King Charles the Homeless

King Charles is a homeless man that lives in a one bedroom apartment. He is lonely surrounded by people. He was once 45. He doesn’t remember the year. He doesn’t eat much. He would eat TV dinners but doesn’t have a TV.  His meal of choice is Absolut soup. Technology scans him so he refuses light bulbs and listens to the radio in the dark, unplugged as it is. King Charles is my friend but doesn’t know my name. He sees me through the door hole. He says it fogs me and he sees my soul. He had no parents at 4 and was raised in a state home to protect him from his enemies.  

He says he is from England but has never been out of Kansas. 

King Charles always speaks the truth. I believe him. He is a homeless man that lives in a one bedroom apartment. 

-A. Quintin Smith 

The 21 most powerful phases in the English language

20. Where are you?
19. What are you doing here?
18. Why did you do that?
17. When will you be here?
16. Who are you?
15. What's in it for me?
14. How much?
13. Let's negotiate a deal.
12. Are you in love?
11. You are wrong.
10. I remember you.
09. You are worth it.
08. I cannot live without you.
07. Don't lie to me.
06. Tell the truth.
05. Yes.
04.  You are right.
03. I believe.
02.I love you.
01. I forgive you.
0. NO.

Life is full of phrases. Some are acceptable. Some are abhor-able. All carry power. But most people use them with imprudence. The most powerful phrases are the ones that give credence to the person you are speaking too.  NO is the only exception. It has the power to stop a relationship in its tracks. It is the most powerful word used in negotiation. It takes away value from the other person. Yes one word has that much power.
Why do we pick a word that has so much negativity as our most powerful word?  It also provides distance and security. It is the only word in the English language that does so with impunity.

People hate to be told no. It provides a number of emotional responses that are not always acceptable. If people are told no enough they will choose to separate themselves from the negativity eventually. They will seek a yes, you are right, I believe, I love you or I forgive you. They will find more positive answers and phrases. NO may be the most powerful phrase but the user must be prepared for the separation to come. Most but not all NOs soften over time.



What power words do you use?

Missing a Beautiful Day

It was a couple of days ago. I was outside. It was cold and the wind was blowing as I worked. I passed a man younger than I (me). He was bundled in coat, gloves, cap and scarf. Arms wrapped around his body. Cursing the cold. Bitter with each trudging step. Out of no where a man younger than him (I) passed us both. Running. Hat and gloves but little more than that. He sang out loud. A smile on his face. Ear-buds in his ears. Strong powerful strides with intent. Loving the world around him. Breathing deeply and enjoying life. I thought what a fool...
No not this younger man but the older of the two. He was missing a beautiful day. It suddenly didn't feel as cold outside. The wind was not as piercing as I thought. The world seemed a little brighter and I suddenly felt alive. Man number 1 even though younger than I (me) was missing it. He only knew the sorrow of the cold and could not see past it. I didn't run after him but I could have in that moment. I would have shared my insight about man number 2. He was younger than him (me), but smarter than at least one of us. He chose to see the good in living each day. Cold did not stop the joy of just being alive. Then I realized, he wouldn't get it. He reveled to much in his misery. Life to him was a struggle because he chose to see it that way. Yes, what a fool. Today is the day of all days. Which will you chose? 1 or 2. Two for (I) me please. I'm no fool. Not me.

Copyright:  A. Quintin Smith 2015 

It no longer matters if you are Republican or Democrat

Since 1839 the Democrats and Republicans have shared the office of president equally. Each will have totaled 88 years in office at the end of Barrack Obama's second term. If nothing changes between now and then, each will have led us into the same number of wars. Each will be responsible for extracting us from the same number of wars. Each will have led us in times of economic crisis and great legislation. They have both expanded and contracted the government many times.

