One Hundred Years

We worry about many things, but only one thing is necessary: SAVE YOUR SOUL!

I would like to tell you a bit of what life was like in the USA less than 20 years before I was born:

No flat screen televisions, not even any radios in the house. Toilets were in the back yard and coke was not even invented. Average life expectancy was less that 50 years. Less than 15% of homes had bathtubs and only about 8% had telephones. There were only 8,000 cars in the USA with 144 miles of paved road! I was soon to be in the number of less than one and a half million residents of the whole State of California at that time. Call me a native son!

Hawaii and Alaska (and three other states) had not been admitted to the Union. I was in Juneau, Alaska on the day of admission of that state and took part in the ceremony of the lowering of the Alaska flag and the raising of the Red White and Blue on July 4 (or thereabouts), 1958.

So that and a whole lot more has transpired since my coming into this world. Life is interesting and progress is awe inspiring, but the bottom line is: This too will pass away!

So back to basics, worry less, and do save your soul!


Following up on this, my friend Fr. Larry Lorenzoni, SDB, sent me the following:

Taxes in the USA in 2007:

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL license Tax, Cigarette Tax , Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Excise Taxes, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon), Gross Receipts Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Personal Property Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service Charge Tax, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax, Sales Tax, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax , Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Taxes, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax. Not one of these taxes existed 100 years go, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? And I still have to "press 1" for English.