Do You Believe?

Do you believe that your mind is what you are right now???

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don't waste your friend

"there are really a lot of things you would only understand after you had lost them"

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The Story Of Two Buses

Picture this. You’re driving down the highway with your nine-year-old son. You’re in the middle lane. On your right, one behind the other, are two buses. The bus in front is painted white. The bus behind is painted yellow. The bus in front has its windows painted over. The bus behind does not.

Your son asks you a question. "What are those two buses, Daddy?" You tell him that they are two very different kinds of buses. "How are they different?" he asks. You explain that on the first bus are prisoners who are being taken to jail. On the second bus are students who are being taken to school. "But how is that different?" your son asks. That’s what I’m asking, too.

You tell your son that the men on the first bus are required to get on that bus. Then your son asks you if the students on the yellow bus have a choice in the matter. You think about it. Neither group has any choice in the matter. Somebody tells the members of both groups that they must get on that bus and stay on that bus until the bus comes to its destination.

Your son says he doesn’t understand. So, you try to make it clear to him. You tell that the people on the white bus have committed crimes. They are bad people. They are being taken to jail. The people on the yellow bus are good people. They are being taken to school. Your son asks: "Why do they make the good people go on the bus?" That’s what I’m asking, too.

Remember, you're talking to a nine-year-old. Nine-year-olds are not very sophisticated. They need clear answers. So, you had better be prepared to provide clear answers.

You tell your son that the good people on the yellow bus are being taken to school for their own good. Your son asks if the people on the white bus are being taken to jail, but not for their own good. No, you tell him. They are being taken to jail for their own good, too. Your son asks, "Then what’s the difference?"

The difference is, you explain to your son, that the people on the white bus are very bad and society intends to make them better. Your son asks: "Is society taking the people on the yellow bus to school in order to make them worse?" No, you tell him. Society is taking them to school in order to make them better people, too. "Then what’s the difference?"

The difference is, you explain to your son, the people on the white bus are dangerous people. In order to make society safer, society puts them in jail. The people on the yellow bus are not dangerous. "Then why are they forced to go to a place where they don’t want to go?" your son asks. "Because it’s good for them," you answer. "But isn’t that why the people on the white bus are being taken to jail?" he asks.

You are getting frustrated. You tell your son that they’re required to get on the bus because when they are young they don’t know that it is a good thing for them to go to school. They don’t want to go to school. But they’re supposed to go to school. Your son replies that this sounds just like the people in the white bus. But they’re supposed to go to jail, you tell him. It’s for their own good. They’re going to be better people if they go to jail.

Isn’t that right? Isn’t the whole idea of sending people to jail to rehabilitate them? Aren’t they supposed to become better people in jail? I mean, if they aren’t going to become better people, why not just sell them into slavery and use the money to pay restitution to their victims? Why build jails? Why paint buses white?

You tell your son that the bad people have to go to jail in order to keep them off the streets. The problem is, this is one of the reasons why society requires students to go to school. People want keep the kids off the streets. They want to make certain that somebody in authority is in a position to tell the children what to do. They don’t trust the children to make their own decisions. They also don’t trust the criminals to make their own decisions.

This is more complicated than you thought. But you keep trying. You explain to your son that bad people must be kept from doing more bad things. Your son asks: "What are the bad things that kids do?" The light comes on. You tell your son that the children are dangerous to themselves, but the prisoners are dangerous to everybody else. The children may hurt themselves, but the prisoners may hurt other people. But your son wants to know why it is that the children must be taken to a school in order to keep them from hurting themselves, when they can stay home and not hurt themselves.

You tell your son that it’s because people are not able to stay home with their children. Your son wants to know why not. You explain that both parents have to work to make enough money to live a good life. This means that somebody has to take care of their children. Your son wants to know why parents don’t hire somebody to come into their home and take care of the children. Why don’t they hire a teacher to take care of them? You explain that it is cheaper to hire one teacher to look after lots of students. Your son wants to know why it’s cheaper to send children to school when it costs money to build schools, buy buses, hire drivers, and pay for gasoline.

This is a smart kid.

