from the Millsaps at Thousand Frogs Ranch
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Mini-factories - What am I going to do?
My father was (and still is) an entrepreneur.
But I am more influenced by the conveyor-belt educational system, and have been, for the last ten years, an employee of a Fortune 500 company. I am well-compensated, but I don't get a sense of mission or purpose from what I do. I do a good job, and provide value to my employer, and there are occasional moments of satisfaction in a job well-done, or in an interesting problem solved. But I have a deep desire to believe that each day's activity is focused in some way on the world's large-scale problems that need solved. And I think that is best done in a mini-factory, rather than a mega-factory.
So what is the mini-factory that I am supposed to build?
But I am more influenced by the conveyor-belt educational system, and have been, for the last ten years, an employee of a Fortune 500 company. I am well-compensated, but I don't get a sense of mission or purpose from what I do. I do a good job, and provide value to my employer, and there are occasional moments of satisfaction in a job well-done, or in an interesting problem solved. But I have a deep desire to believe that each day's activity is focused in some way on the world's large-scale problems that need solved. And I think that is best done in a mini-factory, rather than a mega-factory.
So what is the mini-factory that I am supposed to build?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Daily email from Oliver DeMille
Here's the daily email thought from Oliver DeMille at the Social Leader:
Since the Great Depression a myth has been growing in America that government is the solution to most problems. In fact, government causes a number of problems.
The government has a vital role in free and prosperous society, but when it goes beyond that role the whole society suffers. Unfortunately, this belief in government as the end-all and fix-all has been popular for some time.
The rise of independents shows that this view is losing ground, especially among generations X and Y (those currently under age 45).
John F. Kennedy said:
"For the enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived, and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forbears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
The comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought--that's profound.
Here's another deeply relevant thought, shared by Benjamin Franklin:
"You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist, before it is generally received and practiced upon."
Free enterprise works, and deep debts and deficits only hurt a nation. Government spending on non-vital things is nearly always inefficient and ultimately harmful to a society. These truths will eventually be acted upon; the sooner the better.
Since the Great Depression a myth has been growing in America that government is the solution to most problems. In fact, government causes a number of problems.
The government has a vital role in free and prosperous society, but when it goes beyond that role the whole society suffers. Unfortunately, this belief in government as the end-all and fix-all has been popular for some time.
The rise of independents shows that this view is losing ground, especially among generations X and Y (those currently under age 45).
John F. Kennedy said:
"For the enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived, and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forbears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
The comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought--that's profound.
Here's another deeply relevant thought, shared by Benjamin Franklin:
"You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist, before it is generally received and practiced upon."
Free enterprise works, and deep debts and deficits only hurt a nation. Government spending on non-vital things is nearly always inefficient and ultimately harmful to a society. These truths will eventually be acted upon; the sooner the better.