This two party system of government has grown exponentially. It was derived from a government representative democracy that once represented the people of the land. It has grown into a government representative credential democracy. The difference between the two? One represents the people it governs. The other represents only the people with credentials, the lobbyist, the diplomats, the academics, the generals, the attorneys, the unions, and the CEO's. In the Credential Democracy the will of the general public is left out.

It no longer matters if you are Republican or Democrat in the greater scheme of things. It only matters if you are a member of a group with credentials. A group with enough money to lobby your agenda to the elected officials. It has been said the world is run by those who show up but it would be more aptly said the world is run by those who can afford to show up.

The working class and poor are no longer consulted on issues of government. Representatives do not return to their states with the ideas of listening to their constituents and when they do it doesn't matter. The larger bills are presented to the house preconceived and written by the credentialed few. I am not sure if this is laziness, perceived culture or coerced intent by the elected government but it has been a fact of life they all live with.

The time for a change has come. How to do it is not clear. When people are left out of government there is growing discontent. Since the parties in power no longer represent the people the revolution should start there. It is time to dismantle the two party system. It is time to provide legislation that will oust the credentialed government, remove the lobby and bring government home to the people.

It is time to find a leader that will stand up to the credentialed few and say this is not the government for me or the people of this land.  A leader that will choose not to be Republican or Democrat but a leader for all the people of our great nation.

Why I will never be President of the United States or How to fix the United States Government.

Governments become cumbersome over many years of adding, writing and rewriting laws. It becomes a major burden to the people it actually serves and begins to serve special interest instead. That is the current plight of the United States Government. Such things are not easily fixed because of disparity in goals between political parties, bureaucrats that buck change because that's the way it has always been done and the general laziness or incompetence of the system.

Here is how I would fix it if I were in charge: 

1. Everyone would pay taxes but first the tax code would need to be simplified. Most of the 70,000 page code is on how to spend the money after it is collected which would need to be modified as well but we would first look at a fair tax for all brackets and do away with all the shenanigans of credits and deductions. We would structure the business tax code to be similar to the one used by The Maldives. 

2. Everyone over the age of eighteen would receive a public stipend equivalent to the poverty level and include all current program like welfare, medicare, housing and food stamp allotments all in one check. No more paying for mamma to have babies or people to be out of work. This stipend would be removed when a job or income of the individual will replace it by 1.5 times or may be reduced as income increases over time. 

3. Everyone that received a public stipend would be required to have a job or be given one. Women/men may chose to stay home and raise children only if there is another partner or wage earner in the home making more than 1.5 times the stipend. Work loads may be reduced for families providing adequate reasons to do so. 

4. I would eliminate the current welfare system as it exist, it is not working and keeps poor people poor. 

5. Public employees would not be able to bargain for rights past a current administration. Guidelines for pay, pension and benefits must always be in the budget. 

6. All deficits budget departments would be cut until they are fully funded and functional. No exceptions.

7. The departments of interior, education and  environmental protection agency would be restructured and many of the functions given back to the states. 

8. The affordable care act, medicare, and medicaid would be restructured into a single functioning health care act funded through taxation of the working class, which reading line 3 would include everyone over the age of 18. 

9. Social security would be done away with and employers and employees would instead be required to pay into a retirement plan for the individual insured by the government. 

10. Social Security funding for all current retirees would continue using a combination of line 2 and a phased out plan for social security that would insure retirement for all at age 67. This would be paid for through taxation of the working class, which reading line 3 would include everyone over the age of 18. 

11. Unemployment insurance will become employment and reeducation insurance. It will introduce people back into the work force immediately. The government will provide them a job until they are reemployed somewhere else.

12. We will stop watching people for the sake of watching them. All government agencies will need to have a reason to have your information and have to provide a signed subpoena or warrant  to get it. 

13. There will be an immigration program that will turn undocumented workers into documented workers, these workers will only be allowed access to public services when employed and paying taxes. Any documented worker convicted of a crime may be immediately deported. 

14. The disability system will be revised to provide for short term as well as long term disability and 

will provide for reeducation and introduction back into the workforce for those it deems able. 

