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The First Ultimate Gift: Geniuses "Spoil" Us
Just how effective were those geniuses of society at taking care of our every need or problem? Instead of me impossibly trying to describe what I saw in my Visions, which overwhelmed me to the point of euphoric collapse, let me take you into the life and times of an obscure genius of society who already lived, as first told to me by my brother. That way, I can show you already proven facts. Now, since some people say the computer revolution was unique -- an anomaly based on the invention of the silicon chip -- let us go outside the computer industry. In fact, let us go back in time before high technology altogether to see the universal life-lifting power of the geniuses of society on their own, even before their catalytic reaction with modern technologies. So, let us now travel back 100 years...to the down and dirty railroad industry:
This is a story about James J. Hill, a genius of society 100 years ago who was well on his way to multiplying standards of living of entire civilizations of ordinary people and taking care of their every need until he typically got held down by 20th-century big-government regulations. His story represents all geniuses of society, even outside the computer industry.
He was a railroad pioneer back at the turn of the 20th century, and his story is brought to light in a book called Entrepreneurs Versus The State by Burton Folsom.
Let's travel back in time to the 1860s. America was experiencing its first railroad boom. Railroads were being built all up and down the East Coast. Well, as Mr. Folsom identifies in his book, two classes of entrepreneurs exist: market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs. Political entrepreneurs make their money by seeking government subsidies, by getting special government rights of way, and by accessing political clout. They seek their success through political clout with government officials.
Market entrepreneurs make their money by providing more and more values and services to society at lower and lower costs. They also create more and more jobs for us.
During America's railroad building boom in the 1860s, an opportunity arose for big government. The political entrepreneurs seeking easy money got together with career politicians seeking popularity, and together they created a deception. The deception was that only the government could finance the building of America's first transcontinental railroad. That deception over 100 years ago is still promoted today; children read about it in their history text books in school.
But that was a deception created by political entrepreneurs so they could line their pockets with lavish government subsidies and by career politicians so they could boost their self-worth by spending money that they controlled but did not earn. They could parade around and say, "Look how important we are. Look how we benefit the American public. We, the big government, are building this transcontinental railroad and opening up the interior and west coast of America." ...A perfect setup for greedy political entrepreneurs joining hands with power-seeking politicians. A perfect setup to control our bicameral tendencies.
So a deception was created: only the federal government could finance the building of the transcontinental railroad. The public bought it, and with great fanfare, Congress went ahead with it.
There were two companies: Central Pacific started building eastward from the West Coast and the Union Pacific started westward from the East Coast. The government paid those companies by the total miles of track they built. So what did they do? Instead of being bound by the disciplines of a bottom line, they were getting lavish subsidies from the government for the total miles of track they built. So they rushed into the wilderness to collect government subsidies.
But because they were being paid by the mile, these companies purposely built the longest, most circuitous routes they could possibly justify so they could get more government money. And they rushed construction to collect their per-mile subsidies. They rushed ahead with poor construction and poor planning into the wilderness.
Remember, the congressmen were spending money that they did not earn but controlled, and they wanted to reap the glory for spending that money. Those politicians, always trying to justify their jobs, always trying to show that they benefit the American public, got into the railroad business where they had no business being in the first place. Controlling tremendous amounts of money they did not earn, they reaped all this popularity that comes with spending the money. Now they could say, "Look how valuable we are; we're financing the building of a transcontinental railroad across America!"
But those career politicians were part of bogus big government. They gladly spent money with their flashy "good intentions", but they were not interested in getting out and exerting the nitty-gritty effort that business does when it spends money. They were glad to spend the money, large amounts of money, and reap the glory, but they weren't about to get out there and exert the nitty-gritty effort to put the controls on spending to make sure that money was spent right. They were not about to get right down into the details themselves to make sure that they were buying the right quality goods and that the railroad was being built over the right routes...not like a market businessman would who is spending that money out of his own pocket.
So the whole program was laced with fraud from the beginning. The line managers set up their own supplier companies selling their railroads substandard quality rails and ties at exorbitant prices. For, there was no control over the government money.
