The Education System's Effect on Personal Sustainability Podcast Episode 7

The education system is a big deal. Here in Alabama the AEA Alabama Education Association is arguably  the most powerful labor union in the state. In this episode we discuss its impact on personal sustainability.



In order to have a proper discussion of the education system and its impact on anything we have to look a little at its history. You know I couldn't pass up on that.

History

There have been institutions of higher learning for a very long time. Up until fairly recent history these institutions were not open to just anyone. There have been schools for the ruling class and to help train religious leaders for almost as long as their have been people on the planet.

There have been schools recorded in several countries thousands of years ago. Most of which you either had to be wealthy or chosen to be able to attend. In the United States schools were originally the responsibility of each town and most charged tuition. There were schools that were set up for the poorer classes, but these were only to teach very rudimentary skills.

Most education was expected to occur in the home, this was impossible for uneducated parents and most couldn't afford tuition fees. This widened a separation of classes. This was the norm through most of the 17th and 18th centuries.

In England a man by the name of Robert Raikes was going to change all of that, even though he didn't know he was. I will spar you all of the history, if you wish you can read more about it here. But Mr. Raikes created a free school that taught reading, writing, logic, cipher, and Scripture. This was Sunday School and was the foundation of what we now consider public school.The children that attended Mr Raikes school were the most unfortunate, their parents were either in prison or had died. The children worked 6 days a week just to survive in the mills or sweatshops. Mr. Raikes was also a visionary of sorts. His was one of the few schools that allowed both boys and girls to study together. Remember this was in the late 1700's.

By 1870 all states had free elementary education. There were still droves of problems with the system, but it was doing what it was designed to do. Create workers that were educated enough to do what needed to be done.

My Families Education History

 Now lets get a little more personal. My great, great grandfather was a self educated doctor. We still have one of his textbooks and even his ledger. He was a highly educated man. My grandfather quit school in the sixth grade and he didn't know how to read. His mother and he taught him how to read with the Bible. My father quit school in the tenth grade, but went on to get a GED (general education diploma), a bachelors and two masters degrees all in Theology. I graduated high school, and have an associates as well as a bachelors degree.  My children have all gone to public schools.

The Goal of Public Education

At one time the goal of education was simple. Make sure that everyone who attended received a basic level of instruction. This is still the goal of sorts. Today instead of focusing on problem solving and logic the schools are focused on standardized test scores. This focus has meant that many things that I consider needful learning has moved to the wayside. None of my children were taught geography, penmanship, or any real applicable skills. Oh my daughter can do mathematical equations that  are beyond my knowledge, but she doesn't know how to apply them. On penmanship there is now a move to stop teaching cursive writing all together, because the written word isn't as important as it used to be.

Today the education system is not only used to create willing drones for the machine, it has turned into an indoctrination center. When I was in school we were taught the creation theories of several religions as well as evolution. Our teacher told us that it was up to us to determine what we believed. We were taught to question everything, don't try to do that now.

Parents Have Turned Over The Responsibility

As many problems as the education system has and as corrupt as it has gotten in several areas, the responsibility for our children's education still has to fall on us as parents. When I was in the first grade, an experimental reading program was tried out in several schools. My school was one of the lucky ones. Some children did well with this system, but most didn't. I was one of the ones that it hurt most. I passed the first grade and in the second grade we were to transition from the experimental program to actual reading. I just couldn't do it.

I was passed from the second grade to the third on condition. That meant that if I didn't do well, they would move me back to the second grade. I was in the third grade reading below a first grade level. Think about that. This experimental system not only didn't help me, it moved me backwards. I had a teacher who believed in me and she talked my mom into enrolling me in special reading classes. This was the class for all of the children that were having severe reading problems. I remember there was a boy in my class that was legally blind and there were several special needs kids in there.

My mom also swung into action and she found every book she could that she thought I would find interesting. We are talking John Henry The Steel Driving Man, Paul Bunyan, and many more.  With the help of the special reading class and my mom, I went from below a first grade reading level to a sixth grade reading level in one year. Yay! Mom.

