I am here because reading Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, Beyond Civilization, Providence, The Man Who Grew Young, The Tales of Adam, and If They Give You Lined Paper Write Sideways have all taught me something. Or rather, shown me something that I agree with. Made me aware of something other than what I was taught in school, that I agree with. That makes sense to me, and seems logical. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

Update March 2, 2009
Things are still pretty tough at work. Business is down, and paying the bills is getting harder and harder. I had a bit of a revelation last month that left me quite depressed. I ask my boss two questions: How much do we need to make each day to survive and stay in business? and How many people are signed up on our news letter? The answer was $600 a day and over 15,000 people. So I did a little math and came to the conclusion that if every person on our news letter spent a minimum of $14.60 for the entire year, the store would be fine. Everyone could get all their back pay, the shop could pay it's monthly rent and utilities, and buy new stock to sell, etc. etc. $14.60...... I've easily got that much in the change bowl by the front door. It's not a great hardship to even give away $14.60 a year. Yet for some unfathomable reason, people seem to be refusing to spend that in return for merchandise that they would use and enjoy.

Knowing that, a new acquaintence of mine put out a call for help recently. I've only just met him online on a message forum. I really don't know him from Adam, we've never met, yet I felt compelled to do all I can to help him. I took all the money I could spare and sent him a check. He lost his job last year, after 30 years with the same company. He's had no luck looking for work, and has been taking private consulting jobs to make ends meet. His wife has Mutplesclerosis and Fibromyalgia and they have been sending what money they can to his son. He lives in Kentucky, and his home is heated by a big Propane tank (much like both my grandfather's homes were in Illinois and Missouri). With the rising cost of fuel, he said he wasn't sure he'd be able to refill the propane tank when it runs out. That means that they won't be able to cook their food or heat their home. I don't know why I did it, but I felt the need to help.

I know him as HinTamaheca from the Thunder Dreamers Forum. The forum itself was created by Joseph Marshall III, author of "The Lakota Way", "Walking With Grandfather", "The Journey Of Crazy Horse", and other books. I was so impressed with Joseph's writing in "The Lakota Way" that I felt compelled to join the forum and learn more about Lakota Culture. Since then I have been talking with many of the forum members, and trying to study the Lakota language (specifically the Sicangu dialect as set down by Albert White Hat, Sr. in his book "Reading and Writing Lakota). HinTamaheca has been most helpful, and unlike some of the other forum members, I can't remember a single time he's made fun of me or been derisive in any way. I consider him to be one of those rarest of people: a truely good man. And he's in need.

If you'd like to help him, I would recommend logging onto the Thunder Dreamer's Forum and sending HinTamaheca a private message telling him you would like to help out. You can read his original post here: http://thunderdreamers.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1235496443

So it seems we are all suffering from hard times these days. Some of us more than others. And it seems we can all get through them by pulling together and lending a hand. After all, a problem shared amongst many soon becomes no problem at all. Everyday I see evidence that people can help out if they are willing to for go their morning cup of coffee for a week. (Remember the Feed The Pig commercials? Make yer own coffee at home instead of buying it at Starbucks and save over $1000 a year? That works out to $2.75 per cup of coffee. Mutiply time 7 and that's enough per person per yar to keep my store from going out of business or to keep my friend from going hungry or freezing in Kentucky). But what's really sad is that people seem to choose their morning cup of coffee over aiding their fellow citizens in need. Yet they have no problem sending money to places like Save The Children and Christian Children's Fund (which does far more harm than good if you've ever read "The Road To Hell" by Michael Merrin that I put on the suggested reading list) to try and help people on an entirely different continent.

Why is it so easy for people to send aid to people they've never even talked to and don't know? And why is it so hard for them to help out their friends and neighbors and fellow citizens? What is wrong with people? Don't they realize that if they help out their communities and make them strong and prosperous, then their communities will in turn take care of them? Thereby the communities that make up the cities make the city prosperous. The cities that make up the counties make the counties prosperous. And so on and so forth until the entire nation is once again prosperous.

I've often said "How can you expect to take care of another if you can't even take care of yourself?" America sends billions of dollars in foreign aid to other countries, yet it can't seem to take care of it's own poor and homeless. I'll bet that alot of people didn't know that Save The Children ran a trial program back in the 60's asking for donations to help starving families in the Appalachian Mountains and on various Indian Reservations. To date, those families haven't ever recieved a penny. So I think the answer is clear: You can't trust such organizations. All the money those organizations use to send aid to Somalia or Ethiopia or any number of other "needy" countries comes from government contracts. The private donations that regular citizens send in, those go to pay the executive staff. The "aid workers" who actually go out to places like Somalia and Ethiopia are volunteers. In the mean time, the administrators, the executives are lounging in corner offices and driving expensive cars, paid for by the money little old ladies send in out of their retirement or pension checks. If you see someone in need, you'll have to help them yourself because no one else is likely to do so.