In addition, because they were getting paid by the amount of rail they built, each company was racing to build as much track as it could before the other one...to get the most money from the government. So instead of taking the proper time to carefully map out the best routes, especially vital for building over hills at the lowest uphill grade, they instead just raced forward and paid no attention to vital planning and surveying. No time to be wasted on planning and surveying, they built track over uphill grades that were far too steep. They did not take the necessary time to do anything right. When winter came, they just kept on building over the plains, right over the ice! Because they wanted to build as much as possible, they did not wait for the ice to melt -- they just kept on laying track. When summer came, they had to tear up thousands of miles of track and rebuild it, before they could open the line! And to get more money, the two railroad companies built the longest routes with under-quality material. ...You can just imagine what the future operating costs this transcontinental railroad would endure.
Indeed, when the Union Pacific was complete, from day one it could not make a profit because its operating expenses were too high. First of all, thousands of miles of shoddily built, under-quality track had to be constantly replaced. Second, because they took the extra long route, and it wasn't built over the lowest grade hills, they had to pay a lot more money in fuel costs, wage costs, and it took a lot more time to haul freight across the country. So the operating expenses were so high, from day one the Union Pacific was never able to make a profit.
Therefore, the government had to continue to subsidize the transcontinental line once it was built. Union Pacific had to continue to receive more and more government money or it would have gone out of business and stopped running. Indeed, Congress had just spent a fortune financing the building of the transcontinental line. Now Congress could not let their prize transcontinental line declare bankruptcy and close down. So, the government continued financing it.
After the Union Pacific was built, other political entrepreneurs got together with glory-seeking politicians in their areas of the country and said, "The federal government financed the Union Pacific, therefore they have to finance a transcontinental railroad in our region."
So Congress went ahead and financed the building of a transcontinental up North called the Northern Pacific, and one down South called the Santa Fe. Of course, both of those had the same results. They built extra long, circuitous routes; they turned into an orgy of fraud, substandard quality material used, no time taken to select the lowest grade hills. So right from day one, the other two transcontinentals lost money, and they had to receive government subsidies just to continue operating.
In the meantime, there was a young man way up North, James J. Hill, going about making a living. He was born in a log cabin in Ontario, Canada to a working-class family. His father died when he was a boy, so Hill got a job to support his mother. At seventeen, he moved to St. Paul and got a job for a shipping company. He started in an entry-level position, but he loved the transportation business. He really applied himself; he began making contacts, and he began moving up. Before long, he began making partnerships in local railroads that were being built in his area. With a sweeping vision, yet always focussed on nitty-gritty details, Hill commanded success. Eventually, Hill decided that he was going to build the first completely privately financed transcontinental railroad way up along the U.S. and Canadian border, which at that time was all wilderness with no settlers!
Well, from the beginning the idea was labeled Hill's Folly, and you can see why. How could someone build a railroad that could possibly compete when he had to pay all the building costs himself, and there were three others that existed farther South that had all their building costs paid by the government? Moreover, Hill's railroad was going to be way up North where no one lived. Those other three government-financed railroads were located in the main population areas of the U.S. In addition, once Hill did complete his railroad, how could he compete with the other three railroads when they continued to receive government subsidies and Hill had to pay his expenses through his own bottom-line profits -- and the three other lines proved that no profits existed!
Well, Hill went ahead with his plans anyway. Hill had to obey the disciplines of a bottom line. He could not go rushing into the wilderness to collect government subsidies. He had to build his line out West one extension at a time. He would build westward into the wilderness a few hundred miles at a time. Then he would send agents back East to advertise to farmers in the East. Hill offered to move people for free into this western wilderness so they could settle and start their farms. Then Hill would give them free rates to ship their crops back to the markets in the East for a couple of years until they got established. He gave a lot of ordinary low-income people exciting new leases on life and made their dreams come true.
