Dear Victorious,
It seems foolish to bail out American car companies. Yet we are spending a vast amount of money. If you were president of the U.S., what would you do about GM and Chrysler?
Toyota Fan
Dear Toyota,
I don't think most Americans can appreciate the economic impact the "big three" American car companies have. Losing them would be catastrophic. They've driven much in the way of jobs in America, to say nothing of the technological innovations they've helped usher in. Simply put, making cars in America has been very good for America.
Each of the "big three" American car companies seems to have caught up with their Asian counterparts --- and is manufacturing very high quality these days. It used to be that there was a wide gap between the quality of American cars and the quality of Asian or European cars. That gap has all but disappeared - so they are each churning out high quality products.
Keep in mind that each of the "big three" American car companies also have big overseas units. GM's Holden brand in Australia and the Vauxhall brand in Europe are both market leaders. Ford and Chrysler both sell under their brands in many countries. Chevrolet and Buick are top sellers in China. While these companies have lost market share in the U.S. to the Asian car companies --- the same is not true outside of the U.S. They each have respectable market share in other markets and have been able to hold onto it. Those are profits that come back to America.
So what would I do if I were president and they asked me for a bailout? I would do one of two things. First, I would force them into bankruptcy (Chapter 11) to reorganize. This would break the unions' and their strangling hold on the manufacturers for salaries, retirement and health care. In the Chapter 11, I'd bust up the pension plan and replace it with a 401K matching plan. In short, I'd use bankruptcy to put these manufacturers on equal footing with their foreign counterparts. Then I'd let them proceed in the open market.
Consider, for example, that Delta airlines did something similar. After emerging from bankruptcy, it acquired Northwest and is now the largest airline in the world - still based in America and still successful.
The second option would be to force Toyota, Nissan and other foreign car makers to buy GM and Chrysler if they wanted to continue to sell cars in America. Over time they could rationalize those acquisitions and even make the brands disappear if they wanted. But they would have to commit to manufacturing here and providing jobs for Americans in their operations. In other words, I'd hand the problem of maintaining and auto industry in America to the people who want to sell cars in America.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Newspapers Going
Dear Victorious,
What gives with the newspapers in this country? Why are they losing money and even going out of business?
Concerned Reader
Dear Concerned,
Because they are less relevant than ever before.
First, people can now get their news needs met via the plethora of news shows (including entertainment and sports news) on cable TV, on the Internet, etc. It used to be the newspaper was the only place to go for comprehensive news. Today, we have things like Google alerts that can even browse all the newspapers of the world and feed us articles on the things we're most interested in. We don't even have to read the newspapers to find out what's in them!
Second, Americans are becoming more ignorant than ever before. Simply put, we don't care about the news. We don't know much about the world around us and don't care to know. We're quite happy being entertained, or worshipping our gods of celebrity, fashion, etc. This is even more true of our younger generations. They simply see no need to be up on the news of the day. They don't value knowledge of current events. In fact, they put a higher value on texting their friends, achieving the next higher level in the latest video game or being entertained at the latest movie. They're ignorant (i.e., uninformed) and they're quite happy to stay that way.
Third, as readership has declined (and paid subscriptions with it), the newspapers cannot get the same money from advertisers that they used to. Even if your local paper is still chock full of advertising and inserts, it is likely that the retailers paid less to stuff the paper with those things than they used to --- because there are less newspapers being delivered or sold than there used to be.
So with revenue from subscription and newsstand sales declining, and advertising revenue declining, but costs for labor and print materials - and costs for worthwhile content escalating --- it becomes a simple numbers formula for the newspapers of today. Their business model is slowly being disenfranchised.
Look for more newspapers to disappear in America. With any luck, their owners can reinvent themselves as media or information companies and survive. If not, they'll disappear too.
What gives with the newspapers in this country? Why are they losing money and even going out of business?
Concerned Reader
Dear Concerned,
Because they are less relevant than ever before.
First, people can now get their news needs met via the plethora of news shows (including entertainment and sports news) on cable TV, on the Internet, etc. It used to be the newspaper was the only place to go for comprehensive news. Today, we have things like Google alerts that can even browse all the newspapers of the world and feed us articles on the things we're most interested in. We don't even have to read the newspapers to find out what's in them!
Second, Americans are becoming more ignorant than ever before. Simply put, we don't care about the news. We don't know much about the world around us and don't care to know. We're quite happy being entertained, or worshipping our gods of celebrity, fashion, etc. This is even more true of our younger generations. They simply see no need to be up on the news of the day. They don't value knowledge of current events. In fact, they put a higher value on texting their friends, achieving the next higher level in the latest video game or being entertained at the latest movie. They're ignorant (i.e., uninformed) and they're quite happy to stay that way.
