"Those Who Throw Dirt, Lose Ground"

Those Who Throw Dirt, Lose Ground
Written by Scott Cooper

Ten years ago today, I did not know that I was less than one month away from completing my career in the travel industry.  Twelve days from Thursday August 30, 2001 an event would take place that would put the nails in the coffin of my career in the travel industry.  Of course, the day I am referring to is September 11, 2001. 

That was a day that impacted everyone’s life.  I am sure that in the next 12 days I will be writing more about my thoughts of that day, and how its impact has changed our lives.  There is no doubt, with my concern about Sharia Law being in opposition to Constitutional Law, I will reflect on the terrorism, and the philosophical views of those who flew planes into buildings that day.  I am sure, since it is the 10^th anniversary of that dreadful day, we will be reading, hearing and viewing a lot about that day, and what has taken place since.   Today I am not writing about September 11^th, but a lesson I learned from a mentor, a very successful entrepreneur, during my final days in the travel industry.

Prior to September 11^th, I had the privilege of working for an entrepreneur who was extremely successful.  Today, he is probably in his mid-70’s, which means he was in his mid-60’s when he invested time with me, a young lad, ages 31 and 32 at the time!

He started his professional life as an engineer; however early in his career decided to pursue his desire to be an entrepreneur, in charge of his own destiny.  During the course of 35 years, by the time I got to know and work for him, he and his wife had built quite an enterprise.  He was in charge of multiple businesses, in more than one industry, in several states.  Even though the events of September 11 and declining business took me out of my “mentorship” with him, I remember many things about him. 

He was a professional engineer by trade, who had advanced degrees; however he taught me that most of what he learned that had made him successful was dealing with people.  Both he and his wife had a tremendous ability to make everyone feel comfortable and cared about.  They did little things to ensure each of their employees were appreciated – like the time, out of the blue, he mailed my sons “scooters” just because he thought they each needed one!

Although he was extremely successful, if you met him on the street or in public, you would not know it by his lifestyle.  He drove a modest car, and with the exception of when we attended an important meeting – his favorite outfit were jeans and a t-shirt.

I mention him today, because this week I have been thinking about a lesson he taught me.

This week, I have been thinking about the climate where people feel it necessary to tear individuals down, even to the point of telling lies.  This is something that unfortunately is commonplace in the world of politics.  I am thinking of one conservative political candidates run in with supposed “Conservative Bloggers” who attempted to make her look foolish and derail her campaign, with no validity behind their allegations.  They told lies that to date, cannot be substantiated with video or audio, despite our living in a “New Media” digital age.  I am not going to mention the campaign or situation, because I know those who read this and are familiar with the situation will know what I am referring to – and posting links to the situation does no one any good.  But the situation this week has made me think about my old boss and mentor, and some advice he gave me on more than one occasion.

During my relationship with this employer / mentor, we were engaged in development projects that included many individuals and companies.  There were multiple occasions where it was apparent that individuals or companies that were attempting to do business with us were completely crooked, partially dishonest or simply untrustworthy.  I remember on more than one occasion after we had already determined we would not be working with said individual or company, I would attempt to bring up a situation where these individuals or companies had a reputation or tendency to be bad, and the response from my mentor was always – “Now Scott – those who throw dirt, lose ground.”

He never indicated to me that he was unaware of the facts, or that he was willing to do business with folks who did not meet his ethical standard.  He simply indicated that we weren’t going to talk negatively about anyone.  If we knew the facts, we simply moved on to find another individual or company that met his standard.  He was a firm believer in, “we will know them by their fruits” and he left it there. 

This man is a doer, someone who liked to accomplish things – and did not waste his energy, time or any other resource in speaking negatively against another human being or company, because at the end of the day, he knew their actions would reveal themselves and would ultimately be manifested in the type of fruit they would harvest.  Investing his energy in tearing someone down would never help him accomplish his goals, so that is not where he placed his effort.

There are a lot of applications to this lesson he taught me.  I thought enough of it, that I remember it to this day.  There is a specific reason it clicked in my mind this week, but perhaps it will have another application for you.  It is worth remembering.

Those who throw dirt, lose ground.