As parents we have to be actively involved in our children's education. In some cases we have to correct the garbage that is being taught. In others we just have to add to the teachings. We have to work on our children's skills. The system no longer cares about whether or not a child can do anything after they get out as long as the test scores are good.

There are still some great teachers out there and I applaud them. But we have to be honest and say that the education system in many ways stands in the way of the development of self reliance let alone sustainability.

Many have turned to homeschooling to deal with these issues and done correctly I am all for it. For many of us due to our schedules this is not an option. 

What can we do to fix this? How can we make sure our children are ready for the future? What have you noticed? I would love to hear from you.

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The Personal Economy Revisited and Expanded

Two years ago I wrote this article as a way of sharing what our aunt went through and the advice I gave her. It  first was written when I first started this blog and as a result was not seen by many people. I had a conversation the other day that brought this back to mind. So I am re sharing with expansion. I hope you enjoy.

The Original post with grammar changes to make it past tense.

My wife's aunt lost her husband to cancer in February of 2012.  Some ,hopefully, well meaning friends were basically trying to take over her finances and trying to make decisions on her behalf when it came to the possessions of her late husband.  She was really torn up emotionally over selling his car and now then were pushing her to sell other personal items that he held dear. One of these friends had even gone so far as to take items and have them appraised, without her permission. I fear this happens far more often than we realize. 

I was talking to a gentleman this week that was going through a similar situation. His wife had died and his children were pushing him to sell many of their mother's possessions. Once again, I think they meant well, but this is not the way things should be done. In both of these situations neither of the surviving spouses really needed an inflow of cash. Both spouses that passed had life insurance that was able to cover burial expenses and more. 

So why were they being pushed to get rid of their spouses' things? In my aunt's situation I honestly think one of the people pushing liquidation wanted several of the items. I would not put it past him to sell several items and keep a couple, you know as a fee. I do not think this was the children's motivation or strongly encouraging their father. I think they saw it as an opportunity to get rid of things before their dad died too so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

FYI Two years after my aunt's husband passed away his office still looks like he just walked out and will be back any moment. My aunt has found peace by still having a lot of his things around. Time is what people need. No one should force a person to get rid of things. If a person wants to create a shrine for the one they loved they should be able to do so.

The advice I gave both was this. When you get ready to start selling or giving away your spouses things, I don't want you to just let people take them. I want you to take each item in your hands, physically touch each piece. Then ask yourself these questions; Do I need this? Do I want this? Will I be sorry if this is gone? If you cannot answer no to all three of these questions, you are not ready to give up that item yet.

Talking to her got me thinking. Why don't I modify these questions and apply them to my everyday life. The modified questions would look something like this. Do I need this? Do I want this? If I want this, why? Will it improve my quality of life or make me more productive? Will this item make me more secure? Will this item help me grow as a person? If I cannot answer yes to at least two of these questions I will not purchase the item.

Any time we are thinking about making a large purchase, my wife and I talk about it. We  research the item. We see if we can get the same or similar items somewhere else for a better price or at the same price with a better warranty or of better quality. In the process we are waiting. No purchase of a sizable amount should be made on impulse. Time should pass so you can be sure that this item is what you really want.

What is a sizable purchase? Well that depends. If you are a multimillionaire, you might have to make it all the way up to the price of a car before it would be considered a sizable purchase. If you are living on a limited budget you may have to think before spending $50.00 on a used dehydrator. It is all a matter of scale. There will always be the "Well, if I wait someone else may buy it." Yup, that is true. But you can only spend money once. As soon as it has left your hand it is no longer yours. You are no worse off if you do not get the dehydrator.

Honestly, if we all ask ourselves these questions how many things would we not purchase? How much better would our personal economies be?

