Running With Scissors Part 1

We have all heard that phrase whether from a parent or on a sit-com. The implication is always that you could put out an eye or do some serious physical damage and that running with them in your hand improves the odds that a calamity will occur. We all seem to see the danger of grabbing a sharp implement and making quick and potentially dangerous movements with it but we seem to have a blind spot when it comes to things that are not as physical such as ideas or systems. In the long run, a bad idea or a poorly designed system will do more damage than a pair of scissors ever will.

The difference between the Haves and the Have Nots has been going on from the beginning of time. The European royalty seemed to have this issue under control for the longest time by creating the royalty and nobility and then the serfs. I am sure that there was still class envy but the development of the divine right of kings allowed them to draw their authority right from God which made it sit a little better with those under them. Of course once the Dark Ages ended and once the philosophers began to provide a different view of the world, the thinking in Europe changed and you had revolutions. The most noted was the French revolution with the off with their head mentality but the British had theirs also. So the Haves ended up becoming little less than figure heads and we are back to the class envy problem once again.

With the Industrial revolution opening up the possibility of a man with an idea becoming a Have, capitalism became the leveling devise between those with privilege and those without. Now you have people who have nothing to start ending up with a big piece of the pie. They are willing to stick their neck out and struggle a little to get there so it is no longer being given a privilege, it is earned. A good example is Bill Gates. He went from college drop out computer geek to the richest man in the world. Yet people still think he does not deserve what he has. Something is wrong with this picture. America was founded on hard work and earning your way but we seem to have drifted to a hand out system where we do not earn things, we expect them. This is a dangerous system. It starts the path of rot from the inside and leads to collapse. If everyone expects something and no one is taking the risks, you are left with the government, which produces nothing, managing the needs of its population. Look to Europe if you need an example of how to tax yourself out of existence.

So for anyone willing to run with scissors, welcome to the race. Mind how you hold them though, they leave a nasty scar if mishandled.

Icool

Cobb