The bad economy is tied to the death of the craftsman.

Famous author, Louis L'Amour writes in his Western Saga Bendigo Shaftner:
"I think we must beware not to stray too far from the hands of the craftsmen, the hands that weave, the hands that sew, the hands the weld and mold, for I think whatever man makes must carry pride in its making or we have lost much, too much. The pride of a man who can stand back and look at what he has done and be able to say 'Yes it is good, it is well done.'"

I have been reflecting on the president's little speech to the kiddies today.. He talks of an education, but little of experience. He, like the rest of the "educated" elite, is caught in a trap of narrow thinking. Yet they see themselves as the more enlightened of us all.

Education doesn't have to come from a classroom. The best educations are to be had outside of a classroom. The things in life that matter, those things that give a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in creation are not always academic.

We have tried to replace the workbench with a desk and a computer. In so doing, we have caught ourselves in another trap. The craftsmen of this nation are the last hope for us. Yet they are becoming an endangered species.

Unfortunately, we have ruling class in this nation (mostly lawyers), who have put all of their stock in intellectual property. We have a business model which is now built like a house of cards, and what little foundation we have in tangible goods is slowly eroding away to be reset in other nations like China and Pakistan.

During the Great Depression, the problem was money, it wasn't worth anything. However, what we have coming will be worse. There will be plenty of money, but there will be nothing to buy.

We have regulated, litigated, and lavished away the industry in this nation. We have guys who use a machine to drive bolts into steel who expect to be paid as well as any doctor, though they are little more than fleshy automatons. We have men and women who claim that their time is valuable, but their labor bears no fruits. They simply make money.

Yet, those same people in an overwhelming majority don't like to see people who actually create, mold, shape, and invent even make a dime.

Intellectual property has destroyed this economy. Tangible assets are at an all-time low in this nation, and people are wondering what has happened to the economy...

The fix is simple. Maybe not simple to implement, but the concept itself is simple.

No more one-sided free-trade. No more letting countries tax us to send them raw materials, manufacturing goods from those materials, and then selling those goods back to us without ever paying a tax to us. No more free trade. Instead of taxing people of this nation for everything, tax the imports. That will bring the manufacturers back in droves.

Figure out a fair tax system so that goods are only taxed ONCE. Which means that there is no more Capital Gains tax. What a ridiculous concept that was to begin with.

The economy would come back strong... But, of course, nobody listens to reason. Listening is dead.

How did we become so self absorbed?

One of my daughter's friends is being taken by Child Protective Services. Her mother and father are divorced. Her father does cruel things to her when she visits him like shooting her with bb guns and the like. Her mother is a prescription drug addict, and crazy as a loon on top of that.

This is a kid who has a 4.0 grade average. She participates in band. She is a bright and lovely child, but all of the loveliness in her life is being crushed by selfish people who don't see what they are doing to their kids. Her siblings are both drug addicts like their mother, and will both be in rehab.

Instead of reaching out to this kid, they respond to her behavior in such stereotypical ways. She is a button pusher. She tires to find out what bugs you and then she digs in and uses that weak point to break you down mentally. She's smart. Really smart. So like most smart kids who don't want people to see their pain, she acts out in ways to push society away from her.

She wears the black lipstick, colors her hair strange colors, and gets piercings by tattoo artists in their twenties that she dates (she is 15). So what do people do? Instead of paying attention and listening to this kid, they write her off.

When they look at the girl, and she's a large girl (not overweight, but tall and stout), they see a freak show. When I look at her, my heart breaks. I see a scared and lonely child. My wife sees the same. More importantly, my daughter also sees it, and she has reached out to this girl like so many others won't. Of course, my daughter knows more about what happens with her friend than we do.

All I know is that there is a little girl who needs God, but she won't accept God. I see a little girl who will accept unconditional love by a stable couple. Through that unconditional love, God can work in her life. Through that unconditional love, she can find hope.

She stayed with us for a week over the summer. In just a weeks time I saw a huge change in her. It wasn't the first time she had stayed with us. The first time, my wife was worried about having her around. When I walked my wife through how to deal with a teen like this one, she finally understood. With some patience in the time my daughter and the girl have been friends, we have built a relationship with the girl. And that last week she stayed with us, she never tried to shock us or push buttons. She was just herself: A smart, witty, 15 year old girl.