The cost of the freedom to be free.

16 February 2000

Note: Willie D. Wormie was planning on running for President in 1992 and had just finished and copied his first press release announcing his candidacy when a human "Slick Willie" entered the race. Because of the problems human beings have with name recognition, Willie D. Wormie believed that his high ethical standards could be sacrificed for political gain, he therefore reluctantly withdrew from the political scene. Mr. Wormie has now made a miraculous comeback, recently being anointed Philosopher-King of Meyers Falls, Oikosvirtual the world's oldest virtual community. This article is in response to the first question of the Forum Section of the community . If you would like to participate in this forum please log onto www.meyersfalls.com and follow the links, or follow the current URL http://www.goodnewsreport.net/forum.html/ (Editor)

Question: Is it appropriate for a candidate for President of the United States to tailor his remarks when speaking on the stump, if those remarks in any way foster the racial divisions within the human family?

Response by: Willie D. Wormie, Philosopher-King, Meyers Falls, Oikosvirtual

I understand that this question may relate to a statement made by one of the Republican candidates, whom many have assumed to be the next leader of the free world. I would have liked to ask him directly but, when I tried to contact this individual, I was told he would only receive comments of 350 words or less and he didn't have staff to respond to all the questions coming from humans. Can you imagine what would happen if he got a serious question from and earthworm. Let me tell you from my experience, humans should, or should have the ability to hire someone for their political staff, who could read more than 350 words without suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder or some other anomaly.

As I understand the context of the situation, this person was at a meeting in South Carolina, with some political supporters, many of whom were of Afro-American heritage. The comment was made that the statistics state, that the wealth of white American families is ten times that of black American families. Those facts I do not dispute, but then he went on to say, that in order to start a business, to achieve the American Dream, all a white person needs to do is just borrow the needed funds from his Uncle Tom. Then he further stated, that the Black person who doesn't have a rich Uncle Tom to borrow or invest those funds in his business enterprise may then forever be shut out of that dream. I believe that statements of this type foster racial prejudices that all white folks, are born with a silver spoon in there mouth.

What his naive statements illustrate, is not really a racial divide in this country, but a class divide. This divide is between the wealthy educated elite with access to capital, and the rest of the American community. Between the haves in abundance, with the stock portfolios, and the just getting by. When he then goes on to state that he wants to give a tax break to working people he again misses the point, because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that for a majority of working Americans, the income tax is not really an income tax at all, but a revenue tax. They are taxed on their gross revenues, not on incomes. But again, this tax break issue is really an argument from elitism.

The greatest tax burden in this country is really the Social Security - Medicare Tax, which is probably as it should be. There is also the corporate health insurance tax, though we don't call it a tax, as such. But call it what you wish, it is still a payment by employers to their employees, amounting at least to a couple of hundred dollars a month for individuals and much more for families. Just as politicians are willing to tinker around the edges of the income tax system, so they can only tinker around the edges of the health insurance issue, because special business interests of the social elite want it that way. In the mean time forty million Americans are without health insurance of any kind.

Much talk will be said in this upcoming election about maintaining this boom of the United States economy. We will hear spin, we will see smoke and mirrors, and more promises. But we shall not see any substantial change unless someone comes up with an alternative, to MOS (more of the same). Someone who also has the where with all and the political security to take a stand. As an earthworm, a Red Manure worm by race, politically secure in my role as Philosopher-King of Meyers Falls, Oikosvirtual, the world's oldest virtual community, the buck stops here. As perhaps one of the last great American presidents said.

With my ears to the earth's good soil, I once heard of a man from Odessa, Washington. Many people behind his back called him BS Henry. I never heard of anyone who could talk down Henry. As Henry talked and talked sometimes he would mention some pearl of wisdom. The only problem was, Henry was too busy talking to listen to himself and mostly he missed the application of his wisdom. But a few humans new that when Henry walked into the room you might as well listen, for one thing, you couldn't do anything else, but also by listening carefully, you could sometimes through the stories, pick up some great insights about life and the opportunities it presents. Henry passed on a few years back, but perhaps that same gift was present in the presidential candidate mentioned earlier. That gem relates to the formation and access to capital as the real key to maintaining this economic boom and allowing it to be planted and grow throughout the world.