You explain that the people who have children force people who do not have children to pay for the schools. Your son asks if this is the same thing is stealing. "Isn’t that what the people on the white bus did?" No, you explain, it’s not stealing. Your son asks, "How is it different?" Now you have a problem. You have to explain the difference between taking money from someone to benefit yourself as a private citizen, which is what a criminal does, and taking money from someone to benefit yourself as a voter. This is not so easy to explain.

You explain to your son that when you vote to take money away from someone so that you can educate your child, this is different from sticking a gun into somebody’s stomach and telling him that he has to turn over his money to you. Your son that asks if it would be all right to stick a gun in somebody’s stomach if you intended to use the money to educate your child. No, you explain, it’s not the same. When you tell someone that he has to educate your child in a school run by the government it’s legal. When you tell somebody that he has to educate your child in a private school, where parents pay directly to hire teachers, it’s illegal.

Your son then asks you if it’s all right to take money from other people just so long as you hand over to the government the money to do the things that you want the government to do. You explain that this is correct. "But what if other people don’t think that the government ought to be doing these things?" You explain that people don’t have the right to tell the government not to do these things unless they can get more than half of the voters to tell the government to stop doing them. Your son sees the logic of this. He asks you: "Are the people in the white bus being taken to jail because there were not enough of them to win the election?" You know this can’t be right, but it’s hard to say why it’s wrong.

Here is where you are so far. Society makes the prisoners go to jail. It sees these prisoners as dangerous. It wants to teach them to obey. Society makes children go to school. It sees these children as dangerous to themselves. It wants to teach them to obey. If it can teach both groups how to obey, society expects the world to improve. Society therefore uses tax money to pay for the operation of jails and schools. This includes paying for buses. But there is a difference. Prison buses are white. School buses are yellow.

There must be more to it than this.

So, you keep trying. Schools are run by the government to teach children how to make a living. Jails are run by the government to teach people how to stop stealing. Here is a major difference. "Do they teach prisoners how to make a good living?" your son asks. No, you tell him. The prison teaches them to obey. He asks: "Then why will they stop stealing when they get out of prison, if they don’t know how to make a good living." Because, you explain, they will be afraid to do bad things any more. Your son asks if people in prison learn how to do bad things in prison. You admit that they do. "So," he asks, "we send people to prison and school so that they will learn how to make a good living? Only the difference is, the government pays for a place where bad people teach other bad people how to steal without getting caught, but in school, the government pays good people to teach children how to be good citizens and vote. So, the bad people learn how to steal from the good people without voting, and the good people learn how to steal from each other by voting. Is that how it works?"

That’s how it works. Both systems use buses to take the students to school. But the colors are different.

In prison, prisoners sell illegal drugs. Students do the same in school. In prison, the food is terrible. It’s not very good in school – possibly prepared by the same food service company. In prison, there are constant inspections. Guards keep taking roll to make sure everyone is present and accounted for. Teachers do the same in school. In prison, you aren’t allowed to leave without permission. The same is true in school. In prison, bullies run the show. In school, they do, too. But there is a difference. Prison buses are white. School buses are yellow.

This is too extreme. The systems are different. Criminals are convicted in a court of law before they are sent to jail. Students, in contrast, are innocent. Some prisoners can get parole. The average term in prison for murder is under ten years. Students are put into the school system for twelve years. There is no parole.

Be thankful you are not in one of those buses. Either color.

May 28, 2004

Gary North [send him mail] is the author of Mises on Money. Visit http://www.freebooks.com. For a free subscription to Gary North's newsletter on gold, click here.

Copyright © 2004 LewRockwell.com

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Pelajaran dari Seekor Kupu-kupu

Seseorang menemukan kepompong seekor kupu-kupu yang sudah mempunyai lubang kecil dan terlihat calon kupu-kupu yang berjuang keluar. Dia duduk dan mengamati selama beberapa jam. Calon kupu-kupu yang ada di dalam kepompong itu berhenti membuat kemajuan, kelihatannya dia telah berusahan semampunya dan dia tidak bisa lebih jauh lagi.