Third, as readership has declined (and paid subscriptions with it), the newspapers cannot get the same money from advertisers that they used to. Even if your local paper is still chock full of advertising and inserts, it is likely that the retailers paid less to stuff the paper with those things than they used to --- because there are less newspapers being delivered or sold than there used to be.
So with revenue from subscription and newsstand sales declining, and advertising revenue declining, but costs for labor and print materials - and costs for worthwhile content escalating --- it becomes a simple numbers formula for the newspapers of today. Their business model is slowly being disenfranchised.
Look for more newspapers to disappear in America. With any luck, their owners can reinvent themselves as media or information companies and survive. If not, they'll disappear too.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Raising Children
Dear Victorious,
The Bible speaks of children as blessings from God, etc. But it seems that society sees children more as a burden. The newspapers are full of stories about the problems with children. Educating them, pulling them out of poverty, making them behave and other issues seem to be constantly in front of us. Isn't this a dichotomy of sorts?
Love My Children
Dear Love,
Yes, the Biblical truth of the matter is that children are blessings from God. However, they do present society with a dichotomy. While an individual mother or father may truly love their child, that is not the child that society struggles with.
Indeed, society struggles with the exception children. They are the children who have natural issues - such as handicaps, orphans, and expensive or heartbreaking diseases. Those rub society the wrong way. Then there are the unnatural issues with children - such as child abuse, sexual slavery, kidnapping and of course, children who are rebellious. These natural and unnatural problems that stare us in the face.
If it were not for these natural and unnatural problems, everyone would find joy in children in general. But society as a whole would still be challenged. Education, health care, economic opportunities as they mature and other issues would still challenge our governments - and impact our tax base. So while individuals would embrace children, the society as a whole would still find the dichotomy as present as ever.
Make no mistake, children are a blessing from God. But blessings often arrive with great responsibility.
The Bible speaks of children as blessings from God, etc. But it seems that society sees children more as a burden. The newspapers are full of stories about the problems with children. Educating them, pulling them out of poverty, making them behave and other issues seem to be constantly in front of us. Isn't this a dichotomy of sorts?
Love My Children
Dear Love,
Yes, the Biblical truth of the matter is that children are blessings from God. However, they do present society with a dichotomy. While an individual mother or father may truly love their child, that is not the child that society struggles with.
Indeed, society struggles with the exception children. They are the children who have natural issues - such as handicaps, orphans, and expensive or heartbreaking diseases. Those rub society the wrong way. Then there are the unnatural issues with children - such as child abuse, sexual slavery, kidnapping and of course, children who are rebellious. These natural and unnatural problems that stare us in the face.
If it were not for these natural and unnatural problems, everyone would find joy in children in general. But society as a whole would still be challenged. Education, health care, economic opportunities as they mature and other issues would still challenge our governments - and impact our tax base. So while individuals would embrace children, the society as a whole would still find the dichotomy as present as ever.
Make no mistake, children are a blessing from God. But blessings often arrive with great responsibility.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mortgage Help
Dear Victorious,
We keep hearing about the mortgage crisis in America and the government is talking about helping homeowners with their mortgages. I'm not unemployed, but my mortgage has always been a burden and I'd like some relief. Moreover, our house isn't worth what we owe on it and we don't want to pay more for something than it's really worth. How can we qualify for this mortgage assistance and when will it be available?
Strapped for Cash
Dear Strapped,
There may be homeowners who are truly in financial crisis and may be deserving of some public assistance with their housing expenses right now. I doubt very much that you are one of them. Many of today's delinquent mortgage borrowers could in fact afford to pay for their own housing expenses. But they find themselves in one of two (if not both) predicaments.
First, they may have bought more home than they could afford. Or they may have used a mortgage to buy that home that was simply stupid. For example, it may have had a teaser rate that gave them unrealistically low housing expenses up front --- and then climbed to a normal payment rate later. When it climbed, the homeowner is faced with the fact that he or she cannot afford to live in this house!
Second, they may have made a bad real estate investment decision. They find that home prices didn't appreciate and instead declined. And now their house is not worth what they owe on it. So they don't want to pay for it. Instead, they think the banks (which are failing right and left) should pay for their bad investment decision. Or the government.
Both of these situations are caused by moral failure. If you were not already living above your means, and if you had an unforeseeable financial crisis --- then I would think you may be deserving of some short term public assistance. But if that is not the case, then I believe you are guilty. In which case, I hope and pray that the government doesn't use its already stretched resources to help you out!
We keep hearing about the mortgage crisis in America and the government is talking about helping homeowners with their mortgages. I'm not unemployed, but my mortgage has always been a burden and I'd like some relief. Moreover, our house isn't worth what we owe on it and we don't want to pay more for something than it's really worth. How can we qualify for this mortgage assistance and when will it be available?
