A father from a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

" It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

Too many times, we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have. What is one's person's worthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective.

"Removing the Ten Commandments from the courthouse while making people swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth on the Bible in court rooms."

When it comes to taxes, democracy can best be defined as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana, Spanish philosopher.

The 1878 posse comitatus act now limits the role of the US military in our lives and keeps America from becoming a banana republic. The law was adopted after a 15-year military occupation by the US Army as post-civil war law enforcement in the southern states. (There is a major history lesson to be learned right there).