Perhaps one adaptation – “Those who throw dirt, whether the dirt is true or fabricated, lose ground.”



The Next Greatest Generation

The Next Greatest Generation
Written by Scott Cooper
August 16, 2011

As we speed down the super-highway towards financial Armageddon, each of us must ask ourselves, as individuals – am I a giver or am I a taker?  Will I help prevent the collapse, or will I enhance it?    Am I okay with my grandkids having a lesser lifestyle, paying my debt so that I don’t have to sacrifice? 

The fact is, if we do not stop the Ferrari speeding down this financial super-highway, it will lead to the end of our republic.  We will be responsible for our republics demise.

Over the course of the last several decades, government revenue has gone up consistently, as has government spending.  Raising more revenue is not the solution.  Individual and fiscal responsibility is.  We must realize that the entitlement mentality and dependency that our government has created and forced upon us is unsustainable. 

Ultimately, the takers do not care about the future of our republic – and they currently are in control.  They are the most vocal. 

Most troubling is the silence of the millions who are not yet ready to personally engage in this battle and sacrifice.  By their silence, they indicate that they are on the side of the takers.  Unless this changes, our republic will collapse.  Are you one of the silent ones?

If you are willing to sacrifice in order to steer us back to the right track – what does that mean you are willing to give up?  How are you going to formulate that in your own mind, and then begin to prepare for your own independence from whatever dependency you must give up, and then articulate that to the powers that be?  This is not going to be an easy task, because literally everyone is on the take – from Agriculture subsidies, home mortgage interest deductions, all the way to cell phone subsidies.  This is a huge problem, but I believe the American people can rise to the occasion. 

I don’t believe that the generation of the 1940’s alone was the greatest generation.  I believe that our grandkids will refer to us as “the next” greatest generation.

Our grandparents were amazing people.  Many went off to foreign lands to fight tyranny.  Those that remained at home focused all their attention on basic survival and producing for the war effort.  Women and children both took on important jobs that they had never done, or even considered doing before.  The financial sacrifice they gave was phenomenal.  Of those that did not leave their jobs to go fight the war, many returned to their “home-place” to live with extended family, in order to make ends meet and support their extended family.  The sacrifice at home was just as significant as the sacrifice that was given on the battlefields thousands of miles away from home.  Nothing can ever be taken away from their sweat, toil, blood and sacrifice.  Their sacrifice saved freedom for the world – for our parents, and for our generation.  For that, we are eternally grateful.

Now it is our turn.  The reason I believe our grandchildren will look back and refer to us as the “new” greatest generation, is because while our grandparents went to foreign lands to fight tyranny, our generation must rise up to fight against tyranny in our own land.  We will even be required to intellectually fight against tyranny with well-meaning people we have considered friends.  This is going to include fighting to dismantle the bureaucracy we have allowed our Federal, State and Local governments to create.  These bureaucracies are growing at exponential, unsustainable rates.  Many will fight indefinitely to keep this leviathan, not because it is right, but because it is in their self-interest to do so.  That is ok, many colonists in the war of 1776 stood with the king as well.

My entire life I have heard about “The Draft.”  Being born in the late 1960’s, I was not subject to it.  Well, let me assure you, there is currently a draft taking place in our country today.  Actually it is a voluntary enlistment.  This enlistment effort to save our republic is not taking place by governments at any level or even at the political party level.  Both parties have led us to the brink of this disaster – do we really believe they can rescue us from precipice of collapse? 

The new “Draft / Enlistment” is a call to action by the citizenry.  Like King George was not fond of the early American Patriots – Our current administration (Vice President Biden) refers to this citizenry as terrorists.   

A mental picture of our enlistment effort is in the movie “The Patriot” when Benjamin Martin and his son split up and go into the communities and churches to find recruits.  Their effort was a grassroots effort to enlist all able bodied men to fight off a tyrannical king.  I love the scene where Gabriel is in the church pleading for individuals to join the fight and no one would take a stand.  Finally, it took his future bride, a female to inspire men to action.

What will it take to inspire you to action? 

This war is not going to be fought with bullets and battle ships, but it does require huge sacrifice.  It requires able bodies to sacrifice time, talent AND financial resources. 