This worked. For each extension West, he brought in enthusiastic hardworking farmers; they'd flourish; he'd build up business on his track, and after awhile his extension West made money. From those profits, he'd finance another extension West...a few hundred miles at a time. He never stopped. By turning low-income settlers into land-owning entrepreneurs, among others, he settled the entire northern border of the United States with his railroad. And, lo and behold, in 1890 the first American transcontinental railroad was built without one penny of government money! He reached the Pacific Ocean, and he did it by offering people, some of whom had little chance at much in life, an opportunity of a lifetime to own land and become entrepreneurs.
What an accomplishment. But most amazingly, one man did it! Not the entire might of the U.S. Government -- one lone man! One genius of society was raising the prosperity of an entire nation! But, now that he accomplished this amazing feat, could he make it work? Here Hill was with his transcontinental, way up North when the population base was farther South; he was competing against three transcontinentals farther South that had all of their expenses paid for by the government. So, what would happen to Hill's transcontinental?
During the building of Hill's railroad, since it was his personal money that was being spent, he personally dug into the tough nitty-gritty details. With unyielding disciplines and efforts, he put controls on everything: He personally surveyed the routes; he made sure the shortest, most direct routes were built. When the track had to go over hills, he would spend time with the engineers and make sure they picked out the lowest grade hills. He personally supervised the buying of materials to make sure they got the highest quality rails and ties for the lowest cost. ...So what happened to Hill's Folly? Well, from day one, when it was completed, he made a profit! He ran circles around the three government-financed lines because his operating expenses were so much lower. In addition, his freight took a lot less time to reach the West Coast. From day one, Hill made a profit. From day one, the government-subsidized transcontinental railroads never, ever turned a profit.
One man was running circles around the almighty U.S. Government! Of course, the incompetence and greed of career politicians could never bring values to the people. But one market entrepreneur could raise the standard of living of a nation.
This one market entrepreneur's advantages kept building momentum and, with a great irony, left Congress's follies in the dust. Hill built up the whole industry of the Northwest. He built feeder lines. For example, if copper were found a hundred miles north, he would build a feeder line, move in a copper company so they could start mining and shipping the copper over his line. If lumber were discovered up in the mountain, he would feeder line up there, move in a lumber company, and they would start shipping the lumber over his lines. If there was a good clearing for cattle ranching a few miles south, he would build a feeder line. ...Railroads discovered that feeder lines became a main source of profit.
But consider Congress's lines built for politicians' own glory and self-worth. Because those railroads were receiving their money from the government, they would have to get Congress's permission to build a feeder line. Well, of course, everyone knows what happens when the government has to make a decision. A simple black-and-white decision to build a profitable feeder line that should be made overnight would be tied up for months, even for years. All the incompetent congressmen would get up and debate over it to get in the spotlight and appear needed and important. ...They cared only about themselves, not about what was best for America.
So Hill's railroad ran circles around the three government-financed railroads from day one. In addition, Hill brought civilization and industry to the Northwest: mining in Montana, lumber along the North, apple farmers in Washington, wheat farmers on the plains. He built up the whole region along his railroad line.
Once Hill completed his line to the West Coast, he did not stop there. He kept reaching out and pushing up standards of living. Integrating more and more widely, into Neothink itself, Hill started reaching out toward the Orient. What about trade with the Orient? Hill did some calculations: if one major province in China substituted an ounce of rice a day with an ounce of American wheat, that would mean 50 million bushels of American wheat would travel over his railroad to China every year! Think what that would do for his farmers! Now, he would make them rich! American farmers exporting huge shipments of wheat to China -- what a possibility! So Hill sent agents to Japan and China to begin promoting American trade, the same way he had done during the building up of his transcontinental railroad.
In the meantime, we had these political entrepreneurs in Washington, D.C. still running around wondering how to get more government subsidies to line their pockets. Yet one market entrepreneur was creating jobs and dreams by the thousands. Indeed, Hill sent his agents to Japan and China to start promoting American products, and he went out and bought his own steamship line. He raced his ships back and forth between Japan and China and America. Hill built up American trade with Asia the same way that he built up business along his line. He would send products for free to the Japanese and Chinese if they would just try them out. Then once they tried them out, if they liked them they would come back, and Hill would build up the business.
