Risk Services Of Arkansas - January 2021

Risk Services Of Arkansas - January 2021

SPECIALIZING IN YOU Agriculture Ministries Education Environmental Hospitality

Not-For-Profit

Technology

January 2021

Health Care

Manufacturing

Staffing

Transportation

Financial

Construction

Energy

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM ‘COMMON SENSE’ And How It Led to the Creation of the Constitution

T his month, 245 years ago, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet (more like a short book, really) called “Common Sense,” which included his argument about why the 13 British colonies that would go on to become the United State should separate from the British monarchy and forge a new, independent nation. Because of his written contributions to the American Revolution, Thomas Paine is considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

there are several democratic principles inherent in our government systems.

Interesting to me, given the scope and reach of government today, Paine also believed government to be but “a necessary evil,” whose primary purpose should be limited to ensuring that everyone under its rule was afforded equal opportunities — or essentially, to make sure the strong didn’t take advantage of the weak.

While some of this may seem intuitively obvious now that we’ve lived under these principles for a few centuries, at the time of the American Revolution, it was decidedly not. Not everyone in the Colonies agreed that they

I recently had a chance to actually read “Common Sense” for the first time, and I have no idea why I

hadn’t read it sooner. I usually consider myself to be kind of a history buff, but I guess we’re always learning. Anyway, I’m glad to have finally read it, and I believe I gained some insight into our current political landscape having done so. My dad used to say “common sense isn’t so common,” which I guess may have been true even back during the time of the American Revolution, considering Thomas Paine had to spell out the reasons why they should secede from the British Empire. He wrote his pamphlet to be easily understood and distributed to the masses in the colonies. He wanted it to be something that could be read aloud in any tavern or meeting place in the colonies to create a discussion about the benefits of securing their independence at that particular moment in time. It should be noted that “Common Sense” is a hard read, for modern readers at least. I had to really concentrate to get through it, which makes me think that back then, most of the “common” people must have been very self-educated in order to grasp the ideas and concepts that Thomas Paine wrote about. It’s not an easy read. Paine first lays out all the reasons why living under the British monarchy was so bad, and why that type of government didn’t work for the then 13 colonies. He then goes on to lay out a system of government that is essentially what was later adopted by our founders, a constitutional republic— the system of governance used in the U.S. to this day. Folks who think our form of government is a democracy are incorrect, even though

should separate from the British empire. There were probably almost as many loyalists to the crown as there were revolutionaries. Similarly, after America had won its independence, not all the Founding Fathers agreed on the ways forward. For example, John Adams (the second president) disagreed with Thomas Paine’s proposal that men who didn’t own land should be able to vote. Adams felt that only landowners should be granted a vote. And that was far from the only disagreement that existed among the founding members of our country. Interestingly, most of the Founding Fathers agreed on one thing, however. They had a profound distrust of government, or maybe more accurately, they feared the power of government to over-reach into their personal lives and business affairs. Regardless of these differences of opinion, however, they went on to compromise and create the U.S. Constitution with the Bill of Rights, an incredible document with lasting relevance that I believe is divinely inspired. Though there have been many rifts between different factions of the American public (historically and to this day), we’ve always been able to work through them relatively peacefully, with one obvious exception. Our country, for all its imperfections, is still something incredibly impressive, and I have no doubt that we’ll be able to work through the issues that divide us yet again. But, unfortunately, it’s liable to be a messy process.

Specialized Insurance Programs for Specialized Industries. • www.INSURICA.com • 1

BUSINESS BUDGETING FOR 2021 You Can Still Plan Around Unpredictability This is the time of year when businesses would usually be looking at their budget and planning for the coming year. But COVID-19 has made the future entirely unpredictable, which makes properly planning your budget difficult. But all is not lost — there are some basic budgeting tactics you can implement to face 2021 with confidence. Create a Forecast If you’re not entirely confident in your ability to forecast sales for 2021, you’re not alone. But you do still have options. If 2020 went great, perhaps try setting your sights up 10% from last year. If you want to play it safe, keep your forecast on par with 2020. If even that doesn’t feel reliable, then jump back to 2019 and use it as a base for creating your budget. You can ramp up 10% or 20% from there. Don’t just forecast this year blindly — use >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

insurica.com

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker