Monday, September 24, 2018

Emerson: The Greatest Liberal In American History




By Michael Hooper

Ralph Waldo Emerson is perhaps the greatest liberal in early American history.

In the 1830s, Emerson wrote letters and gave speeches against the movement of Cherokee Indians from their lands in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Emerson was an activist against slavery for many years, long before the Civil War. Emerson was part of a group of people from Massachusetts who sought to make Kansas a free state. In 1857, Emerson gave a speech to raise funds at a Kansas Relief Meeting in Cambridge, Mass. 

Emerson supported women authors and educators like Margaret Fuller. Emerson, perhaps more than any other thinker, influenced religion, poetry and literature and scholarship in America.

I have been reading "Emerson: The Mind On Fire" by Robert D. Richardson Jr." I also pulled out copies of his essays.

Emerson devoted his life to studying the Classics and modern thought in philosophy, religion and literature. He was obsessed with connecting to Nature, the divine, the universe, the eternal. He loved biography. He mastered the art of writing of an Essay and delivering a Speech. He craved knowledge from all cultures including the Persians, the French and the English. He learned languages so he could read books in their original texts. 

Emerson believed there was here in America a voice of its own, separate from Europe, a dynamic place of achievable greatness. Oliver Wendell Holmes was inspired from hearing Emerson's speech, The American Scholar, in 1837.

Emerson studied the common sense Scottish philosophers and Plato, Shakespeare, Goethe and many religious texts. In religion he sought to strip away third parties between man and God and to promote a direct personal link with Nature. Indeed he believed all of humanity is in your soul, the answers to living are already inside of you, the knowledge to achieve a better life is there if we can only listen to it and extract it and apply it to our daily lives.

He invited many people to come to his home in Concord and share ideas for days, sometimes weeks.

I'm impressed with his handling of Jones Very, a zealous poet who had a Dante like religious experience with God and hell. Emerson saw in him some talent to express these joys he had experienced and helped publish a book of his poetry.

Emerson was part of a group of authors, educators and religious people who discussed and promoted Transcendentalism. The Transcendental Club's ideas were  published in The Dial.

Emerson led the literary salon of Concord and New England. Authors like Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Caroline Sturgis, and so many others communicated with him often and sometimes lived with him.

The daily walks to Walden Pond would have been a joy to participate with Ralph Waldo Emerson. He knew the name of every plant and tree, he can recognize a bird with its sound, he cherished the sunlight in the trees. He built a large garden of fruit trees.

Emerson teaches us to connect with nature. Go to the forest and listen to the sounds of nature, and so many things disappear, the politics of the day, The Madness of the crowds, all disappear. And we are left with the Majesty of nature. And somehow in that cool repose, nature lifts us up, calms and inspires us.

Emerson had his share of struggles and tragedies. The loss of his son caused a deep sense of grief that never went away. He said that grief did not make him wiser or closer to nature.

But oh he was a wise man for sure. He had great capacity for joy.

Emerson said "it is better that Joy should be spread over all the day in the form of strength, than that it should be concentrated into ecstasies full of danger and followed by reactions."

Emerson is the ultimate rational mind, the stoic with an inner burning fire, held in reserve, ready to accomplish multiple things in one day. He wrote over 120 journals. He indexed his journals so he could find material for his essays and lectures and sermons.

Emerson is sublime. His wording is beautiful. He writes as if he is talking to the gods. The words are part of the divine, part of humanity and philosophy and the universe. He is the ultimate transcendentalist because his ideas are always rising to the highest of levels, influencing for good, transcending mediocrity to greatness.

He lived a transcendental life because he was focused on the divine and looking for good in all people and all things.

In some ways it did not matter what he read because he was able to dig into the material and create new material in his own brain. I think the way he read was like a highly-skilled athlete or gymnast, somebody who is hyper alert to understand and analyze the words of the book.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is a hyper conscious individual who is connected to the universe grounded in the Earth. He saw injustice and was willing to speak out against it. He was widely respected in his day, so when he spoke out against slavery in Cambridge on Aug. 1, 1844, people listened. His Emancipation Address was a fiery emotional speech that called for the abolition of slavery. He had always opposed slavery but now he was ready to work actively and openly against slavery, wrote Richardson in The Mind on Fire.

Emerson spoke in favor of raising funds to help Kansas become a free state. He spoke in 1857 at the Kansas Relief Meeting in Cambridge, Mass. He said, "In these calamities under which they suffer, and the worse which threaten them, the people of Kansas ask for bread, clothes, arms and men, to save them alive, and enable them to stand against these enemies of the human race. They have a right to be helped, for they have helped themselves. This aid must be sent, and this is not to be doled out as an ordinary charity; but bestowed up to the magnitude of the want, and, as has been elsewhere said, “on the scale of a national action.” I think we are to give largely, lavishly, to these men. And we must prepare to do it. We must learn to do with less, live in a smaller tenement, sell our apple-trees, our acres, our pleasant houses. I know people who are making haste to reduce their expenses and pay their debts, not with a view to new accumulations, but in preparation to save and earn for the benefit of the Kansas emigrants."


Emerson was truly a man ahead of his times. There are descendants of Emerson living today. Kansas and America and the world are the beneficiaries of this great man.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Runza Looks To Expand Into Northeast Kansas




By Michael Hooper

Nebraska restauranteur Runza is looking to expand outside of Nebraska.


Based in Lincoln, Neb., Runza is looking for franchisees in Iowa, Colorado and Kansas, including northeast Kansas towns of Sabetha, Seneca, Hiawatha and Belleville, Kan.