Akhirnya orang tersebut memutuskan untuk membantu calon kupu-kupu itu dengan mengambil sebuah gunting dan memotong sisa kekangan dari kepompong itu sehingga kupu-kupu tersebut keluar dengan mudahnya. Namun, dia mempunyai tubuh gembung dan kecil dengan sayap-sayap yang mengkerut.

Orang tersebut terus mengamati kupu-kupu itu dengan harapan pada suatu saat sayap-sayap itu akan mekar dan melebar smampu menopang tubuhnya yang mungkin akan berkembang. Namun, seiring berjalannya waktu, semua yang diharapkan tidak pernah terjadi. Kenyataannya, kupu-kupu itu menghabiskan sisa hidupnya dengan merangkak di sekitarnya tetap dengan tubuh gembung dan sayap-sayap yang mengkerut.

Kepompong yang menghambat dan perjuangan yang dibutuhkan kupu-kupu untuk melewati lubang kecil adalah jalan Tuhan untuk memaksa cairan dari tubuh kupu-kupu itu ke dalam sayap-sayapnya sehingga dapat mengembang dan dia akan siap terbang begitu dia memperoleh kebebasan setelah keluar dari kepompong. Namun, kebaikan dan ketergesaan seseorang telah memusnahkan kemampuan kupu-kupu itu untuk terbang.

Kadang-kadang perjuangan adalah yang kita perlukan dalam hidup kita. Jika Tuhan membiarkan kita hidup tanpa hambatan, itu mungkin justru akan melumpuhkan kita. Kita mungkin tidak akan menjadi sekuat yang kita mampu dan kita tidak akan pernah dapat "TERBANG".

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" Life is short; you should live it while you got it. Don't pay too much attention to the past; just remember you can always change the future."

Life is short, hidup memang sekejap kedipan mata, pendek dan tanpa tersadar kita telah meninggalkan yang telah lalu. ada yang manis dan pahit, ada yang bergelombang dan yang lurus, ada yang bahagia dan sedih. inilah kehidupan.

don't pay too much attention to the past, yang lalu biarlah berlalu. jadikan masa lalu itu sebagai motivasi. jangan sebagai beban, terus maju dan bergerak. walaupun sepahit apapun di masa lalu.

just remember you can always change the future, ingat anda bisa merubah masa depan dengan motivasi dari masa lalu, jangan terpuruk akan kepahitan dari masa lalu. future is in your hand, in your hand means you control your future, anda mengatur masa depan anda, bukan orang lain

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Rahasia Kehidupan

Tidak ada larangan untuk bermimpi bagaimanapun jenis mimpi kita tetapi sering juga mimpi kita tak begitu sesuai dengan harapan.
Itulah hidup penuh liku kadang jadi tawa kadang juga akan jadi sedih yang menghantui. Tetapi life must go on, semuanya akan tetap berjalan walau apapun yang terjadi.
Kadang fikiran kita berhenti di sebuah titik kehidupan sedang sekeliling kita semuanya terus berjalan dan berjalan tanpa mau tahu dan memang tak mau tahu tentang kita.
Saat tersadar kita sudah tertinggal jauh hingga kadang membuat sebuah keputus asaan mendera. Sudahlah dalam hati kita juga harus segera beranjak mengejar ketertinggalan kita. Kalau kita tidak beranjak siapa yang bisa mengantar kita menuju ke depan karena ini kehidupan kita bung dan kita sendirilah yang akan memaknai kehidupan ini.

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:: The Five Keys to Success in Education ::

1. Number of days in school.
2. Pages of homework read.
3. Hours of TV watched.
4. A love of reading.
5. Two parents in the home.

It should come as a surprise to no-one that children do better in school when they attend class, do their homework, and read a lot. It should also be self evident that turning the television off, will help with this. As for having two parents in the home, as a father of six daughters, some times it is essential to double team the little rascals!

These are the rules; there are of course exceptions.

A friend of mine, a very talented and dynamic single mother (with 5 straight "A" children), recently said: "The schools would have driven me nuts, if it were not for the fact that I always considered it my responsibility to educate my children. I was grateful for what ever help I received along the way from the schools."

