You've Got To Find Ways To Save Money

"You've got to be old with money because to be old without it is just too awful... you can't be old and without it."

-Tennessee Williams

While its been said that if you do something that you love you'll never work a day of your life you can't do what you love if what you love doesn't generate enough money. You either need to find a way to make your passion profitable or find something else to do that will pay your bills. 

There's nothing wrong with doing something that you don't necessarily love, to pay the bills, and then make a side business of your passion until such time it becomes profitable. 

Working without the ability to save part of the income earned means that you're surrendering your life to production. Those that have enough income, and don't save, are not better off than those that can't save.

We also need to keep in mind that life is unpredictable and can get in the way of the best financial plans just as much as the worse ones. There are no full proof plans but you'll always be better off with some savings as money will give you options that you wouldn't otherwise have.

Education Is Your Responsibility

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read."

-Mark Twain

According to abclifeliteracy.ca, 49% of Canadians adults have literacy skills below Highschool level. Reading is a lost art. We should never underestimate the power of a good book. In the words of Spencer W. Kimball "Man alone, of all creatures of earth, can change his thought pattern and become the architect of his destiny." 

The making of a man isn't determined by the school he attended as much as what he's learning on his own accord. To paraphrase Oliver Demille, from his book "A Thomas Jefferson Education", schools are responsible to train people to do specific/productive tasks in the society they operate in while it's the responsibility of the individual to educate themselves to become thinkers and leaders.

You don't have enough of a lifetime to become as wise as you can be relying solely on your own experience. Reading allows you to acquire part of someone else's life experience. Start reading for 15 min a day and go from there.

Depression - Seek Professional Help

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."

-John Milton

Depression is a black hole that sucks the life out of an otherwise healthy individual and his entourage. The sufferer knows that his mind is in darkness but is powerless to change. If left untreated, he may fall into addictions that will provide temporary relief while while also becoming its own problem.

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

-Winston Churchill

If life has become nothing more than a burden, day in and day out, to you then seek professional help. Therapy, medication and lifestyle changes can help heal your mind. While life has its dark moments it's not supposed to be all black all the time. There's sadness but there's also joy and you're meant to feel both not just one.

Fight it, conquer it and inspire others to do the same.

Where do YOU get Your Information From?

My immediate family is unanimously on the same page when it comes to politics and we're always so surprised when we meet someone who isn't. "What sort of information does that person listens to?" we wonder.

A better question would be what sort of information are WE listening to? Since we're all on the same page, I think we can reasonably assume that its because we're all listening to the same information. If we had different information, we would be thinking differently.

The media shapes our thoughts and its important that we tune in to proper sources of information. In the West, truth is under attack which means that it's becoming increasingly difficult to tune in to facts. Some argue that social media can help but it's mostly just noise made by people trying to live off of their content.
The "truth" is that there's no ultimate source of information that we can rely on for news. If we keep in mind that some of these news outlet just copy from each other, and copying a lie doesn't make it true, it is almost impossible to determine facts from fiction.
Looking for information at the source usually helps however the source can also be lying.

Listening to experts, on both sides of an argument, is still the best way to go for information on critical subjects.

Science & Philosophy would Come Back if Destroyed

"Destroy all religious books, and in a thousand years, they won't come back. But destroy all science books, and in a thousand years, they'll all be back-because all the same tests will get the same results."

-Ricky Gervais

While I agree with the sentiment that Ricky is conveying we also have to remember that any book, based on history or fiction, couldn't come back if all was destroyed. I also believe that, while the stories of the Bible would be lost to history, some of the philosophical lessons would come back in some shape or form in similar ways as science would.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you."
-Luke 6:31

The Golden Rule is a simple truth that any future Philosopher could rediscover. Similar to Science, which I agree would come back, Philosophy would also see a rebirth given the curiosity of the human mind.

20 years of Growth and Counting!

I recently came across communication from my early 20s with an ex girlfriend and it felt like that scene in Interstellar movie where the main character was behind the bookshelf trying to warn his past self. In an instant, I could see clearly the growth I went through in the almost 20 years since.

Growth is subtle, we can't really feel it day to day or year by year but it's quite a shock when looking back 20 years. I'm not who I used to be but I'm only better in areas that I have actively worked on during this time as weaknesses doesn't go away on their own.

If my 20s were version 1.0 of me then I'm now at version 1.3-1.5 ... just not quite at version 2.0. While I see improvement, there's still some of the same problems.

"Mastering one's future must surely start with managing one's self."

-Shad Helmstetter

Who will I be in 20 years?

Will looking back to this day, in 20 years, give me the same sort of feeling as I had looking back 20 years back from now? Growth is intentional - my hope is that I will look back and be thankful for the choices I made today.