On another note - sometimes a person's death spurs people to action. My grandfather died this past April. Both my wife and I wrote posts about him and our family after his death. His death served as a wake up call for several members of my family. He had taught all of us, my whole life anyway to be as self sustainable as possible. When he died he left a hole in our family. My dad and step mom moved in with my grandmother to help her cover expenses and to take care of her. Dad retired and has gone to farming full time and doing a fairly good job of it. He is teaching everyone he can how to take care of themselves by taking care of the land and so am I. 

My grandfather knew he was dying. Before he went into the hospital for the last time he started handing out things. He did this to make sure that who he wanted to have something was the one who got that item. I have so many things that I cherish that my grandfather gave me and I would not try to begrudge any of my family of the things he gave them. If you find yourself in a situation similar, remember to think of what the person who has gone would have wanted, but also remember the ones who are still here are the ones that are hurting. 

Other Posts you might enjoy:

I hope this post has given you something to think about and I hope it finds you well. May God grant you your 

Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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Really!?! You Must be Kidding

Just having some fun with the photo!

I am increasingly surprised by how many things we as a society have forgotten. I am saddened by how many basic skills are being lost. The reason for this post is simple. One of the people I follow on twitter has a regular post on DIY home cooking. Normally these links are to things like gravy, stews, and things like that, but today the link was for homemade lemonade. I followed the link just for curiosities sake. Ingredients: lemons, sugar, water, and ice. My first reaction was really, have we fallen that far? But as usual when I go off the deep end my wife is there to draw my back. I have been making things homemade since I was a kid so I just have trouble understanding the need for such basic instructions. My wife had to explain that just the fact that this information is out there is proof that there is a growing interest from people in learning to do things for themselves.

This has been working in my heart for a while. Only a couple of weeks ago my wife and I were at the grocery store someone in line had a bag of ice. The slogan on the bag was "Better than home made". The cashier actually asked how you make homemade ice. This young person is in their 20's and is engaged to get married. There is no wonder that the ready made food business is booming. We have gotten to the point were millions of people both male and female do not know how to cook anything. These people do not even realize that they have lost a large part of their control over their own lives. If you control the food, you control the people.

Not too long ago a man at work paid $10.00 to have a  lamp assembled. I tried to tell him how easy it was to put together but he would not listen. He just said "I am not very handy". I talk to people weekly who have no idea how to do things that I think would be basic. Some people want to learn, but sadly most don't.

I just saw this, this morning. If the photo does not illustrate my point nothing will.

Arrows to show you where to open the cheese?

So how do we work to change the direction of our community, generation, and even country? First and most important is be sure we teach our children. Everyone should know what lard is, how it is made, and how it is used. I am going to have to do some cooking with lard in the near future. If we only do that ,we help assure that our decedents will not fall prey to rampant consumerism. We educate anyone who will listen about organic or natural gardening. We spread the word about GMO foods. Learn and spread the work about living frugally, recycling, and re purposing. Demonstrate how to make things from nothing. Encourage those that you have influence with to stretch themselves.

Remember to work toward making a reality your
Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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For similar posts please read:
DIY or DIFM
Helping a Friend and Teaching My Sons
Why Skill Development is So Important
DIY Preparing for a New Home

The Government Has Shut Down Now What?

I am sure most of you remember the hysteria that was going on before the sequester. Some were saying that it was going to cause massive economic problems. The sequester came and is still going on and guess what? Everything is still functioning. For most people the sequester hasn't changed anything.

For the most part the shutdown is going to be the same way. The mail is still going to run. Social Security checks will still be paid. The military is still on duty. Most average people will not notice a difference. Of the 3.3 million federal employees, only 800,000 have been placed on furlough. Now for those federal employees who are not salaried, this could hurt. Though most likely this pain will be temporary.