15. Public officials, whether elected or bureaucrat will post all meetings with lobbyist on a public website including attendees, detailed subject matter and cost to  provide such meeting, and who paid for it. 

16. The budget will be balanced 

Other things I would consider: elimination of the federal reserve system, changes to the commodities exchanges that would limit speculation and fluctuation of markets like oil, gas and grain. Restructuring the penal system to provide education and training to all prisoners, including behavior modification for drugs and alcohol and anger management. 

Things I would encourage: the elimination of the direct deposit requirement (people should start using cash more often), remove the issues of gay marriage, abortion, and gun control from the federal level and let it be handled by individual states, Tort reform capping the awards of damages, a federal voter picture id for everyone, removal of pensions and expansive benefits from elected officials, term limits, line item veto and value engineering for all federal projects. 

This won't fix every thing and may create other problems but it would creating a large class of people all in the same boat working for the common good of the government and each other. It would provide for checks and balances but allow much more freedom. It would also reduce large fluctuations in the workforce and tax base. I want our country to be great. It can only be as great as our weakest member. My system would make the weak stronger. It would support the family model of having more than one parent in the home. It would encourage productivity. It would make us  a country for the people, led by the people again. It would give each individual more power in their own decision making process. 

Maybe I don't need to be president to affect a change. Maybe I just need to put some good ideas on paper that others can consider.  So if you like my ideas, let me know, let others know, it will take all of us to make it work. 

Top 10 things to help you live a longer life.

1.       Believe in God, he extends life indefinitely

2.       Eat bacon

3.       Eat chocolate

4.       Exercise your mind and prepare to lose it sometimes.

5.       Believe none of what you hear and half of what you read.

6.       Always be prepared to change your mind on any given subject except number 1.

7.       Care deeply for people not things

8.       Love at least one person more than life itself.

9.       Stop and smell the flowers, it doesn’t matter if it’s a rose.

10.   See the sunset from as many places as you possible can.

Bonus:

When you realize nothing will make you live longer than you are destined too, make sure you live happy instead. Oh and read my blog it will help:

  Andy's Top Ten Things to Make Your Life Wonderful

http://understandingandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/andy-top-ten-things-to-make-your-life.html

White Christmas Dream

What if on Christmas morning when we woke up and looked out the window, everyone had the same amount of snow? A child would be born on that same day, a ray of hope in a desolate winter. The snow would last a lifetime until the child became a man and died and then it would fade away. Everyone would look out and praise him because the snow would turn to an eternal spring.

Christmas should be white according to the song but many have never seen a white Christmas. We create ideals of what a perfect life should be like but most of the time we project it on other people.

Sin seems to be the same way. If sin were snow then everybody would have a white Christmas, no one would be exempt. But we would see 10 feet of snow in our neighbors yard when we only see a few inches in our own.

The truth is we all really have the same amount of snow. No one's would be greater than their neighbors.

 Sin is clearly defined in the bible as well as who is to judge that sin. Most people don't like to have their sins singled out but in the same breath will lash out at another damning them for their transgressions.

We focus on things like sexual sin but give light to using God's name in vain. We curse the vagrant for being poor while we binge on all that is unhealthy for our bodies and our souls.



My dream for Christmas is one day sin will be looked at like snow. Before we shovel our neighbors driveway we must shovel our own realizing as we shovel the snow is always falling around us. When we learn to manage our own snow and see our neighbor doing the same we will understand the truth about sin.

Then we can look across the street and wave, invite them in for a warm cup of cocoa and talk about a God that has forgiven both of us. A loving God that sees us as equal and wanted. A God that wants us to seek him out no matter the snow fall. We can share our experiences without judgement and live with each other not just in harmony but in the joy of knowing the amount of snow each of us has is the same.

Merry Christmas 2013

© A.Quintin Smith

http://understandingandy.blogspot.com/2013/12/white-christmas-dream.html