With The End In Mind

In 200 years from now we’ll all be death. I’m not predicting an apocalypse, I’m just stating the fact that humans don’t live that long (not yet at least). With the end in mind, we need to look into our things to get rid of that which isn’t useful.

The value of most items we collect is unique to us. Your entourage likely doesn’t understand the value of what you own. Your baseball cards collection, for example, may end up in the trash after your passing because the person responsible for your belongings didn’t understand the value of it. While your collection may of brought you joy in your life it will serve no purpose in your death and may be discarded, by someone who doesn’t understand its value, after your passing.

“No one can have everything they wish for, but anyone can choose not to desire what they lack and instead be content with what they have.”
-Seneca

My mother recently showed me a shirt she bought 15 years ago that she never wore as she was saving it for a “special occasion”. What’s the point of carrying around an item for this long without using it? She could have passed away during these 15 years and that “special occasion” shirt would never of been worn.

My dad once said that the more things you have the more things that owns you as you’re stuck taking care of it all. Look at what you own and get rid of the things that doesn’t serve you.

“It's not the person who has too little, but the one who always wants more, who is truly poor. What does it matter how much wealth someone has stored away, how large their flocks are, or how fat their dividends are, if they are still coveting their neighbor's property, and measuring their worth not by what they have but by what they hope to gain? Do you want to know the proper limit to wealth? It's having what is necessary and what is enough.”
Excerpt From
Letters from a Stoic: Modern English Edition
Lucius Seneca

Stop Lying to Yourself

 “A lie, repeated often enough, will end up as truth.” -Dr Paul Joseph Goebbels

The lies we tell ourselves, over time, becomes believable. If we look at ourselves in the mirror, see an overweight person, and either ignore the problem or think to ourselves “we don’t look too bad” then we’re robbing ourselves of our ability to improve.

Be honest with yourself…

"If you are not honest with yourself, you will not be capable of honesty with others."-John C. Maxwell

Honesty starts at home. The lies we tell ourselves are robbing us of our potential. It's not possible to make the right decisions with the wrong information.

We don’t know what we don’t know…

Even if we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we don’t know what our faults are as mirrors can only show what’s most obvious. This is where meditation and mentors come into play. Spend some time reading/meditating and ask someone you trust to help point out some of your faults - what, they believe, would make you a better person once resolved.

"Self awareness is realizing that you are fighting against yourself. There is no opponent." -Unknown

Forgiveness To Move On

 

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

-Mahatma Gandhi A

The "strong" sometime ask for forgiveness even when they know they're right only because they want to bring the matter to a close. As a kid, I used to believe that adults knew everything and could do no wrong but now that I'm an adult I find that not only it isn't the case but many still think like children especially during heated arguments. 

Asking for forgiveness also comes easier, to a "strong" individual that is in the right, because there's an understanding that adults have internal battles that may be clouding the opponent's judgement at the time of the argument.

“A person cannot be a good protector of their country, a good avenger of wrongs, or a good defender of their friends if they are inclined toward pleasure.”

-Lucius Seneca

In Freedom We Are The Problem

I don't believe that the last American election was rigged. I believe 77 million Americans wanted a convicted felon, that said such things as "I will be a Dictator for one day", to represent them. 

All over the world there is a growing frustration with "the cost of living" and we are blaming Governments for this problem. The perceived solution is to remove the current form of Government to replace it with one that won't make the same mistakes. 

It's not wrong to want changes but the Government isn't to blame.

If the Government was your spouse and they cheated on you... you would want to get rid of them. The issue is, in the case of a Government with freedoms and Rights, that in every and all instances where this sort of change happened the subsequent Government was always worse. It's a little bit like leaving your cheating spouse and then start dating someone that cheats AND is abusive.

Living in a country with freedoms and the right to vote means that WE get to pick who will be the representing our country. Since WE pick them, WE are responsible for the successes and failures of the of party.

In a free country, the Government is a representation of its people. The Government didn't create the problem as much as we told them to do it. Every year, millions of dollars is spent trying to figure out what WE want from our Government and what WE want is more spending. This information is used to create future campaign promises and we vote for them.

In a free country, the solution isn't to change the form of Government when things are bad but to change what WE THE PEOPLE want from our Government. We've reach a point now where we need to stop asking for "free stuff" and instead look at balancing the budget and get us out of all this debt.

Whether it be a Federal Presidential Republic (USA), a Liberal Democracy (Canada) or any other form of Government where the people have a voice is the best form of Government.

Wherever you go There YOU Are

Someone who hasn’t found peace within himself will not find peace outside of himself. It doesn’t matter where he goes, or what he does, the person that he is will be there with him.

"When a man is getting better he understands more clearly the evil that is left in him... A moderatly bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right."
-C.S.Lewis

We gain peace through our actions; by doing the right things. In order to do those things, the right way, we must first learn about what those things are which is where Philosophy comes into play. Seneca, in his “letters from a stoic” work, believes the right things can be found in stoicism - to live in accordance with nature and to control our wants (as they may be as infinite as the universe itself).

“Enough is never too little, and not enough is never enough.”
-Seneca

Spend some time reflecting on what you’re doing on a daily basis. Are there areas that could be improved? Are you exercising enough? Are you eating correctly? How do you sleep? Are you helping others? Are you spending enough time with those close to you? Are you reading enough? Are you living below your means? Are you following through on your promises?

Recommended Readings:

• “Living issues in Philosophy” by Harold Titus & Marilyn Smith
• “Letters from a Stoic” by Seneca
• “Meditation” by Marcus Aurelius

iPod Nano Was My Introduction to Apple

My first introduction to the Apple device ecosystem was with an iPod Nano I had received as a gift roughly 15 years ago. I was immediately blown away by the simplicity and built quality of the device compared to other products of the time.

The iPod Nano never was an Apple flagship device yet they treated it with the same sort of care as any other device they produced. I've bought thousands of dollars worth of Apple devices since that iPod Nano. What would of happened if Apple had decided to treat the iPod Nano as a low quality/throw away product? If first impression is everything then it's very unlikely that I would of bought any additional Apple products.

A company shows their loyalty to their customers through the quality of their products/services. Apple understand that their reputation is on the line for any products that they release.

My friends are quick to point out how overpriced/underpowered Apple devices are but I can't see myself buying anything else but an iPhone/iPad/Apple Watch...

I will always remember when my friend was advertising his powerful new Android device only to have the screen fall off after the glue melted during an extended play session. What's the point of having all that performance in a device that clearly couldn't handle it?

The battery of the iPod Nano has since died but the device has remained almost identical to the day I first received it which is something I can't say about my other MP3 players of the time. I recently received a 2013 iPad, that still works, which I use for reading. Those "overpriced/underpowered" devices are good enough for me.

Qualities Worth Remembering

We'll die whether we live a life of virtue or not. Some people have lived in such a way that they've been remembered long after they've passed simply because they had qualities worth remembering.

To understand those qualities, we need to reflect on the historical figures we remember:

• When we think of Socrates, we think of a man who could of escaped his death sentence but chose instead to honor it. 
• When we think of Leo Major, we think of a man who single-handedly liberated an entire German occupied city during World War 2. 
• When we think of Benkei no Tachi Ōjō, we think of a man who killed 300 men while defending his lord, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, from attackers.

Honor, courage, duty...those are the qualities that they've been remembered for. We may never be faced with the extreme situations that they've gone through but we can still let their experience inspire us to move forward in life.

"If you want to enjoy real freedom, you must become a servant of Philosophy."

-Epicurus

Self-care is Your Responsibility

“If you want to command your own life in a way that benefits you and harms no one else, first clear your own faults out of the way.” -Seneca

In an Airplane, if cabin pressure drops, oxygen masks deploy, and you're told to secure your own before assisting others. It ensures you're conscious and capable before trying to help anyone else. But this principle also applies to life more broadly—self-care isn’t selfish; it’s necessary. Additionally Self-care is your responsibility: You're responsible for your mind, heart and body. 

In a relationship, it's normal to want the well-being of your partner, and support each other, but ultimately your partner is, also, responsible for the "heavy-lifting" in regards to their own self-care as you can't force someone to take care of themselves.

Many people are miserable because self-care requires the sort of effort they're not willing to partake in. The longer someone remains miserable the more difficult it is to get out of it as they find comfort in their misery. They can become familiar with their pain, even attached to it, because at least it's known.

Self-care is the secret of living well. Life is better when you feel good about yourself.

Reducing The Chances of Depression

 “Every emotion is weak at first, but then it gains strength as it progresses. It’s easier to prevent it from starting than to stop it once it has begun.” -Seneca

To simplify Seneca’s words: Prevention is easier than medication. The best way to fight depression is to live in such a way as to minimize the risk of developing depression. Some things, such as loss, are outside of our control and can cause depression. Many things, however, are within our control and we simply fail to associate them with depression. If we don’t exercise, socialize, eat properly, sleep well, or go outside... over time, these bad habits will increase the likelihood we’ll develop depression. Often depression is, like obesity, the result of bad habits which mean that a change in lifestyle may be require in order to change our outlook on life. Mental health, like physical health, requires effort in order to be maintained. Let’s insure that what’s within our control is as good as we have the energy to make it.

Where's The Discipline?

Is taking diet medicine cheating us out of some life lessons? Similar to someone winning the lottery, someone taking medicine to loose weight hasn't developed the discipline necessary to keep the results on their own accord.

What will happen once the medicine stops? Likely the same thing that happens when the money from lottery winners runs out... they'll revert back to their previous state.

Loosing weight is difficult because we live in a world where everything that is delicious isn't nutritious. It takes a great deal of effort to eat correctly, exercise and sleep appropriately but those that develop the discipline to do so become better versions of themselves. The lessons we learn, throughout our health journey, can help in other area of our lives. 

By being disciplined about our health, we gain energy, confidence and improve our mental health. What does diet medicine do besides help manage weight?

Think About Your Future Self

 “The choicest days of hapless human life Fly first; disease and bitter old age follow, And toil, till harsh death rudely snatches all.” -Vergil

In the future we may:

• Become sickly...
• Have financial struggles...
• Become lonely...
• Experience loss...
• Have trouble with the law...
• Loose freedoms...
• ...

What we do today shapes our future. What we do today may bring us closer, or further away, from problems. Life is a gift and we need to take care of our “present” in order to minimize the potential problems of the future. “Life is like a play—it doesn’t matter how long it is, but how well it’s acted. It makes no difference when you stop. Stop whenever you choose, just make sure the ending is well done.” -Seneca

On Peace

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson “The most important thing for peace of mind is never to do wrong. Those who lack self-control lead disturbed and chaotic lives; their crimes are matched by their fears, and they never find peace.” -Seneca Peace also comes from living a virtuous life. It’s more difficult for a thief to find peace than someone who lived a virtuous life as he not only has internal troubles but external ones as well - every day comes with the torment of “getting caught”. Live virtuously... “A person suffers more than necessary when he suffers before it is necessary.” -Seneca Peace is learning to live in the moment. Looking into the past brings regrets while looking in the future, at what may or may not be, brings anxiety. Live in the moment... “We are all subject to the same terms: whoever is granted the privilege of birth is also destined to die. Time separates us, but death brings us together. The time between our first day and our last is uncertain and always changing: if measured by its troubles, it seems long even to a young person; if measured by its speed, it seems short even to an old person. Everything is unstable, unpredictable, and more changeable than the weather. All things are tossed about and change into their opposites at the whim of Fortune; in this chaotic world, the only certainty is death.” -Seneca In order to find peace in this life one must overcome their fear of death. To understand life’s unpredictability and finite nature is to understand peace. What begins also has an end whether this end is tomorrow or a thousands years from now. Death will come... “Every day and every hour remind us of how insignificant we are, and they keep showing us in new ways how much we forget our own frailty; then, as we make plans for eternity, they force us to glance back at Death.” -Seneca References:

• “Letters from a Stoic” by Lucious Seneca
• “Self-Reliance and other essays” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Frustration of Lifelong Students

“To win popular approval, you must use deceit and make yourself like the crowd; they won’t approve of you if they don’t see you as one of their own. However, what you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you. The approval of unworthy people can only be won by unworthy means.”
-Seneca

There comes a point in a lifelong student's life where he'll turn his back on popular media in favor of education. Time spent watching such things as sports is time that could be invested in diligent study. Through this, the student looses part of his ability to relate with those that are still connected to popular media.

Lifelong students have to submit themselves to some of the interest of the masses as not doing so negatively impact their ability to influence. A person is much more likely to open up to you if you share an interest with them.

This almost feels like we need to put on a face in order to be able to connect with other people.

“I find myself pondering how many people train their bodies and how few train their minds! Crowds flock to the games, which are mere entertainment, while the places where good and noble arts are taught are almost empty.”

-Seneca

Seneca eloquently identified this problem more than 2000 years ago and nothing changed since. At no other time in our history has knowledge been so widely available (Seneca's work is available for free on the IOS book app) yet it did very little to help bring knowledge forward as the majority prefer to entertain themselves to death rather than going through self-education.

"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, who's synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."
-Eric Fromm

Physical Health Not Guaranteed

I've taken a different approach to life than my entourage. I don't smoke/drink, I workout regularly, I read, I eat well... I know that, while life doesn't offer any guarantees, these habits decreases the chances of something going wrong with my body.

Doesn't it make sense that if you take care of your body it's more likely to function better? Common sense, however, isn't common to all. I know people that smoke because it helps them maintain a "healthy" weight. How does that work?

In the end, we're not going to make it out alive. It's not about living forever but having a good functioning body for as long as possible. All we can do is find ways to decrease the chances of having problems as there are no guarantees in life.

The Reader's Edge

“If you read a book a week, in a year you’ll have read 52 books. In ten years 520 books. You’ll be in the top 1% of your field. You’ll be more motivated, better educated; you’ll become the leader in your field.”

