Motivation or Flaunting It Over Others?

        I became aware of an extreme example of those who have; and, those who have not.  The nation of Swaziland celebrated it’s 40th independence day as well as the King of Swazi’s 40th birthday in an ostentatious way.  The King Mswati was driven around in a convertible BMW flaunting his weath in a country that is overwhelmed with extreme poverty.  The nation has been devastated by the AIDS epidemic; it has the world’s highest AIDs rate.  This means that many households are not able to earn enough money to provide for their families; because many households are headed up by children because of the plague of AIDs.  Those homes that are affected by AIDS may not be healthy enough to work.  Many individuals only get enough food to eat because of international food aid.  This is a terribly sad event.

        This lack of basic necessities limits the average person’s ability to influence powerful changes, in a country that desperately needs to improve it’s quality of life.  In my mind, if the country has that kind of money…i have to wonder, why is the international community forced to provide food aid in the first place?  Those people should be coming first, in my mind, to the King of that country… he and his family should not be living a lifestyle that feeds off of riches…while his own subjects are forced to accept help from outside countries!  That should be considered shameful to the King of Swaziland and it’s officials.  It is, to me, a failure to fulfill his duties to provide care for the people under his rule.

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Presidential Dollar Coins-For Collecting or Using?

       Have you heard about the Presidential Dollar Coins?  The US Mint is honoring our Presidents in the order of their service to our country; by producing coins with their likeness on them.  The goal is to honor the Presidents, and to save the country millions in production costs that the paper dollars incur just by the wear and tear that they receive during their use.  The coins are expected to be more indestructible.   By lasting longer than the traditional paper dollar; it will save the United States, a good chunk of change 🙂  Sorry, I just couldn’t resist saying that!

       This year’s coins are:  Presidents, Monroe, Adams, Jackson and Van Buren.  On the back of each coin is an image of the Statue Of Liberty.  Along the edges of the coins are the words, In God We Trust and the year as well as the minting mark.  You can check out their site here:  http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/%241coin/ and there you can find out the release schedule as well as how to direct order the coins and coin boards.  Most banks or credit unions either have the coins or can get them for you as well. 

       I have been seeing television commercials encouraging the use of the Presidential Dollar Coins.  In fact, there seems to be an experiment going on by the US mint to try four test marketing communities.  There are four cities that are being used to test the public’s willingness to use the coins in their daily lives.  Those four cities are:  Austin-Texas, Charlotte- North Carolina, Grand Rapids-Michigan, and Portland-Oregon.  These cities will be urging their citizens to use the coins for everyday tasks; business owners will also be part of the plan of encouragement.  It is hoped that this experiment will increase the demand from other cities to trade paper dollars for coin. 

       I wonder though, if technology will keep up with the experiment.  Will vending machines, automated car washes, pay telephones, parking meters, toll booths, and the like accept the coins, in place of the traditional paper dollar?  Will you be more likely to use the coins, use traditional dollars, or, use the coins for collecting purposes?

       

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