Holding The High Watch
by Spike Spencer
Do not rage against corrupt politicians; if it were not for politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity will be wasted. God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared; but in the meantime, behold they are all very good. – Wallace D. Wattles, “The Science Of Getting Rich”
In a moment I will show you why we should all be happy and should be thanking these ridiculous politicians selling us all down the river. Or up $#!* Creek without a paddle, whichever you prefer. But first, allow me to get a little wordy on something about which I am very passionate.
There is something that I, and most successful people in this world, do when times get tough. We refuse to participate in the negative spiral. I was recently re-reading the fantastic book mentioned above in order to clear my head of the swirling vomitous miasma that is news these days. And it, once again reminded me of something. When times get tough, the tough get tweaking. And no that’s not a drug reference. That is the constant attitude adjustment and effort to remain positive in the face of seemingly unending negatives. And believe me folks, it ain’t easy.
See, most people dwell in the negative. Why? Well, because it’s easy. It’s easy to simply agree when someone says life is hard, I can’t get ahead because of “The Man,” or my butt really does look big in these jeans. Okay, the last one’s more neutral, but probably true. Someone had to say it. It’s easy not to speak up and disagree; to simply go with the flow and allow lower expectations. The trick is to know when to take a stand. We all have a choice (at least for now anyway). And I say always choose the positive. Granted the positive is actually the negative answer in the eternal “Jeans” question. FYI.
Being positive is hard work. Really really hard work. Especially in the midst of what it seems we are powerless to stop. We are saddled with the least popular legislative branch in history ramming bills down our throat and they have no idea what’s in them. We have a very articulate President, as long as he has his teleprompter, running like a giddy cheetah toward his Marxist style roots. And an economy teetering on the brink; a big ole’ camel waiting for that last straw and our leaders are standing over him with a hay bale ready to drop. So where’s the upside?
Well the brilliant Mr. Wattles also said “To think according to appearance is easy; to think truth regardless of appearances is laborious, and requires the expenditure of more power than any other work man is called upon to perform.” And he said all this in 1910. Lord knows we’ve seen worse times since then. Much worse than now. But we still have to muster up the courage to remain positive.
So here’s some “happy fodder” for you to ponder. Life moves in cycles. We go up, we go down. There is good, there is bad. Oprah gets big, Oprah gets thin. Ah, the circle of life. These cycles will work for us conservatives as well. And the way things are going, we could be looking at a fairly quick backlash against this ultra liberal juggernaut we are seeing now. Look at all the amazing uprisings of so many tea parties not even 100 days in. Witness Barack Obama’s backhanded optimism in listing negative after negative after negative and then a slight, “but we will persevere.” How uplifting. No plans, no real stimulus, zero new ideas. The lefties in the Congress and Senate now reaching a level of smuggery that only self-loving Hollywood elites used to pull off. Truly amazing. And quite off putting. YAY!
Didn’t we see this during Clinton’s terms? Why yes, yes we did. And then we had a Republican landslide in the midterms. As more and more people understand and see the truth of what the left, or should I say, this left stands for; there will be a backlash. The tide will turn and clearer heads will prevail. So let’s be happy and have faith that all that is happening is being done for the greater good above party, above idealism, above politics. And this time, let’s be ready when the pendulum swings. Let’s demand more from our leaders so that we are not afraid to speak up for what is right. We already have to hold our side to a higher standard due to the never ending media colonoscopy our side enjoys on a daily basis. But now, let’s take it even further. Let’s hold ourselves to a higher standard.
If we can just find a leader with the optimism and vision of Ronald Reagan; we have a shot. Who knows, maybe we should look in Texas again. I am seeing some good things happening there…. Hmmm. So be of good cheer. Smile. Say thank you to all your lefty friends (but don’t tell them why, of course; less eye gouging that way), put a spring back in your step, and be firm in the knowledge that it’s only a matter of time. Our mess may be bigger to clean up this time and we will not get credit for it regardless, but when did that stop the positive movers and shakers? Let’s not seek approval this time. This time, we lead.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
33 Comments
texas, ahh texas, how i love thee. when a true leader presents him/herself, we are ready to follow. this was evidenced by wednesday's political eye-poking fun. oh , how i love a party, a texas party ….