As my ancestors and I have observed human beings over all these thousands of years of the progression of human culture, we have come to the belief that the whole human family is united not only in biological unity (have you ever tried to mate with a night crawler) but also with the desire to be free. This desire really is made up of two parts. The first part is to be free from the oppression of others. This is something quite difficult for those from the class of cultural and financial affluence to understand. The second part is to be free from the individual preoccupation with themselves. These desires are common to all of the human species. If they could understand like my ancestors have always understood, all gains in life are achieved only by improving the quality of the soil. Left to our own devices, we become just a shallow can of worms. So let's look at these attributes as they relate to the pursuit of happiness, as Americans have defined it. Notice before we begin, pursuit is a trip, not a destination.

Last week I heard about a young woman, from North Idaho. Her description was as a "Julia Roberts look alike with a couple of more prominent assets". I find it amazing that humans (regardless of sex) for some reason look at those types of assets in women as more important than brain power and integrity. This admiration seems to cross all cultures, social classes, races and nationalities. Julia as we will call her, was a dancer in those clubs where those assets are definitely an asset. But Julia, read Barrons and one day hoped to raise enough capital to start an internet cafe and use a little more of her eternal, internal God given gifts. The question of freedom is, if there were another source of capital, for a young good looking woman from North Idaho, other than showing off her physical assets, would she avail herself of that opportunity. The point is without an Uncle Tom more interested in Julia's higher development and not just her physical attributes, Julia is stuck making lemonade with the lemons she has been given.

The more common means for humans to achieve this freedom however is to work for "da man" for thirty years. After that early retirement, freedom is then achieved at fifty percent of base pay. So then you can say, "Take this job and shove it you lying SOB!" That statement is an abbreviated summary of another situation I learned of last week. This person on their thirtieth anniversary of teaching, caught their principal in just another lie, fostered to improve his own career. It is amazing how this method of achieving some personal freedom really is the foundation of the American social state. This too is really not racist in any form, the amount of money involved needs to be addressed by political means, but as a country without much of a social safety net, limited other opportunities other than hanging on until you can retire, exist for common people.

Taking it overseas, I'm sure a lot of Russian women really don't like the opportunity of becoming prostitutes in various European countries. But the facts of life point out just as with Julia, the need to eat and the possibility to produce enough capital to break the cycle of poverty, results in using the only gift of assets that they have naturally been given. The same is also true in Thailand and the Philippines. This exploitation of some by the social establishment is only different, in different countries because of economies of scale and a very limited social morality.

So what can be done to alleviate such forms of bondage? Starting here, in America, this freedom can be exported along with the technology of this new global economy. As in the last century, after the imposition of the income tax, the only way to bring this about is through modifications to the tax system. Uncle Sugar has to point Uncle Tom in the right direction. First of all, essentially all new jobs are created by small business. All current business incentives including tax rates are pointed toward maintenance and growth of wealth from existing sources. Investing in mutual funds, the stock market etc. Much of that is through, tax deferred routes. Because of our current low marginal tax rates, there is really absolutely no reason to take any risk in investing in any risky startup, or early rounds of financing with Julia's internet cafe. After all if Julia was not so good looking, she would have had to go to college to get a good job.

Also, in America anyone who has the internal assets to create and maintain a job producing enterprise has access to more debt, through bank cards, equity loans and the like, than they can reasonably hope to service, should some unforeseen event happen. Starting a business by taking out an equity loan on the house is asking for trouble. Uncle Tom has worked all his life on the job, and he really isn't to keen on hair brained schemes either, its just that his wife Julia was once. . . and she understands risk.

That leaves all of us, Black, White, Yellow, Brown, Red, or Red Manure Worm to come up with some sort of equity financing for start up businesses. In many countries of the world, as once was true in the United States, marginal tax rates are so high that you might as well take the risk, because the government is going to take it anyway. That will not happen again in America in my lifetime. One other Republican candidate recommends abolishing the whole tax system and replacing it with consumption taxes, like we have here in Meyers Falls, Oikosvirtual. But that is way too idealistic for 21st century America. There are too many entrenched political interests in the American democratic system. While I, as Philosopher-King, speak and it happens here in Meyers Falls.

What needs to happen is for Uncle Sugar to tell Uncle Tom, that his investments, up to ten thousand dollars per year, will forever be free of tax burden. Uncle Tom invests ten grand in niece Julia's internet cafe, Julia manages the business and it grows until it has the cash flow for Julia to go to the bank and truly service that debt. She buys out good old Uncle Tom for $100,000. Just think for a moment, what would happen if Julia somewhere along the line developed this great, even better idea, and eventually Julia became the next Martha Stewart and Uncle Tom's ten grand went along in the public offering, still tax free. Uncle Tom is so happy he really retires early, or he hears of this great opportunity that this "Worm of color" has to create a new world.

