Over my nearly sixty years of muddling through life, I have tripped across some truths, many of which I have learned the hard way. They say the only way to get good experience is to have bad experiences.

I have learned (the hard way) that you cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. What if we saved half of what we earned? Wouldn't life be a lot easier? What if big banks and mega corporations ran their businesses the same way? Would we be bogged down in the funk we are in today?

I have noticed that you cannot help small men by tearing down big men. It is so tempting to watch the mighty fall. I guess you could even say it is human nature to enjoy it a bit. Humility does not come naturally to the mighty. As I grow older, I notice that is a trait that is sorely missing in my own life.

My late friend and life insurance guru John Savage used to love to say "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong." So much of what business is about today is tearing down the competition to build your product or service up. Can anything good come from ambushing your competition?

One cannot help but notice that today's rewards seem to be going to those who have not earned them. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. There seems to be a trend in our economy today that suggests that we need to shoot the golden goose because the rest of us are hungry. Enjoy the meal. It could be your last.

Sadly, I am noticing that you cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. Politicians want to do this and it goes back to the oldest mistruth of all: "From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs."- Karl Marx. That is why Communism is the greatest lie of all and why it does not work.

Most of us have suffered from the next truth: You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. I have learned this one the hard way. I have also learned that you really do not have any problems if money is a solution. You can work harder to make more money. You cannot always reverse health problems or family problems or addiction or other human failings.

My late friend Ralph Ruscetta, who was a scientist for GE for over 40 years, once told me that when you are lacking in any area of your life (education, money, relationships) one must be willing to work twice as long twice as hard for half as much. Pretty sound advice, but the only blemish in that philosophy is the reward is not half as much; it is twice as much!

Other cultures in the world seem to want to manipulate the masses. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. I cannot find a culture anywhere in the world that has survived very long with that approach. The average age of the world's great civilizations is only 200 years. That is but a speck on the backdrop of time. We passed mark over 30 years ago but to keep us alive as a nation, we cannot change our values. When your values are clear, decisions come easy.

My biggest fear for our country today is we are spending our great, great grandchildren's future away. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. The net result will be a monetary system that will be devalued.

Sadly, the consequence of "rescue thinking" is you cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. Most problems have solutions that require a lot of hard work and effort.

Finally, I have noticed in the world of my own small business that you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. One of the greatest frustrations in life is to see people with talent who will not rise to the level of that talent. The temptation is to reach out and do for them what they should do for themselves.

Sometimes you have to let people fail in order to rescue them from themselves. In the end, some people just do not want to be saved. One of my thoughts over the years about my own children was to say to myself "Is the kid worth keeping?" Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone is to let go. For a parent, not only is it hard to do but it must be done. That's why mother birds often push their young from the nest, to help them find their own wings.