Scratch Beginnings

"Scratch Beginnings" by Adam Shepard is a young man's account of ditching everything and seeing how well he can make out with only $25, the clothes on his back, and his highschool degree in a strange town. Concealing all his personal contacts, his credit history, and his college degree, his goal was to "possess an operable automobile, live in a furnished appartment (alone or with a roommate), have $2,500 cash, and ...be in a position in which [he could] continue to improve [his] circumstances by either going to school or starting [his] own business." Could an average homeless Joe pursue the American dream?

I highly reccomend this book for anyone pursuing the American Dream, provided they can put up with some pretty strong street language (he told it as he heard it). I would also like to share some of his closing thoughts on what he learned through the ups and downs of his venture.

"The ever-present war between liberals and conservatives on the causes, effects, and solutions to poverty will be debated forever. Good. Let 'em fight it out. But what about us, the rest of us . . . Is there anything we can do?
"Um, yeah, there is.
"Imagine if we could reach out to the underprivileged. One out of four, two out of five, one out of ten - whatever. I say it's more of a success than sitting back and saying, 'Welp, poverty isn't goin' anywhere' or 'Um, I'm doing my part: I pay taxes.' Give me a break. You can do more than that. You! You can do something. Forget the government for a moment. YOU have the opportunity to make a small contribution and becomes part of something big. Pick up a phone and volunteer, caution a parent on his or her questionable behavior, make a forgivable loan. Better yet, go down to your local elementary or middle school and volunteer for two, three hous a week after school. Read to a child, help him or her with fractions. . . To take a child to the zoo or the aquarium - places he or she has never been; to make a difference in these young people's lives; to give them the assistance they are not getting at home ... You can't buy happiness like that, and the government surely can't afford to fund it."
- from "Scratch Beginnings" by Adam Shepard.







The Collegiate Capitalist http://collegiatecapitalist.blogspot.com/

Thoughts On Piracy

Downloading pirated music is stealing – I’ve heard that since before I knew what pirated music was. And I’ve always understood that the reason it’s stealing is because you are depriving the company that publishes the music from your sales. But an interesting question was recently brought to my attention that puzzled me.

Suppose a music group produces an independent album. Their music gets wide recognition, and they are signed up with a major label, and start hitting the tops of the charts with their music. Many people become fans, and pride themselves on having the group’s complete collection of music – until they find out about the independent album, which is no longer being published. After doing a thorough search of the group’s website and also checking Amazon and every bookstore in the country, they begin to lose hope. But then finally, one google search brings them to a website where they can download the album for free. At this point, is there anything wrong with downloading it?

My first instinct is to say yes, it’s pirated music. But if the only problem with pirated music is that it stiffs the publishing company, what’s the issue when the album isn’t even being published?

Here is my opinion. First, the company may decide to start re-publishing the album at a later date, for one reason for another, and you are depriving them of future sales. Second, even if the album is never produced again, physical copies of the album almost definitely exist somewhere. With the album out of publication, they become collector’s items, and may someday be worth a fortune. But if people have access to the music without buying the few surviving copies, the collector’s item’s depreciate, and you are depriving the owner’s of the collector’s items of a percentage of their sales in the future. Thirdly, the simple fact is that it’s illegal.

In our modern society we have lost sight of the importance of submitting ourselves to the governing authorities. We see laws as general advice, and assert that the only true crime is getting caught, not actually committing crimes. This disregard for authority breaks down the moral fiber of our society (if one law is irrelevant, who’s to say that another isn’t?), encourages the government to pass trivial laws (since it’s just viewed as advice anyway), and can lead to stricter penalties (to scare the people into obedience). Laws were meant to be obeyed.

Even if you can’t see any other way to get the music you want, don’t download pirated music. You will survive without it.

-The Collegiate Capitalist

http://www.collegiatecapitalist.blogspot.com

You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

-Romans 2:21

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

-Romans 13:1

Street Bums Part III: Closing thoughts

In our Capitalist society, the most basic, fundemental way to generate wealth is to sell goods or services. It seems natural to me, then that the first instinctive response to poverty should be to sell whatever goods you don't really need while waiting for an employement oportunity. It's honest, clean, and sensible. Unfortunately, one of the easiest dishonest means of generating wealth is the sale of stolen goods. If you meet a man on the street who is trying to sell you something, how can you tell which situation you're dealing with? I would love to help, commend, and encourage anyone who is looking for a more honest means of income than begging, but do not want to support a theif in his theivery.

Or how about this scenario? I've been approached by someone asking for spare change to help fill out his wife's perscription for medicine that she badly needed (it was a long time ago and I can't remember what details he gave me). While I figure there's a 97% he's lying and is looking to support some additiction (not an actual statistic, just a guess), how do I know that my money couldn't save a life? How do a ballance the likelyhood of feeding his unhealthy addiction and supporting a life-distroying industry with the vague possibility of offering a life-saving blessing to someone in need?

I believe in trying to give people the benefit of the doubt so long as I am able to supply for their need precicely (giving them food, helping them across the street, or directing them to an outreach ministry) but at the same time I try to be very cautious about simply forking over cash that can end up hurting more than helping.

I haven't been able to cover everything that I wanted to in this short little saga, but I hope that I've given you some food for thought. The next time you see someone by the side of the street, remember that they, like you, are a human being created in the image of God, with worries, joys, failures, and triumphs - not merely "another street bum."

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "
-Matthew 25:40

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
-James 1:27