Now all new companies require more than just $10k to get started, but there should be a limit of $500,000 of seed capital that Julia can raise from this venue. Since each investor is limited to $10,000, Julia will also have to hit up Uncle Dick and Uncle Harry also. In fact she is going to have to badger all her friends and relatives for money, just as she has to do now. The only difference is that now her family has a potentially lucrative investment to listen to. If these investment opportunities were also allowed to corporations, LLCs and nonprofits, and not only in America but around the world, entrepreneurship would become the major growth industry. Then perhaps Brother Loves Traveling Salvation Show, could once again focus on salvation instead of the show and the fleecing of sheep.

In the current tax structure all that would be required is a line on the current tax forms for "Nontaxable equity investments". Each year Tom would report the new companies in which he invested his pretax, nontaxable equity investments, listing with the companies EIN (Employer Identification Number), along with previous years investments, limited by that $10,000 per year provision. Those records, as an IRS filing would be subject to audit procedures, just as are the rest of Tom and Julia's return. For those business that went bust, they could still take a loss according to current loss provisions.

This brings us back to the initial question. The only way that man's racist tendencies will be overcome is not pointing fingers at some rich Uncle Tom no matter his color, as the presidential candidate's statement helped others to do, but to understand that the American dream is not achieved based on the equality of outcomes, but on the equality of opportunity. While this is not a perfect world, the freedom to achieve freedom from oppression from others and to eventually to struggle to give to others more than they deserve, will only come when those who have, are willing to share their abundance with those who have not. This is really achieved by allowing for the diverse opportunity for the creation of capital to foster small business community development.

America has an unique opportunity this first election cycle of the new millennium. For perhaps the first time in her history, the five remaining candidates for President are all persons of character, not just characters. Three have been groomed from birth to the possibly of that election, the other two are also men of unusual giftings. All have achieved in their own way the freedom from bondage of oppression of others, and are really their own men. All seem to be seeking the office for the opportunity to serve beyond their own self interest. This is truly an unique time in history. But, all of these humans are men, and as a consequence, they are wired with the emotional wiring of an earthworm. Therefore it is imperative on the American electorate to understand when each candidate says, "I feel your pain!", that some significant rewiring or refining must have taken place for that to be a really true statement. Remember with men of this stature, understanding of a normal life's pains and heartaches is an acquired or learned attribute.

Thank you for your kind understanding and God bless you, and God bless America! Oops, I forgot I'm no longer have to run for any elected office.
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At your service,

Willie D. Wormie
Philosopher-King, Meyers Falls, Oikosvirtual

PRAYER PLANTS

This article without this prayer section will be posted as stated above and mailed to a few news sources. We have moved into new ground, as Willie would say, "Prayerfully good earth!" As with all changes, we most of the time would rather remain in Egypt than to step forth boldly in faith. One nice thing there are way too many things hanging out for me to afford much time to worry about individual actions. One day at a time, sweet Jesus! Please pray for my understanding, or obedience to His leading and my openness to follow this path forward.

When you realize just what we have received in the adoption as sons and daughters in Jesus Christ, why do we find it so hard to take even minute risks, when people like Julia (this week a real person who's real name I do not know, nor did I have the opportunity to meet) are willing to risk it all to pursue a dream for only the temporal pursuit of happiness. Our God is in the business in changing lives such as hers into a new lives, where temporal assets are just that, and her desire for freedom from herself is a process, we in the church call, the progressive sanctification of the saint. Pray for Julia and all like her you may meet, or if you do not know anyone like that, pray for the boldness to take the risk, to be in situations where the paths of your lives may meet. That can be scary but that is the real reason we are here.

Praise ye the Father for his loving kindness, Tenderly cares he for his erring children;
Praise him, ye angels, praise him in the heavens, Praise ye Jehovah.

Praise ye the Saviour, great in compassion; Graciously cares he for his chosen people;
Young men and maidens, ye old men and children, Praise ye the Saviour.

Praise ye the Spirit, Comforter of Israel, Sent of the Father and the Son to bless us,
Praise ye the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Praise ye the Triune God. Amen.

Elizabeth Rundle Charles, 1826-96