-Jim Rohn

If an employer has a choice to hire 1 out of 2 exact same people only one read 1 self-improvement book while the other didn't. Which person is most likely to be hired?

The value of a book is difficult to quantify however we instinctively know that the person who reads has "something" over non-readers. 

While reading can be an advantage, it means very little if there's no way to market it. Nobody knows which book you've read simply by looking at you. We've got to build ourselves a brand to better sell the idea that we're someone that spend a great deal of our time honing our skills. We need ways to stand out, communicate our ideas clearly, be bold.

"Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still."

-Chinese Proverb

Don’t Workout Too Much

I workout for 1-2 hours every day and one of the comments I get is that I “shouldn’t overdue it”. 

Question: Is working out 1-2 hours a day, out of 24 hours, overdoing it?

As a woodcutter, my grandfather would wakeup at 4am to cut wood until 12PM after which he would come home to work at his farm for another couple of hours. 
Professional Basketball player, LeBron James, shows up to a game 8 hours early to warmup and prepare for the game.

Has anyone ever told them that they’re overdoing it?

Am I overdoing it?

The body was designed to move. Often, the problem isn’t that we’re over extending ourselves but that we’re not moving enough. We live in a society where it’s possible to sit for extended periods of time every day. We don’t move as much as we used to.

“Strength really is a buffer to mortality, and more importantly, it extends your health span, so you can maintain a higher quality of life longer.”
-John Nagy

While I may be overdoing it compared to the person voicing their concerns, who hasn’t worked-out in months, I’m certainly not overdoing it compared to my ancestors or professional athletes-I’m well within safe limits.

Not The Relationship I Want

For every successful marriage I've seen, I found 9 that were unsuccessful. While they may not of given up on the vow, they've given up on trying to find happiness within it. Instead of spending time growing closer together they looked for flaws in each other with the aim to change them which created, over time, resentment rather than love.

"Human nature dictates that angriness, boredom and/or irritation will end any relationship given enough time."
-unknown

These bad relationships, filled with daily torture sessions, brings out the worse version of those involved. How can you possibly find happiness when there's frequent negativity in the home?

"Success in marriage is more than finding the right person; it is being the right person."

-Robert Browning

Choosing who to marry is the most important decision in life but we have to keep in mind that the only person we have control over is ourselves. Many will say that relationships have to be 50/50 but why not give it your 100%? It's not about what your partner can do for you but what you can do for them. Some days, you may not be able to give more than 20% but maybe they'll be able to compensate by giving 60%. The point here is, of course, not to do things solely to get even; Do what is necessary regardless of "who's turn" it is.

"If you are not honest with yourself, you will not be capable of honesty with others. Self-deception is the enemy of relationships. It also undermines personal growth. If a person does not admit his shortcomings, he cannot improve." 

-John C. Maxwell

The below are book recommendation for those wanting to be better partners to their spouse.

• "5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman
• "Personality Plus" by Florence Littauer
• "His needs her needs" by Willard F. Harley
• "The 5 Language of Apology" by Gary Chapman

"Unspoken assumptions and unexpressed expectations are common relationship “deal-breakers. But when you are willing to learn to express yourself by clarifying assumptions and expectations you will find more happiness and less stress in your relationships."

-Sarah Zink

Bread Isn't the Issue

A friend of mine has been told that he needs to lower his bread/potatoes/pasta (carb...) consumption in order to help manage his weight and sugars. While removing carbs from your diet certainly will help with weight management, the issue with the amount of bread we're eating but that the consumption is higher than the body is able to process.

But I DO exercise...

Some will argue that they do exercise. They run errands, mow the lawn or do chores around the house... That should be enough right? Well that depends: Do you have weight related problems? Belly fat, high cholesterol/blood pressure (...)those are the hard data. If your body mass index is too high (fat), then what you're doing isn't enough.

Carbs isn't poisonous...

It's all about balance. If you exercise a lot, then you're burning more carbs and can therefor allow yourself to consume more. If you have a sedentary lifestyle then you need to eat less. Your carb consumption needs to match your lifestyle failure to do so can cause problems at either extremes.

Social Media Feeds Our Desires But Is Ultimately Empty

“We love the life stories of other people, and cannot be sated with too much such detail. Gossip is the means by which we learn and shape our social network.”

-Edward O. Wilson

Part of the reason why social media is so popular is because it feeds into our desire to learn about other people’s lives. The issue, however, is the lives presented to us are artificial which creates a superficial, often unfulfilling, social network.

Richard Reeves, from the below video, explains that loneliness is as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. We've never been as connected as we are today yet we are as alone as we've ever been.

For 2025, make it a goal to meet some old friends or get to know new people.