Runza currently has 84 locations, most of these are in Nebraska. Runza's locations outside Nebraska are Council Bluffs, Iowa, Clarinda, Iowa, Lawrence, Kansas, and Loveland, Colorado.

Runza is known for its German sandwich, with ground beef seasoned with a secret blend of spices and mixed with cabbage and onions. All wrapped up in fresh-baked bread. Runza also makes great hamburgers and onion rings.

It's interesting that Runza is marketing on its website for franchisees in the smaller towns like Sabetha. Many of their Nebraska locations are in small towns with less than 10,000 people. They believe there are enough economics in Northeast Kansas to make it work. There is a Runza in my hometown of Clarinda Iowa, a town of 5,385 people.

In Sabetha, there are just a handful of options: Sonic, Pizza Hut, Subway and Casey's and the El Canelo Mexican Restaurant.

The franchise fee for a Runza is $25,000 which is reasonable considering Sonic is $45,000.

Runza locates in 2500- to 3600-square-foot places, 

Runza requires a 5-percent monthly royalty fee paid to Runza National exclusive of sales tax. Runza also requires 1% of your gross sales to go to a long-term Improvement fund to update your restaurant. And 1% of gross sales will go to advertising production fun for the development and execution of advertising and public relations campaigns.

In addition, you must spend 4% of gross sales for marketing in your local market. so all of that is 11% of gross sales which is a lot. The margins in restaurants vary. It really depends on volume, if you get a lot of volume everyday you can make some good sales numbers and pay the bills and have a margin of 15% or even 20%.

I like the Sabetha market because there's a lot of activity going on around here, at the intersection of Highway 36 and Highway 75.

Sabetha employers include Wenger Manufacturing, Mac Equipment, ADM, Buchheit Logistics.

I believe a Runza would do very well in Sabetha for several reasons. It's close to Nebraska, people in those parts are familiar with Runza. A lot of commuters work in the local Industries. Unemployment is low. There are jobs and there is discretionary income for going out to eat at the local restaurants.

Terry Krepel and David Tangeman contributed information for this article.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

How To Save $100,000

By Michael Hooper


Today millions of people around the world are suffering from too much debt and no liquidity, no cash, no reserves.

But with perseverance and dedication it is quite possible to pay down debt and save $100,000. This goal requires a lifestyle change. A hatred of debt and a love of savings. A desire to work overtime, or take a second job, to earn more money to pay off debt and save money. A willingness to do without, to sacrifice now, so you will have it easier financially in the future.

There comes a time in everybody's life when they face choices -- tough decisions, a crossroads, a line in the sand. It is at these crossroads we must decide how we want to live. I once came to the crossroads when I carefully examined my credit card bill and realized I was paying $44 per month in interest. This was $44 going to the bankers on a $2,000 debt. A light bulb came on, I decided I'm not going to take this anymore and I sent $200 per month to the credit card, and paid off the debt in 11 months. I vowed then never again to work for the bankers. They are going to work for me. How do we make the bankers work for us? Save money and earn interest on our savings accounts. Indeed, open multiple accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, individual retirement accounts and participate in the 401(k) at work.

The checking account is a temporary holding place for money, it will never grow, somehow all the money in the checking account is spent. So when pay day comes around quickly move money out of the checking account into these other accounts. 

Downsize to upsize. Develop good habits that produce health, wellness and savings, a way to live below your means, the ability to save 10% or even 20% or 30% of your take-home pay.

Here are 10 steps to save $100,000.

1 Take a hard look at your budget and find a way to cut your expenses so you are living within your means, your take-home pay. If your take-home pay is $2000 per month, find a way to live and operate with $1800.

2. Open up a savings account and deposit money into this account every payday. Pay yourself first. Even if it is just $50, this is your personal private paycheck.

3. Open up a brokerage account at Charles Schwab or Ameritrade. This brokerage account will be a tool to achieve  retirement. Save money every month into this account. When you have $1,000, purchase shares in a Standard Poor's 500 Index Fund or ETF, a popular ETF is SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). The S&P 500 index funds and ETFs have low expense ratios and are easily purchased or sold with lots of liquidity. The S&P500 is the standard by which large cap mutual fund managers are measured, but most cannot beat the index. So why not invest in the index?

4. Participate in your company 401K. If the company has a match of 5% of your pay then you should put in 5% of your pay. Because this is a double your money program. You can't beat free money. Put all 100% of your contributions into your 401k into the S&P 500 Index. Its returns average about 10% per year. 10% is a fair return, Using the rule of 72, 72 / 10 equals 7.2 years to double your money.

5. Acquire quality things at fair prices. Don't buy frivolously, never borrow to buy anything, don't binge shop.

6.Don't gamble your money away. Don't waste money on lottery tickets and gambling machines, I never won. Chances are you won't either. I know people who spent hundreds of dollars per month on gambling and could have easily turned that into tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over time if they would have put the money into the stock market at the same regularity they put money into gambling devices and lottos.

7. Live a lifestyle that produces wealth. Live frugally, watch expenses and save money every day.

8. Race to pay off debt. Send extra payments to credit cards to quickly pay them off and never use them again unless you pay them off at the end of every month, to avoid interest and penalties. After all credit card debt is paid off, then send extra payments to your mortgage on your house. Pay off your house quickly, you'd be surprised at how much a little every month will add up to a lot over several years and cut down your term of your loan substantially. We paid off a 15 year loan in eight years by sending extra payments every month.

9. When you finish a series of debt payments, send the amount of the monthly debt payment to your brokerage account. Build up your brokerage account into a substantial amount of investments.

10. Follow these guidelines every day for one year and you should have an increase in your net worth. Do this for many years and you will have $100,000 or more.