I'll Never Buy My Kid Crappy Cleats!

I think my parents did it because it was my first year playing football, and they weren't sure if I would like it or not.  Maybe the salesman convinced them that white cleats would make me look fast?  Maybe it looked like the lightweight, cushion-less design was more aerodynamic than others :) 

For whatever reason, my first set of cleats were horrible.  Even thinking about them now, my ankles begin to swell.  To get a better idea, look at the cleats up above, and perform the following steps:

1. Remove all color and make them completely white
2. Remove all cushion from the sole, midsole, and the ankle
3. Replace the plastic plate on the bottom of cleat with a heavy metal one  
4. Remove the adidas symbols and put a generic symbol 
5. Remove the leather outside and replace with shiny white plastic

I remember the pounding as my heel would hit the metal beneath it with each step.   I remember thinking that my feet would look fast as I ran... they didn't!  Mostly, I remember the squeek of the plastic outside as it bent with each step.  

Luckily, my parents learned their lesson and bought me great cleats the next year.  Black, cushioned, lightweight cleats!  But to this day, the memory still haunts me... and that is why I will never buy my kid crappy cleats.

Who is John Galt in 2009?

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, poses the question, "What would happen to the economy, government, and/or society if the producers, inventors, and contributors one day stopped.. and disappeared?"  We're talking about the people who really move the world.   In the book, the first to do so is a man named John Galt, and as he and others realize they no longer have claim to the products they produce or the profit from their efforts, they decide to stop working and giving their creations to the rest of the world.   I think of it as if Steve Jobs, T. Boone Pickens, Warren Buffett and other "idea leaders" disappeared.  

Could this ever happen?  As the government takes a bigger role in struggling industries, the approach is often for those performing well to help those who are not.  And while we probably won't see Toyota manufacturing plants writing checks to GM directly, aren't Toyota and other corporations assuming a higher tax burden because of gov't bailouts to GM the same thing? (Their profits...taken) Is it plausible the gov't would put pressure on companies producing more fuel-efficient vehicles to share their methods with the other companies? (Their creations...taken) 

Here is another example. Right now, there are people spending time and money to develop shale oil so it can be used cost-effectively as an alternative to crude oil.  Once the process is defined and patented, could we forsee the gov't putting pressure on these companies to share this process if the nation had an energy crisis? (Their inventions...taken)  Experts still predict oil prices to go above $200 a barrel next year and we saw the reactions when it almost hit $150.  Could we imagine the gov't would just take the patent if times were bad enough?  

The worst part about any of this happening is that it will be done in the name of the "greater good" or "fairness" as businesses become too inter-connected to be allowed to fail.   

I use the gov't in the examples above because it is such a good target :) , but really because as I have watched/read about the healthcare and stimulus plans that Obama says he will introduce, followed the coverage of the $700B and Auto Bailouts, and written my representatives... I can't help but feel like the cult of the "greater good" is growing.  And as the pull of others on my earnings grows, will I reach a point where my desire to climb the income tax ladder stops?  Will I decide that I will stop producing for others?  

I know that everytime I see the word "withholding" on my paychecks, I bristle inside because it means the gov't doesn't trust me enough to allow me to receive my gross paycheck and then send them a check for the taxes...  I feel somewhat removed from the negotiations and votes in Washington D.C., but I know I will feel very involved when my paychecks get smaller because the Federal Income Tax, Social Security, and Medicare taxes go up.  Let's not kid ourselves, with all the money the gov't is spending, they have to.