August 11th, 2008

By Benjamin Franklin and Dr Agon Fly

Father Abraham stood, up and replied, "If you would have my advice, I will give it you in short; for A word to the wise is enough, as Poor Richard says.

Ah! The first words of Poor Richard and how profound. There's much more to come. Read on.

"[The crowd at the auction] joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round him he proceeded as follows.

"Friends," said he, "the taxes are indeed very heavy, and, if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us.

Father Abraham's comment reflects one of the most fundamental characteristics of Americans: the indomitable spirit that sees the insanity of governments and their attempts to manipulate the people and the economy with taxes, as a mere pot hole on the road of life. His comment also points to the next topic, which is that we create our own money problems. Read on.

We are taxed twice as much by our idleness,

Dr Franklin's math might be a bit obscure but one thing is certain; individually and collectively we lose both income and assets by failing to act when action is appropriate or required.

Money comes from work. Success comes from handling that money well. That's  more work. Americans are the masters when it comes to making money from their work, but we have given in to idleness when it comes to the management of our money. We have allowed the Behemoths to convince us that they know better than we what's best for us. We have relinquished our power, and that is a greater burden than taxes ever could be.  

three times as much by our pride,

When Father Abraham talks about ‘pride' as a treble-tax he's reminding America of one of its longest standing foibles: keeping up with the Jonses.

Perhaps it's just human. It's been a recognized human frailty since Cain whacked Able. Regardless, spending our money in an attempt to appear affluent, sophisticated, educated, informed, well-connected, etc. is real money that is being traded for rationalized gains that are nothing more than smoke.

and four times as much by our folly;

"Folly - a lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight; an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking" Merriam-Webster Online. Have you ever followed a whim and found it to be a folly? Or just entered into a folly, eyes wide open?

Father Abraham identifies the greatest ‘tax' that we impose on ourselves as ‘folly.' The Behemoths have convinced us that folly is wisdom. They want us to believe it's OK to lose real money in investments today in order to make maybe-money at some undetermined future date. That's folly - a lack of good sense, normal prudence and foresight; an excessively costly and unprofitable undertaking for you, but not for the Behemoths - that's how they have become wealthy as we find less and less in our accounts.

and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement.

Today a few Americans clamor for the government to take over everything from health care to energy.  Father Abraham reminds us that government can't bail us out of our individual and collective idleness, pride and follies.  

However, let us hearken to good advice, and something maybe done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says.

Poor Richard, the Founding Fathers and Mothers, presidents and statesmen and women, and their families recognized that God created a universe where we are personally responsible for our actions and inactions, our decisions about our lifestyles and what we do with the abundance that we have been given to steward. Even those who do not believe in God rank personal responsibility highest on the stewardship scale.  

Tags: Benjamin Franklin, investing, Money, Taxes