This is not the first time there has been a shutdown of the federal government. In 1995/96 the federal government was shut down for 21 days. How many of you remember that? I will be honest before I started researching this post, I did not remember. All of the people that were furloughed in 95/96 received every penny of their back pay. I repeat: THE WORKERS WHO WERE NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO WORK FOR 21 DAYS WERE PAID AS IF THEY HAD GONE TO WORK EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Okay, so now that we have that out of the way, how will the government shutdown affect you? If you are planning on going over seas and do not have a passport yet,you may have problems. You can expect long delays. If you are still expecting a tax return you will be waiting until after the shutdown is over. But you won't have to worry about an audit either. If you are wanting to get a class 3 firearms licence or a federal firearms licence you will see long processing delays. All national parks are closed and several smaller federal office buildings are closed. If you are about to retire you may see a delay in the start of your Social Security paperwork being processed. The one thing that will affect the largest number of people is the shut down of the WIC program.

WIC stands for Women  Infant Children. WIC is not food stamps, but it is very similar. WIC provides vouchers for food to pregnant  women and women with small children who earn below a certain dollar amount. The types of food that can be acquired through WIC is greatly restricted when compared to food stamps. The types of food that are commonly covered by WIC include: milk, formula, baby food, cheese, breakfast cereal, and things like that. This will have an impact on more people than all of the other things combined.

So you see for about 98% of people in the United States there will be no difference. So don't worry and....

Keep It Rural

By Gregg Carter

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The Difference Between a Prepper and a Homesteader

The other day I was talking to someone about a generator. In the course of the conversation the guy asked me if I was a prepper. I told him no, that I was a homesteader. Then came the question. What is the difference? I told him that in my opinion a prepper is getting ready for a specific event and a homesteader is just striving for a more self sustainable lifestyle. I have had this question several times recently. When I have the same question repeatedly in a short period of time it is something that needs to be covered.

When I decided that I was was going to write this blog I reached out to the members of my facebook community and the members of the forum on self sufficient homestead www.sshomestead.com . I asked them for input and a consensus was quickly realized.

A homesteader is concerned with being self sustainable or self sufficient. A prepper is more concerned with being self reliant. Now it is time for a some Rural Economist definitions.

Self sustainable - being able to produce enough of a variety of products to be able to trade for anything that is not produced. If I produce all of my own fruits and vegetables and I produce an excess of fruits or vegetables I can use these items to trade for meat or fabric or whatever I think I need.

Self sufficient - being able to produce almost everything you need no matter what it is. In my opinion it is possible for a community or extended family group to be self sufficient but it is extremely difficult for a person or immediate family to be so.

Self reliant -   a persons ability to utilize surrounding or stored resources to make it through an acute short term or prolonged crisis.

A homesteader is always trying to cut costs and improve results. In this way an effectively ran homestead's methods can seem similar to any business. There is one crucial difference between a homestead and a business. Most businesses try to specialize so as to decrease cost of production. A homestead wishes to diversify as much as possible to produce the maximum number of different things that their family needs. A homesteader constantly tries to find ways to use the things they already have on hand and reduce the number of things they throw away. If you will just search the Internet there are hundreds of ways to use an old soda bottle as a planter. A true homesteader is trying to do everything they can for themselves and their families with little or no impact on their neighbors (corporate agriculture will spray pesticides and herbicides with little regard to how it truly impacts the environment).

Both homesteaders and preppers are concerned with food storage. It has been my experience that someone who is purely a prepper relies on inventory i.e. stored food, water, and other items to provide some semblance of normalcy. Some preppers will have up to a couple of years of food stored. A homesteader is interested in storing enough food to make it from harvest to harvest and for a bad season.

A prepper can be a homesteader or a homesteader can be a prepper. There are a lot of overlapping thought processes and each group can learn a lot from the other. We share some of the same goals.
There is one major difference that I have noticed. Some of the hardcore preppers that I know will be seriously disappointed if some type of collapse does not occur. A homesteader does not care if everything stays so good that everyone is riding unicorns and eating rainbows or if everything goes to hell in a hand basket, or as a Phillipino friend of mine used to say a in tin bucket "it gets hot on the bottom faster".

