Here is an excerpt from Chapter 14 of my novel, "Norah's Oak" available at JMichaelSmithbooks.com So the first word out of Rev. Tim’s mouth was loud. “GREED,” he yelled and then he paused long enough to let it sink in. He went on to say what a sin it was and how God disliked it. He preached about the wheel of progress and how if powerful people were not greedy, than there would be enough to go around for everyone in the whole world: enough jobs, enough food, enough wealth, etc. He pointed out how poverty and starvation could be conquered by attacking greed inside our own souls. ‘Equanomics’ was a term Rev. Tim coined to describe his belief that all levels of workers should be paid close to equal amounts of wages. It was a design of equal profit sharing throughout the many levels of a company. The success of the company depends on everyone, so everyone should share the risks and the benefits. Trash collectors should get the same bonuses as vice-presidents and managers, but obviously, people would prefer the easier job if they qualified. Teachers should make the same as administrators in municipal governments, after all, they were just as important, if not more so, for the success of the programs. Equanomics was a new and untested arrangement but one that Rev. Tim thought pointed out the fact that all parts of a business are necessary for the overall integrity and thus the bottom line. Some businesses had tried a form of it like Ben & Jerry’s, or other employee-owned factories, true profit sharing by some small corporations, but none of these had gone all the way. Unions were formed to negotiate reasonable wages and benefits for employees and guarantee that certain positions made certain amounts, but they had great differences in pay scales and they did not include management or other salaried employees, the most serious abusers. The result was that some workers were free to pursue greed or to be lazy and steal from the business and union workers were under watchful eyes at all times. Most attempts eventually failed to maintain the equality it took to work successfully and the unions became corrupted and abusive themselves. Another idea surfaced in this theory of Equanomics, CEO Licensing. Rev. Tim suggested that upper management had a great duty to the health of the populous, the rights of individuals and the strength of our country. As in other fields, those who have responsibilities to the citizens, CEOs should be held to certain standards. All those in medicine, nursing, law, electricians, plumbers, massage therapists, even hair stylists must be tested and licensed and most need continuing education in classes approved by licensing boards to protect the citizens. He believed it would help to license CEOs, since they had trouble maintaining ethical, moral and societal standards to strengthen the economy. Instead they cared only for the bottom line, their stockholders and their own severance packages. But Rev. Tim explained that the world could benefit by such a policy. It still leaves room for wealth, but wealth without greed. “Wealth achieved by better businesses and from working harder than the other guy. Wealth accumulated by loyalty to the company, the employees and the public, something fading from our society. It is not socialism as some would claim because people could earn more by working harder, having two or more jobs, working for a more profitable business, having better management and lower overhead, and still investing and creating wealth from entrepreneurial initiatives. It just takes out the huge gap between the hard working blue-collar employees and the over paid management levels. It could make the team work together and it would develop unity, loyalty and integrity through equality.” He never preached about attacking others with violence or force to accomplish equality and integrity, but he taught about the inner war. To Rev. Tim, the Muslim belief of a “jihad” was correct because we all had a war between good and evil taking place, but it is within our own souls, not with others. It is an internal jihad between love and hate, the holy and the infidel, and we must attack and conquer the sinner inside of ourselves, we must win out over the urge for greed and thievery if we want to reach God’s heaven, nirvana, the holy land. “But it is greed that is winning that war in powerful people and those wanting to obtain power. Greed is putting a cog in the spokes of business and industry and not just in the industrialized nations. It is occurring in third world countries as well because militant leaders are hoarding food and supplies meant for starving populations in order to gain power. But then, these are people who are fighting for survival and in some cases you can hardly blame them. They have no good role models. They are starving and need food and, evil or not, joining an army or militant group means they will provide you with food, among other things. “But not so in the industrialized nations. The greedy are not hungry, in fact, they have everything they need and more and yet they cannot nor will not stop stealing from those who have little. And they rationalize that they are just smarter and use their brains instead of brawn. But it is this kind of rationalizing of greed that makes them blind to the effects of their actions. They do not realize that they are destroying the machine of commerce by abusing the workers and stealing from the very ones who do their work for them. “It is not a new problem. In every society where wealth is limited to a higher class than the working class, greed meant power and control until the scales tipped so much that revolution and mutiny prevailed. It happened to the Greeks, the Romans, the French, the Russians, the British Monarchy that once ruled the world, and now it is happening in the United States, except that there is no revolting...yet. The educated middle and lower classes in this country are not starving or slaves, as was the case in previous cultures. These are peaceful people who are being stolen from and lied to about their own government and their own corporations, their own employers. But God is not blind. “God will intervene and level the playing field once again. He may have to destroy the very foundation of our society just to equalize the yin and yang of commerce. He may have to alter the very geography of the planet just to close the gap between classes and bring the world back to a peaceful, loving order, where men and women honor each other and are considerate and, yes, where love of God, love of fellow man, love of father and mother, love of brother and sister, love of neighbors and ultimately, love of one’s self conquers all evil and wins the inner jihad of our souls.”

