Blog Party #8 – Benjamin Franklin

This week was sick (Mom, that means good, not ill):

• I had my birthday yesterday.
• A pretty girl called me handsome on her blog (before proceeding to explain why she is not a fan of my consistently awesome/perfect advice. I think it has something to do with her unfortunate affinity for Apple products).
• MoneySense mentioned my blog last Friday.
• My interview on 95.7 News was a lot of fun. Maritime Morning Weekend is a very cool show on said station, hosted by Erin Trafford. I don’t know how many Halifax readers I have. They might find it awkward to read my blog. Why? They’d always have to pity the fact that I live in TO.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I posted a blog party that was almost exclusively dedicated to my favourite economist, Milton Friedman. The people that we respect – or, at least, the people whose ideas we hold in greatest esteem – have a major role in shaping our world. Today’s Blog Party is dedicated to a man who, in personal finance and general industriousness, is a true inspiration to me. To close-out my week of immodest quarter century celebrations, I think this self-indulgence is appropriate.

1. Benjamin Franklin on Frugality – Ben must have been the first author to formally identify the latte factor, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” Oddly, absent from the list is perhaps Ben’s most famous money quote “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

2. Benjamin Franklin’s Inventions – Ben didn’t just build important institutions like fire companies and the US Postal Service. He innovated stoves to create a much more efficient, safe home heating system. Ben also invented the lightening rod which has saved countless lives (mostly during the 1800s and early 1900s when most buildings were built with highly flammable woods).

While he made life a lot safer for others, he often put himself in harm’s way in the pursuit of knowledge and inventions. The article doesn’t mention this, but he severely shocked himself while using electricity to kill a turkey. In doing so, he created a method of slaughter that is still in use today and that results in significantly more savoury meat. As Ben noted at the time in his journal, “Birds killed in this manner eat uncommonly tender.” A true hero.

3. A Brief Biography of Ben Franklin – I highly encourage you to take ten minutes and read his biography. If you’re not inspired by this, then you make me sad.