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What My Parents Taught Me

How to love.
To love God and family.
To pray daily.
To go to church.
To be thankful.
To always consider the consequences of actions.
To be patient and kind.
To admit when you are wrong.
To face your fears and your problems.
To finish what you start.
To persist and try your best.
To work hard.
To be helpful.
To treat everyone with respect.
To be honest.
To be thankful.
To not waste food.
To help the poor and less fortunate.
To respect the property of others.
To represent your family well.
To be home in time for dinner.

Some Advice to my Grandchildren

Do not be afraid to live the life you were destined for. That is a lot to swallow, but it is grounded in the belief in a loving God who created each one of you with unique gifts and the potential for great personal growth and holiness. The purpose of personal growth is to serve God and others.

Take every opportunity to learn and do not be disheartened by failure. Good things take hard work, so do not be afraid to work hard and persevere. You will often fall short and fail, but keep going because that is how we learn and improve. This goes for both intellectual and technical learning, as well as learning to be a more loving person. You may sometimes not like who you are because of things you have done, or not done. Do not beat yourself up, but repent and be determined to change for the better. Persevere, no matter how many times you fail. God never gives up on you.

Love people, not things – and use things, not people. In short be kind and live by the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Love is more than a fleeting feeling. It is a constant. It is a personal decision you make every day to only want what is best for others. You cannot say you love God, whom you cannot see, if you cannot first love those around you. To me, the fact that I love, is proof of the existence of God.

In order to have the discipline to love well, we need to develop good habits. We develop good habits by consistently making good choices over a period of time. We have a lot of opportunities to practice this, as we are faced with choices each and every day of our lives. Making the loving choice on a regular basis helps us become the person God wants us to be. We develop habits in thought, word and deed. Here is an ancient quote that has helped me learn to appreciate the power of habit.

“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.

Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds.

Be careful of your deeds for your deeds become your habits.

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character, for your character is your destiny.”

One habit you should develop is the habit of gratitude. Everyday, be thankful for who you are and what you have. Do not compare yourself to others or what they have, to what you have. Instead, give thanks to God for the many blessings He has given you. Being thankful is the only response to a loving God who knows who you are and what you need.

And, above all, love. This is what St. Paul says about love.

“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.”

Jesus loves you, and so do I.

Perfect Happiness?

I do not believe in the idea of “perfect” happiness. That is a concept left to the state of heaven. To me happiness is a fluid state of consciousness drawn from the high and low points of one’s life. Happiness is not a destination, at least not in our lifetime. Rather it is derived from a sense of appreciating and being thankful for the good things in our lives, and being able to overcome or transcend those inevitable low points in our lives.

So, rather than the term perfect happiness, I will base this essay on what happiness is to me.

Happiness is seeking and knowing who I am and what I stand for and attempting to integrate that understanding into all my relationships and aspirations.
Happiness is knowing I am attempting to do my best with what I have and continuing to learn to be better a version of myself.
Happiness is when I experience caring and the giving and receiving of kindness and blessings.
Happiness is when I have good health, strive for good health, am recovering from poor health, or when I decide to leave a difficult health condition to God.
Happiness is being appreciative and thankful each day for the blessings and lessons of life.
Happiness is being surrounded by family and friends.
Happiness is having and keeping faith.
Happiness is looking in the mirror and liking who I see.
Happiness is knowing I am loved by God and family despite my many shortcomings.
Happiness is being alive.

Adam Smith

The Scottish Philosopher Adam Smith, who is often described as the the father of economics, published An Inquiry into the the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776 – a date that coincides with the Declaration of American Independence.

Among the many ideas that Smith put forward, there are three that best describe his philosophy. They concern (1) The Nature of Wealth, (2) The Necessity of Free Markets, and (3) Specialization and the Division of Labor.

Wealth

Moving away from the Mercantilist definition of wealth as the amount of gold accumulated by a nation, Adam Smith defined wealth as the production of goods and services in a nation that sought to improve the lives of the general population. Our current economic measure of GDP (gross domestic product) would fall under Smith’s definition (although some may argue whether some of the goods produced actually improve the lives of the population).

Self Interest and Free Markets

Smith believed that we are social beings that enjoy social interactions and typically care about our neighbors. However, Smith contended that ultimately we would always look out for ourselves and our families. He also believed we should be free to choose and compete in the work we do, rather than be born into certain professions. This personal self interest, freedom to choose and competition would result in the better workers being able to sell more of their goods and services. He contended that Market institutions consisting of individual participants seeking their own self interest are therefore best for producing wealth (Capitalism was not a word used yet, but this was what Smith was describing). However Smith recognized that the free market system has flaws and should be protected from unfair competition. Smith also recognized that while some inequality was necessary in a market system, the government’s role was to ensure fair competition and protect the market against monopolies and unfair commercial practices.

