Author Chris Brady's Leadership Blog

Thought for the Day

Would you agree that for most of us in what is left of the "West" (a term defining a civilization, culture, and heritage more than a geographic location), we have descended from voting for the lesser of two evils to voting for the evil of two lessers? 

"When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil."  -- Max Lerner

LLR Softcover #1 in Dallas!

What a week! I just received word that Barnes and Nobles booksellers in the Dallas area have listed co-autor Orrin Woodward and my book, Launching a Leadership Revolution, #1 on their softcover non-fiction best-seller list. I am flattered that the book continues to do so well, having now been released in soft-cover in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, and translated into Russian and Portuguese. There is truly a leadership revolution going on!

Also, I think it's appropriate to offer a reminder that 100% of the authors' income is being donated to the charitable organization All Grace Outreach. Please visit the website to check out all the good things they are doing! We can make a difference, in more ways than one!

Now, more than ever, leadership is needed in our countries. Freedom and its foundational principles are under attack from all sides. Never take for granted the liberties you have, and never underestimate how quickly they can be taken away if good people do nothing. One of the primary focuses of both the book and this blog, as well as my parnter Orrin Woodward's blog, is to awaken people to the perilous condition of freedom and to arm them with the leadership tools necessary to make an impact toward its resurrection and preservation. May we act before it's too late. 

Blog of the Day Award Won by this Blog!

Wow!  You three readers must be making quite an impact! I was informed just now that on Wednesday, May27 this blog was chosen for Blog of the Day on Technorati.com.  You can read all about it here (scroll down when you get there).

Umm, I don't, umm, know what to say.  I'd like to thank my Mom, my Dad, all the great folks at the Pennzoil-Fox-Cooper-Nippendonso-Nike racing team, my mechanic, my pit crew ------ oh, wait a minute, that's a different dream.

Quotes

People like to feel significant, especially if this does not involve much of an effort on their part.

Only you can be yourself. No one else is qualified for the job, and you barely are yourself.

People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.

Experts agree that sixty-seven percent of statistics are made up on the spot.

Remembering Freedom and the Fallen

On this Memorial Day it is fitting and right that we should pause to remember and thank the millions of servicemen and women who have sacrificed, many ultimately, for the freedoms we enjoy. In honor to them, I want to share with you some quotes and thought development from author Alexander Boot, a Russian who came to America only to discover that the "free" country he had heard about no longer existed. His book, How the West Was Lost, was his attempt to explain what happened. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in freedom and its resurrection.

"The rule of law presupposes a set of constitutional guarantees that are equally binding for the state and for the individual."

"Citizens no longer venerate laws because they know the state does not."

"And why should a servant of the state be concerned about private property if his master is in the business of extorting it?"

"Governments are no longer there to protect society and the individuals within it. They are out to protect the sacred cow of statism. . . . "

"While failing to protect us, [our modern government] laws also deny us the right to self-defense."

"In our time, the state has to have monopoly on violence [and power], so armed citizenry is off limits."

"That is why it is useless to quote reams of evidence, demonstrating that places that do not restrict gun ownership enjoy lower crime rates than those that do.  Washington DC and New York City, where guns are outlawed, have two of the highest murder rates in the USA; Vermont and New Hampshire, with the highest gun ownership in the country, two of the lowest. Burglaries are almost unheard of in those places where most households are armed. Switzerland, with the heaviest-armed population in the world, has practically no crime, while Britain and Holland, with their strict gun laws, are crime-ridden. And in the first two years after a complete ban on handguns was introduced in Britain, gun crime went up by 50 percent and it is still growing."

I have long been confused how those who think guns are so dangerous and should be outlawed to protect peole are the same pundits who think it's okay to kill babies on one end of life's spectrum and euthenize old folks at the other. Boot has answered the conondrum for me: the state doesn't care about life, it cares about control. Guns are the biggest, and the last-ditch barrier a population holds against total tyranny by its government.

 

Facts

A sure way to stop a red-hot argument is to lay a few cold, hard facts on it.

"Get your facts first; then you can distort 'em as you please." -- Mark Twain

The hardest thing about facts is facing them.

Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions.

"Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions." -- Proverbs 18:2

Decoding Socialist Phrases - A Collaboration

One of my favorite exercises on this blog is when you, my 3 loyal readers, participate in a collaboration. For this one I'd like to have you assist me in putting together a socialistic jargon de-coder. Let me give you a few examples below to get you started (with thanks to author Alexander Boot for the first three):

1. "Protecting the less fortunate" is code for (or really means) "expropriating the more fortunate."

2. "Investing in health care and education" is code for "expanding . . . bureaucracies and increasing taxes."

3. "Investing in industry" is code for "crypto-nationalization."

4. "Equality for all" is code for "taking from those who work and giving to those who won't"

5. "Universal health care" is code for "governmental control and inefficiency in health services"

6. "Ear marking" is code for "giving handouts to our political supporters"

7. "Expanding the franchise" is code for "including the deadbeats."

8. "Compassionate programs" is code for a "burgeoning welfare state."

9. "Stimulation package" is code for "tax payer money taken from the middle-class and given to the finance industry"

10. "Democracy" is code for "Mob rule and the death of the individual."

11. "Choice" is code for "abortion."

12. "Evolution" is code for a "substitute religion which allows the disavowal of God."

13. "Spirituality" is code for "religion without morality or absolutes."

Oh, this is so much fun! All one has to do is listen to the news for a few minutes to get hundreds of these. I can't wait to read yours!

 

The Creation of the Federal Reserve

The following is a brief introduction to the book, The Creature from Jekyll Island, by G. Edward Griffin, which describes the birth of the Federal Reserve under shrouded circumstances. It is a classic story of a big-money cartel forming with the veil of "legitimacy" of the United States government. If you've ever wondered, economically speaking, "How'd we get here?" this video may take you on the road to the answer.

Subscribe to Leadership Training

In co-author Orrin Woodward and my best seller, Launching a Leadership Revolution, the First Level of Influence is described as being Learning. This is because true leadership begins with education.  This is not to be confused with formal education, as in degrees and diplomas, but rather what Oliver DeMille calls a "Liber education," which may or may not include formality. 

Leaders are hungry to learn the principles it takes to grow their influence, attack the status quo, and make a larger impact. The saying that "experience is the best teacher" is only a half-truth; it is more accurate to say that "other people's experience is the best teacher." Further, the most valuable experience obtained from others comes from those we respect the most; leaders who have achieved high levels of success, overcome tremendous obstacles, made significant contributions, and left a worthwhile legacy. When their value system and foundational principles are in line with our own, we have found a worthy teacher.

These components are what make up the Leadership Training Series of CDs and books available through the Team under the brand Leadership, Inc. Talks, speeches, and training sessions taken from activities all over North America by many of today's top leaders are carefully selected to be included in each offering. The information provided is not specific to any business or endeavor, but rather to the foundational leadership principles everyone will be called upon to display at some, or many, points in their lives.

Subscribing to the Leadership Training Series costs only $6 per CD (there are four CD titles shipped per month) and the average leadership book averages about $15.  Shipments are every two weeks, and signup is as easy as clicking on this link and filling out your information.  You can cancel at any time, but of course, once you get hooked on the ongoing stream of invaluable leadership information as part of your leadership education, you will never want to stop! 

I hope you enjoy the information and a fresh dose of wisdom in your mailbox each month! Fifteen years ago I began making it a habit to use my time in the car as a "rolling university." It is a habit that has lasted and produced fruit beyond my wildest expectations. I hope the same will happen for you!

  

To Be an American . . .

One has to be careful when aligning with a label.  The following is something I scribbled into the back of a history book I was reading at a moment of inspiration.  I post it for you here in order to solicit your input on the question asked at the end.  I look forward to reading your responses.

"I am not a Democrat because they stand for too many causes against God and His laws,

I am not a Republican (although I was once registered as one) because they are controlled by big monied interests which foster cartels and stifle opportunity,

I am not a Libertarian because the concept of Liberty burns too quickly out of control if taken as a quality by itself.

So . . . I guess I don't know what I am.

It would be poetic and seemingly patriotic to state that I am simply an American, implying somehow that the term itself is enough to produce clarity.

But no one seems to know anymore what it means."

So, dear readers, what does it mean to be an "American?"