When is America going to learn that money won’t solve all of its ills? First Timothy 6:6–7 says: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” You can amass a fortune while you’re on earth, but trust me, dude, you’re not taking any of it with you. Where you’re going it wouldn’t make any difference, so quit running so fast and trying to amass money. Learn the secret of godliness with contentment. It’s not about money, no matter how much you make. When you die, they’re going to put your best duds on you and then others are going to fight over what you amassed. Once you’re in the ground, they’ll haggle over your cash, house, cars, guns, and boats. You’re not taking any of it with you. When certain funeral homes are asked to provide clothing for the deceased, the undertakers purposely dress men in suits without pockets. Hey, there aren’t any pockets because you’re not taking anything with you!
When Miss Kay and I decided to slow down and have less of a role at Duck Commander, we all but gave the company to our sons. Duck Commander certainly wasn’t what it is today, but it was successful enough for my three sons to make a pretty good living. Willie had the best business mind out of the bunch. Even when he was in junior high, he was bootlegging candy and all but took over the concession business. The principal called me and chewed me out about it.
We designated Willie to be the CEO of Duck Commander, and he and his wife, Korie, ended up buying the company from us. The rest of my sons also work for Duck Commander. My oldest son, Alan, who is a preacher, is the spiritual adviser of the bunch. Jase is the best hunter among the boys and probably has the most analytical mind. He makes sure the duck calls are built correctly and sound exactly like ducks. Jep, my youngest son, shoots and edits our video for our hunting DVDs. He has the best creative mind among them. I told my sons that as long as they sent me a check every month and gave Miss Kay and me enough money to pay our bills, I really didn’t need anything more. Now that the company has become famous worldwide, the checks are getting bigger and bigger every month. They’re all getting rich out of the deal.
When the money started coming in, Miss Kay and I really didn’t know what to do with it. We were like, “Whoa, the Almighty is blessing us in a new way.” We decided to be generous and charitable and help as many people as we could. We’re building schools in Africa and helping to finance mission trips to spread the Good News around the world. We were the same way when we didn’t have any money. When I was making $225 a week, our house was always filled with people who were down on their luck. We shared the Good News with them, fed them, housed them, and gave them opportunities to turn their lives around. We never turned anyone away if they needed help and really wanted to help themselves. I like to think that since we did right when we didn’t have much money, the blessings started pouring in once Duck Dynasty took off.
One day, I asked Miss Kay, “I know we’re rich now, but when am I going to feel rich?” Her answer was: “Phil, we were content when were poor, so we won’t ever feel rich.” She was right.
Save your money, buy only what you need, give generously, and, most important, prepare yourself for God’s inheritance.
4
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fix No. 4: Mind Your Own Business
A recent study by International Data Corporation revealed that 50 percent of the American population uses some sort of smartphone. Now, I’ve never owned a cell phone and, rest assured, I never will. But from what I’ve seen over the last several years, smartphones only seem to make their users dumber. I laugh every time I see someone struggling to carry shopping bags and an umbrella through a parking lot on a rainy day while holding a cell phone to his ear. Hang up the phone, you idiot! You wouldn’t believe how many times my sons Willie and Jep have dropped their iPhones in the water while we’re duck hunting. Okay, tell me again exactly why you needed them in the duck blind. Were you going to call the ducks with your cell phones? It seems, from my vantage point, that most people spend a lot of time trying to find their cell phone!
Americans need to get off their cell phones—my sons included. Contrary to what you’re thinking, you can live without them. I promise you can operate and function without them. I don’t have one. You don’t have to have one, either. And while you’re at it, get off your desktop computer, laptop, iPad, tablet, reader, and whatever other mobile devices you own. I’ve never figured out how the computer, the very device that was supposed to revolutionize the way we live and save us so much time, ended up occupying so much of our time. Americans can’t stay off them!
The IDC study revealed some alarming facts about Americans. Did you know that 79 percent of smartphone users reach for their devices within fifteen minutes of waking up? A majority of them—62 percent—don’t even wait fifteen minutes! I have an idea: why don’t you grab a Bible and read, or lie there in bed and pray or meditate for a few quiet moments? Hey, news flash, folks: I promise you it’s the only quiet time you’re probably going to get in this busy, busy world. Why don’t you take advantage of a few moments of solitude and slow down, Jack?
I’m convinced that the Internet and social media in particular, the very things that were supposed to bring us closer together, have actually distanced us from each other more than ever before. They’re destroying the social interaction among humans. We don’t talk to anybody anymore, and we’ve isolated ourselves, spending most of our time in front of a computer or tapping the screens of our smartphones and tablets. We’ve become robots. In 1950, less than 10 percent of American households contained only one person. By 2012, almost 27 percent of households were a single person. Who needs a spouse or roommate when you have five hundred friends on Facebook or one thousand followers on Twitter? I don’t get it.
