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Source: San Antonio Express-NewsJuly 25--The Code of the West was never written down, but most of us, regardless of who we are, live by it.新蒲崗迷你倉We do the right things for the right reasons. We're honest, decent and loyal. We live by an unwritten code of ethics that guides us.Stealing and lying are bad. Following through on what you've said is good. Cowardice is bad. Courage is good.And whether we're getting our marching orders from a religion or from society's guidelines, we all know what's good and what's bad. When we see something bad, we shake our heads and say, "That's not right."These guidelines have hovered under the surface of who we are and what we do for as long as we've been us. We've got the Ten Commandments, but not everyone is a Christian, and those rules are geared toward spiritual matters, not the real world. The rules have existed, in pieces and chunks, here and there, forever, but they've never been written down.Until now.James Owen isn't a cowboy, but he likes to think that he lives by the Code of the West. The 72-year-old Austinite is a public speaker who has produced a series of books examining the cowboy way of life and how it's applicable to modern life."I'm not a cowboy," he told me. "I don't wear the hat and the boots. I don't ride and rope. But to me, the cowboy represents the best of America. The courage, the optimism and the plain hard work that made this country great."Owen was a portfolio manager, meaning he did the heavy lifting of moving people's savings and investments from fund to fund. He got a firsthand look at the crash of the financial markets. He didn't like what he saw. It was a world without conscience or integrity."The ideas was to make as much money as you can, as fast as you can, anyway you can," he said. "I couldn't be part of that."He bailed out and thought about life. He wanted to help others. He needed source material."I grew up with the cowboys of the silver screen," he said. "They had a profound influence on my personal life and character."Hollywood hasn't made a classic Western in decades. These movies were morality plays with horses and guns. Sure, they sugarcoated the 19th century as a place where American Indians weren't slaughtered and life on the Plains was like a day in Mayberry.But if you've ever had a chance to watch one of those movies, you saw a guy -- John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers -- who was too good to be true. This guy was polite, a good friend and an honest dude. He always made the right choice, and it was always "the right thing."It's a notion that's pervasive in pop culture, even if it's turned on its head. In Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing," which is about race in America, no one does the right thing. Things burn and everyone loses his cool. Different plot, same idea.Owen pored through historical documents, Western literature and watched lots of cowboy movies. Here's what he came up with:1. Live each day with courage.2. Take pride in your work.3. Always finish what you start.4. Do what has to be done.5. Be tough, but fair.6. When you make a promise, keep it.7. Ride for the brand.8. Talk less and say more.9. Remember that some things aren't for sale.10. Know where to draw the line.You probably live by all of those rules, even if you don't realize it. They're all about loyalty, integrity and common decency."I wanted common sense," Owen said. "Nothing sophisticated. Nothing hard to understand. Something basic and simple that applied to everyone."His rules have been adopted by the Wyoming Legislature as the state's official set of principles.This stuff has real-world applications. Right now. Take, for example, the fractured political landscape."One thing is tearing this country apart," he said. "We've confused personal values and societal values. People think that your standing on an issue defines who you are. The hell it does."Everyone's a hero in Owen's system."If we can agree on these 10 principles," Owen said, "then maybe we can disagree on something."rbragg@express-news.net. Read Bragg's blog at http://blog.mysanantonio. com/atlarge. Follow @roybragg on TwitterThe Code of the West was never written down, but most of usmini storage regardless of who we are, live by it.We do the right things for the right reasons. We're honest, decent and loyal. We live by an unwritten code of ethics that guides us.Stealing and lying are bad. Following through on what you've said is good. Cowardice is bad. Courage is good.And whether we're getting our marching orders from a religion or from society's guidelines, we all know what's good and what's bad. When we see something bad, we shake our heads and say, "That's not right."These guidelines have hovered under the surface of who we are and what we do for as long as we've been us. We've got the Ten Commandments, but not everyone is a Christian, and those rules are geared toward spiritual matters, not the real world. The rules have existed, in pieces and chunks, here and there, forever, but they've never been written down.Until now.James Owen isn't a cowboy, but he likes to think that he lives by the Code of the West. The 72-year-old Austinite is a public speaker who has produced a series of books examining the cowboy way of life and how it's applicable to modern life."I'm not a cowboy," he told me. "I don't wear the hat and the boots. I don't ride and rope. But to me, the cowboy represents the best of America. The courage, the optimism and the plain hard work that made this country great."Owen was a portfolio manager, meaning he did the heavy lifting of moving people's savings and investments from fund to fund. He got a firsthand look at the crash of the financial markets. He didn't like what he saw. It was a world without conscience or integrity."The ideas was to make as much money as you can, as fast as you can, anyway you can," he said. "I couldn't be part of that."He bailed out and thought about life. He wanted to help others. He needed source material."I grew up with the cowboys of the silver screen," he said. "They had a profound influence on my personal life and character."Hollywood hasn't made a classic Western in decades. These movies were morality plays with horses and guns. Sure, they sugarcoated the 19th century as a place where American Indians weren't slaughtered and life on the Plains was like a day in Mayberry.But if you've ever had a chance to watch one of those movies, you saw a guy -- John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers -- who was too good to be true. This guy was polite, a good friend and an honest dude. He always made the right choice, and it was always "the right thing."It's a notion that's pervasive in pop culture, even if it's turned on its head. In Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing," which is about race in America, no one does the right thing. Things burn and everyone loses his cool. Different plot, same idea.Owen pored through historical documents, Western literature and watched lots of cowboy movies. Here's what he came up with:1. Live each day with courage.2. Take pride in your work.3. Always finish what you start.4. Do what has to be done.5. Be tough, but fair.6. When you make a promise, keep it.7. Ride for the brand.8. Talk less and say more.9. Remember that some things aren't for sale.10. Know where to draw the line.You probably live by all of those rules, even if you don't realize it. They're all about loyalty, integrity and common decency."I wanted common sense," Owen said. "Nothing sophisticated. Nothing hard to understand. Something basic and simple that applied to everyone."His rules have been adopted by the Wyoming Legislature as the state's official set of principles.This stuff has real-world applications. Right now. Take, for example, the fractured political landscape."One thing is tearing this country apart," he said. "We've confused personal values and societal values. People think that your standing on an issue defines who you are. The hell it does."Everyone's a hero in Owen's system."If we can agree on these 10 principles," Owen said, "then maybe we can disagree on something."rbragg@express-news.net. Read Bragg's blog at http://blog.mysanantonio. com/atlarge. Follow @roybragg on TwitterCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the San Antonio Express-News Visit the San Antonio Express-News at www.mysanantonio.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage