Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, January 2, 2006 at about 11pm CST - Segment 3
Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, January 2, 2006 at about 11pm CST
Segment 3
Let me show you another song that illustrates the point that you have to work hard for anything from another album.
That was Ray Herndon performing the title track from his album, Livin' The Dream. As I said at the start of the program, I sent email to Ray and complimented him on his album. This was the best track on the album.
All the images in that song say that you cannot be a master craftsman without self-sacrifice. The man in the song talks about being 40 and still not reaching the top of his field. He is not discouraged. He is still living his dream. He volunteered to start down the long 20 year road to success that a master craftsman must travel in order to be the best. The volunteering is the most important part. If you are conscripted to be the best even if you have a talent in a given field, you do not put all your heart and soul into the project. Totalitarian states have a tendency to channel people into fields that the State needs, not what the individual wants. Most of the time, it does not work out real well.
America is the first society that has embraced the concept that a person should try and fail to be the best as many times as they want. In many countries, if you fail even once, the environment turns against you and you are discouraged from trying again. Think about it. America is the first society where we make sure you can survive your failures. With that implicit contract people can try new things without fearing that they will die or be shunned for failure. In fact, if you fail after giving it your best, people applaud and let you know that you can come back from defeat.
The Boston Red Sox are a prime example of that. The Sox in the past have always choked in the final few games and ended up disappointing their fans. Did the fans go away and shun them? No they came back and cheered them on. Year after year after year for 86 years. So in 2004 they won.
Without giving citizens the ability to fail and then learn from that failure, a society cannot grow. We as Americans value perseverance. If someone keeps trying, we as a society do not get in their way. In a country where a person has to fight the government for every stinking nail, every resource, every anything, you cannot get master craftsmen, because no one will fight forever to become the best when failure means that all resources for improvement are cut off. What I am getting at is that a person will not do their best if they know that one false step will lead to cut off of future resources. A society that uses central planning cannot do that offer unlimited resources for improvement. It has to pick the winners and losers in order conserve resources. Our society allows people like the ghetto dweller the chance to be their best by holding out the hope that they can better themselves. The ghetto dweller KNOWS that 10 years of hard work will pay off, so keeps at it. The couple from a foreign land in the song knew that they could become the best if they worked hard. We tell that to all the foreigners. They believe us and come here. Then they discover that we have not lied. They send that information back to their former home and others follow them. Our society is bettered.
Look. Being a master craftsman requires that you volunteer to be the best. You will not do that if you do not have a reasonable expectation that being the best will get you a better life. The do nothing option becomes the same as the do something option. Most people will choose to just get by, if they see no possibility to improve their situation.
One of our many societal problems is that we have not made the case to our children that they must volunteer to be the best. For some reason they have been sold on the idea that they can achieve success without hard work. That's just crazy.
On top of that we have started to destroy the stability that a person needs to build the character to withstand failure. Make no mistake, you have to be willing to fail. You have to volunteer to be the best and you have to volunteer to fail if that is what it takes to become the best. Each failure teaches us something if we have but the wit to learn.
Segment 3
Let me show you another song that illustrates the point that you have to work hard for anything from another album.
That was Ray Herndon performing the title track from his album, Livin' The Dream. As I said at the start of the program, I sent email to Ray and complimented him on his album. This was the best track on the album.
All the images in that song say that you cannot be a master craftsman without self-sacrifice. The man in the song talks about being 40 and still not reaching the top of his field. He is not discouraged. He is still living his dream. He volunteered to start down the long 20 year road to success that a master craftsman must travel in order to be the best. The volunteering is the most important part. If you are conscripted to be the best even if you have a talent in a given field, you do not put all your heart and soul into the project. Totalitarian states have a tendency to channel people into fields that the State needs, not what the individual wants. Most of the time, it does not work out real well.
America is the first society that has embraced the concept that a person should try and fail to be the best as many times as they want. In many countries, if you fail even once, the environment turns against you and you are discouraged from trying again. Think about it. America is the first society where we make sure you can survive your failures. With that implicit contract people can try new things without fearing that they will die or be shunned for failure. In fact, if you fail after giving it your best, people applaud and let you know that you can come back from defeat.
The Boston Red Sox are a prime example of that. The Sox in the past have always choked in the final few games and ended up disappointing their fans. Did the fans go away and shun them? No they came back and cheered them on. Year after year after year for 86 years. So in 2004 they won.
Without giving citizens the ability to fail and then learn from that failure, a society cannot grow. We as Americans value perseverance. If someone keeps trying, we as a society do not get in their way. In a country where a person has to fight the government for every stinking nail, every resource, every anything, you cannot get master craftsmen, because no one will fight forever to become the best when failure means that all resources for improvement are cut off. What I am getting at is that a person will not do their best if they know that one false step will lead to cut off of future resources. A society that uses central planning cannot do that offer unlimited resources for improvement. It has to pick the winners and losers in order conserve resources. Our society allows people like the ghetto dweller the chance to be their best by holding out the hope that they can better themselves. The ghetto dweller KNOWS that 10 years of hard work will pay off, so keeps at it. The couple from a foreign land in the song knew that they could become the best if they worked hard. We tell that to all the foreigners. They believe us and come here. Then they discover that we have not lied. They send that information back to their former home and others follow them. Our society is bettered.
Look. Being a master craftsman requires that you volunteer to be the best. You will not do that if you do not have a reasonable expectation that being the best will get you a better life. The do nothing option becomes the same as the do something option. Most people will choose to just get by, if they see no possibility to improve their situation.
One of our many societal problems is that we have not made the case to our children that they must volunteer to be the best. For some reason they have been sold on the idea that they can achieve success without hard work. That's just crazy.
On top of that we have started to destroy the stability that a person needs to build the character to withstand failure. Make no mistake, you have to be willing to fail. You have to volunteer to be the best and you have to volunteer to fail if that is what it takes to become the best. Each failure teaches us something if we have but the wit to learn.
posted by aRandomTexan at
1:17 PM
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