Every day Hill filled his ships with American grain from the plains, with copper from Montana, lumber from Washington, cotton from the South, textiles from New England, rails from Pittsburgh, apples from Washington. He would send them all free to the Far East. The Asians would try these American goods, and if they liked them, then they would come back for more.
In fact, Hill went to Japan, met with Japanese businessmen, and proposed that he would buy southern cotton, pay for it himself, ship it to the Japanese for free, and give it to them free. Hill would buy the southern cotton out of his own money if the Japanese would just try this cotton in place of the cotton they normally got from India. Well, the Japanese took him up on his offer; they liked it, and soon Hill's box cars were full of cotton, travelling from the South to the North to the Pacific Coast and then on to a steamship to Japan.
Hill used this strategy to build up all kinds of business. In 1900, Japan started a railroad building boom. Hill recognized the potential of railroads throughout Asia. At that time, the world's suppliers of rail were England and Belgium. But there were a few American rail makers in Pittsburgh. So Hill went to Japan; he purposely underbid the English and the Belgians, paid the difference out of his own pocket just to get the Japanese to try rails made in Pittsburgh. His strategy worked: Japan started buying all their rail from Pittsburgh, which built up the fledgling rail industry in America.
What happened in the 1890s was nothing short of a miracle: When Hill started his push into Asia, trade with Japan was seven million dollars a year. Nine years later, with Hill in charge of this American mission into Asia, American trade with Japan alone was 52 million dollars! And he was now pushing into China as well! Hill was causing geometrical increases in American commerce. He was spearheading, 100 years ago, an American dominance of trade in Asia. In the meantime the political entrepreneurs, Hill's so-called rivals, were still running around Washington, D.C. trying to figure out how they could get more subsidies. And Hill just kept on reaching out, with Neothink, taking care of people's needs, and pushing up standards of living while spearheading a geometrical increase of American commerce in Asia. That was 100 years ago.
As time went by, the other three government-financed transcontinentals continued to lose money. The government kept pouring taxpayers' dollars into financing them. The public started getting fed up with this. In addition, as time went by, the frauds committed by the political entrepreneurs started to surface -- things like setting up their own companies to sell substandard material at overcharged prices. The American public had to continue to pay subsidies into this hoax just to keep these other three government railroads running. The public finally had enough. So Congress, those eternal glory-seeking politicians, started self-righteously parading the corrupt political entrepreneurs in front of Congress and the nation, forming special-investigation committees.
Well, once again, Congress created a deception: They presented themselves as protectors of the American public. They would nobly project, "Look how great we are; look how needed and important we are; we're going to protect the American public from those greedy and corrupt railroad executives." Yet, the root cause of the problem was Congress itself. Congress was the culprit! Congress spent other people's money in a railroad business where they had no business being in the first place.
So instead of getting up and confessing, "Look, the problem was us. We now realize the problem was us getting into the railroad business in the first place. We had no business in there, so now we're going to get completely out." They could have been honest, but they were not. No, they did not want to say that because that would have exposed bogus big government. Instead, they saw a chance to enhance big government and to increase their own popularity and political power for re-election. They instead self-righteously projected, "Look how we earn our keep. We're protecting the American public." Congress self-righteously started parading those corrupt railroad executives in front of the nation. Congress made the railroad executives solely to blame for the transcontinental fiascoes. And then, to "protect the public", they proposed to form more higher "authorities" such as the ICC, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and to pass Sherman Antitrust legislation to further get in there and regulate the railroads.
Well, Hill knew what was going on; he knew what the story was here. So Hill moved to Washington, D.C. He set up residence in the Capitol. He personally talked to the congressmen. He testified before their special committees. He told them what was going on: the root cause of the problem was big government getting in there where it had no business being in the first place, financing those railroads, spending other people's money on rails. That caused the corruption. Hill gave the example of his railroad. He did not accept one penny of government money while his railroad built up all the industry in the Northwest. And now his line was promoting an explosion of American trade into Asia while the three government-sponsored lines were sinking in corruption.
