To be mean or to be nice. That is the question. Should atheists be civil and respectful to theists? Or should they denigrate religion for the lie that it is?
Atheism is splitting down the middle on this. We haven't seen anything like this since the Baptists split from the Calvinists over the doctrine of infant baptism. (FWIW, I am with the Baptists. Conversion should be an adult choice.)
The point of this debate has to do with winning adherents to the atheist viewpoint. The accomodationists are those who think that by playing nice and being touchy feely with the fucktards this will win their love, respect, and a change of mind. I think this mentality is misguided. Unlike most of my freethinking peers, I cut across the social grain on a variety of issues. On everyone of the issues, these same behavior patterns emerge:
-Fucktards respond overwhelmingly to the contrary ideas presented often in a very negative way.
-They attempt to neutralize the contrary idea by urging me to consider other viewpoints, to be conciliatory, and to claim that the idea is merely my opinion.
-If you continue to disagree or voice your viewpoint, they become mean, threatening, and even violent.
Now, this doesn't happen when you play mean with these people. This is what happens when you play nice. The error of the accomodationist is a belief that fucktards believe what they believe merely as a mistake in their logic. But this isn't the case at all. The reality is that theists are emotionally and psychologically wedded to a worldview that makes sense of their world. Introducing a foreign concept like evolution produces deep wounds in these people. They can't handle it. This is why they respond the way they do.
People don't change in gradual increments. Conversions are almost always instantaneous. The ideas are brewing in the mind. It isn't the truth that people are contemplating but how to live with that truth. Once their minds are settled, the change is instant. But until that point, they are the enemy.
Atheism was languishing prior to the advent of The New Atheists. Since their outspoken arrival, atheism has grown. They pushed the issue. They were not accomodating. They were brutally honest. They were also vilified and whatnot. But they were right for doing it this way. As Schopenhauer put it:
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
Ideas create anxiety and crisis in people. This cannot be avoided. Accomodationists believe they can find a way around the upheaval, but they can't. It cannot be done. What makes people like Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris so offensive is that they refuse to back down. Accomodation is capitulation to intimidation. The irony is that this accomodation only emboldens the enemy.
People who believe accomodation yields results are also the same people who believe gun control works in preventing crime. It doesn't. It only disarms law abiding citizens while leaving violent criminals to disobey the law.
The thrust behind accomodationism is a belief in keeping the moral high ground. We want to be the "good guys." This is misguided thinking. Moral positions are simply the will to power and are dishonest. This is why we end up hating our saints and loving our scoundrels. Saints champion the collective. Scoundrels champion the individual.
Accomodationism is seen as sinister subterfuge by religionists, and they are right. It is. I may be offensive, but I am also honest. I despise lying and manipulation. This is the dark truth of accomodation. It tells lies under the guise of promoting the truth. It is a Machiavellian ploy which I find utterly nauseating. Think of the sinister alien bitch from V or the slick talking piece of shit we call the President of the United States of America.
Accomodation is lying for the sake of future betrayal. Though I disagree with fundies and the like, I'm not going to pretend to be their friend when I am not. As for the liberal theotards, they are the accomodationists of the religionist crowd, and I see they are making inroads and blunting the message of The New Atheists in a way that no honest fundamentalist could do. They dilute the truth. They water it down to the point that it makes no difference. They preserve the status quo and their place in it.
I can't be an accomodationist. I have to speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may. If it pisses off people, that is too fucking bad. I've never seen the positive in a lie.
12.06.2009
12.05.2009
Random Thoughts on Various Subjects
1. CLIMATEGATE
Without a doubt, climate change is a politically charged topic, and this only turns it up a notch. Unlike my climate skeptic friends, I am not ready to point the finger and say, "Aha! I told you so." The only thing Climategate shows is the candor of scientists in their private emails. If mine were published, I shudder to think what the world's impression of me would be.
What does remain is the need for global warming believers to make a stronger case instead of saying that the debate is over. These fuckers are way too hasty in their zeal to fuck our economies and/or make a buck for themselves in the process.
I am concerned for the survival of our planet and our survival as a species. This is why I am way concerned about possible catastrophic meteor strikes. One of those makes our fears over climate change look very stupid. We already have ample evidence about what these things can do and even had two movies that are actually plausible future scenarios unlike that stupid climate change flick, The Day After Tomorrow. Yet, the US Government spends almost nothing on tracking asteroids or developing technologies to prevent us from becoming like the dinosaurs. Where is Al Gore on this?
The deafening silence of these people on the meteor issue only shows the real intent of these alarmists. They care primarily about fucking over large oil companies. In the breast of every environmentalist beats a Bolshevik heart. The climate change threat is plausible, and the results are mild. The meteor threat is real, and the results are catastrophic. When we get the Big One, no one is going to care whether you drove a Prius or an SUV.
2. TIGER
Turns out Tiger Woods was a big time philanderer. This does not surprise me. Monogamy is a myth especially for rich and fit athletes. A man has got to catch his nut.
