I am ready for this to be a grand and exciting day. I am ready to be grateful for whatever this day has in store for me. To live my life appreciating the bounties I am to be given.
Too often in this space I spend time examining my life and looking at the problems with it when really it is a wonderful life. Three energetic, unique children, a wonderful, beautiful wife, a nice house in a god neighborhood, two comfortable to drive cars, and the resources to live with every need fulfilled. There are so many people in this world that can’t say that, and we should never forget it.
As humans we think our normal is the world’s normal and our problems are everyone’s, but there are people with problems both larger and smaller walking around making the same mistakes. The world is not an inherently good or cruel place, and neither are people.
I was thinking about the argument people make against universal healthcare and other social programs. The loudest complainers tend to be the 9-14% of the people that find themselves below the 1%. To be honest, thanks to my house, I am in this category, and I will admit I do feel I pay too much in taxes. However, the reason I feel I pay too much is because I don’t get anything for it.
One of the things I look for in a business when investing is how they treat customers. It is why if I had to reduce my portfolio to only two stocks they would be Apple and Amazon. Both companies have tremendous customer service. Our government does not. It is too many DMVs and not enough libraries.
Our government has some of the worst customer support in the world. Just look at how the IRS collects our taxes. They know what we owe and yet ask us to figure it out and then if we get it wrong they come after us. For a couple weeks a year we’re all professional accountants, and does the IRS help anyone with this? Nope. If we want help we have to hire someone, and the people that need it the most are the ones who can least afford it.
Think about the government’s current position on health. The preventative measures are more important than curative ones. Yet they’ve only cut funding and haven’t created a new program that would actually help anyone. It really is crazy.
That is what I am most grateful for. The position I am in means I can ignore most of it. I don’t need the government to provide better customer service, but I should never forget the people that do or if it did start providing better service it could save me some money too.
David Huzzard Writes 