The Dream

When my friend called me the other evening to let me know her husband had passed, it was so difficult to hold back the tears.  They were truly "a couple," and one I admired greatly.  Even though he was a believer and she is a woman of great faith, my heart broke for her.  Fifty doesn't sound young to everyone, but dying just short of your 50th birthday is young and becoming a widow at 50 does seem early.  As she and I talked briefly, both guarding our voices from cracking, she made a simple and eloquent statement.  She said, "We got to live our dream."

I have no idea if they are members of the "Other 1 Percent" or if their due diligence, good management, and land acquisition has caused them to be blessed of our Creator, self made "One Percenters."  Their children are now grown and married with children of their own, well on their way to being the respected successes their parents became.

There were two adorable anecdotal accounts the widow had shared with the minister who shared them through the service.  These two people were married two months after this gentleman farmer graduated from high school.  In a day and time of throw away relationships, they married at 18 and were blessed to celebrate a 31st wedding anniversary, this past summer.  First, was the marriage proposal.   After he got off work, he went to see the love of his life where she worked.  He waited for her break time, and they went outdoors.  He was a man of few words.  He said, "I'm going to buy cows, do you want to get married?"   The minister went on to tell how those two kids went to Wal-Mart bought her bridal set and his band, married, went to Branson for their honeymoon and after two days, said, "Enough of this, let's get our life started."

The second memory she shared was also one of precious innocence and strong determination, from her now more mature perspective.  When they got home from their honeymoon, the young husband announced to his new bride, they needed to talk about money.  She sat down to listen, unsure of what she would hear.  He told her he had a savings account.  She asked him what that was . . . He then stated he had $3000.00.  All these years later, she's laughed telling that story saying, when he said $3000.00, she thought she'd married Bill Gates.

Sunset on their farm

While most of their generation and the one before them chased "the American dream," those two 18 year old kids did invest that savings account into Jersey cows and land.  The dairy farm has earned them a nice living, but more importantly, they actually worked the land, tended the animals and as she said, "lived their dream."

It's Later Than We Think

There has been a serious miscalculation about time and preparation that we simply must correct.  We have separated the term and concept of preparation from the present tense.  Obviously preparing can pertain to future events, but the future can be an hour from now or tomorrow, it doesn't have to be years down the road.  When I first began homesteading or "prepping" as it's called, I thought in the context of the future, the somewhat distant future.  Thankfully, I did have some time to learn and prepare, but as my life changed into living off the land, I discovered preparation by the season, even by the day.

Many speak of coming troubles and even unbelievers see potential calamity on the horizon, yet so many are continuing business as usual.  So many speak of what is in store for America, from economic struggles to potential disease, to invasion of the homeland, yet we're still going about life the same way we were, last year and the year before that.  It seems many believe there will be some sort of countdown warning, right before the collapse.  If many of us do think we are the brink of some sort of calamity or chaos, have we considered this may be the countdown warning?

What if two wars, devastating hurricanes, and the great recession have been the countdown warnings since 9/11.  Six years of quantitative easing has ceased, and the modern Tower of Babel, a.k.a. One World Trade Center has opened just this past week.  The first tenants were scheduled to begin moving in November 3, 2014.  The deadline for Iran in the Nuclear Deal is slated for November 24, yet, the camping plans at retailers, for Black Friday are already in the works.  How do we prepare without fearmongering?  Are we conspiracy theorists if we connect the dots?

I'm not so worried about the labels any more, I have to seriously look at my own situation.  I can sound the warning and shout about readiness, but the question boils down to me as an individual, a servant of the Most High G-d, and disciple of Y'hshuwah.  If everything listed in the previous paragraph, and many things not mentioned were all countdown warnings, am I ready?  I've been praying for a five fold ministry to gather here.  Am I ready for 4-12 more people to assemble here?      

Y'hshuwah didn't say, "get ready," He said, "Be ready!"  

Moving to Lifestyles

Being a member of The Other 1 Percent really isn't so much about just money.  The One Percent may claim the same thing, but the reality is, their money is what sets them apart in the deep, deep belief of Capitalism.  I'm not holding that against them.  The 98% claim to have standards against The One Percent that would better serve all mankind.  To be honest, I would of course financially fit into the 98%, probably not even as high as the middle, but I simply do not share their priorities.  It's my personal belief that a sudden redistribution of wealth would result in the money migrating back to the same hands, once again in a very short time.  That thought is far from original.

Although I don't consider myself financially wealthy, I have invested in assets, rather than consumer goods.  That is a big difference between The One Percent and the 98%.  While the 98% claim The One Percent should be more giving, very few of the 98% are as generous with their own earnings as they expect the wealthy to be.  It's fairly safe to say, the 98% spends a larger percentage of their available cash on what they want for the short term, than the wealthy do, whom they are attacking.  It's just that the wealthy have more dollars to play with.  There are some in this country who inherited their money, but the self-made One Percenters paid a price that most of the 98% can't even imagine, much less willingly accomplish.

I can't relate to The One Percent.  Money doesn't seem like a security to me.  Stock investments are clearly in the control of the powers that be.  Gold and silver are only of value if there are buyers or those who will accept it in exchange of goods.  Paper and coins are not edible, the paper will burn, but not long enough to keep anyone warm.  Paper and coins are not substantial protection against the elements of nature.  The reality is, we live in a society in which the rich will remain rich, because they are in control of what is purchased, and most of the poor will remain poor, because they subsist on wages to purchase consumer goods, which are not assets.  There is no investment for gain in the financial choices of most of the 98%.

The main difference, as I understand it at this time, is the Other 1 Percent are drawing a different line between needs and wants, and investing toward that end.  The Other 1 Percent is a lifestyle, rather than just another percentage placeholder in the economic imbalance of our society.

The Other One Percent is moving to our Lifestyles Section and we're adding a link to a more mainstream concept in investments and business, just to stay abreast of where our economy is really heading.