Repeating Lies To Control A Nation

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. So the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new ones rise.”
-Carl Sagan

A lie repeated over time becomes believable because we are creatures that finds comfort within our habits or what is known to us. 

We could learn, or assimilate, new information but that would require time/effort which we don't have. It's much easier to "fallback" on what is known to us.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

-Joseph Goebbels

One of the first thing a new Dictator does is take over the media in order to control the message shared with the people. Always be careful of those that have an invested interest in having you think a certain way. If you feel like you're being brainwashed then you probably are which is your cue to stop listening.

"There are truths which are best recognized by mediocre minds, because they are best adapted for them, there are truths which only possess charms and seductive power for the mediocre spirits..."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Any entity that spreads misinformation or encourages division in a society needs to be silenced not by an enforcer (who could enforce such a thing?) but by the masses. This means that we, the people, need to develop the skills necessary for the identification of those bad actors.

Remember that lies must be repeated in order to become believable...

School is for Reading and Inspiration

"There is nothing which an better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."

-George Washington (Address to Congress, January 8, 1790)

Public school will be, to some, their only exposure to a system of education. If the educational system has failed to teach them how to read, or inspire to self-educate, then the system has failed them.

Learning is supposed to be fun...

While it's true that some things can be difficult/stressful to learn, if all the student remembers from school is anguish or boredom then how likely will he be to pickup a book later on in life?

“In a world in transition, students and teachers both need to teach themselves one essential skill—learning how to learn.”

-Carl Sagan

Self-Education and Choosing Political Leaders

Wars are fought against imaginary enemies created by leaders seeking more power. The problem isn't that those leaders have a voice to speak evil but that they're able to find an audience. All it takes is for one delusional President to spread lies for a friendly country to turn into an enemy.

Enough is enough...

Because I spend a great deal of my time on self-education, I'm now able to identify some of the absurdities being shared by Dictators. If more people prioritized their self-education, those charlatans would never be given positions of power let alone be able to spread their lies.

Would a Country benefit from screening their political leaders?

Some workplace require employees to go through security clearance, drug test, internal reviews... wouldn't it make sense to implement the same for our political leaders? Before we give a leader keys to a Country's secret, couldn't we ask:

• An analysis by a renowned psychologist to determine what are the ulterior motives (if any) of the individual..
• A security clearance...
• A physical evaluation to determine if the individual is fit to lead...
• Drug test...
• test test test...

Is this too much to ask? In-lieu of screening exercises, we get bickering under the guise of "political debates" and that's how we're supposed to choose our leaders.

“If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.“

-Carl Sagan

Creating our Ideology

"Mere education, however, is not enough. The important thing is the kind of education. We often hear that "education is power", but we need to remember that it may be power for life and human welfare or power for death and destruction. We can teach people to be selfish and narrow, or we can give them an education which broadens their outlook and makes them cooperative members of a world society."
-P. 212 of "Living Issues in Philosophy" book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith

As a kid going through school we don't really think about what sort of education we're getting. Are we directly, or indirectly, programmed to hate specific groups? Are we being influenced beyond words and numbers? Are we getting a good education?

Everyone has an ideology, including teachers, that they either consciously or unconsciously push unto others. Our responsibility is to create an ideology of our own based on experiences and what we teach ourselves.

While it's great that we live in a country where education is free, the responsibility to learn falls on us. We are responsible to take in what make sense and cut out what doesn't in order to live the sort of life that we want to live.
What is offered, for free, is essentially the basic. If everyone knows what you know then you're not standing out above the crowd. What you learn is important.

College Talking Points

Some people go to college not because they want to but because they feel they have to. What they really want is the money tied to the career and not the career itself.

When I was in college, I recall instances of people talking about how fed up they were about the subject they were studying. I didn't realize it at the time, but choosing a college degree is committing to make the subject the main area of your life for decades to come. If you don't like talking about it, while you're learning about it, then what are the chances that you're going to enjoy it as a career? It's definitely not going to be the last time the subject is brought up!

Don't rush into a career you're not really passionate about. Don't feel bad about taking a sabbatical, work a few jobs, before committing to a subject.

Courage When Livelihood is On The Line

 

"How can a society remain free if those with the knowledge to expose fraud do not have the courage to do so?"
-Orrin Woodward

As a kid I used to think that doing good was an easy choice to make. Obviously, when you're young with no responsibilities, full of energy and with nothing to loose ... which ever way you go doesn't have much of an impact. Kids also don't understand right/wrong the same way as adults do.

The individual who's working paycheck to paycheck with a family to feed has much to loose by divulging fraud from his company. While we know what the right thing to do is we also know what is on the line; what will be lost by divulging fraud. 