Man, I just don't see it but I'm lookin.
Dick the Butcher will eventually have his day. I just hope I'm around to watch. LOL!
Did Clinton poll 66% positive with the seated Republicans hesitant to criticize him for fear of being branded "racist"?
This isn't the same thing at all. In line with Obama's stated vision, America really is becoming something different.
I might be theoretically willing to give you the benefit of the doubt by regarding the glass as being half full rather than half empty, but I'm just afraid that by the time the lefty triumvirate/trinity (Obama, Pelosi, Reid) have worked their nefarious Marxist/socialist alchemy on us for another 3 1/2 years, that "half full" glass will merely be half "full" of rancid brew…
I have a rule around my house.
A “morning rule” as it were. No one is allowed to wake up in a bad mood, be cranky or mad about anything that happened the day before. It just makes the rest of the day sh!tty, for every one else that comes in contact with you and that attitude. People get sick of it real fast.
That being said, I’ve lived in the “interesting times” of the ancient Chinese curse, as an adult since Prez Johnson.
Man, allot of political BS has run over that waterfall since then.
Been to war. Survived with honor.
Lived in Europistan for over ten years and watched it turn into the socialist mess that it is today.
Had beautiful twin sisters like me. No, really.
Point being, I have lived thought more sh!t than 3 other grown men my age.
But, I have never experienced the BS that I’m living though in our own country as I am living today.
My nature is to be in a good mood. Joking, kidding and messing about. But, I find myself getting angrier by the day under this administration. For good reason I believe.
Someone slap me.
Not Over.
Well, the world is made up of optimists and pessimists. I have always been the latter.
Buddha said that life is suffering. Sufferings purpose is to precipitate awakening.
At the rate we're going, we'll all awaken soon. Now that is optimism!
[...] Big Hollywood added an interesting post today on Holding The High WatchHere’s a small readingDo not rage against corrupt politicians; if it were not for politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity will be wasted. God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared; but in the meantime, behold they are all very good. – Wallace D [...]
Positive thinking is one thing but to me you have to actually do it, keep trying not giving up until its done. IT is one thing to state that the havoc the dems are going to cause will eventually bring us back to power. It will but so what. What will we do. The problem is when we do get to power we assume that the government heads cannot be cut off for they only grow by two fold.
We need a plan that will undo the disastrous limits on freedom imposed by the democratic policies. It is not enough to simply offer the "socialism light" alternative. We need alternatives that leave the answer to these problems in the individual’s ability to overcome them. We need plans that reduce and limit the power of the federal government. We need to not only cut off the head but apply pitch and fire to the stump that keeps it from growing back.
We need amendments to the constitution that acknowledge our rights to financial freedom. We need a limit on the percentage of income that can be taxed. We need an amendment that states that government social programs are implemented and run by the states or an organization set up by the states themselves and that the federal government’s only role will be to address corruption and criminal activity.
We need to fight collectivism with INDIVIDUALISM.
I can totally get on board with your thinking. Optimism is work. It's friggin' hard, especially right now. I succumb to anger over seeing how the tea party protests are covered by the MSM. But I still try to count my blessings every day. My husband works in the finance industry for one of those companies that has been prominently on display as one of the companies that took TARP money. He's had to deal with clients who are convinced his company is part of some evil empire and that Obama is just the man to save us all from those evil bankers. Yeah, there have been some tough days.
But…..
(Cont…)
We're thankful our kids are healthy.
We're thankful for each other.
We're thankful my husband still has a job.
We're thankful we can pay our bills.
We're thankful we haven't lost our house.
We're thankful that we live in America and that we have the ability to be as successful as we want based on how hard we're willing to work.
We're thankful we live in a country that grants us the right of free speech and peaceful protest.
We're thankful that we have a system of government that gives us the opportunity to cast our votes and change the direction our country is going… which we will do, starting in 2010.
[...] Big Hollywood put an intriguing blog post on Holding The High WatchHere’s a quick excerptDo not rage against corrupt politicians; if it were not for politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity will be wasted. God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared; but in the meantime, behold they are all very good. – Wallace D [...]