I hope this clears up at least my thoughts on the difference between preppers and homesteader. I do not intend on offending either group.We are all working to be able to take care of ourselves. With the way the world is now anyone who wants to do that should be applauded and has my support. I invite you to share you comments.

Like the Rural Economist on facebook, follow this blog, and check out the People I Listen to page on this blog.

Remember
Keep It Rural

Marketing strategies (How commercials Influence)

I,like many thousands more, did not watch the 2013 Super Bowl. I waited til the next day to be able to watch all of the commercials. As always there were winners and losers. This started me thinking. No one wants to have the worst Super Bowl commercial. Every company that placed an ad during the big game believed their ad would represent their company well and that they would see increased business as a result. Each of the companies that had even a single spot during the big game spent millions of dollars to try to tell you something. To make you see their product or company in a more positive way.

The days of basic information to help you make a more informed decision are long since gone, if they ever were at all. Every television and radio ad is designed to ellicit a response. Each company chooses the response they want to create. Ralph Lauren for example has always promoted a lifestyle through their advertising. They would lead you to believe that everyone who wears their clothing line is young, good looking, as comfortable in the great outdoors as they would be on the ocean or in the boardroom. This is the image they portray.

Fragrance companies, along with many others, use sex to sell their product. Every colonge or perfume ad is about sexual attraction. To be honest I cannot think of any other way to sell these items. If these companies were not allowed to use attraction as a selling tool they would have to turn to a lifestyle model, no one would buy a cologne simply because "it makes me smell good".

If we were to want to promote a product, we would have to decide what our target market is. A target market includes things like age group, education level, income range, and even occupational type. Once we have decided on the target market, we would start working on our ad. If we are wanting to excite our target, we would want our announcer to talk fast, probably use a movie voice. Depending on what we are advertising show quick clips of our product in action. If we are wanting to appeal to our markets ego, we would talk very smooth, imply that our market deserves our product. We would say something like "you have worked hard. Can't you see yourself with... (insert our product here).

If just listen to a commercial, you can tell something about the target market. Car company commercials on the radio are the best for this. If the announcer is shouting, the target market is the lower education levels or people who are on a very tight budget. These people have so much to worry about that an ad has to break into their thoughts to even be heard. Luxury autos are very smooth, talking about performance and "how you would look in this car". A friend of mine from work gave me the best description of car ads. A BMW ad shows a beautiful person driving a beautiful car in a beautiful landscape. A KIA commercial shows an urban landscape and their car driven by hamsters (thanks Renee).

Another method that is used is packaging. Companies do research to find out what colors promote their product, where to place their product on the shelf, and even at what price point people will buy their product at enough profit. Take food for example. Things packaged in green we believe are more healthy than the same item packaged in another color. Packaging can be very powerful.Another friend at work said he was at a drugstore and he saw a generic cold medicine.It was packaged in black, red, and silver, his favorite color combination. He admitted that he started to buy the medicine even though no one in his family was sick. (thanks Josh) Remember advertisers are trying to sway your buying decisions.

If I could work my will, every person who reads this would ask themselves these questions when they find themselves being influenced by an advertising blitz. (1) Am I the target market that this company is trying to reach? (2) What is this company really selling? Are they selling the product or a lifestyle, confidence, or are they stroking your ego? (3) What does this ad say that this company thinks about me? (4) What does this company think about my values, my world view, and my intelligence level? After we answer these questions do we still want to deal with this company?

By thinking a little more critically we can reduce the influence outside people have over us and we can better learn how to

Keep It Rural

Unit Pricing

With the increased taxes on everyone, (yes I said everyone), I believe it is important to focus on ways to make our dollars go further. Many companies realize that people are trying to be more frugal and are marketing to that desire. Just because they are talking about making your dollar go further doesn't mean they are really trying to save you money. Many businesses believe profit is king no matter what. We should live by the mantra " Let the buyer beware".