Now, the congressmen were intelligent men. They were college educated. They knew what Hill was saying. They knew he made perfect sense. They knew his account was the truth, but they did not care because they wanted to justify their own jobs. So they ignored him. They ignored Hill, and they went on to pass the ICC and the Sherman Antitrust legislation, which enabled them to get in and heavily regulate and punish the railroads.
Hill even wrote a book on this whole ordeal and circulated his book to the congressmen, explaining the situation. He presented all the evidence that showed how Congress was doing the wrong thing. But the big-government ruling class ignored Hill because they wanted to advance their own power. The career politicians went ahead and passed the ICC, passed the Sherman Antitrust legislation. And what did that do? Those regulations "for the public good" made it illegal for railroads to make any special deals with customers. They had to charge the same standard rate to all customers. Therefore, the Neothink dynamics Hill used to build up his railroad, to move in people for free, to make their dreams come true, to ship their freight for free or for a low cost until they got established...was now illegal! Those same dynamics that he was now using to spearhead an American dominance of trade in Asia were all now illegal! Wham! Hill was a genius of society who was pushing up the lid to lift all America into a jack-in-the-box explosion of prosperity -- and WHAM! Big-government regulations smashed him down. Hill's drive into Asia was over.
The year after the ICC's legislation passed, America's trade with Japan alone dropped by 40%. Now remember, Hill was spearheading a geometrical increase in trade. Trade with Japan and China was increasing geometrically. Now Congress passed this legislation and, plop, everything dropped 40%.
Hill was forced to sell his steamship lines, he got out of trade completely with Asia, and he was so frustrated, he retired. Suddenly, the miracle was over. Now, this was a hundred years ago. Let us stop and look at the implications of this. Let us stretch this out to see what Congress really cut off a hundred years ago. It was bad enough they cut off Hill's trade with Asia back then and destroyed the wealth, lives and dreams of many entrepreneurs dependent on Hill's dynamics, but let us project that into the future to see what they cut off today:
Throughout the decade, you have heard our President and top CEOs and top economists say that America's greatest danger economically is its trade imbalance with Asia and our lack of international competitiveness. But who in the world knows that a hundred years ago Hill was spearheading an American dominance of trade throughout all of Asia? That trade dominance was cut off by big-government regulations. Who even knows that? Nobody mentions that today, but everyone has warned about "the greatest economic danger facing America today". Americans have lost jobs by the thousands, have been outcompeted, factories have closed down. Yet who knows that one hundred years ago this one genius of society, one man, learned how to tend to people's needs, make people's dreams come true, and spearhead an American dominance of trade with Asia? Who knows that 100 years ago a man called James J. Hill started something really magnificent that would have painted an entirely different picture of America's future than that of uncertainty today? Big government destroyed that prosperous future when they destroyed Hill 100 years ago.
The politicians back then knew what they were doing. They were intelligent men. They were college educated. Hill went and explained the facts to them. Typical of big government, however, they only wanted to increase their political powers. Indeed, such god-like power to rule over us was a bicameral mutation never meant for conscious civilizations. The hierarchy of authorities, the career politicians, wanted to advance their images and egos. So they ignored Hill, and they cut off something magnificent a hundred years ago. Just like today, the ruling class back then stopped our great grandparents from rising into a paradise on Earth. That was the old code of bicameral mentalities and external "authorities".
So there you have an example of what just one genius of society can do for everyone. And you can see that the geniuses of society will rise in any industry at any time, not just in the computer or hi-tech industries, if not held down by 20th-century big-government regulations. And you can see that, when they rise under the new code, our problems, needs, and dreams will quickly be tended to. In short, their Neo-Tech society tomorrow will take care of us and make our dreams come true. Now, imagine a hundred million geniuses of society, using Neothink, all catalyzed by modern technology. You cannot imagine, because the image goes beyond anything we can know today.
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