Karl's Thoughts Sometimes Called a Blog
1. the opinions below are the authors
2. they may not necessary be correct
3. and they may be changed without notice
4. in other words this is rambling
28 November 2009
This is thanksgiving weekend in the United States. It is a time we try to pause and reflect to give thanks for our blessings. Most people from the United States do not realize how blessed they are. Compared to the rest of the world there are almost no poor people in the United States. The minimum salary in the United States might be USD 80 dollars per day, where I am consulting now in Indonesia, the minimum salary is USD 1 dollar per day.
I know I am very blessed. I have been give health, strength, and ability. I have been fortunate to meet many good in my life who have helped me. I was in Korea one Christmas consulting in a refinery. On the bulletin board in the control room was the quote.
Humility is the acknowledgment that your achievements are the results of the investments of others in your life.
This had a large affect on me – myself and most people tend to think that our accomplishments are 100% our efforts, but it is not true. Many people have sacrificed for the success that you have today.
My Uncle, my mother’s brother died in France in WW2. From my perspective of 54, 27 was a young age to die. His and other’s sacrifice are why we enjoy the freedoms we have today. I have visited many parts of the world they do not have even simple freedoms. In 2007, I was consulting in a plant. I was scheduled to leave the plant at 4PM, but we finished early. I asked could we leave at 2PM. We could not leave until 4PM because our permit from the police to be on the rode did not start till 4PM – this was only 2 years ago.
Religious freedoms are very limited in most parts of the world. In many countries you need to apply for permission from the government to start a church. Many people that read this blog will be surprised that you need no permission to start a church in the United States. You just rent a building and start having meetings.
Education is limited in many countries. The magic number seems to be about 10%. If you make the mistake and educate over 10% of your population they become difficult to control. Many counties limit education to the top 10%.
I sometimes forget how blessed I am.
20 April 2009
My mother was 79 on March 1st. Her knees are starting to give her issues, so sometimes she now uses a wheelchair. When you see a grandmother in a wheelchair you know she has lost some of her ability to walk and it is easy to see.
Many of us though we look perfectly normal are mental wheelchair people. For any number of reasons we are mentally wheelchair bound. Life has a way of handing us things. Some of the things are good, some of the things are not so good.
Over 50% of Americans are divorced. It not only affect the husband and wife, but the children and grandchildren. The effects of divorce can be passed down to the 3rd generation. The cause of divorce is pride and unwillingness to forgive, and can take several years to recover from the loss. Today many people are still feeling the effects of a divorce of yourself, and or your parents. Divorced people and their children can have issues in relationships. They can look perfectly healthy, but they have a weak knee.
Many people have issues with the death of a loved one - a child, a close relative or friend. Holidays can be particularly difficult for these people. They have a weak knee.
There are people who had prejudices. Because one person of a particular race did them wrong in the past, they paint all with the same brush - they have a weak knee.
Almost everyone has a good friend whom they trusted do them wrong. Then you wondered why would they do this - remember the weak knee. The person, because of what happened to them in the past, may feel justified to do what they did.
Many times we wonder why people act the way they do - remember the weak knee. They look healthy, but they may not be.
14 April 2009
"From the small amount of living that I have done, it seems the good things in life have moved towards me very slowly and have sometimes been difficult to obtain. The bad things that have hurt emotionally and financially seems to come very easily. If it is too good to be true, it probably is false."
Karl Kolmetz
09 March 2009
"He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year." Leonardo da Vinci
We have seen several types of political systems tried in the last 100 years. Karl Mark's communism is the best system, which is for everyone to work for the good of each other - but we are too immature as a species for this system to work. When people learn that they will be paid for not working - they cease to work and the country stops functioning from within.
In the last 20 years we have seen the failure of free market capitalism. The immaturity of the species again was demonstrated. The assumption of free market capitalism is the owner of the goose that laid the golden eggs would care for the goose, but just like the fable - the owners of the goose became greedy and killed the goose.
The short sightedness of the bankers and the captains of capitalism is utterly amazing. They sold their future bonus for this years bonus and we have witnessed this phenomena numerous times - Enron, Anderson, brokerage companies, multiple banks - the list is too large for this blog.
I am amazed that this species is not only immature it is very slow to learn - this includes me.
"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
We have proven that we cannot work for the overall good of each other, and that given the chance we will sacrifice the future for the greed of today. What would you guess is the collective age of this group of people with these actions - 14?
We will need to return to more government regulations in the business world. In the past I was in favor of free market capitalism, because I believed that people were smarter than to sell their future for the greed of today, but I have been proven wrong - again. A modified version of the Singapore model looks very attractive right now.
