Peace, Strength & Common Sense

High Quality Families are Critical for a High Quality Society We have had in person social interaction going on more frequently for tens of thousands of years, something that is rapidly diminishing. Taken a step further many young people are even avoiding the responsibility of committed relationships, marriage and parenting. This along with the liberalization of the meaning and purpose of sexual activity and birth control has the population seriously declining in various parts of mostly the western world from Japan to much of Europe. Even in the United States many young people are choosing to avoid marriage, not have children if and when they marry and replace the overall healthy stresses of raising children with pets, smart phones and computers. Most certainly the world is overpopulated but I think the choice to opt out of parenting is not at all based on the need to cut down on resource utilization but to be lazy, avoid maturing and take on the stress of such responsibilities. Unfortunately those with the most education, better jobs and availability of quality medical care, clean water and food are generally the ones making such choices. This means that those with fewer resources and education to properly raise a family under healthier conditions are increasing in numbers much faster. If those at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale are having the most children this does not bode well for our future. Given enough time this phenomenon will naturally generate a larger underclass of lessor skilled people when it surely is more desirable for the population to become more educated and therefore, more able to enjoy a prosperous life. Perhaps ironically one aspect of becoming well educated is the increased desire for a highly coveted, more productive and lucrative career which in turn may cause such people to view parenting as a great inconvenience and loss of significant income. And in these economic times giving up a high level career position is very risky. Another aspect is sheer self-centeredness – the desire to advance in one’s career, accumulate ever greater wealth and perhaps hop on planes to Zanzibar or Bangkok upon a whim instead of dealing with Tommy’s wet diaper, Susan’s math homework or Johnny’s $250 a month asthma medication. Such negative views of parenting are destined to significantly affect population demographics. It is no coincidence that pet ownership has significantly increased in recent times since people still have the need to care for someone so they substitute with dogs, cats and others instead of children which are less stressful emotionally and financially. As many of these career and money focused couples reach middle age at least some will experience regret that they chose not to have a family, though not all. As for the happiness factor this is complex but having children most certainly is a deeply maturing and mind broadening experience, not to mention the obvious benefit of creating the next generation. Something to consider is that the underclass population of the ghetto and crime culture including radical terrorists are reproducing at a much faster rate. Several anthropological sociologists speculate that civilizations come and go in cycles with the most educated elite reaching a peak of intellectual capacity and awareness while reproducing at such a low rate that the world becomes overrun by thuggery and tyranny starting the cycle over again. With much of the world in comparative poverty compared to the U.S. and terrorism running rampant, this is an issue to seriously contemplate and perhaps take action on though realistic solutions are very complex. It is no wonder that young people feel insecure about parenting with horrific student loan burdens, health insurance payments that rival the cost of a home mortgage not long ago and tiny apartments renting for over $1,000 a month! But read on. There are solutions. Thrift and Simplicity Only Make Life Better Maturing in awareness of what truly makes life the best it can be is what will give us the keys. This is the awareness of how to maximize the use of all resources while experiencing the most rewards in return. Naturally the younger we attain such consciousness the more we will benefit but it is almost never too late. Some people realize this as young as age 10 and begin acquiring an orderly habit of thrift – not only applied to money and the material world which is essential and imperative for a better life but to time and efficiency as well. This consciousness means learning and desiring to attain the maximum return for the minimum of output and this does not mean cheating, stealing, engaging in dangerous short cuts, and not respecting others or the environment – actually quite the opposite in most circumstances. For example, packing down the trash firmly in one’s trash can save space, alleviates having an extra trash can to put out, clean and buy, is faster for the trash hauler to dump into the truck, and may save money if the sanitation company charges per can for pick up. The same applies to saving time and gas by combining errands, saving water with shorter showers and planting drought tolerant grass, filling dishwashers or washing machines rather than running them half empty, keeping a fridge full which uses less power, driving a smaller more economical car that is also easier to park, keeping most records on backed up computer files or in the cloud rather than paper, paying bills securely online or by automatic withdrawal instead of using paper checks, stamps and waiting days for postal mail to reach its destination, keeping computers in sleep mode to save power, using LED light bulbs, keeping the house comfortable though cooler inside during the winter and warmer in the summer, maximizing the cost of phone usage, learning more self-care and natural methods to take care of the majority medical issues and understanding risk reward potentials regarding the purchase of various types of insurance and investments. By living and applying the principles of thrift, simplicity and minimizing one’s use of resources and being comfortable doing so one assuredly can live well below their means. The most important words in that last sentence are “being comfortable doing so” because life is not about being miserable. It may be very lean for a period of time but when one has realistic goals living lean and simply generates enormous levels of anticipation and incredible future rewards. I recall living with my wife very cheaply through our twenties and thirties earning around $3.00-8.00 an hour. We were willing to work extra jobs, live in a very small yet comfortable places that cost as little as $250 a month including utilities and lived by these principles of thrift, almost consistently saving close to half of our take-home earnings while teaching ourselves how to invest it. By the age of 40 we were debt-free, taking annual family vacations, owned a nice home and vehicles paid for in cash, were raising a child and continuing to build our retirement savings which led me to publish my first book, Wealth on Minimal Wage. What we implemented to achieve this feat was not complicated, does not require a financially related degree or license and is surprisingly simple for most anyone to succeed at. Learning the basics of financial planning is something that should be an essential requirement in every high school and mostly involves common sense and simple math that most anyone can understand. It all begins with our emotions, desires and attitudes in terms of what we want from our lives. Once we realize that minimizing life to only residing in the square footage that we need while still being comfortable, having only the number of children we desire, owning only that which either increases in value over time, offers a truly pleasing level of quality in the home or is a necessary possession such as a basic