Thought Provoking

I received this this e-mail today and I wanted to pass it along with some of my own thoughts. I don't know the validity of it but it was in fact thought provoking.

"There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the Prof noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back
and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his
country's government and install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked: "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said that it was no joke.

"You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity."

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of
programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax
cuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to
plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose
our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths:

1) There is no such thing as a free lunch

2) and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself."

My thoughts are this... yes, you can trap anyone with a little incentive and patience and yes, I agree that such things are happening in America, along with the revocation of the rights of the majority by minority groups that happen to have a louder voice (i.e. more time on their hands) and lots of other things. But I disagree with both points made.

A) There is such thing as a free lunch and it comes from charity and service to your fellow man. Unfortunately, in America this is becoming less and less common. Here is something that should be even more thought provoking.... When was the last time you helped someone you didn't know? When was the last time you saw a neighbor's yard, overgrown with weeds and decided to complain instead of walk your mower up and offer to help? When was the last time you was someone walking down the street, pushing a stroller and carrying two arms full of groceries and you stopped to offer a ride? Have you ever complained about the condition of someones house? Their hair? Their clothes? Their car? What was the last thing you complained about? Did you offer your assistance in rectifying the situation? Or did you just go on your merry way, complaining?

B) As for not being able to hire someone cheaper than you could do it yourself, it completely depends on your level of expertise. If you know how to do something and have the tools to do it then you can definitely not hire someone else to do it less expensive. However, if you are without the tools or the expertise then it is possible that it could cost you quite a bit more to do it yourself. And you have to take into consideration the amount of time it takes you to complete the task. Can someone else do it more efficiently while you focus your energy on something you can do more efficiently? And do you know someone that does have the tools and the expertise to help you? Networking is a great opportunity as long as you don't take advantage. Give as much as you take. There are plenty of opportunities to trade services! They can be very lucrative.

So there are my two cents. As you all know, I am very opinionated and if you read any of my blogs, you should be used to it. I would love your thoughts added to this, please feel free to comment back.