Maybe Forrest Gump Was Right
Retirement. Most Americans are either ignoring this fact of life hoping it will go away, or facing its eventuality with fear and trembling. Based on a year’s worth of research, I am certain that 9 out of 10 people reading this blog fit that category. There is plenty of available data showing the hopelessness of […]
Being As Responsible As I Can
I have been thinking a lot about my mortality lately. No, I don’t have any premonitions, but Julia and I just updated our Revocable Living Trust and it always makes me think about my life, my relationships, and whether or not I am doing all I can for my family. My first job right after […]
The Sentence That Knocked Down the Berlin Wall (But Almost Didn’t)
This post is a reprint of the November 5 ,2014 article from the Intercollegiate Review. In retrospect, what event fails to suggest a certain inevitability about itself, conveying the sense that because it happened it had to have happened? Twenty-five years ago this week, the Berlin Wall finally fell. Of course it did. How […]
The Failing American Dream: There Is A Cure
In April of this year, John Stossel wrote a thought provoking article about the ability of never quitting as being the reason America has been successful. I quote him here: In the USA, it’s OK to fail and fail and try again. In most of Europe and much of the world, the attitude is: You had your […]
Funding Monticello College: A 21st Century Approach
Historically, most American institutions of higher education struggled to fund themselves. Non-profit institutions did not generally have mechanisms for generating revenue. Thus they relied on tuition, donations, and an endowment. Harvard, America’s first school, suffered this same fate. In 1636, without any endowment (the gift from John Harvard, the school’s name sake was quickly squandered) […]
What The H— Is Wrong With America? – Part Two
CLICK HERE TO READ PART ONE I mentioned in Part One that there can be no political autonomy without financial autonomy. I think the collapsing of American political autonomy is clear to the most casual observer, but what exactly is financial autonomy? If I have a job and can pay my rent and have enough […]
What The H— Is Wrong With America? – Part One
Click Here For Part Two I’ve been angry for a while now. When I turned 50, I took pause and reflected on my life, presuming that I was at the halfway point (yes, I intend to live to see 100). I thought about my childhood in the 60’s and early 70’s. I reminisced my […]
Why Is Monticello College A Functional Farm?
This post is one that will separate our readers into two groups. You will either read it and say, “wow, that makes so much sense, I see why Monticello College has a farm and teaches the manual arts,” or you will read a part of it, become bored, and drift toward leaving the site. Either […]
Significant Developments on the Monticello College Campus
Let me take a couple of lines to bring you current with Monticello College news. My daughter Amber and I spent the greater part of 5 months (Jan-May 2014) in California teaching a program called Personal Financial Autonomy (the Utah segment begins in September). We met with great success and taught over 400 students in 12 locations. We arrived […]
A Revolution of Entrepreneurship
In January, I attended a convention where one of the featured speakers was my friend, Stephen Palmer. Steve’s bio is at the end of this post, but what I want you to know is that Steve actually believes and lives what he says. I hope Steve and Karina won’t mind too much if I get a little personal. I have […]