And don’t even get me started about online dating. Did you know there are actual online dating sites for ugly people, people who like to ride horses, people who like cats, people who dress up like clowns, adults who love to wear diapers, and people with food allergies? I’m not kidding! Hey, I realize there’s probably someone out there for everybody—look at my brother Si for goodness’ sake—but don’t you think there’s a better way to meet Mr. or Mrs. Right than by exchanging a few e-mails? Can’t you meet a woman or man in church or school? How do you really know they’re the one if you’ve never watched them pluck feathers from a duck or clean fish? Don’t you at least need to know what they smell like? You really need to get to know a man or woman face-to-face, because it has been my observation that if people are mean, they get a lot meaner after they’re married. Trust me, you’re going to need more than a cell phone or computer to discover that part of someone’s personality!
Sadly, we don’t carry on conversations with our neighbors, our coworkers, or even our family members anymore. Instead of actually talking to them, we send each other text messages, tweets, direct messages, and e-mails. What happened to actually hearing a loved one’s voice? The best days of my life were spent with my boys, brothers, and friends in a duck blind for hours, sharing stories and memories and laughing together as we waited for the ducks to come in. When was the last time you had a truly meaningful conversation with your spouse or children? When was the last time you walked next door to your neighbors’ house, sat on the front porch, and talked with them over a glass of tea? We spend so much time on Twitter, My Page, Your Page, MyTube, YouTube, LinkedIn, LinkedOut, Pinterest, and all of these other social media sites that we don’t have any worthwhile interaction with anyone. Instead of talking with our mouths, we’re letting our fingers do the talking. It isn’t healthy.
As someone who has never owned a cell phone or computer, I’ve wondered about the reasons behind the social media explosion in our country. The only answer I can come up with is that Americans are basically bored and nosy. Nowadays, minding your own business is extremely rare. I’m warning you, folks: if you don’t put down your cell phones and get off Facebook and Twitter, digital dementia is right around the corner. Digital dementia is capturing o
ur souls, and we’re cultivating a generation of robotic nerds.
Social media and our desire to know everyone else’s business are consuming us more and more every day. The IDC study revealed that 70 percent of smartphone users are frequent Facebook visitors, with more than half of them logging on every single day. On average, the study found, smartphone users visit the Facebook application 13.8 times per day, for two minutes and twenty-two seconds each time. And that’s only while using their smartphones! As soon as they get home, I’m sure they’re turning on their laptops and iPads. On average, Americans spend about twenty-three hours per week e-mailing, texting, and using social media. That’s 14 percent of the time in a week!
Imagine what you could do with the time you’re spending on your mobile devices and computers. You could actually talk to your spouse and kids, volunteer at a food bank or school, throw the football in the backyard, or take your kids hunting or fishing. Heck, some people spend so much time on Facebook that if they stopped they could actually get a job! But people rarely seem to put their cell phones down, no matter what they’re doing. They check Facebook while they’re shopping, while at the gym, and while cooking. People even use their cell phones while they’re at the movies! Let me get this straight: you’re going to get hosed for a ten-dollar ticket to the movies, and then you’re going to spend the entire two hours looking at your phone? Hey, how about actually watching the movie?
I can’t figure out why Americans are so preoccupied with what everyone else is up to. Evidently, people are starved for something they don’t have or couldn’t keep. They want to know what their friends are doing, where they’re going, and what they’re eating for dinner. It seems like we’re envious of each other and dissatisfied with our own lives. Talk about putting yourself in a depression. Why would you want to know what your ex-girlfriend is doing in Texas or California? Or what kind of truck some guy you barely knew in high school bought? Do you know the worst part about social media? People don’t know when to be quiet. Do I really need to know how many times you’ve flossed your teeth today or that you’ve lost forty-two pounds with some miracle diet drug? People on social media can’t see you yawning from the boredom, so they keep yapping away.
According to researchers at the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of adults in the U.S. use some form of social media. Facebook alone has 1.19 billion users worldwide—more than three times the population of the United States! Think about that—one in every seven people in the world is using Facebook! I’m starting to think social media might be more addictive than cocaine and heroin. Americans can’t seem to get enough of it, and social media is making us narcissistic and envious of others.
I’ll never forget the time my son Jase told me he had millions of friends.
“Millions of friends, huh?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I’m up to two million friends on Facebook,” he said.
“How is that?” I asked him. “How do you talk to every last one of them? How do you do that?”
Jase then asked me: “Dad, how many friends do you have?”
I held up one hand and simply told him, “Not as many as you.”
