Tribute. But to whom?

By Johnny D. Symon

It's nigh on two years since I gave account of my effort to right a wrong on behalf of a mature English lady. Maybe it's time to recap on this, because last week I spent quite a few more hours updating her computer system. Originally she purchased a Dell computer from someone she regarded as a friend, but I discovered that he'd installed a pirate copy of XP. This was the root of her problem. I began to right the wrongs through firstly installing a genuine, licensed and paid for, XP.

For nearly two years now her computer has served her well and has been relatively fuss free, the only fuss being that it's rare problems were exacted on it by its rightful owner. The lady's a great human being, but if anything goes wrong she's wont to find a third party to lay the blame on, in this case it's the computer. I've lost count of how many times I've told her that computers do not make mistakes, and if they freeze, almost always it's because the jockey is too heavy on the horse. Sad to say, my words of wisdom inevitably fall on deaf ears, which brings me back to the past week, and further work on my behalf to correct and restore her enfeebled system.

I repaired the registry and reloaded some missing code, then doubled the RAM, fired the thing up, then waa-laah, it was better than ever. After all this was done, my lady friend showed me the original "invoice" for the computer. I gently informed her that the invoice was not an invoice. It pertained to have come from Dell Ireland. The first thing of note was there was no invoice number, secondly, the model specified was priced far higher than Dell advertised it at for that year. Then a warranty was paid for, valued at almost 200 bucks, the lady proudly told me that she had in fact renewed that warranty a year later, and yet she had no written warranty to show for it. A new computer comes with a warranty anyway, so she paid this guy almost 400 bucks extra, and received nothing in return, except that is, a computer that somehow had lost it's cd-burner, and software stolen from it's creator. In truth this printout was an altered answer to an inquiry to Dell, the reply was downloaded and altered to suit, or salt, the customer.

This kind of thing makes my blood boil; piracy of all sorts. For me it's immoral to use something without the owner's permission, and I care not how rich or famous the owner is, it's still their property, and their conditions of use are theirs for the making. Albert Schweitzer once said,

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."

Albert was referring to folks who desire to serve others and not themselves, whereas the guy who sold my friend a coded turkey, desired only to serve himself. Resultantly, what he provided created a multitude of sins, and numerous problems for yours truly to sort out.

As a friend, I provided my rightful services with no charge. It's been a frustrating episode for me, mainly I guess because the whole thing was unnecessary, for had the thing originally been performed legally and above board, and with good heart, this lady's troubles would never have occurred, and my shoulders would have been lighter than they were. I reckon that all of us have a desire to serve, though many of us gradually reach a point where we begin to serve ourselves, then one by one we become responsible for the sorry state of our nation.

I heard Spanish Conservative leader, Mariano Rajoy, yesterday, stating that Spain's economic deflation is a potential disaster. Now Mariano Rajoy is a most learned gentleman, and I believe his heart's in the right place, but I reminded myself that Spanish Conservatism is in fact on par with American Liberalism, and this is the reason why Mariano made the classic politician's mistake of regarding zero inflation as an enemy.

This sentiment is widespread, but it's a myth, a fairytale, that can only be believed by high-tax, high-spend-minded politicians. For you see, zero inflation and deflation is an opportunity to remodel a nation's economy, and correct innumerable wrongs permeating society since ages past. Let's use Spain as an example of how to profit from deflation:

In my last scribblings I referred to the profit margins on foodstuffs in supermarkets compared to what they pay the farmer. I also referred to 70% off store prices. This tells us that there's room for re-channel on the prices front, from the first man to the middle man, then point of sale and the final price, but all of this could only be realized if all parties began to serve others and not themselves. Farmers are paid a pittance for what they produce, supermarkets could easily pay them double, and still make wild profits by halving the price to the consumer. Resultantly, the consumer would buy more, they'd buy in bulk, and government would receive more revenue from the consumer sales, leaving them the luxury of lowering taxes. But again, none of this could come about without the desire to serve others.

The Spanish presidential loon, Zapatonto, is failing to address a failing economy. Instead he's continuing the crusade on "Social Reform," and it's a fool's errand because a society reforms itself with a buoyant economy. So while Zappo desires to bring "equality" into society; equal rights for gays, lesbians, etc, he's failing to address the real problem, which is everyone's right to be in a job, have money in the bank, and be able to afford what they need in the shops without using credit.

Deflation is really a blessing and an opportunity to rebalance a nation and it's peoples. While conversely, inflation has shown itself to be a destructive enemy.

There's been much speculation and discussion within the Spanish media concerning the future of Pedro "Insolbency" Solbes, Spanish Economy Minister. His track record on the economy is abysmal, and although the economy has never been in a worse condition than now, old Pedro the Flunk-boy still avoids any reference to an economic crisis. If it wasn't for the fact that I know Spanish political history like the back of my hand, I'd be wondering why Pedro was chosen by Zapatonto to lead the economic way, because he was also in charge of a disastrous economy at the behest of Felipe Gonzalez.

1993-94 saw the Spanish economy in extremely dire straits. The whole mechanism was in freefall, and most of the credit for this fell on the shoulders of old Pedro, the whispering fool. And with a legacy like this behind him, right-minded souls would get to wondering why anyone in their right mind would re-hire him for the same job a decade later. Well the answer is that the guy who hired him was not in his right mind at all, and Zappo's "vision" does not involve progress, but devolution and degeneration.