One important point that is often forgotten when Adam Smith’s philosophy on personal freedom is quoted, is his stipulation that freedom of action should be carried out within the laws of justice. The following are his own words from “The Wealth of Nation.” “Any man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interests in his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man, or order of men.”

The Division of Labor & Specialization

The third idea that Smith put forward was that of the Division of Labor and Specialization. Quite simply this was to break down a task into its connected components and to have different people specialize in each function. The example given is the production of pins. If four people worked independently to produce pins, they would do all the tasks themselves, from (1) straitening the wire, to (2) cutting the wires to pin size, (3) sharpening the pins and (4) dulling the heads. They would each produce a certain amount of pins. However if each of the four specialized in one of the tasks – i.e. one just straightened the wire, one cut the wire, one sharpened the ends and one dulled the heads – they would be able to produce much more pins than if they worked independently. Specialization also allowed workers to get better and faster at what they did, thus improving productivity. This idea was an important innovation at the time that Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations as it was written at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Smith defined what wealth was (the production of goods and services to benefit the population) and identified the drivers of wealth (individual self-concern working in free markets; and specialization and the division of labor). He laid the foundations of a free market economy which is still practiced today.

In my opinion, Adam Smith had a lot right except for one important point (which he briefly acknowledged in paragraph 5 above). Unfortunately self interest is a double edged sword. While it encourages free enterprise, it can also stifle it. If left unchecked by government and appropriate regulations, self interest can lead to the many ills that has impacted and will continue to impact unbridled Capitalism. Some of these are the consolidation of self interest among certain constituencies (the problem of being beholden to political lobby contributions); the growing remuneration gap between labor and management; and, the growing uneven distribution of income.

An Interesting bit of Family History

I never met my grandpa (my dad’s father). He died twenty years before I was born. His name was Paul Marius Carrier. He was known as a pious boy who aspired to the Catholic priesthood. When he was a young man, he left for Paris to study for the priesthood. However, he was prone to sickness and had to leave his studies and return home. A few years after he returned, he met my grandma Ethel Lowe and they fell in love and got married.

Paul and Ethel went on to have eleven children. The picture below shows Paul and Ethel (in the center of the photograph) with nine of the children. Also included in the picture is Ethel’s sister with her husband and son.

Now, this family certainly would not have happened if grandpa Paul succeeded in becoming a Catholic priest.

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What is a Social Democrat

There are many words and terms thrown around in the political arena. Many have evolved from their original meaning to describe the opposite of their original intent. Some examples are the words conservative, liberal, republican, democrat, social democracy and democratic socialism.

I would like to dwell on the latter two in this post as one of them describes my political leanings. Most people who call themselves Democratic Socialists in the United States are actually Social Democrats. And while it may not make much of a difference (at least in the US) since they are freely used interchangeably, it is important to know how they originally differed.

I am a Social Democrat. A Social Democrat believes in Capitalism and sees it as an efficient instrument in running the economy with some exceptions. The Laissez Faire system of Capitalism as defined by Adam Smith sees “personal self-interest” as the hidden hand that regulates the economy. However, even many capitalists agree that “personal self interest” does need to be regulated otherwise it will lead to situations where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. The laws we have against the development of commercial monopolies are an example of regulation in a capitalistic society. Here are some acts and regulations that were used to ensure a more equitable capitalism. The Homestead Act of 1862; the Morill Land Grant College Act of 1862; The Sherman Act of 1890; and The Clayton Act of 1914. We have had an understanding and history of ensuring that Capitalism does not widen inequity. We should continue to ensure that Capitalism remains fair for all constituents.

Besides regulations that are needed to stabilize a capitalistic system, there are some areas that by their nature should not be just left to free market forces. We recognize that National Defense and Security is one of these areas. However, we have yet to fully recognize and accept that Education and Health are important areas that should not be solely left to the market. My own rationale – besides the fact that free market forces lead to gross inequity and inefficiencies in these areas – is based on my contention that human capital and ingenuity are the prime movers of any thriving economy. If we believe that, then it makes sense to ensure that we have healthy and educated citizens who can readily and successfully contribute to the growth of the economy.

While we are at it, let’s see why I have problems with the term Democratic Socialist. A Democratic Socialist (in the original sense) sees Capitalism as a failure and through democratic means seeks to introduce state ownership of the factors of production. This is not what I believe, and not what so called Democratic Socialists in the US believe. Capitalism with proper regulation in needed areas is a very efficient economic system.

We need to support a healthy Capitalism but we must have measures in place that will intervene and prevent the growth of unhealthy Capitalism. To simply label such programs like Social Security, Universal Health Care, and other human oriented initiatives, “socialism” is misleading and reveals a certain lack of appreciation and concern for reality and the human condition.