I have several examples of what I am talking about, but I will cover the most recent first. Last night my wife wanted to cook fajitas. Normally when we cook these we buy boneless, skinless chicken breast. My wife and I normally go to the grocery together. While in the store she asked me to pick out some chicken. I walked over to the meat case and boneless, skinless chicken breast was $4.29 a pound. Right next to the skinless breast was split chicken breast for $1.19 a pound. A no brainer right? Apparently not. Most of the boneless, skinless breasts were gone. I proudly picked up two packs of the split breasts and told my wife for $3.10 per pound I would cut the chicken off myself.  We saved right at $16.00 by doing a little of the work ourselves and my dogs were able to enjoy the skins and the raw bones (raw chicken bones are fine for dogs to eat, cooked bones are a big no no. The bones become brittle when cooked and can become lodged in a dogs throat.) So we saved money on our supper and our dogs supper as well.

Example two:Laundry detergent. I wanted to include a picture, but was asked not to by the management of the store in which I saw this. Before I even start this example, all four are national name brands. In fact the first three are the same name brand. On the same shelf sitting side by side there was laundry packets (no measuring needed) 50 loads 44 oz. for $8.00. Next a liquid laundry detergent of a different fragrance- 70 loads 125 oz. $8.00. Next and the same fragrance as the first but in liquid form 100 loads 150 oz. $8.00. Finally, a different name brand, still nationally recognized, 166 loads 250 oz,. also $8.00. After inquiring, the numbers are in and quite disturbing. The most sold are the most expensive (the packets). The second most sold that made me feel a little better was the 100 load liquid. While I understand the convenience of the packet, I really don't see how much more difficult it would be to measure a cup full, especially considering the cup is included.

Example three: Toaster pastries. We have been programmed over the past several years to automatically think that the store brands will be cheaper than the national brands.Only one problem; I have not found this to always be the case.  This past week I was looking for toaster pastries. I tend to default to the store brands, but I noticed a reduced price sticker on the national brand. Both products had the same weight and the same number of pastries, this time the national brand was $0.43 cheaper for the box.

Example four: Dried beans. When calculating unit cost I always use ounces, but I have heard of people using servings. A couple of weeks ago I was looking at the dried beans, and I am almost always trying to find the best deal. One bag said,"Contains x amount of servings". The bag looked a little smaller than the one next to it, but the cost was less than a dime different. I picked up the larger of the two bags and on the back it had the same number of servings as the slightly smaller bag. This made me curious. I picked up the smaller of the two bags. On the larger bag, the serving size was one cup.On the smaller, it was three quarters of a cup. The lesson we have learned;always use ounces.Serving sizes can be changed by the company.

Example five: Value sized containers.We'll use Oatmeal for example. Not only have we been programmed to think the store brands are always cheaper, we have also been taught that the larger a container the item comes ,in the cheaper it is. I looked at some oatmeal not too long ago and I compared the value size container to the normal size. Just by comparing the two prices I realized they were really close to the same value. So I pulled out my phone and accessed the calculator that is on nearly every cell phone out there. Guess what? The smaller size was 3 cents per ounce cheaper. The company spends less on packaging, because it takes fewer packages to hold the same amount of a product. They charge more for that product based on the fact that we now see larger sizes as a greater value. My dad told me that the last time he went to one of the members only stores, a five gallon bucket of pickles by unit price was more expensive than buying the smaller, more usable sizes.

Example six: Coupons. Coupons can be a wonderful way to stretch your money. Some of the large retailers even have store coupons that print out when you go through the register,( i.e. save $5.00 on your next purchase of $25.00 or more). Some of these can be a good deal, but when it comes to grocery coupons there are some danger zones. 1.) Don't buy things that you normally wouldn't if you didn't have the coupon. I LOVE sweets, but I don't need them as much as I want them. Many of the coupons are for desert type items. 2.) A good rule to follow is if the item was not on your shopping list before you got the coupon, do not add it unless you can substitute it for something else that was already on your list. 3.) Coupons only good for multiple items. I have seen coupons that were only good if you bought 10 or more items. When you see these you must remember that in order to calculate the true cost you must divide the face value of the coupon by the total number of items that you are required to purchase.4.) Always check unit price. Many many times I have seen that even after the coupon has been applied, there are more affordable choices of the same item available right beside the one you are considering. Remember: there is a calculator on your phone.