The space between the Gonzalez economic blitz and the Zappo one was filled with progress, reparation, and political and economic rebirth. Positive change happened as a form of osmosis because President José María Aznar chose to break the mold by letting industry look after itself, and leaving the Gonzalez laws and plans in place, giving them a fair chance to work. He chose what was in my opinion the best way forward, through not creating new laws and plans, (meaning bureaucracy upon bureaucracy,) leaving his government in the position of concentrating on the most grave and negative aspects of Spain's problem, serving it's strength and resources on the worst of the worst remnants of the Felipe Gonzalez government. Subsequently he lowered taxes, though not before having to replenish the Spanish Pension Fund that old Pedro had frittered away, and that Pedro is beginning, yet again, to dip into.

Spanish President Zapatonto holds a vision for Spain and then the world, that requires a host of Pedro Solbes ineptos and failures. His vision of World Communism cannot be realized without a universal destruction of the ideal called Nationhood. A strong economy is a Communist's worst nightmare, for with strong independent economies is nurtured a peoples with a sense of independence and freedom, reinforcing their sense of national pride and belonging, a love for one's country and its people, and respect for the flag.

Throughout Zappo's five years in office he's never once referred to Spain as a "Nation," for five years he's called it a "País," a "Country." Nowadays both terms have been joined together as if they mean the same thing, but they don't. "National" and "International"-minded are two ends of the spectrum, for to love one's nation is not the same as loving the world, and "country" can only be matched with "countries," neither of which hold authentic weight, or substance, for you see I happen to be a lover of Country music, and I know what the term means, but if anyone called it Nation music it would mean nothing at all.

Perhaps many of us have failed to see how language has been manipulated so much that our once strong understanding of what love, life, liberty, nationhood, patriotism, marriage, sexuality, and more to the present point, service, is all about. It's a kind of watering down that's taken place; a diluting and mixing of diverse compounds; an experiment conducted in the trial-and-error, or try-all-and-err-all, laboratory of World Socialism.

Within the European Union there's a single currency called the Euro. England, however, has held tight to its mother currency, but not for too much longer I suspect. But here's the point. I see little difference to asking the average European to present a coin, and the account given in the gospels of the Pharisees whom Jesus asked to present a coin. The coin presented by the Pharisees used throughout Israel at that time was the denarius, displaying the head of the Roman Emperor. A nation's currency would normally display the head of a prominent national leader, but the point made by Jesus was that since the coin represented the head of a foreign though Israel-ruling Empire, and not their national currency, Caesar and not the God of Israel was in charge of their lives and affairs. In other words Jesus was saying that, "If you guys are so faithful to God, why then was Israel defeated, and as slaves you're forced to render tribute to a living deity and not God Eternal?"

The Euro, for me, makes a similar point, especially during our present so-called international financial crisis. Nations become just countries within a Community, and the Community becomes god-in-His-stead. Therefore, to consent to the death of Nationhood and accept Internationalism in it's place, is in fact spiritual rebellion, and a departure from Biblical faith.


Americans should proudly display a note with George Washington's head on it, and exclaim, "This proves that I am not a slave, for if this note did not contain the image of George Washington, but the head of Adolf Hitler, it would mean that I and my country were not free, but controlled by a foreign power that forces me to give tribute to a foreign Caesar, a human deity!"

For many a long year Christians have failed to understand the grim reality behind the words of Jesus, the message he conveyed is very different to its current understanding. The meaning was warped in order for political leaders to persuade their people that Jesus sanctioned the works of control-freak, high-tax, high-spend, political loons. They tell us that Jesus said, "We pay tribute to the level our leaders dictate," when in fact he declared that "You only render unto Caesar," if you're a defeated nation, otherwise you'd only render to God that which is God's.

Equality, equal rights, a fair and balanced society, and all it entails, would find all of it's citizens sufficient in all things. No one would find it difficult to afford smoked salmon or beluga caviar to serve on Mother's Day, everyone could buy themselves a Lincoln SUV, or a Rolls Royce, and take a luxury vacation once a year. This would be a reflection of a balanced society, a place where everyone worked for the right reasons, for reasons of service, and not solely for personal profit.

That's my idea of the "real" world, and far apart from the ideas of others, people like Sean Penn, who recently called out for "equality for gays," when equality for actors remains on the achievement book. People like Sean can earn millions for one film, whereas tens of thousands of other actors are on the streets and penniless. That's not the heart of fairness and equality. And as the few act out the millions, the screen writers are paid a pittance. That's not equality. And above all, a nation that contains a wildly rich elite, small in number though high in power towering above the billions below, who face each day knowing that their strongest efforts will still leave them scraping at the end of month. That's not equality, it's injustice.

Madoff is not a good example of service, though in fact, and in deed, he's become the model of a sick and greedy society. From the richest guy around, to the richest guy inside, his mindset became a New Religion. If politicians chose not to fritter away a nation's hard-earned resources, and the originators of foodstuffs and products received a just figure for their output, a nation can be reborn and it's people will discover that, yet again, they have the freedom to shun Caesar and serve unto God that which is God's ... His people.

© Johnny D. Symon