The simple math says - 100 billion in bail out funds, divided by 300 million Americans = each American will pay $3,330 to pay back the money that was stolen from the companies and banks.
One of the sad parts is the people that took the money were already rich, and many of the people that will need to pay this money back in the future will the middle and lower paid workers.
15 December 2008
I had my annual physical today. I went to a referred Doctor in Singapore by Jerry Farmer. He was a heart specialist, no I do not have any heart issues other than too kind hearted. He ran an EKG and a stress test on the treadmill. I seem to be ok from a heart point of view. Had one small issue on the blood work and I will go back in January to retest. Of course he slightly scolded me that I needed to loss weight and exercise more - this was something I already know.
As I was walking on the treadmill the nurse asked me do you drink alcohol. I said not really - she was surprised because I look like I have a beer belly. The she asked do I smoke, and again I said no. She then ask, well why are you over weight. I replied that I eat too much KFC - She replied - you act like my children, never wanting to eat good food. I asked her would she consider adopting me - and then she replied - No.
When I was there a very pretty 12 -14 year old girl came in for a heart check up. She needed a liver transplant and had to have her heart evaluated before the transplant. She had a hat because she had no hair and some kind of bag attached to her stomach. She was this beautiful girl and your heart was touched just to see her. Remember I told you I was kind hearted.
Her and her mother went into the doctors office, and the doctor scolded her so loudly you could hear it in the waiting room. He told her she was not eating properly, was not taking her medicine as she should, her blood test came back too low. My first thoughts were - Man this guy is cold hearted.
She came out of the doctors office, sat on the couch and began to cry. She has on the big floppy hat because she has no hair, this bag attached to her stomach, and big tears rolling down her face. How could the doctor be this cold. The mother looks over to me and gave a knowing smile while the tears rolled down the daughters face.
I am a slow learner, and it hit me - this was what the girl needed, but the mother was not able to provide this correction. The mother could not with all of her problems also be the bad cop. The mother had to be the good cop, loving caring and nursing. The Doctor had to be the bad cop, scolding her to do better.
Wednesday 26th Dec 2007
How was 2007 for you? Good, bad - average. I am always amazed who people choose for their advisers. Bad advice is often worse than no advice. There are several items you should look for in an adviser.
Happiness
Do not take advice from people who are not living the way you wish to live. If you want to live happy, and this person is not happy - do not follow their advice.
Financial
Do not take financial advice from poor people unless your goal is to be poor.
Credentials
What are the advisers credentials? We make sure that we go to a Doctor that has the proper credentials - but we will take political advice from actors whose only credentials are that they look good and can read a script that someone else wrote.
The next time an actor who reads their lines well, keeps their waist line thin, and has cosmetic surgery ever few months - tells you how to live your life, what charity to support, what candidate to support, or what is wrong with the world - you may want to take a few minutes and think about where the advice is coming from, and what are their credentials.
You may not be able to run very fast, you may not be able to throw a ball very hard, you may not look good on camera, but in many times you have more credentials than some of the people giving this great advice.
Employment
You employment is a major part of your time. If you are very unhappy on your job you will need to change jobs in 2008. Everyone is slightly unhappy with their job, but if you are very unhappy you will need to find new employment.
Sunday 02 December 2007
I am sitting on a plane with about 400 other people. Each person has multiple stories to tell. First there is the external story - their hair style, choice in clothes and jewelry. The next story may be where they are headed and their occupation. Some may be traveling because of sad news, others may be on vacation. and some travel is job related. A young lady I am setting by is returning to the US after teaching English in Korea. The real story is who they actually are and where they are headed in life - not on this plane but their true life direction.
I have mistakenly judged people by their external looks, and it is easy to do - When my son was 15, he was playing football and one of the other father's attire was radical. When I came to know him I misjudged him by his looks - he was a kind and caring father but you would never guess at first.
Your occupation is how you earn your salary and is sometimes based on the luck of the draw. In Asia this is called fate - Many things in our life we do not chose, our parents, birth country, ethic and sexual orientation. I try not to judge people on choices they do not make, but how people dress is their own choice and sometimes dressing stereo types are true.
What is a successful life? There are three types of lives. The first is survival - and most of the world lives here. Many people in the world make less than 1 USD per day - they are in the survival mode - living from hand to mouth. In south east Asia a normal greeting is have you eaten today, because they are only a few generations from food hunters and gathers. There are pictures on this blog of people that are living in the survival mode.
The second type of life is success - a small percentage of the world is successful. If you have a hand phone and a computer the group of people that make 1 USD per day would consider you rich.
