Stephan Miller

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I have come to the conclusion that every era and paradigm in history is still alive and well in one part of the world or another. Well, not every one but quite a few.

I moved from Phoenix to Kansas City and moved back in time somewhere between 20 and 50 years. Not literally of course, but it’s the feeling I get. While some of you can say older generations grew up differently and had different values, the whole mass here still lives there.

There are door to door salesman here. People sign up for correspondence courses because they don’t trust teh internets. People fall for the stupidest shit here. Sex education is too evil to be taught in the schools. Just mentioning the word abortion to someone who is pregnant is called coercion and carries a felony charge. And the question of teaching only Intelligent Design get tossed around every once and while.

And they are happy with it.

We are not talking small town. We are talking a city with population. It’s everywhere you go.

Everyone who has made it out of here has lived through the Great Depression. I made it out once. I had the stupid idea of moving back here. I forgot things or maybe I just evolved.But housing cost less. We could not afford a house in Phoenix. And we will make it out again.

This brings me to the phrase "pay yourself first". I have started paying my family first even though I believe that most the people that advise this are in a different tax bracket and don’t live in the environment I do. Money makes great set of emerald glasses.

But I still have issues with the phrase. The population here lives in a state of self-imposed feudalism. That’s all I can see it as. Jobs pay really low. People parrot untruths they hear from the powers that be like it’s gospel. Laws don’t have to get slipped in sideways here. They pass. There is no need for propaganda. Just have the news or the preacher say something once.

My children must get part of their education here. The part before we pack the moving truck and never look back. And I am hustling to make that a really short part.

So when does "paying ourselves first" begin. I had options. Options that took me a few years to learn. The high paying jobs here are the ones you get after beauty school or vocational school.

Do I continue to subject my daughter to an education system that does fluoride treatments without latex gloves? That does hearing checks in a crowded room of talking kids? That tells my daughter that the best thing to do is be quiet if strange adult tries to grab her after we put her in karate?

And then looks at us blankly when we mention these things to them.

And I ask again,"When does paying yourself first begin?".

Is it after the private school or before? Is it after we let our house go into foreclosure just to get the hell out or after?

I could live anywhere single. I could "pay myself first" with a massive paycheck if I was single. "Beans and rice" takes on a different meaning when it’s your child’s education.

And just to let you know, it’s not that extreme yet. We have found a like minded family after 2 years. This was to make a point. People live in different environments. Place’s that you would have never imagined. My wife tells me that she expects to see "Candid Camera" popping out of the bushes somewhere telling us this whole city was a joke. I think this indicates that the pod people have got to her. Candid Camera hasn’t been on for years.