Do you have some T.V. time, some golf time, some scrap-booking time, and some financial resources from eating out three times a week that you can give to this cause?  Our sacrifice is nothing in comparison to what our grandparents gave – yet like them, the freedom of our grandkids is at stake.  It is worth the sacrifice.

This war is going to be fought in local elections.  It is going to be fought in School Board Meetings.  It is going to be fought in City Council and County Supervisor Meetings.  It is going to be fought in “County Green Committee” meetings (who even know such things existed).  It is going to be fought at state legislatures.  It is going to be fought at your desk, studying idiotic regulations that are taking place in education departments, environmental departments, agriculture departments etc. – all of which are well funded machines, funded with YOUR tax money.  Notice I did not mention the Presidency or even the Federal level – because the true battles are in our back yard.  I HATE going to meetings.  That said, I would much rather spend some time going to meetings that have been infiltrated with leftists, than be required to go fight in the trenches of WWII.

If we engage the enemy locally, we will win – and those victories will ultimately find thier way to the Federal level.

Your help is needed.  Reinforcements are required.  Unlike the war of 1776, we will not have any French ships coming to back us up – your enlistment is required.  Will you enlist – or will you be a “draft dodger?”

In Virginia – to find a group near you where you can lend your time, talents and financial resources – please check out

http://virginiateapartypatriots.com/

If you are outside of Virginia – to find a group near you, please check out:

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/

I hope you will join what I believe will indeed be “the next” greatest generation. 

We have discovered our Normandy – and we are storming the beaches! 

Come join us!

A Prayer For Leadership

Standing on principle is an incredibly hard thing to do. 

Let us pray for our leaders to guide the citizenry of our great republic to stand firm for principles worth fighting for.  Our founders provided some amazing principles for us to follow, which need to be emphasized with great fervor again.

Let us pray our leaders will inspire us to be all that we can be, with our God given talents and abilities.

Let us pray our leaders will motivate us to be independent and self-reliant. 

If personally we are not there yet – Let us pray our leaders will challenge us to make it our goal to become self-reliant and independent!  Let them encourage us to be dependent on no man or organization for our sustenance, but with a firm reliance on God to assist us in living up to our potential, that we may provide for ourselves and our families.

Let us pray our leaders would encourage us to do the right thing and help our neighbor and family members who are in need– not because we are forced to – but because it is the right thing to do!  Every one of us knows someone in need – who we can serve right now.  If we do not know someone in that position, our eyes are not truly open. 

Let us pray our leaders will stop promoting class warfare, envy and covetousness.

We still live in the greatest republic in the world.  There are still countless stories of individuals that rise to achieve phenomenal things, without servitude to the state. 

Finally – those leaders that are in power now, that are incapable of providing such guidance, inspiration, motivation, challenge and encouragement – may they be defeated in the very next election cycle, to be replaced by men and woman who are capable of leading us, in these very important areas.

Let us pray daily for God to continue working in the hearts and minds of those individuals He rising up to take the reins of leadership away from those who have led us astray.

Where Are The Leaders Within the Bureaucracy?

Forget the Congress.  What I want to know is how many Patriots are there within the government bureaucracy who see the writing on the wall, but are doing NOTHING to cut their departments budgets?

How many Department Managers continually seek additional funds for their departments, even though our country is bankrupt?

How many Cabinet Members continually seek additional funds for their agencies, even though our country is bankrupt?

How many State and County Government officials continually seek “Grants” which are nothing more than borrowed money from our enemies – to fund their local governments?

We need a groundswell of government workers who will put our republics survival AHEAD OF SELF INTEREST. 

If we do not see this type of financial responsible “revival” in the arena of public service – our republic will not survive.

If you have articles demonstrating government bureaucrats who are indeed fighting this battle and feverously working to reduce their OWN departments and agencies budgets – please share them below.  I would greatly appreciate some encouragement and inspiration in this area.  Thank you!

This is an aerial photograph of The Department of Agriculture in Washington.  WOW – that is one huge monstrosity of a building.  Most of the folks in this building are earning far more than the average family farmer. 

Most of those inside this building are earning salaries and benefit packages far superior to the citizens they regulate.