Episode 7
Bouncy Balls and Money—Objects of Value vs. Perceived Values
Part 1
As a little kid, one day I was kicking stones around in the driveway or something little kids play with who have nothing else for enjoyment.
I heard someone call me to come indoors, and when I went in, there was a round package on the floor, wrapped and taped in newspaper. Then someone said, “Open it.” After ripping the paper off as fast as I could, inside was a large, red, bouncy ball.
It had a mark or two on it, but it didn’t matter if it came from a garage sale or perhaps one of the neighbors whose kid had outgrown it; it was my first true ‘object of value.’
I quickly learned how to bounce it off the floor and walls and catch it before it smashed into my face. When my friend came over, we could play catch, run with it, kick it to each other, or make each other chase it. I could even go next door and throw it through a hoop set up in their driveway.
Soon, my friend brought over his brother’s bat, and we could hit and catch the red bouncy ball to each other. It seemed there was no limit to the enjoyment or possibilities the red bouncy ball could reveal.
As the days and years went by, I found out there were other bouncy balls of different sizes: tennis balls, baseballs, soccer, volley, footballs, basketballs, and later in life, golf balls. Each new discovery opened the door to more amazing things to do with these objects of value.
Eventually, I learned how to play with each of these different objects of value and then joined teams where everyone took turns playing with a ball. Many kids were far better or more athletic at handling the ball, as some could run faster with it, jump higher, throw it or hit it further, kick it straighter, and so forth.
I didn’t know at the time if I kept practicing doing the things these other kids were doing, I might become much better than they were. No one ever taught or cheered me on to perhaps being able to do things better than others.
Then I discovered trading cards, where the faces of those who knew or had cheerleading mentors in their younger lives developed into people who could do amazing things with a ball, better than millions of other people. Not only that, fans would pay to watch them play because the watchers knew if they had practiced perhaps a day or two longer, it could be them the fans came out to cheer.
There were even rich people who would pay these ballplayers millions of dollars because they could play with bouncy balls better than others!
But then I found there were other people who apparently did not have bouncy balls or learn how to play with them better than others. They saw what they thought were more important things of ‘object value’ to do with their lives, such as work in a hospice.
Oh, the great ballplayers knew those people existed; after all, one might take a tiny chunk of their million dollars and pay them $10.00 an hour to hold their grandmother’s hand in a hospice until she died while they were playing with their ball in front of cheering fans.
For some reason, $10.00 an hour was all rich people would pay to hospice or care workers. After all, why would a nurse or a hospice worker be worth more than a ballplayer? Nobody bought tickets to watch them hold a dying person’s hand, daily clean them, or carry them to the bathroom.
They didn’t receive accolades or trophies even though it seemed they should—or at least not work for poverty wages simply because they didn’t play with bouncy balls long enough.
But the strange thing is, in the end, neither one had anything as objects of value from their efforts or money. Well, maybe a shiny trophy for the athlete, but the money they received was worth less than my original object of value—my priceless red bouncy ball.
We need to dig deeper to understand this deception into revelation, but remember the saying, “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
When I was in my early twenties, three events happened that forever changed my perspective and my life. Let’s start by talking about the first one.
Someone had sent me a large, underground, paperback book. By underground, I mean it wasn’t published for the general population.
In it were strange secrets. At first, it was difficult to understand, and I thought it was a bunch of hooey. But the more I read, the more the whole thing made sense. Hopefully, the same sense or knowledge we are achieving from these episodes.
Part of it was basic economics, which it seems no one is taught today. Oh sure, there are the supply and demand theories, which are basically true, but we think we can outspend our supply (income) forever because there is implied endless demand (wants or needs) on our income.
And then there was this secret that tied everything else together. Some people produce objects of value. The rest of the people figure out ways to steal from the value producers by deceiving them into buying their perceived value. Instead of producing objects of value, they introduce fear and worry to deceive the real producers or owners of objects of value out of their money.
For example, let’s say Benny buys a new car or an object of value. He can ride it to work to make more income, buy groceries to survive, or boldly go to places he’d never been before, etc.
But then, the car dealer says he needs to buy an extended warranty today because it is cheaper than buying it later. He tries to instill fear and worry in Benny to buy something of perceived value.
Later, Benny’s insurance agent calls and tells him he needs to buy car insurance because he might crash into a busload of kids in a school bus. The agent instills fear and worry into Benny to buy something of perceived value.
However, if we don’t have enough other perceived value in savings-money to fix the car ourselves after the warranty runs out or after settling the lawsuits from injuring kids in a school bus, then the thing of perceived value (extended warranty and insurance) eventually has some value to us.
But, if we do have enough in perceived savings already, then the things of perceived value, of course, have no value. We don’t realize we are exchanging perceived value, dollars, for a different perceived value.
Now, let’s say Benny, the auto dealer, and the car insurance agent all decide to go to the same religious church on the corner. Inside is an elderly person standing behind a pulpit, dressed in a white robe with colorful adornments around his neck.
He begins, at first, to talk quietly in a monotone voice about church business to the audience. But then, his speech turns into instilling fear and worry into the listener’s ears; his voice rises to punctuate the necessity of hearing his message.
The gist of this is the audience needs to join his religion to go to heaven with God after they die. If they don’t, they will instead burn in hell. The speaker is selling them something of perceived value, and they pay for it today by tossing money into a basket passed around the room.
Of course, if Benny and associates have already met God, and God has assured them their admittance into heaven through the shed blood of Jesus at Calvary, then they don't need to buy the religious passport membership the elderly person is yelling at them to join in with his religion.
Most everything of perceived value is unknown future worry purchased today. Whereas, objects of value are of value today. Fear and worry have no value, yet we are deceived into thinking they do.
What we don’t realize is unless we own or possess objects of value, homes, cars, food, air filters, water filters, computers, etc., everything else is perceived value and is actually worthless.
Our world operates under the greatest perceived value, called debt. The guv, politicians, institutions, the Federal Reserve money system, credit cards, etc., all promote debt.
Doctors, lawyers, religious charlatans, brokers, agents, salespeople, and the list of perceived value could go on and on. One red bouncy ball has more object value than all of these organizations and people combined.
By instilling fear and worry in us is the only way they can survive with their perceived value.
Which do we think is worth more in the big picture, a small chunk of gold or a million dollars of paper money? Well, OK, if we were stranded in the woods freezing to death with a million dollars, we could burn the money but not the gold to stay warm until we were rescued. Admittedly, in a time of urgent need, all of the organizations and people previously listed could provide value in a moment of time resolving our issue, but at what expense? Also, they provide a support structure of various jobs, but at our expense.
Objects of value can go up in value if the supply is not there. Perceived value only gets more expensive or loses value. Yes, most cars devalue over the years (yet some today are worth more than when purchased), but we extract the value out of them over time.
Someone once said, that perceived value, such as taxes, is like a stupid person throwing money in a bucket to gain betterment and then standing inside it trying to pull themselves up with the bucket handle.
Before 1971, a dollar could be traded for the same portion value of gold. Today, the same dollar is worth only about 18 cents of the same portion of gold. Why? The gold object of value has gone up, whereas the perceived value of the dollar has diminished or become more expensive. The cost or expense (not the value) of using or purchasing perceived value has gone up.
How did we get into this mess? Who determined to use fear and worry to steal our money? Remember… he who has the gold makes the rules. Is gold an object of value or really perceived value?
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