The schools can only "set the table" they cannot force the children to eat. Some children have huge appetites, and cannot get enough. Others are picky eaters, and will not eat a well-balanced meat. Still others are inclined to start food fights. These activities are largely beyond the control of the schools, but usually fully within the control of parents.

Holding teachers accountable for student achievement is as ludicrous as holding a dentist responsible for the number of cavities his patients receive.

Educational performance will not improve until parents realize that every home is a school, and that they are the teachers.

The only thing that the schools can do is to attempt to improve the quality of the meal being served, however, this is problematic. I consider the "new and improved ed-reform meal" to be poison, and will not permit my children to partake of it. Others do take the opposite view.

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Filosofi Uang

FILOSOFI SESEORANG MENGENAI UANG, BERBEDA ANTARA SATU DENGAN LAINNYA. ADA YANG MENGANGGAP UANG SEBAGAI TUJUAN, DAN ADA YANG MENGANGGAP UANG TIDAK LEBIH DARI ALAT UNTUK MENCAPAI TUJUAN ITU SENDIRI

Baca dan renungkan kisah ini :

Mbok Iyem sudah meninggalkan peraduannya, pada saat orang lain masih terlelap bersama mimpi. Sejurus kemudian Mbok Iyem bersama rekan seprofesinya, sudah berada di mobil pick up menuju pasar induk. Kantuk yang belum juga mau beranjak, ditambah lagi dengan udara dingin yang menerpa wajahnya, seiring laju mobil, yang dengan leluasa memacu kecepatannya. Semakin menambah guratan di wajahnya, yang sudah sangat jarang bertemu dengan bedak.


Masih dengan kendaraan yang sama, tiga jam kemudian ia sudah tiba kembali, di muka jalan menuju rumahnya, pada saat itu pun belum banyak orang yang rela meninggalkan kehangatan selimutnya, namun sayup-sayup telah terdengar suara orang mengumandangkan adzan Shubuh. Belum waktunya bagi Mbok Iyem untuk beristirahat, kegiatan selanjutnya adalah menyortir
belanjaannya, memasukkan ke dalam plastik, dan menyusunnya di gerobak sayur. Hingga akhirnya, gerobak itu menyusuri jalan-jalan di komplek perumahan.

Ketika matahari telah menampakkan wajahnya, mulailah Mbok Iyem menjual barang dagangannya kepada para pelanggannya. Dan ia baru tiba di rumah setelah jam dua siang. Karena hampir tidak pernah sempat untuk memasak, maka Mbok Iyem lebih sering membeli makan siang dan makan malamnya dari warung langganannya, Mbok Iyem tidak direpotkan dengan masalah ini, karena
ia tinggal seorang diri, anak-anak dan suaminya tinggal di kampung.

Tidak hanya Mbok Iyem yang 'diperbudak' oleh uang, masih terlalu banyak orang seperti itu, Mbok Iyem misalnya, mengumpulkan rupiah demi rupiah untuk dikirimkan ke kampung, sebagai biaya pendidikan ketiga anaknya, hampir tidak ada yang digunakan untuk kepentingan pribadinya.

Mbok Iyem adalah contoh seseorang yang menganggap uang sebagai tujuan semata, baginya belum pantas menikmati kebahagiaan, kebahagiaannya saat ini hanyalah ketika ia bisa mengirimkan uang ke kampung dan anak-anaknya tetap bisa bersekolah. Agar mereka mendapatkan pendidikan yang baik, lalu mencari pekerjaan yang “baik” dan “aman”. Hal ini merupakan (maaf) pola pikir seseorang yang senantiasa merasa kekurangan.

Lain halnya dengan Haji Maksum, hasil menabung puluhan tahun, dari keuntungan jual beli hewan ternak, ia investasikan ke dalam berbagai kegiatan usaha, sebagian oleh Haji Maksum dijadikan beberapa petak rumah kontrakan, sebagian lainnya ia belikan angkot (angkutan perkotaan). Saat ini hampir tidak pernah kakek dari tujuh belas orang cucu ini meninggalkan
rumah, kecuali hari Jum'at dimana ia biasa menunaikan Shalat Jum'at. Kebahagiaan telah dicapai oleh Haji Maksum. Saat ini jumlah angkotnya semakin banyak, sedangkan rumah kontrakannya sudah tersebar di beberapa daerah perkampungannya.

