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My Beloved Country... Part 2 My Beloved Country Part II Originally Published on June 6, 2009 "Will this generation that has enjoyed the fruits of Life and Liberty, deny these very same fruits to future generations?" Some may say this is a ridiculous question. "Of course we want to pass these fruits onto the next generation, who wouldn't?" So I would like to tell you a story. "There was once a young man who was given a large estate from his father. It was a beautiful fertile piece of land with enough harvest and livestock to feed his current family and provide his children and their children with blessings for countless generations to come. His father's only request to his son, in accepting the land, was for the Son to hand it down to his children in the same or better condition than when he received it. The Son's reply was "Of Course Father, Only a fool would want to hand his child anything less!" So when the young man received the land, he was excited and his enthusiasm gave him the motivation to work countless, tireless hours on the land. His efforts were rewarded with great harvests and he his life was good. As time went by he began to buy the latest products to make his life even better - even more rewarding. But as he acquired these different items, he was no longer giving the land the time he used to give it and his harvests began to shrink. So he hired his neighbors to work his fields. And as his neighbors worked the fields, his harvests grew once again. As the Son's neighbors worked the fields and got their share of the lands profits, they saw the stuff that Son had bought for himself and wanted it for themselves. So they demanded more wages from the Son. Not wanting to go back into the field himself, The Son agreed and increased the wages for his neighbors. Soon, the Son was spending less time working the land and spending more time on the recreational aspects of his life. He complimented his own intelligence and said to his family "How my father would have been proud of me. I have the farm yielding more harvest than it has ever yielded. I have provided my neighbors with an opportunity to better their lives and I am accumulating so much other material wealth to give to my children. The Legacy I am creating will last forever." In the meantime, his neighbors had followed the Son's example and had also hired workers so that they could spend less time working the land themselves and more time appreciating the finer things in life. This cycle went on for years. The Son eventually found himself in a situation where he could no longer afford to pay the workers, for the land could only produce so much. Not wanting to go back to the daily physical toil of working the land with his own hands, he sought out the advice of a Banker. The Banker told him he could have it all and even more. He could continue to buy those things that he wanted, pay his workers more money and even take more time off. All the young man would need to do is to agree to give the banker a percentage of the future profits and a minimum payment every month. So the young man entered an agreement with the banker. And life seemed to be good. But soon enough the son found himself in the very same situation he had found himself in earlier. Wages had escalated, profits were down and the land was becoming barren from overuse. His Neighbor's workers wanted more, so his Neighbors needed more. Because his neighbors needed more - he needed more. But the finances were empty. The Son began to sell off his possessions in order to meet the demands for more pay but soon there were no more possessions. Eventually, the Son could no longer make the minimum payments to the banker. The Banker seized the land and evicted the son, his entire family and his neighbors from it. The Son had lost what his father had given him. The lesson here is simple. At anytime, the Son could have simply gone back and worked the land himself - but he didn't. He could have cut back on his spending - but he didn't. And even though he said he wanted to hand the land down to his children, every action he took had exactly the opposite effect. He wanted it all... Thought he could have it all and in the end... he was simply wrong. It is said that "Only a child thinks they can have it all - but only a fool thinks they can have it all without consequences."		Declaration of Independence Image