Legalize Education

We believe that education is the cornerstone to correcting the challenges in our

society: racism, poverty, substance abuse to name a few. Through our books and

workshops we have dedicated our time to educating teens and parents to taking the

simple steps necessary to ensure a stress-free and prosperous future.

Let’s consider for a moment the war on drugs. Billions of dollars have been spent to

keep drugs out of the U.S. market, resulting in a seizure/elimination rate estimated

at 10% or less. With such a dismal success rate, any other program would be

eliminated immediately. But, what are the alternatives? There is an argument to be

made for legalization, which is the preferred path for the countries of Latin America.

We have a different view.

Let’s apply the laws of supply and demand instead. If you eliminate the demand,

then the supply becomes irrelevant. Instead of eliminating after-school programs

and sports leagues in budget cuts, we need to pour money into them. We need to

invest in entrepreneurial training and support for students and adults. Most people

have at least one good to great idea that could be developed into a moneymaking

stream doing something they love and in which they believe. When people are doing

something in which they’re engaged, they have no time for drugs.

Leave The Rich Alone

Ever since the beginnings of the Occupy movement years ago it’s been fashionable

to vilify the so-called1%. Our approach is different: we are dedicated to elevating

members of the 99% to enjoy the lifestyles and security of the 1%. And, once there,

rather than feeling guilty about achieving a higher income, take a look at this

example. It comes from Tim Cestnick, a writer with The Globe and Mail, Canada’s

equivalent of the New York Times. He’s referencing the Canadian tax system but the

principle holds for any progressive tax system.

“Each and every day, 10 men go to a restaurant for dinner together. The bill for all 10

comes to $100 each day. If the bill were paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four

would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the

eighth $12; the ninth $18. The 10th man – the richest – would pay $59. Although the

10 men didn’t share the bill equally, they all seemed content enough with the

arrangement – until the restaurant owner threw them a curve. “You’re all very good

customers,” the owner said, “so I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.

I’m going to charge you just $80 in total.” The 10 men looked at each other and seemed

genuinely surprised, but quite happy about the news.

The first four men, of course, are unaffected because they weren’t paying anything for

their meals anyway. They’ll still eat for free. The fifth man paid nothing, the sixth

pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $14, leaving the

10th man with a bill of $50 instead of $59.

Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got one dollar

out of the $20,” said the sixth man, pointing to the 10th man, “and he got $9!” “Yeah,

that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too! It’s not fair that he got

nine times more than me!” “That’s true,” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get

back $9 when I only got $2? The rich get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the

first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine outraged men surrounded the 10th and brutally assaulted him. The next day,

he didn’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it

came time to pay the bill, they faced a problem that they hadn’t faced before. They

were $50 short.”

While both Denis and I can each identify with the 10 th guy in this example, this is not

a complaint about paying high taxes. Not that I enjoy paying them, but I understand

that the privilege and benefits of living in one of the greatest countries in the world

comes with a cost. When I consider the benefits of freedom, and quality of life, I

don’t mind what I have to pay.

For many, the best way to balance out this inequality is simply to make the rich pay

even more in taxes. But that doesn’t solve anything. The systemic problem of the

99% remains, and it only encourages the rich to find tax loopholes or move to

another, cheaper country.

I think there’s a better way of achieving equality: as a society we need to make a

huge investment in financial literacy, education and skills upgrading for the 99%.

Whatever it takes: reduced fees for colleges and universities; subsidized day care so

that parents can get to their training; financial literacy workshops; incentives for

businesses to help in the skills upgrading, and courses together with mentoring for

people wishing to start new businesses.

When we help people elevate themselves to more satisfying, better paying work,

everybody – rich and poor – are the winners. Let’s aim to make all of the 99% part

of the 1%.

Read the whole Globe and Mail article here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/taxes/how-

splitting-the-dinner-bill-relates-to-tax-cuts/article24441644/?intcmp=pdxl_s2s

It’s All About Engagement

We recently contracted with a company to convert the Canadian version of our Teen

book to the ePub format to join its U.S. counterpart in the Apple iBookstore. In an

effort to save us money, the company did the conversion by ignoring the design

layout. “What’s the problem?” they asked. “All the words and pictures are there.”

“Yes, but they’re all in one long, continuous column. It’s boring” I replied.

When we did the book’s original layout we spent months – and thousands of dollars

– testing out different designs to see which one would capture the reader’s interest

and maintain it the longest. The point was not to figure a way to sell more books –

after all, no one would know how well the layout worked until after they had made

their purchase – it was all about engaging the reader. We don’t want readers to go

through the book, then put it down and forget it. We want them to get excited about

taking control of their lives; to stop being ripped off by unscrupulous marketers; to

figure out how to save for college, for a home, for a fun, comfortable retirement.

Whatever they want and need. That’s the point of our books; that’s what we’re both

passionate about. That’s why we do what we do.

I know that the material, especially the “Hero Stories” will captivate most of the

readers because the stories are very powerful. But, we want all readers to be

affected. Most, just isn’t good enough. No one has to be broke. No one has to live

paycheck to paycheck. No one has to stay awake at night worrying about their

finances. It’s not rocket science; in fact it’s relatively easy to start taking control.

In the information era, where there are websites, books, courses and videos

explaining what to do – many of them free – it’s almost inconceivable that people

have money issues. The problem is that content providers have failed to engage the

reader/viewer. That’s why the layout of our Teen series is so important to us,

because we know that it works. It engages the reader. It’s why Yale University and

Jr. Achievement Worldwide are just a few of the organizations that have called our

books the best in their field. And, that’s why the ePub converters were sent back to

the drawing board: it’s all about Engagement.