Net Worth; Gross Habit

HELLO FOLKS! — I've heard that a man's net income is in direct proportion to his gross habit.

—o—

Public Law 480 has sometimes been titled "a give-away program" because only a small percentage of the value of the products sold actually returns to the U. S. in immediate cash. I believe the figure is about 3 per cent.

The amount that is not returned in trade is used up by our foreign embassies for their operation expenses, returned as a loan or just held in suspension.

This is not exactly an ideal situation, but under the circumstances it is the only answer to the problem of marketing our surpluses and the needy countries to get food for their people.

In order for Japan to buy food she has to sell her finished products. We have import restrictions that prohibit her from selling to us the amount of products necessary for her to buy needed food. Trade is necessary for the economic life of us both.

If the american farmer cannot sell his surplus food he is placed at disparity with the rest of the economy. The inevitable result of such a situation is an economic tail spin such as occurred in the early 30's. For if the farmer cannot buy the things he needs the whole economy suffers too.

We are draining our economic wealth paying for the storing commodities that should be in world trade. If we fail to move these and generate new wealth into the economy the inevitable happens. The same is true for other countries with exportable items. The ideal situation would be a gradual lowering of nearly all trade barriers.

True, we would be in open competition with foreign industries, but the wealth generated would more than make up for the original loss sustained.

However until the public becomes aware of these economic facts Public Law 480 is a must and is necessary. It benefits the U. S. and the other countries involved. It is not a give away program. It is an aid program.

—o—

You have all heard about the train that runs through the middle of the house. Well, the author of that song has nothing on us. We have got a boy here that has a mania for trains and bridges. So we generally have a train in the middle of our house.

Randy got a book for Christmas entitled "The Little Red Caboose". He knows it word for word, and for a long time it was his companion at night.

The book is still readable although there is more cost in the glue, Scotch tape and cloth that had been used for repairs than the book cost originally.

Good Extremism Is Needed — Ed

HELLO FOLKS! — My good friend, Herman Gruis, Jr., suggests that I write something concerning the extremism of such men as Adolph Hitler, Castro and Khrushchev. I think it is a good idea, so here goes.

As I see it, evil always seems to end up in extremism. It either starts moderately or else it just seems to. But unless it is checked it ends up in extremism. I believe it to be a truism that evil always destroys itself. For a long time, evil breeds more evil, but it eventually ends up destroying itself. Human nature will put up with a certain amount of evil for a long time, but eventually it tires of it and mistrusts it until good extremism rises up and replaces it.

How did the extremism of Adolph Hitler get started? As I recall history and understand it, there were too many moderate politicians in Germany at the time.

The saying, "All that is needed for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing," certainly proved true in the case of Germany's Hitler. There are so many seemingly "good" men who think it wrong to step out of the role of moderation. They seem to be consumed with the idea that to be a good Christian or at least a good fellow they have to be a moderate. I think that idea is a complete fallacy. I need to go no further than the word of the greatest authority that ever lived to firm up my convictions.

When Jesus Christ wanted a message to go to the Church at Laodicea he revealed it to John the Revelator and said, among other things, "so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

The modern church leader who is now dead, Ralph W. Hardy, put it this way: "The gospel of Jesus Christ was not placed upon the earth to make ordinary human beings."

So I believe that the very reason we have such men as Castro, Khrushchev, Hitler and many others of their kind is because we have so few good extremists. Too many want to sit back and read history rather than make it; or worse yet, they don't even want to study it.

If we are ever to have peace on earth — and I am certain we will some day — we are going to have to make it. The only was to make it is to live extremely good lives.

Good extremists are generally misunderstood. Their thinking is geared far in advance of the average person and, therefore, they are generally not called to great positions until extreme evil has forced the public to accept them. If, then we are going to be wise enough to place these men where they can do the job that needs to be done, we all have to be somewhat the good extremists ourselves. When we do not understand an extremist we are quite apt to conclude that he is evil, whether that is true or not.