Conscious Capitalism is Good

Yesterday I finally got around to transferring my newly grown "scobys" to new containers with the new tea mixture on my journey to making my homemade KOMBUCHA. As usual whenever I'm in the kitchen for a while working I turn on music or TCM. (Turner Classic Movie Channel 58) I saw a movie that I believe explained the liberal viewpoint better than I have understood it before. So often I hear the far left liberal chants and cannot relate. So I looked up liberal leftist and see these people do not know the definition really because they are not proselytizing the definition even though they think they are. Liberal Leftists defined: is neither left extreme or right extreme but a seeking to combine capitalism with socialism, not forgetting the everyday American who may not be able to provide for self. This I agree with.

Back to TCM. A great movie, 1938 "A Man To Remember" was on and although I finished with my scoby mixtures it captured my interest to watch the ending. I grabbed a cup of tea and watched. You can Google the synopsis of the movie but suffice it to say, a country doctor in the Midwest last century practiced in a town of farmers who could not afford healthcare and so he offered his services for free when necessary and as a result lived meagerly while bankers and politicians made much money off this town. Now I began to see this movie must be what the "Liberals" today think they are chanting about.

This doctor scrimped and saved and put his son through college and including medical school but was never able to afford for himself to go back to school to become a neurologist. A dream he held dear but never saw come true. His son came back to town and found working with another group of doctors much more profitable and his father although disappointed, accepted his son's decision. In truth, a neurologist would not be able to practice this specialty daily, if he was a general practitioner like his father. His training would be better used in his specialty's field of practice combined with the specific needs found in this other office. So not only did his son make the right decision for his education, he made more money and was able to give money to his wonderful father.

The callousness of the rich in the town is real. I have seen it in both our families, I don't doubt this. What I do see is that in the end, the wise old doctor made his point, the hard way. (Watch movie to see what this means) The hospital was finally built in the town, and there were doctors who decided to work ‘pro bono’ sometimes as needed, his son being one of them.

I'm reading Conscious Capitalism written by John Mackey, the founder of "Safer Foods." He tells a story of working for years for a non-profit co-op and seeing the organization that could not keep their head financially above water, always losing money and a struggle. He after years and years of thinking this way and being a vegetarian, (kind to animals mentality, he now is working with PETA) began to study wealthy businessmen and their business models and had his eyes opened. He saw that it is not "bad" to turn a profit and help the planet at the same time. He found that the jobs created were needed and the quality foods sold were good for the planet. He became wealthy and now has "Whole Foods," a very profitable chain throughout the USA. As in any business, he, at times has had to make business decisions that laid people off, and when times changed he hired more people again.

This is life you take the good with the bad, it is not personal, it is business. Just as in a family when the income is reduced due to divorce, laid off, or death, a family cuts back on money spent, so it is in business. Why liberals cannot see this is beyond me. To judge how much others should make or not make compared to your inability to make the same is not logical to me. This is America, opportunity is here.

When I don't know something I research until I find an answer, if I don't find it quickly, I keep going, I never give up completely. My husband and I have seen feast and famine in our 35+ years together based on our limited understanding of how to handle money. Mistakes! I could write a volume on these, but we keep seeking information to “live the dream.” We never expected a handout from anyone, we don't cry "victim" when things don't work out for us, and we forgive each other and move on knowing we will get there one day. After all our parents did not teach us how to do this, our parents cannot teach what they do not know.

Inherited money does not teach you how to earn it.  It teaches you to hold on to as much as possible, even at the expense of family, friends, or a peaceful mind. (Much like the bankers and politicians in the movie)   I get this, I can see why some people do this.

I still say, "It is OK." This generation of Americans are pioneers on a new "financial frontier." We will learn what we know through the school of hard knocks, and when we know better we do better. "Everything happens FOR us not TO us"  What I am finding is that inner peace is priceless and most people have not got it. Studying Eckhart Tolle, “A New Earth” is eye opening.