Pertanyaan yang kemudian menggelitik untuk segera dicarikan jawabannya adalah, apakah Mbok Iyem bisa menjadi seperti Haji Maksum, atau apakah orang-orang seperti Haji Maksum saja yang dapat mengatakan bahwa uang bukanlah tujuan, melainkan hanya alat untuk mencapai tujuan itu sendiri, yaitu kebahagiaan dunia dan akhirat. Mungkin jawabannya adalah karena Haji Maksum telah memaksa uang bekerja untuk dirinya, berbeda dengan Mbok Iyem yang bekerja untuk uang.

Sehingga ada orang yang telah menemukan kebebasan finansialnya yang memberikan tips sederhana, agar nantinya uang yang justru bekerja untuk kita, sarannya :

"Jika penghasilanmu katakanlah satu juta rupiah per bulan, maka canangkanlah dalam bathin dan benakmu, bahwa Anda hanya berpenghasilan delapan ratus ribu rupiah, dengan demikian kelebihannya itu dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai tabungan atau diinvestasikan kedalam bentuk usaha yang menguntungkan."

Kuncinya terletak pada penyesuaian gaya hidup, dan ingatlah, untuk selalu menekan tingkat kebutuhan Anda sehingga lebih rendah dari pendapatan, karena jika tidak maka Anda akan selalu defisit di akhir bulan. Menurut Steve Asikin orang yang tingkat konsumsinya lebih tinggi dari tingkat penghasilannya, adalah seseorang yang tiap harinya hanya menghitung hari, dan tidak akan mengalami kemajuan. Tinggal sekarang bagaimana Anda melihat uang dan bagaimana pula dengan tingkat konsumsi yang Anda geluti tiap hari.

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Welcome 2009

kita telah sampai kepada akhir 2008 dan kita akan segera memasuki tahun 2009. Sekarang adalah saat yang tepat untuk Anda untuk berpikir tentang bagaimana Anda akan hidup. Bagaimana Anda tahun ini? Apakah ini memenuhi harapan Anda? Apakah Anda membuat perbedaan tahun ini?

Apakah Anda membuat perbedaan tahun ini? Untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini, Anda hanya melihat satu tahun lalu. Bagaimana karir dan keuangan Anda? Bagaimana kesehatan Anda? Bagaimana hubungan Anda? Lebih baik jika anda memiliki angka yang jelas yang menunjukkan bagaimana anda. Misalnya, bagaimana dengan pendapatan anda, pengeluaran anda, pajak, dan sebagainya


Selanjutnya, Anda membandingkan situasi setahun yang lalu dengan situasi Anda saat ini. Apakah ada perbedaan? Atau apakah Anda membiarkan tahun ini lewat tanpa pertumbuhan yang signifikan pada Anda?

Cara lain untuk melihat apakah Anda telah membuat perbedaan tahun ini adalah untuk melihat kebiasaan Anda. Apa yang buruk menghilangkan kebiasaan anda tahun ini? Apa yang baik berupa kebiasaan anda?

Satu lagi pertanyaan untuk meminta sendiri adalah: pelajaran apa yang anda pelajari tahun ini? Mungkin Anda mempunyai beberapa kegagalan, tetapi jika kegagalan itu merupakan pengalaman berharga pada Anda maka waktu yang Anda habiskan untuk kegagalan itu bukanlah merupakan hal yang sia-sia .

Dalam kasus saya, saya tidak sepenuhnya puas dengan cara yang penulis lakukan. Saya tidak tumbuh di beberapa aspek kehidupan saya, tetapi pertumbuhan tidak terlalu baik. Di balik tabir, saya bingung di sana sini. Di sisi lain, Saya senang karena saya belajar beberapa pelajaran yang baik akan membantu saya untuk tahun yang akan datang.

Ini menakjubkan untuk melihat bagaimana waktu berjalan dengan cepat. Jangan buang waktu anda tahun depan. Menjadikannya sebagai tahun yang berbeda.

Selamat tahun baru!

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