Money is a curious thing that makes it increasingly difficult for the man that needs it to hold his ground against tyranny. In these critical moments, we forget that life is finite and that we will die either way. Will we die being proud of those decisions we've made or realize our mistake and wished we could go back to make better decisions?

"It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing."
-Charles Frederic Aked

The Invisible Economic Influence

The Star Wars prequels were about the pointlessness of the Clone Wars as both side were being controlled by the same entity. Sheev Palpatine had place himself at the head of both sides of the conflict for the purpose of gaining more power... 

A decade before the release of the Star Wars prequels, the Americans were still fighting a war against the Soviet Unions. The Cold War was funded, on both sides, by a web of financial institutions. Those institutions ended up being the true winner of the war as they benefitted regardless of how the war ended.

During his military career (1898-1931), Major General Smedley Darlington Butler said "I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes, and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket."

We're within a financial system that, while invisible, is influencing our lives... The below are books that helped me understand this system:

• "1913" book by Oliver DeMille explains what happened in 1913 that helped give more power to the financial system.
• "The Financial Matrix" book by Orrin Woodward gives the name "Financial Matrix" to this financial entity that is all around us. The book explains what "it" is as well as how to navigate within it.
• "Insidious: The Rise of the Financial Matrix and the fall of Economic Freedom" book by Orrin Woodward is a follow-up to his earlier work above and exposes the entirety of the scheme and proposes a solution.

Finance is too important of a subject to be ignored. The better the information we have, the better the decision we can make.

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold."

-Alan Greenspan

Tariffs and New Beginnings

The War on Tariffs will bring changes to the Canadian working landscape. Now, more than ever, is the time to re-imagine ourselves in order to face the challenges ahead of us. To some, this will mean a career change.

"We don't control where we start our journeys, but we do control what we do once we've started. The goal is to take what we've been given and do the most we can with it."
-Chris Brady/Orrin Woodward

It's never too late to re-invent ourselves. We have to do what we must to thrive in this new, uncertain, economy.

Survival mode activated...

Hold off on big purchases as this isn't the time to get into unnecessary debt. If you don't need that new vehicle then wait until such time as a degree of stability has returned.

No one knows what tomorrow will brings but we know for a fact that things are not as stable as they used to be. 

Prepare in consequence.

CEO's Situation Isn't The Same as An Employee

CEOs are quick to point out when they "work on weekends" or "don't take vacations" or "do 16 hour days" somehow thinking this is the path to become a CEO or what any employee should be doing. What they fail to understand is:

• CEO build their dreams while their employees have their own goals or lack thereof. Whether it be consciously or unconsciously, an employee knows when he's building someone else's dream versus his own and act in accordance.
• CEO's paycheck is generally disproportionately higher than most other employees and tied to the company's overall performance creating an incentive not usually shared with employees.
• To some, there's more to life than work.
• When an employee goes above and beyond he's usually rewarded with more work rather than a promotion.

How does someone become a CEO?

Whoever creates their own business or change jobs whenever a higher position is available, at a different company, has a higher chance of becoming a CEO than the person that remained within the same company trying to climb the corporate ladder. The reason why "working harder than anyone else" doesn't usually work is because there's too much competition; everyone else is fighting for the same promotions within the company. 

If a different company has an opening for a higher position, it means they've already looked internally and don't feel anyone is qualified to do it.

"Work smarter" is something that seems to be shared quite often nowadays which, to me at least, means do what you're supposed to do at work without sacrificing your wellbeing.

Buy Magazine to Support the Causes

For the last few months, I've been going through the magazine sections of my local stores and been pleasantly surprised by the selection of science based magazines still available for purchase.

It's no secret that magazines are not as relevant in the digital age however I still find value in buying them when considering the following:

• It helps support the cause while also helping spread the message.
• The, sometime complex, material is simplified for easy reading/understanding.
• Most articles include references that may be useful to someone who wants more information on the subject.
• Information usually comes from trusted/reputable sources.
• More likely to contain the biggest, most interesting, information (as its more likely to sell).

Additionally, there's a sense of "I bought it so I have to read it" that we don't typically get from simply doing research online.

One of the major issues today is that people don't read enough. I know many people that would rather spend their afternoon browsing social media than to pick up anything to read let alone a magazine.

In these troubling times, with Americans pulling back on education in all its forms, supporting science base publication is as important as ever.

Could Science/Technology be Simplified?

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."
-Carl Sagan

Our world has become complex and requiring one to spend more time learning its intricacies in order to find success within its systems. We need to find ways to make our society more approachable for the generations that precede us.
A.I. may be able to help humanity make sense of the complexities of science and technology for future generation but we also need to find ways to simplify information in order not to require an expert to understand it.