When you log on to Facebook or some other social media site, how many of the people you’re communicating with are really your friends? How many do you have meaningful relationships with? How many of those people can you actually share your problems and struggles with? Miss Kay is my best friend and we talk about everything. Hey, the woman loves me! I couldn’t imagine jumping onto a computer and sharing my dirty laundry for the whole world to see. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
Much of the reason some people are so attracted to social media is gossip. Gossip is kind of like a second bowl of duck gumbo. We know we don’t need it and might even say we don’t want it, but when it’s within reach, most of us can’t resist it. Gossip is the same way. We’re humans and imperfect, and we can’t seem to get enough of it. Most people want to know everything about everyone, regardless of how hurtful it might be. Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.” Gossip is a sin, and it involves not only the person talking, but also the people listening and the ones who repeat what they heard. We have to remember that what comes from our mouths lets everyone know who we are and who we belong to. There are even gossip websites, and people hosting them have become millionaires, feasting on gossip and the intimate details of other people’s lives.
Here’s another thing: why do we now have to document every one of life’s precious moments with a photograph on Facebook and Instagram? I can understand a grandmother wanting to see photographs of her grandchildren if she lives across the country or a wife wanting to see photos of her husband if he’s stationed overseas in the military. Hey, even photos of birthday parties, weddings, and anniversaries are okay. But do we have to document every little moment of our lives? According to Facebook, more than 750 million photographs are uploaded to their site on a given weekend. Isn’t that what our memories are for? We’ve become narcissistic, wanting to share everything with our “friends.” We have to tell them what we’re doing, what we’re wearing, who we’re with, and where we’re going. Then we’ll sit in front of the computer for hours to see how many friends “liked” or shared the photos.
I’m telling you: social media isn’t for me. My code of life can be summed up in a few short statements. 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 tells us: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” That’s what Paul the Apostle told the Thessalonians as he was writing on behalf of the Father of the cosmos. Paul did not tell the Thessalonians to live noisy, chaotic lives. Instead, he told them to love each other and to make it their ambition to lead quiet lives. He told them to concentrate on their own lives, take care of their own jobs and responsibilities, and not meddle in the affairs of others. In other words, he told them not to be nosy.
I’ve made it my ambition to live a quiet life. Once the Duck Dynasty cameras are turned off for the final time, Miss Kay and I are still going to be living in the same place we were before, in the same house on the banks of the Ouachita River. I’m going to wake up every morning, spend most of my day in the woods or on the river, and then enjoy a quiet evening. There won’t be a cell phone attached to my hip. I’m going to be doing the same things when I’m old and gray. Here is one of the few bits of advice I’m ever going to give the news media: Write anything you want about me, good or bad, on your websites and blogs. I don’t own a cell phone or computer, so I’m not privy to that information. I’m not hearing you—ever! You might as well not say it.
I can promise you one thing: you’ll never find me logging on to Facebook or Twitter or e-mailing or texting someone. If someone needs to talk to me, they know where I live. They can come talk to me face-to-face, instead of sending me a tweet of 140 characters or less. Seriously, what can you really say in less than 140 characters? We’ve become shallow and uninformed. If my friends and associates can’t get to my house, then they can call me on the phone—the kind that’s attached to the wall. Good luck getting me to answer it.
You have to understand that I’ve never e-mailed anybody in my life and have rarely written anyone a letter. One day, as I was walking through the warehouse of Duck Commander, I saw six women sitting in front of computers.
“What are y’all doing?” I asked them.
“We’re answering your e-mails, Mr. Robertson,” one of them told me.
“You’re doing what?” I asked her.
“We’re answering your mail, sir,” she said.
“All of you?” I asked.
“Yes, all of us,” she said.
Apparently, I was receiving thousands of e-mails every day. Miss Kay, Uncle Si, and each of my sons were getting nearly as many. I had no idea we had so many long-lost cousins in Nigeria or some other faraway lan
d who were in desperate need of money. I had no idea I’d ever entered the Irish lottery. I could only shake my head and say, “Well, good grief.”
One of the craziest things to me is the fact that Duck Dynasty has become a social media phenomenon. We love each and every one of our fans, and fortunately they love our show and family. But the show’s popularity has turned our quiet lives into not-so-quiet lives. Hey, it’s one of the hazards of reality TV. The irony of it to me is that millions of fans—and a lot of them are the people who are on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media—were probably attracted to the Robertson family because they saw us as people who minded our own business, worked hard, built duck calls, and loved God and each other. Maybe they thought we were interesting or maybe they thought we were weird. I like to think they were attracted to the fact that we live godly and productive lives. I’ve chosen to live my life kind of like Americans did fifty or sixty years ago. I think a lot of Americans would like to live the way their grandparents and great-grandparents did, when times were much more simple and a lot less stressful. But most Americans have been caught up in the rat race, and they’re afraid to give up the conveniences of the twenty-first century. I think simpler lives are what a lot of people in America really want, but they’ve been consumed by the modern-day American culture. They’re living wide open and romping and stomping to make money and climb their way to the top. It doesn’t have to be that way.
unPHILtered: The Way I See It Page 4