Where Are The Wise?

Oh boy! I can’t wait to find out how I go about applying for overtime under the new executive power legislation of forced law coming from our present administration. I figure my salary aught to more than double next year. Full time employment is going to drop from forty hours a week to thirty hours a week, so that means my typical sixty hour week is going to pay off big time. Of course that’s all just a dream, because I’m still self-employed, and I don’t get paid hourly. Then again I’m probably better off. All I can see coming in the future is more loss of jobs and/or cost increases for finished products, which includes your hamburger, soda and fries at the drive-thru. A sizable increase was noticed at the last minimum wage raise and a definite increase will be felt at the consumer level when the minimum wage goes up and contract labor overtime is initiated. The oil companies are probably already calculating how much more money they can squeeze out us. The neighborhood small business is doomed for sure now.

One corporation is thinking of re-writing some of its office policies to counter some of the new labor laws. DRESS CODE: You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary. (1) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially, and therefore you do not need a raise. (2) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise. (3) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be, and therefore you do not need a raise. SICK DAYS: We will no longer accept a doctor’s statement as proof of sickness. If you can go to the doctor, you can come to work also. PERSONAL DAYS: Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturdays and Sundays. More changes are forth-coming including restroom and lunch breaks. Management expects full cooperation from all employees as they struggle to comply with new labor laws.

Plato said,”…like man, like state.” He argued that behind political problems lies the nature of man. “…governments vary as the characters of men vary; …states are made out of the human natures which are in them; …the state is what it is because its citizens are what they are. Therefore we need not expect to have better states until we have better men; …till then all changes will have every essential unchanged. How charming people are! Always doctoring, increasing and complicating their disorders, fancying they will be cured by some nostrum which somebody advises them to try, never getting better, but always growing worse.” And again, “We cannot build Utopia with young people corrupted at every turn by the example of their elders.”

[Romans 10; 12:1-2 & Acts 28:23-27] Plato believed that a nation cannot be strong unless it believes in God. He reasoned that a mere cosmic force, or first cause, that was not a person, could hardly inspire hope, or devotion, or sacrifice. It could not offer comfort to the hearts of the distressed, nor courage to embattled souls. But, a living God can do all of this! If you would like our nation and the world to be better, become a better you. James writes about wisdom (James 3:13-18). “…For when you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” We need leaders with true wisdom.