LAYS - Half 'Baked'

If you're trying to eat healthier and choose LAYS Baked Potato Chips, you should reconsider your choice. As usual, read the ingredients. They changed from 'classic' chips which are 'potatoes, vegetable oil and salt' which are fried in oil, and give you 'baked' with potatoes, modified food starch, sugar, corn oil, salt, soy lecithin, leavening (monocalcium phosphate and sodium bicarbonate) and dextrose. That is some of the most unhealthy ingredients you can consume aside from the potatoes and salt! Much worse than the classic. Labeling it "Baked" makes many think they are eating healthier but again, the minds of the food industry care more about tricking you and addicting you than improving your health. They must be following McDonald's old lead of making french fries with sugar added to bait you into craving them. LAYS, you should be ashamed of yourself and those of you who buy this product and eat it, good luck with your diabetes, liver and kidney disease and possible mercury poisoning. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Med School Obsolete

By their own actions, the medical community, the AMA and licensing boards have made it known that it only takes a few years to be able to do their job. No med school required! After all, the typical procedure at a medical office now is a cursory observation and/or history, maybe look at some lab results indicating something high or low and write a prescription for drugs out of a manual. In fact, 90% of office visits end with only a new prescription or renewing an old one. And 50% of medical office visits never involve an M.D.! They allow a four year "Assistant" to do the diagnosis and treatment; i.e., P.A. ('Physician's Assistant')- 2-year minimum, or a N.P. ('Nurse Practitioner')- sometimes a Master's required. And this is legal and legitimate enough to charge the same fees as if you were seen by an actual "doctor." So, they are telling us that most of the work they do requires no medical school or medical doctorate degree. They are not needed for what they mostly do - write drug prescriptions. In fact, why not just let the pharmaceutical companies send them directly to you? Oh yeah, they do. Just go on-line or call an 800 number and get a free sample of the latest drug. Some system!

End the Tax Cuts for Wealthy

I’m no economist but I’m a small business owner. Company profits pass to my personal return. If the company makes more money, taxes increase AND profits, too. If I reinvest profits (expansion and jobs), it’s an expense and I pay less taxes. So how do these ‘economists’ figure increased personal income taxes (back to original rates) mean less jobs? They’re only on profits. Do they believe a business owner prefers to lessen business (income) in order to reduce taxes? A basic business rule is ‘only hire employees who produce in excess of their pay.’ Expanding workforce, if the market warrants, is expanding business profits, and, yes, taxes in proportion. Politicians who spin facts are just what the Tea Party wants out of government. Take special interests out and put integrity in so we can be fiscally responsible and actually increase jobs. Lessen spending but hold the highest tax brackets responsible for reinvesting into the economy they earned from, not allowing them to hoard money from those making under $250,000. Those under $250,000 are the unemployed, losing homes, insurance, health care, retirements and savings. Shame on you, Jack Kingston and cohorts. Has anyone considered that a gradual increase back to normal is something the ‘wealthy’ could handle? They are the only ones whose taxes were reduced and are certainly not without houses, income, insurance, retirement, etc. The tax cuts were intended to encourage investment back into the economy, which obviously never happened! There’s no indication that theory will ever work.

Greed 101

The problem must start in the schools. Is it all the scholarly business schools, Harvard, Wharton, etc, that teach the idea of greed til the well dries up? In business, I always believed the customer comes first. Look at any small Mom and Pop store in downtown, USA and you find a place that puts the customer first and finds a way to make the customer satisfied and happy. Reputation matters. But go to some large corporation and ask the 'CEO' who is most important and they all assuredly shout, "The Stockholders!" They truly believe that the bottom line and the stockholders are more important than the customers. And that works temporarily. But eventually, when you piss off enough customers, the bottom falls out and the stockholders lose big time. Just ask the US auto industry. Imagine what you would think if you asked Mom or Pop who was most important and comes first in their business and they said "Me!" Exactly. We think how stupid and arrogant these overpaid CEO's are. They run the businesses into the ground or out of the country for profits and lose the customers in the process. Way to go, college professors. Teach the next generation of business admins how to sift the assets out of the corporation before it goes under. Oh, that's right, you already taught that course!

Lower Medicaid costs with Food Stamp Rules

Let's make a change to help the needy get healthier and save money in the process. Food Stamps should only be used for fresh fruit and vegetables and meat, chicken and fish. Nothing else. No canned foods, no processed foods, no packaged and preserved foods. No snacks, soft drinks or other junk food. If these people are 'starving' and need food, they'll gladly eat what this would cover. We surely would notice improved health if this is all they ate. They could drink water, it's free in most communities to these people who are also on Medicaid, i.e., we also have to pay for their health care! If they loose weight, lower sugar intake and increase nutritious foods, their health will improve and we will all save money in the Medicaid systems! Why is this a hard decision? It is a no brainer. We need politicians with guts to push this through in every state and federal budget.

Value of Vertebrae

So many people overlook the major importance of the vertebrae, those oddly shaped bones of the spine. They hold us erect as the beam of our body, they allow for core muscle attachment sites, they allow movement in all directions while still protecting the fragile spinal cord. Like other 'long bones', they create red blood cells in their marrow. They allow junctions for the ribs to attach while they are protecting the heart and lungs and other major upper organs. But the biggest value is that they subtley stimulate the numerous nerve roots as we move and thus enhance the functions of all organs and muscles. Did you know and were you aware of these values of the vertebrae?