A dollar for my thoughts

            Today I read an article on the disappearing Dollar store. Oh, they are not leaving. The dollar is leaving. We can now welcome the two-dollar store. Do you get twice as much? Well no, you get twice as less. Will they change the name from dollar? I doubt it because now you can just bring more of them. I knew it had to happen at some time. We had penny candy when I was a child. Now I just bring many pennies, Or none at all (Penny does not exist in Canada).

            Will there be a day when the dollar is gone too? Na, I think things will reset by then. What I mean is that the economy is like a wave: up and down the swells go. These days there are stormy seas. A dollar maybe was a life preserver in the past, well that won’t save you know sister. You really have to think hard on this one. We make more and pay more these days. Around and around this dance goes on labor and products. Mixed in with that is the price of gas and oil. Mixed in with all that is greed.

            We want things cheap. The rich want money for the business they provide. A dollar store was attractive because we got good value. Those same stores can’t make money on a dollar anymore. The troubling part is the stubbornness of the rich. They still like a big return. They are willing to get that return on less sales. That my friends mean higher prices. I know that the energy sector is suffering these days. They are still handing out bonuses, it’s just to less people. Caught in the middle is you and me. Value village has little value when the rich desire to stay rich.

            What does God have to say about the dollar? Hebrews 1`3:5 says “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” There are tons of others but this says it all. God says to focus on other things than money. Meaning if you run a good business then good business will come. Then it adds that God will always be there for us. So God provides and we should be grateful and do well with what we have. I have often been troubled over the buried coin in Luke 19. Why was the owner so hard on him for hiding it?

            I think the mentality of God is in the mix. God provides and we till the ground. God is not one to sit there and spoon feed us. Another thought is God is not an angry God. If you use his wealth and fail: there is not a backlash. I believe God wants us to run the race win or lose. Also we need to know that God provides customers, fate, and prosperity. They all work together. I believe sometimes we think it’s all about us and our choices, money, and brains. Millionaires are risk takers because they know that money comes and goes.

I think the rich these days are more like Luke 12. The Bible has a parable of a rich man who stored his grain in bigger barns. In the old days God had asked the Jews to take their portion and leave the rest for the poor to glean. The rich man bought bigger barns to keep it all. That is what’s happening today. Some products are making 150% profit. There is more than a 10% return on the markets. That mentality has killed the dollar store. The rich can stay rich. God has no issue, but he does have an issue with greed. When is enough, plainly enough?

The housing market in North America is floundering. The prices of houses are way too high. Some analysts say as much as 30% too high. The problem is simple: greed. We are convinced that a ten percent jump per year is normal for a house investment. Trust me, realtors have a lot of money invested in housing. They don’t want low prices. The rich have a ton of money in housing and business too. A Market adjustment will come and, yes, some rich will fall. In the meantime, all us dollar store lovers will have to wait till the dollar becomes a dollar once again, because the rich won’t allow that anytime soon.

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