Re: humanism vs. transhumanism

ChuckKuecker (ckuecker@mcs.net)
Tue, 14 Apr 1998 17:36:09 -0500 (CDT)

At 20:42 4/13/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Actually, Charlotte, it really depends on what state you are in. While I
>would agree that, say, New York residents probably have little hope of
>saving enough for a business, places like Alaska, New Hampshire, Montana,
>S. Dakota, etc. are states with extremly low levels of state tax burden.
>While many real estate tax loopholes that people used to use to create
>businesses are closed, the federal tax rates are lower on average than
>they were in the 60's and 70's. If you can live in a state that has low
>taxes, its not that hard to save, and if you are able to save and put
>anything in stocks for a few years, you can do quite well. My older
>brother, for instance, dropped out of college with nothing but a bad back
>and a lawn mower. Now he owns one of the largest property management and
>landscaping firms in New Hampshire. He was offered a goodly fraction of a
>million for his business this year (ten years since he started it with
>nothing). He also does quite well in the stock market. He has never been
>given any support from anyone, no outside investors, and always pays 'cash
>on the barrelhead'.
>

The biggest factors in 'getting rich' are:

1. Make your own luck - get out there and hustle for your business.
2. Never take a loan if you can avoid it. Paying interest sucks the
lifeblood out of a business.
3. Be willing to live like a streetperson while pouring all your cash back
into the business.
4. Ignore all advice from the Wall Street Journal and MBA's, economics
professors on tenure, etc.

My business has been handicapped by raising a family, so I have not been
able to fully implement points 2 and 3 above. I have been working for five
years now, and am starting to see the end of my debt, and rising profits.
Unfortunately, this corresponds with sending three kids to college.

In short, if you are prepared to work long and hard (and smart!), you will
probably succeed. If not the first time, surely the second or third...

I have seen successful businesses reduced to chaos by managers that
slavishly followed the WSJ and any convenient corporate holy grail such as
'quality', 'downsizing' or 'just in time' wihtout understanding the basic
premises behind these concepts which have valid application in SOME businesses.

Chuck Kuecker, President
C K Enterprises, Inc.
326 Deveron Circle
Cary, Il 60013
USA
(847) 639-2771
(847) 516-1410 FAX
ckuecker@mcs.net
www.mcs.net/~ckuecker/