The third is a life of significance. The difference between a successful life and a significant life is what you do with your resources. You cannot have a life of significance and be greedy and selfish. Only in giving to others can you move to the next level. The Charles Dickens's story a Christmas Carol is a good example of a successful person that never progressed to a life of significance. A good measure of your significance is not how much money you have, but how many friends you have? Where are you?
Saturday 22 September 2007
There is a group of people who have given me the nickname Coach. Charles Hebert tells many stories of the Coach - most everyone at Westlake still calls me Coach. I coached basketball at Phibro and Westlake with amazing results. I have about an 80% winning percentage - mostly due to the good players that I have had the privilege to coach.
What it takes to be a coach is radically different than what it takes to be a player. As a player you are focusing on your performance, as a coach you are focusing on the performance of others. A true coach rarely every plays his star performer 100% of the game, he knows that strategic rest will result in more actual points scored.
It is rare that a talented player becomes a good coach, because teams win by making the mid range players better. The stars will get their points, but time after time we have seen that stars by themselves cannot win the championship. Championships are won by team, with coaches that make all the players better.
One of the keys of coaching is that it is very hard to play and coach at the same time. When I was a Phibro I was still in my 30's and at times I was better than some of the players on the court, but I did not play, because the players under me would not get better unless they had a chance to play in the game.
4 July 2007
I grew up in Northwest Florida, a small town called Crestview. We were taught that the best government was a democracy, and fifty years later I still agree, but with provisions. The Declaration of Independence which was signed on 4 July 1776, declares that all men were created equal with certain inalienable rights from their creator - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The first provision that is necessary for a democracy to be successful is education. A majority of the voting population has to able to assess situations and reach logical conclusions.
There are many examples of misguided voters actually hurting themselves and their children, and some of the examples are in the US. The State of Louisiana routinely votes against increased spending for education and their education system is one of the lowest rated in the US.
"For a democracy to be successful the majority of the voters need adequate education to assess issues that are good for the community as a whole, and the wisdom to vote for the greater good, even when the issue is possibly not in their own best interest." Karl Kolmetz
Religious freedom is an example; all people should have the right to worship as they choose, even if what they believe it is not in agreement with your personal beliefs.
The second provision that is necessary for a democracy to be successful is an independent free press. Even if you have adequate education if you do not possess enough facts, one cannot make the logical conclusions.
The third provision that is necessary for a democracy is an independent judiciary, and this is where many countries fail. India has parts of the first and second, but their judiciary causes them to be a third world country. When I was in India last year, the press reported a case where there were 23 eyewitness and the accused was found innocent.
India has many rich and intelligent people, but they seem to lack the will to sacrifice for the greater good of the country, see the pictures from 22 April 2007 of Indian Housing. Each of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were rich and intelligent men. Many of them were punished by the British for signing the Declaration, but they did for the greater good of nation. Noble people are in short supply in the 21 Century.
If these provisions are not satisfied what is called a democracy is at best a benign dictatorship, and sometimes not very benign. One of the best ways to build a better world is to start to raise the education level. Many dictators know that this is they only way they can stay in power, so they restrict the education of their people. If none of the three provisions are in place a benign dictatorship might be better than misinformed and misguided voters.
Each of us needs to make a small yearly donation to a good non profit organization that is trying to raise the education level in the less educated areas of the world. The pen is mightier than the sword, but it seem to be moving very slowly in the correct direction.
Friday 16 March 2007
In Malaysia they have night markets. These are independent merchants who move to a different location each day of the week. Instead of the people going to the mall, the mall comes to them. On Friday night of each week the night market comes to my neighborhood, called Bukit Mewah.
As I was driving from my office back to my apartment I decided to stop at the night market and look at house plants. Malaysia has a wide verity of house plants. As luck would have it, the house plant merchant did not come this night. I walked from one end of the night market to the other looking at the different stalls. Last Friday night there were about 50 merchants there selling everything but house plants.
About half way down the market I came upon an old lady begging. I am always at a loss at what to do about the beggars. If you make a large donation it encourages them to keep begging, instead of trying to find a productive way to make a living. If they appear to be healthy I generally do not donate, but this lady was missing a leg. I decided on my return trip I would make a donation.
I go down about another ten stalls and there is another gentleman setting there, with both of his legs missing. I felt like I had been hit on the head with a hammer. For the last several months I have been somewhat unhappy over trivial issues. I am unbelievably blessed. I both my legs, I have excellent health, you can look at me and tell I have never been hungry my whole life, I have wonderful friends who care about me – I felt like God was almost telling me “Son why are you unhappy”.
Far too many times we get caught up in the day to day life and fail to give proper thanks for our blessings. Every now and then we need to stop, take account of our lives, and give thanks. As I walked back down the row of merchants, I gave thanks and two donations.