Strapped for Cash
Dear Strapped,
There may be homeowners who are truly in financial crisis and may be deserving of some public assistance with their housing expenses right now. I doubt very much that you are one of them. Many of today's delinquent mortgage borrowers could in fact afford to pay for their own housing expenses. But they find themselves in one of two (if not both) predicaments.
First, they may have bought more home than they could afford. Or they may have used a mortgage to buy that home that was simply stupid. For example, it may have had a teaser rate that gave them unrealistically low housing expenses up front --- and then climbed to a normal payment rate later. When it climbed, the homeowner is faced with the fact that he or she cannot afford to live in this house!
Second, they may have made a bad real estate investment decision. They find that home prices didn't appreciate and instead declined. And now their house is not worth what they owe on it. So they don't want to pay for it. Instead, they think the banks (which are failing right and left) should pay for their bad investment decision. Or the government.
Both of these situations are caused by moral failure. If you were not already living above your means, and if you had an unforeseeable financial crisis --- then I would think you may be deserving of some short term public assistance. But if that is not the case, then I believe you are guilty. In which case, I hope and pray that the government doesn't use its already stretched resources to help you out!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
TIME OUT
There will be no posts on this blog for a couple of weeks now. You can keep sending your letters though, and I'll resume answering them in a couple weeks.
I'm leaving today for another trip to Uganda. I'll be spending some time with our adopted children there, and attending to some business related to them. I'll also be teaching at a conference in Masaka, Uganda. If you'd like to know more about Masaka - read my main blog at VictoriousConqueror.blogspot.com (link below).
I'm leaving today for another trip to Uganda. I'll be spending some time with our adopted children there, and attending to some business related to them. I'll also be teaching at a conference in Masaka, Uganda. If you'd like to know more about Masaka - read my main blog at VictoriousConqueror.blogspot.com (link below).
Friday, February 13, 2009
Knowing Sin
Dear Victorious,
You've written before about "owning one's brokenness" or recognizing our own sinful state. Just how do you propose someone go about that? And exactly when is it that one would be finished with that task?
Saved By Grace
Dear Saved,
You ask a very good question. There are probably multiple parts to the answer. The first part would be to understand what sin is --- and isn't. God's laws are useful, we're told, for helping us know what sin is. God established the measures for right and wrong in His Word. So read your Bible and make now of what we supposed to do and what we are not supposed to do.
Before you even start reading God's Word though, you have a conscience. God uses it to move you away from things He doesn't want for you. So without intellectual knowledge of what's right and what's wrong, you innately know some level of right and wrong. At the same time, you instinctively know where you're wrong. Watch a toddler tell a lie or steal a cookie. He or she already knows what they're doing is wrong. It proves that on some level we are capable of knowing we're wrong - even before we become educated about right and wrong. So look inside yourself to see what brokenness you already know about it.
The next step is to take a full-blown inventory of your wrongs.
You've written before about "owning one's brokenness" or recognizing our own sinful state. Just how do you propose someone go about that? And exactly when is it that one would be finished with that task?
Saved By Grace
Dear Saved,
You ask a very good question. There are probably multiple parts to the answer. The first part would be to understand what sin is --- and isn't. God's laws are useful, we're told, for helping us know what sin is. God established the measures for right and wrong in His Word. So read your Bible and make now of what we supposed to do and what we are not supposed to do.
Before you even start reading God's Word though, you have a conscience. God uses it to move you away from things He doesn't want for you. So without intellectual knowledge of what's right and what's wrong, you innately know some level of right and wrong. At the same time, you instinctively know where you're wrong. Watch a toddler tell a lie or steal a cookie. He or she already knows what they're doing is wrong. It proves that on some level we are capable of knowing we're wrong - even before we become educated about right and wrong. So look inside yourself to see what brokenness you already know about it.
The next step is to take a full-blown inventory of your wrongs.
- Make a list of all the people who've ever offended, cheated, hurt, slighted or otherwise wronged you. Now ask yourself if you've forgiven them and how reconciled you are to them.
- Make a list of all the people you've ever offended, cheated, hurt, slighted or otherwise wronged. Now ask yourself if you've made amends to them, and paid restitution where necessary.
- Make a list of the people who've been affected, either directly or indirectly, by your sin.
- Make a list of people against whom you hold a grudge or some bitterness, resentment, jealousy or anger. Ask yourself what it's going to take to be reconciled in Christian love to them.
- Make a list of habits or behaviors you have that you know are wrong. Cussing, laziness, greed, lust, judgmental attitudes, cynicism, sarcasm, overeating, drinking too much and other behaviors are common to many of us. They are also wrong.
You can see that these lists will help you identify your brokenness. Once you've identified all of it, keep that list up to date for the rest of your life. In other words, manage your inventory. As you identify these wrongs, there will be a corrective action for you to take. It may mean apologizing and making restitution. It may mean praying or asking for prayer. So make sure you've got your lists up to date, and make sure the appropriate action items are pending for everything on the list.