Good post! I think the key in staying positive is contained in the quote you sited. Not the quote itself but in who was mentioned in the quote. I'm referring to God here, in case you are wondering. The key for me and my eternal optimism (I was recently called "Pollyanna" by a relative for daring to find the positive in a negative situation.) is a belief that God has my best interests at heart ALL the time. He saw what has come and what is coming even before there was such a thing as time and is well able to take care of me–US!–through everything. I'm reading a book called "The Survivor's Club" and it is a fascinating study of human nature in the midst of life threatening crises. One of the facets mentioned in the book that assisted people in their survival is a faith in God–is an eternal optimism–is a sense of "I will prevail." We will prevail…and we will have Help along the way.
all in all, a consumption tax makes the most sense to me. the percentage defined by amendment, along with an amendment that the federal government may only spend what has been taken in by taxes. in the event of a surplus, the remainder would be split between the states. this would by nature, create a great hew and cry from the masses who would not be receiving their accustomed government approved bribery check, however with more money available in the private sector, industry would spring up to allow the newly disenfranchised indolent population the chance to participate in the American dream.
this would also have the effect of making the states responsible to themselves for their funding, following the loss of the federal funds that would dry up under the "live within your means" amendment. Also, without the power to blackmail the states by withholding funds, the federal government would be free to to assume it's rightful role as defined by the founding documents
radical idea? i don't think so. it seems to me that this would be the most effective, shortest duration to goal way to put the country back onto the right track.
Counting your blessings is good. It gives you the strength and optimism to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and kick their butts. That's even better.
I heard someone ask Zig Ziglar what he did whenever he got depressed, and his response was classic: "I read one of my books!" LOL!
Spike, in 2004 I suffered an injury that went undiagnosed for four years. Gruesome, debilitating pain that left me bedridden. My wife divorced me (came to blame me for my injury, then believed it was all in my head), ended my career (architect), ran out of money, had to relocate to NY (700) miles from my 2 daughters, and move in with my elderly parents. Yet, everyday I woke up and wake up believeing that this day will be better than yesterday. I know there is a God, I know I ain't Him, and I know He will keep His promise and restore what has been lost. No reason not to be optimistic!
THE OPTIMIST: The glass is half full.
THE PESSIMIST: The glass is half empty.
THE ARCHITECT: The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
I've heard this kind of attitude described as being "strategically optimistic, tactically pessimistic." In the long term, I don't despair about the future, because there is a God and He is in control of the world, so as long as you're right with Him you don't need to eaten up with worry. It's just what happens in the short term that can be so darn infuriating. I guess the thing to do is think about the far future, not just tomorrow.
Nicely done. I too read Wattles book many years ago. Being out the country, I had never heard of that Secret film or anything like that. One day, on CNN I saw, I guess it was the filmmakers and they mentioned this obscure book. I was pretty much floored. I thought I was the only one who had ever heard of it, let alone read it.
I agree with you mostly about cycles. But, at the same time, like BIll Moyers asked Joe Campbell about letting good prevail and knowing that it's the way of things, doesn't it lead to apathy and non action? Campbell said no, if you choose to engage. To take part, to enter the army, to fight the war, etc. (his example).
So, it's a philosophical exercise as well as a test of ones' endurance. In other words, how much can you take before you need to act, must act. That's the question. As others have stated, it's getting tough to take, and the worry is, if action is delayed it may be too late. I personally think it's never too late to change things. But I can say that easily, because I didn't live through the Holocaust, I wasn't enslaved to work the Rangoon railway, or sift through London, Dresden or Hiroshima. I haven't seen those examples of what can happen when you act too late.
So, I think it's a personal decision.
Optimism is an imperative of any successful life. If you don’t believe you can, you certainly won’t. For me the Tea Parties were a phenomenal show of strength and reason for incredible optimism. The power of this group of American achievers shakes the political foundation of all Washington politicians, right and left. The USA is an inherently conservative country, so take heart the pendulum is swinging back, American politics 101.
There is one thing about this: God helps those who help themselves. You can be optimistic and trust that it will all work itself out in the end. God assures us that it will. But I believe that we can't be passive about it. God has also told us quite plainly that that is not to happen. Someone, lots of someones, must be there at the end of it all to oppose Satan at the last battle. This ties in to Him helping those who help themselves. You can sit back passively and trust that He'll work it out for you, or you can stand up and work to fight for what's yours. I prefer to think that God will help me the most if I fight for what's right and what's mine and what's all of ours. And liberty is clearly what's right and what belongs to us and what was given to us through the blood of our ancestors. In these times, we cannot sit back and accept the soft tyranny.