And finally example seven: Sodas. The average name brand 2 liter soda around here costs $1.25, the average 20 oz costs $1.59 and the average 12 oz costs 69 cents.

Formula for figuring unit price

Price divided by ounces = unit price

2 Liter $1.25/72 ounces (that is how many ounces are in a two liter, the bottle that I had did not show this number, but on the back said a serving size was 12 ounces and serving per container was about 6. So 12 times 6 is 72) this gives us a unit price of  1.736 cents per ounce

20 ounce $1.59/20 gives us a unit price of 7.95 cents per ounce

12 ounce $0.69/12 gives us a unit price of 5.75 cents per ounce

This tells us the most popular size is the most expensive. Do you think this was by accident? Higher profits maybe? Okay, so let us finish the math all the way to the end. If you buy a 2 liter drink for $1.25 in that drink you will be able to get the equivalent of 3 20 ounce drinks at $1.59 each and one 12 ounce drink at $0.69. When we add these up we will come up with a grand total of $5.46. Then we subtract the cost of the 2 liter drink and we will have saved $4.21. If you drink 3 20 ounce sodas a day, and I know many people that do, even is you leave off the 12 ounce, and you do this 5 days a week, you will save $17.60 per week for taking a glass with you. That adds up to $915.20 per year, plus you are putting less plastic in the garbage.

I hope you have found this informative and maybe it will give you something to consider next time you are going to buy something. We all need to make our money go further.

Remember to Keep It Rural.

It is cheaper to repair than replace?

At one time the statement "It is cheaper to repair than replace" was true about almost everything.Not so anymore. Why is that?

Prior to the 1980's we repaired almost everything. There wasn't a large community that did not have a radio and television repair shop. I remember taking things to be repaired and walking around looking at all the tubs and even a few solid state boards. I even dug a couple trenches for the satellite lines, for the dishes, the really big ones.

Some time in the late 70's or early 80's there was a paradigm shift. It was slow to take over and actually started much earlier. People stopped going to the shoe repair man. Most shoes were no longer made to last. The tops wore out way before the bottoms. The components of electronics cost more than the product itself. If your television went out you bought another without any thought of having it repaired.

Slowly the shoe repair shops, the watch and clock repair shops, and yes the radio and television repair shops started closing. These small business owners are all but extinct. Recently I had a window air condition unit go out. I reacted the way my grandfather would have. I started calling repair shops. I left a message on every answering machine asking if they worked on window units. I called nine shops. Only one called me back. I explained and asked if he would work on a window unit. He said he would if I would bring it to his shop. I told him that was what I expected.

When I unloaded the unit, we started talking. He said that he didn't see very many window units but was willing to try. He checked out the unit and found that the control panel had gone out, so he pulled out a catalog and looked for the the part and found that it would cost $275 to repair. When he told me that, I asked what the most expensive part was and how much it cost. He looked up the compressor and it also was around $300. The unit only cost about $298. We rigged it to work and it works great.

The generally accepted principle is when the cost of repair is 50% of the cost to replace, you would replace. Keeping that in mind when the cost of repair is 90% of the cost to replace there is no reason to even take repair into consideration. This is a truly sad state of affairs.

Now my question is, how does a single part cost as much as the whole? Answer: It isn't possible. That tells me that the culture has had such a violent change that no companies are producing aftermarket parts. This is an intentional move to push people to more consumerism. Diminishing our ability to be frugal and encouraging credit use. Think about what you do and remember to "Keep It Rural".