Finally, there is one last step to owning your brokenness. James 5:16 tells us, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed (of your sins)." What exactly does this mean? There are several places in the Bible where are told to confess our sins to God, in the name of Christ Jesus, and we are forgiven. This is very true. However, God says that if we want to be healed of these sin patterns in our life, if we want to overcome the damages of our sins, then we must confess them to another human being.
So the final part of owning your brokenness, or knowing that you are spiritually poor and in need of a Savior, is to confess your sins - all of them - to someone else. Pick a saint, someone who is trustworthy, and decide to trust them. Be intentional about your confession. Make an appointment. "Hi Joe, listen I've got some things I'd like to confess to you. Would Monday at 9:00 be good for you to meet with me about that?" (It is that easy!) Then have a written list of the things you need to confess and get through it when you meet with Joe.
I believe there is enormous, underestimated merit to living what I call an examined life. Living an examined life means taking an honest and thorough inventory of ourselves, and keeping that inventory up to date. Living an examined life cannot be done alone though. It requires that we stand spiritually naked in front of at least one other human being. In other words, make sure that someone else (besides you) knows the very worst that there is to be known about you.
These, my friend, are definitive steps to "owning one's brokenness." Jesus said, "Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor." (Matthew 5). I don't know about you, but I want to be blessed. So I'm intent on knowing my spiritual poverty!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Cutting Back
Dear Victorious,
In this tight economy, it seems everyone is tightening their belts, or cutting back on their spending. As Christians, it seems like good stewardship would dictate this anyway. But I've learned that what everyone else is doing isn't always right. Are there any places we should not be cutting back financially right now?
Big Spender
Dear Big,
In a tough economy like ours, we’re all looking for areas where we can trim our expenses. It is good, Christ-honoring stewardship to reassess where we’re spending money, for what, and why.
You ask a good question though, and your hunch was right. There are at least two sound bits of counsel from Scripture for these tough times.
First, don’t stop giving to help the poor. Beyond the obvious fact that there are many more people who need help when there is an economic downturn, there is also an important benefit for you when you give to help alleviate the sufferings of the poor. God’s Word promises, “He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” (Proverbs 28:27) A safeguard against experiencing lack yourself is to give to help those who are in serious need.
As this verse warns, this is no time to look the other way. This is no time to invite curses on our finances. Now is the time for compassionate Christians to empathize with those suffering hardships and help lift them to a better life, and do this in Jesus’ name.
Second, don’t stop giving to missions. Philippians 4:19 is a conditional promise. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Now read the context. Paul was commending the Philippian church for their generous investment in his missions outreaches. Because they had their priorities right – giving to what is dear to the heart of God – they could bank on God’s provision for them.
Frankly, in times like these I intentionally defy the evil spirit of fear by giving above and beyond what I might typically give. Sometimes this feels like a test of faith, as the economic world tries to close in around me. But we must remember that even though we may feel some of its effects, at the end of the day we are not subject to the whims of the economy. Nor are we influenced by the fears of economists who have no allegiance to Christ’s Kingdom. God will always make provision for the things He calls us to do.
In this tight economy, it seems everyone is tightening their belts, or cutting back on their spending. As Christians, it seems like good stewardship would dictate this anyway. But I've learned that what everyone else is doing isn't always right. Are there any places we should not be cutting back financially right now?
Big Spender
Dear Big,
In a tough economy like ours, we’re all looking for areas where we can trim our expenses. It is good, Christ-honoring stewardship to reassess where we’re spending money, for what, and why.
You ask a good question though, and your hunch was right. There are at least two sound bits of counsel from Scripture for these tough times.
First, don’t stop giving to help the poor. Beyond the obvious fact that there are many more people who need help when there is an economic downturn, there is also an important benefit for you when you give to help alleviate the sufferings of the poor. God’s Word promises, “He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” (Proverbs 28:27) A safeguard against experiencing lack yourself is to give to help those who are in serious need.
As this verse warns, this is no time to look the other way. This is no time to invite curses on our finances. Now is the time for compassionate Christians to empathize with those suffering hardships and help lift them to a better life, and do this in Jesus’ name.
Second, don’t stop giving to missions. Philippians 4:19 is a conditional promise. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Now read the context. Paul was commending the Philippian church for their generous investment in his missions outreaches. Because they had their priorities right – giving to what is dear to the heart of God – they could bank on God’s provision for them.
Frankly, in times like these I intentionally defy the evil spirit of fear by giving above and beyond what I might typically give. Sometimes this feels like a test of faith, as the economic world tries to close in around me. But we must remember that even though we may feel some of its effects, at the end of the day we are not subject to the whims of the economy. Nor are we influenced by the fears of economists who have no allegiance to Christ’s Kingdom. God will always make provision for the things He calls us to do.
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