Seeing things positively can be a very, well postitive thing, if it allows one to get into action and pursue life. For example, if you see BO as the invitable anti-christ, rolling through our lives, you may be given to resignation. If you see him as an overinflated creation of affirmative action, he looks like he can be taken. Ditto the hacks that he has surrounded himself with.
So, lets not make him anything more than he is; Chavez without the bluster.
Chop, chop, chop, TIMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I get optimism from pessimism, simple system. Believe you're going to be dead by tomorrow, come to terms with it. Then you can be pleasantly surprised when proven wrong, and everything else is just minor fluff. For me it's a very Christian outlook, if you don't mind me using such an offensive word. And remember, someday you'll be right!
I've also long practiced at being Pragmatically Optimistic, I accept the world continues to improve either by us or despite us. Have you been P.O. today?
But from rancid brews you can make beer and wine and distill good booze, many things that improve with aging. Granted in time our grandchildren and great grandchildren will curse us for allowing this to have ever happened, but this great socialist experiment will be a lesson for the ages that will be studied long after the coming ice age passes.
If you're going to complain about rancid things, don't investigate the making of cheese, especially non-pasteurized. Whoops, said too much!
But from rancid brews you can make beer and wine and distill good booze, many things that improve with aging. Granted in time our grandchildren and great grandchildren will curse us for allowing this to have ever happened, but this great socialist experiment will be a lesson for the ages that will be studied long after the coming ice age passes.
If you're going to complain about rancid things, don't investigate the making of cheese, especially non-pasteurized. Whoops, said too much!
Wow, that's a lot of Positive Thinking. Umm, could you keep it closer to attainable near-term goals? While worthy, such lofty concepts sound too much like reverse-leaning Hopium.
"most people dwell in the negative."
NO WE DON'T!
"most people dwell in the negative."
NO WE DON'T!
Personally I think both optimism and pessimism are forms of bias that distort our perception of the world. Optimism says "I think things are good and will get better in the future," and pessimism says "I think things are bad and will get worse in the future." The fact is, the world is full of both, and we don't know which one we're going to get. We should look at our lives, identify what is good and what is bad, and then enjoy the good and endure the bad. When looking ahead to the future, we can't know whether things are going to get better or worse. Both happen all the time. I think it's better to just admit "I don't know what will happen," and be prepared for anything.
In reality, the glass is both half full and half empty, at the same time.
Everyday I become more convinced that America is strong enough to survive any mischief and mayhem the current Administration can stir up – at least until the 2010 elections. Teeing off the idea the tag "incumbent" is enough to vote them out of office, I dearly hope the voters clear out the House and the Senate in 2010 on a scale not seen since Hercules did a job on the Augean Stables.
In the meantime, to stay positive, optimistic and productive, I'm thinking about good ways to make non-blogger-type people aware of the politicians being naughty, and how to sink the election campaigns of hack politicians.
It's not Green, but I'm leaning towards starting a Grassroots news service by stapling flyers to telephone poles and bus stop shelters.
No I don't think we can do this tommorow or the next day. When the 16th ammendment was implemeted the tax was 1/2 of one percent on income greater than 100,000 in 1913 dollars. It was never supposed to grow more than 5%. FDR skyrocketed it to 90. Reagon lowered it to 28 but the SS was upped to 15.3%.
IF you have an ammendment to the constitution that states this much and no further then congress is powerless to tax more than that. This means they'll have to do real budgeting. We can be cynacle. Trust me I usally am but the process for starting an ammendment starts outside of Washington with the states. Washington has to approve it but we can put into public discourse without their control.
This may not likely come to fruition in my life time but it would still be good for our children to bring it into place. Our goernment has exceeded authorities not envisioned by the Founding Fathers. If you told the politicians at the time they wrote the 16th ammendment in 30 years it would be 90%, they would have put a % cap on it. I don't tink 1/3 is unreasonable either. After a certain % revenues decline anyways.
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
You must be logged in to post a comment.