal: a loaf of bread for a chicken. Money was then introduced as a way of representing that value in order to assist trading amongst larger societies: a dollar = a loaf of bread, or a chicken, or a wooden bowl. With money the options open up.

As great as money is in representing potential value, it still isn't a perfect system. If there are 10 dollar bills in a society and one guy has 8 of them, everybody is going to feel poor. Are they really poor? Not really, they all still have things of value, but because they have grown accustom to money representing value they think they don't have any value because they don't have any money.

So the society decides to print more money to better represent the value that is out there. This is called inflation. Unfortunately, while that money is being printed a whole bunch of people go without bread and chickens for a while.

Doesn't this sound familiar? A lot of countries, a lot of them, are in situations where 10% of the people have 80% of the money. Which means a lot of people feel poor because they feel like they have nothing of value.. or money. And so they go without bread and chickens. But they still do have value.

So what is a person to do? Well, take it from a multi-millionaire, start bartering again, as much as you can until the system levels out. Sure bartering isn't as convenient as money, but when the money system goes lopsided, it might actually be more convenient.

Or in other words: Trade value for value.

If you have money, this is value, trade it for things you value.

If you have chickens, this is value, trade it for things you value.

I invite you to see what the value for value trade can do for you.

Poverty...

Hunger Banquet

I attended BYU's Hunger Banquet yesterday. The whole production was absolutely fantastic, and it was great to see so many people making a difference.

I was especially impressed with the key note speaker Martin Burt, who used to be the mayor of the capital city of Paraguay. His ideas on solving poverty seemed more effective then a lot of the other ideas presented that night. Here are some of my thoughts based on a lot of things he said:

Solving poverty:

What is poverty?

Before one can solve poverty, one needs to know what poverty is. Martin mentioned that this is often one of the biggest discussions amongst government organizations, where does one draw the line of poverty? If you are making $600 a month, and your neighbor is making $590, are they impoverished and you are not? Is it those who are unemployed? Employed but do not have housing?

I believe that self-reliance is the ultimate goal, and an easy indication of whether you are living in poverty or not. If one cannot provide themselves with food, shelter, clothing, and hygiene then they must be dependent on others or else they live in poverty. Many college students are not completely self-reliant, they have families paying their housing, maybe food, and other expenses. What would happen if all of this support were suddenly taken away? They too would be impoverished, until they learned how to provide these necessities for themselves.

This creates three categories:

-Poverty: Those who cannot provide the basic necessities for themselves.

-Threshold of poverty: Those who cannot provide the basic necessities for themselves but are fortunate enough to have someone providing these for them.

-Affluent: The self-reliant. They provide themselves with what they need and thus are free to pursue what they want. This might also included a desire to provide for those in poverty.

Notice, though, if an affluent person provides the basics for someone in poverty, they have taken someone from poverty and placed them into the threshold of poverty. As soon as the affluent is gone, if the beneficiary has not learned by then how to be self-reliant themselves, they will immediately fall back into poverty.

This creates three strategies for fighting poverty:

- Fighting poverty from the top down: This is when the affluent provide basic needs to the impoverished, thus putting them on the threshold of poverty.

- Fighting poverty from the bottom up: This is when someone who is self-reliant teaches the impoverished how to be self-reliant, and the impoverished pull themselves out of poverty by providing themselves with their own basic needs, and thus become affluent.

- Fighting poverty from both the top down and the bottom up: This is when the affluent provides basic needs to the impoverished as well as teaches them how to be self-reliant.

How are you going to fight poverty? This is rhetorical. I know for myself my goal is to help those who are either impoverished or on the threshold of poverty advance to the freedom of affluence and self-reliance.

Achieving self-reliance: on a large scale

If I wanted to be self-reliant, (and I am) in that I provide myself with my own basic needs, I would do the following:

I would increase my income so that I could afford my needs.

I would look for needs that I can afford.

In the same way, we can fight poverty by:

Teaching people how to increase their income, and

Creating basic needs that people can afford.

I can see dozens of potential service projects in these two areas, there are plenty of opportunities for teaching and plenty of room for innovating a cheaper and more affordable need.

This can be done first on a small scale, individually each of us can do this.

I will dive more in depth on how to do this on a large scale after I have done it.