10-20 years ago existed a "for dummies" book series which was designed to be the first step in learning any new subject. The authors essentially simplifying complex subjects and sprinkling a bit of humour into the mix in order to keep the attention of the reader. It was a genius idea that seems to have died down.

Of course, individuals also have their parts to play as it doesn't matter how simple we make something people will still need to learn it.

What Happened in the USA can Happen Anywhere...

"A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers."

-W. Cleon Skousen

The transition from Federal Republic to Oligarchy/Dictatorship/Kleptocracy that is currently happening in the United States of America can happen anywhere. If anything, this is a reminder that we must pay closer attention to our governments/leaders because if we don't then we may see changes that will make things worse for our country.

• Netherlands, Italy, Hungary and Poland have seen a rise in far-right extremist beliefs.
• Germany is facing similar problems with the rise of the AfD political party.
• In Canada, the conservative leader seems to be using similar strategies as Trump did during his campaign.

It's a concerning trend, as these movements often target marginalized communities and push for more illiberal democratic systems. The rise of such parties can have real-world consequences, including the rollback of human rights for various communities.

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

It's important that we vote, while we still can, and develop an ability to identify good vs bad leaders. If, for example, a leader keeps saying he'll "become a dictator on day 1" this may not be the person you want to represent your country no matter what other silly promises he may be talking about.

Nature Documentaries Have Changed

When I was a kid, I used to find nature documentaries quite inspiring but nowadays most of those documentaries are alarming - for good reasons. Rare is the documentary that doesn't mention climate change, an animal that is now critically endangered, or an ecosystem that's been almost completely destroyed due to human activity.

Humans have assumed control of our planet's stewardship, but our management skills have fallen woefully short.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that too much of our economy is based on the destruction of our environment and the planet is now fighting back. If we don't learn how to work with nature then it's a battle that we'll most definitely loose.

Never Stop Learning!

“There is a theory of human behavior that says people subconsciously retard their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on clichés and habits. Once they reach the age of their own personal comfort with the world, they stop learning and their mind runs on idle for the rest of their days. They may progress organizationally, they may be ambitious and eager, and they may even work night and day. But they learn no more. The bigoted, the narrow-minded, the stubborn, and the perpetually optimistic have all stopped learning.”
-Philip Crosby

Almost 20 years ago now, I was approached by a successful business owner who told me that I was worth minimum wage from the neck down and it was what I knew that would ultimately determine how successful I was going to be in life. He then proceeded to mentor me for the next 5 years.

This changed my life and I'm fully aware it isn't the sort of experience most people go through which is why most people don't prioritize learning at all. For me, learning has been a companion all those years. I saw, first hands, the benefits of reading good books and listening to self-improvement materials.

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."

-Dorothy Parker

It's now my turn to mentor others to do the same but I can't just walk to strangers and tell them they need to read - I need to find ways to inspire others by being the example for them to follow.
This blog has been used for various purposes over the years including to help with my mission. Hopefully, you see value in it and I've helped, in a small way, instil a desire for you to learn.

Never stop learning!

The Majority Can Be Wrong

 

“Religion, is a mistake of geography. If you where born in America you are Christan, if you where born in the middle east you are Muslim, China Buddha, and before that Zeus, Thor, and people believed that the earth was flat and the sun went around the earth, though they where wrong & not only that but all of these things have no evidence.”
-Richard Dawkins

Let us suppose that Christian leaders of ancient times managed to sway people's beliefs towards Christianity and that today its become the biggest religion in the world. Does that necessarily mean that Christianity is true?

"The majority is always wrong; the minority is rarely right."

-Henrik Ibsen

Having the majority believe in something without facts doesn't make it true but the opposition, being so great, may make it difficult for any competing ideas to take flight. Scientists of the middle ages were censored when they made discoveries that were against the popular religious beliefs of the day. Time has proven them right regardless but sometimes I wished we lived in a world where we would be more opened to challenge our own beliefs rather than discourage who ever is doing it. Let's constantly improve both ourselves and the society that we live in.

Friends Grow Apart

As a kid, I was told that would have different groups of friends as I would grow up. I couldn't understand how it could happen to me but as I grew up my interest changed and so did my friends.
What I didn't realize, in my younger years, is that a lot of what we had in common was the experiences we shared in school. We attended the same classes, we partnered up for projects, we liked the same sort of things.

Once school was over, and we went our separate ways, we all grew into new people that slowly left our past behind including our relationships.
We're all busy doing other things and over a period of 15 years we slowly drifted apart to the point that I don't think we would recognize each other. They surely wouldn't recognize me as not much remain of the person that I was - I've grown just from a year ago.

I just kind of accepted this as a part of life. Have you been able to keep up with your friends after 20 some years out of school?