3. AFGHANISTAN
The Nobel Peace Prize Winner is escalating a war. The mind boggles. Somewhere, George W. Bush is laughing.
Occupying a country is not the way to beat terrorists. If it were, we should go occupy other countries like Somalia. There's plenty of space there for training camps.
This escalation is not about winning the war on terrorism but nation building which no statist can refrain from doing. This is like asking Slash to give up smoking and guitar playing. So, Obama repeats the mistakes of his predecessor, and we will have Iraq II. As for Iraq, we won't be leaving there either. Massive debts to come later.
4. RACHEL UCHITEL
I find it ironic that Tiger's mistress is shocked and angered to find out Tiger has other mistresses. Women are strange like this. They can share their man with a wife but not another slut. Amazing.
5. BCS
Obama could do worse things than go ahead with is promise to use his bully pulpit to call for a college football playoff. It is screwed up that we still have the BCS.
6. EHRENREICH ON POSITIVE THINKING
Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book out called Bright Sided which makes the case that the cult of positive thinking that holds sway in corporate America was a direct cause of our current economic calamity. I tend to agree with her assessment, but I wonder she doesn't apply this same sobriety to her Bolshevik love for government solutions and labor unions. Another leftard who only has it half right.
7. UNEMPLOYMENT
I am with the Austrians in believing that unemployment is a government creation. You can read about it here.
Basically, government creates unemployment through these means:
-Raising the minimum wage, overtime pay, etc. that makes it more expensive to hire workers.
-Taxing companies to pay for government expenditures and reducing profits that could be reinvested.
-Regime uncertainty that makes companies scared to invest or hire because they don't how they will be fucked next.
-Unemployment insurance that pays people not to work and adjust to new economic conditions.
For me, unemployment is a temporary two to three week hassle. That's it. Even in this recession, I know of plenty of places that are desperate to hire but can't make an offer that beats unemployment checks. With the government granting extensions on these checks, this actually makes the job market better for someone like me who has never collected an unemployment check in his life. I despise free money.
I learned a long time ago to save my money for the inevitability of losing my job. The free market is about change, so you need to prepare yourself for the changes. But there is always a job out there. ALWAYS. Unemployed people are just too lazy to get them.
Assistance granted to the unemployed does not dispose of unemployment. It makes it easier for the unemployed to remain idle.
LUDWIG VON MISES
http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=476
Without a doubt, climate change is a politically charged topic, and this only turns it up a notch. Unlike my climate skeptic friends, I am not ready to point the finger and say, "Aha! I told you so." The only thing Climategate shows is the candor of scientists in their private emails. If mine were published, I shudder to think what the world's impression of me would be.
What does remain is the need for global warming believers to make a stronger case instead of saying that the debate is over. These fuckers are way too hasty in their zeal to fuck our economies and/or make a buck for themselves in the process.
I am concerned for the survival of our planet and our survival as a species. This is why I am way concerned about possible catastrophic meteor strikes. One of those makes our fears over climate change look very stupid. We already have ample evidence about what these things can do and even had two movies that are actually plausible future scenarios unlike that stupid climate change flick, The Day After Tomorrow. Yet, the US Government spends almost nothing on tracking asteroids or developing technologies to prevent us from becoming like the dinosaurs. Where is Al Gore on this?
The deafening silence of these people on the meteor issue only shows the real intent of these alarmists. They care primarily about fucking over large oil companies. In the breast of every environmentalist beats a Bolshevik heart. The climate change threat is plausible, and the results are mild. The meteor threat is real, and the results are catastrophic. When we get the Big One, no one is going to care whether you drove a Prius or an SUV.
2. TIGER
Turns out Tiger Woods was a big time philanderer. This does not surprise me. Monogamy is a myth especially for rich and fit athletes. A man has got to catch his nut.
3. AFGHANISTAN
The Nobel Peace Prize Winner is escalating a war. The mind boggles. Somewhere, George W. Bush is laughing.
Occupying a country is not the way to beat terrorists. If it were, we should go occupy other countries like Somalia. There's plenty of space there for training camps.
This escalation is not about winning the war on terrorism but nation building which no statist can refrain from doing. This is like asking Slash to give up smoking and guitar playing. So, Obama repeats the mistakes of his predecessor, and we will have Iraq II. As for Iraq, we won't be leaving there either. Massive debts to come later.
4. RACHEL UCHITEL
I find it ironic that Tiger's mistress is shocked and angered to find out Tiger has other mistresses. Women are strange like this. They can share their man with a wife but not another slut. Amazing.
5. BCS
Obama could do worse things than go ahead with is promise to use his bully pulpit to call for a college football playoff. It is screwed up that we still have the BCS.
6. EHRENREICH ON POSITIVE THINKING
Barbara Ehrenreich has a new book out called Bright Sided which makes the case that the cult of positive thinking that holds sway in corporate America was a direct cause of our current economic calamity. I tend to agree with her assessment, but I wonder she doesn't apply this same sobriety to her Bolshevik love for government solutions and labor unions. Another leftard who only has it half right.
7. UNEMPLOYMENT
I am with the Austrians in believing that unemployment is a government creation. You can read about it here.
Basically, government creates unemployment through these means:
-Raising the minimum wage, overtime pay, etc. that makes it more expensive to hire workers.
-Taxing companies to pay for government expenditures and reducing profits that could be reinvested.
-Regime uncertainty that makes companies scared to invest or hire because they don't how they will be fucked next.
-Unemployment insurance that pays people not to work and adjust to new economic conditions.
For me, unemployment is a temporary two to three week hassle. That's it. Even in this recession, I know of plenty of places that are desperate to hire but can't make an offer that beats unemployment checks. With the government granting extensions on these checks, this actually makes the job market better for someone like me who has never collected an unemployment check in his life. I despise free money.
I learned a long time ago to save my money for the inevitability of losing my job. The free market is about change, so you need to prepare yourself for the changes. But there is always a job out there. ALWAYS. Unemployed people are just too lazy to get them.
Assistance granted to the unemployed does not dispose of unemployment. It makes it easier for the unemployed to remain idle.
LUDWIG VON MISES
http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=476
12.02.2009
11.28.2009
Blue Collar Ambition
I have been experiencing a lot of frustration when it comes to the issue of careers. I have had so many thoughts swirling in my head, and I am not alone. These same issues have been on other forums and blogs that I read. I will see if I can break them down.
Generalization vs. Specialization
Wise Bread had an interesting article here on the subject of being a jack-of-all-trades or a master of one. I am in the generalist camp. I think specialization will make you a huge roll of cash if your specialty is in high demand, but you will pay it all back when the market for your skill reverts to the mean and craters. This happened with the computer sci people who made it big during the 90's building the internet, and then found themselves downsized as that same internet enabled companies to hire people in India to work for half the salary of their American counterparts.
The specialization route demands ever more specialization as people train and acquire more education in ever narrowing directions in a vain attempt to maintain their place in their niche. This is why we have so many people in graduate school learning shit applicable to only narrow fields. The result is a glut of higher degrees and mounting student loan debt. This can't go on forever. If you factor in costs of education and the job market volatility, I don't see these specialists being better off than generalists though they make huge dollars in the fat years. They pay it all back in the lean years, and the lean years always come.
I recommend generalization. The result will be lower pay but more consistent employment.
Blue Collar vs. White Collar
I am someone in the unique position of having a foot in both the blue collar and white collar worlds. I work a job that does not require a degree, but I find it more lucrative and personally rewarding than the jobs I could get with my degree. Granted, your typical middle manager will make more than I ever will, but as Taleb pointed out, middle managers are merely lucky coin flippers paid for taking credit for things they did not achieve and fired for taking blame for disasters they did not cause. I am also mystified by the entry level managers who work for less pay than their own employees. The reason for this disparity is simple. Entry level managers take a paycut in the hope of gaining entry into the casino. They take one step backward to take two steps forward. What they don't realize is that a step forward could find themselves stepping on a landmine.
Middle management is not skilled labor. Middle managers produce nothing of value. They make no decisions of any great importance because they are mitigated and ignored as they go down the chain or get overruled by someone up the chain. These people can be fired and not replaced resulting in a positive to the company's bottom line as the company saves money on not paying their bloated salaries. (I worked for a company where a multi-million dollar operation was saved by the brains and balls of a maintenance tech who got written up by a middle manager for not following company policy. Basically, he used a paperclip to fix a relay instead of waiting the week or so it would take for the replacement part to ship. Insanity like this only exists in large companies where office politics and the CYA principle matter more than satisfying customer demands and making profit for owners and shareholders. FWIW, that manager got fired later while the tech accepted an offer for more pay from another outfit.)
I see the white collar world as a world of bullshit. This is a world where an exec spends a bunch of time crafting the perfect PowerPoint presentation for the next big meeting that will amount to nothing. Some part of him yearns to make something of value. But satisfaction eludes him. Meanwhile, a metal fabricator puts a perfect weld on a tank that will hold solution for a factory somewhere. No one will care about that weld unless it breaks, but he cares. It is because his work matters.
People look down on blue collar people or anyone else who has dirty hands at the end of the workday. They place a premium on status which is why we have the bullshit of the white collar world. I can appreciate an accountant, a computer programmer, or an engineer. But these people have more in common with electricians and plumbers than they do with the pointy haired boss in Dilbert. There is a division between the labor and the corporate political class, and you are either on one side or the other. You will either take your plays from Machiavelli or Adam Smith.
Middle managers are useless parasites. This realization quells one's ambition. My own ambition is simply to work hard and be skilled across a variety of fields. I care less about high pay than I do about consistent pay that comes from being able to get a job no matter what economic turmoil may ensue.
The Education Bubble
A college education is free. All you need is a library card. This realization has done a great deal for the expansion of my mind. I am smarter than the average person, and this includes those with advanced degrees. This is because I read. That's it. College education amounts to charging people for reading books. Only dumb people pay to read.
A degree merely confers status on the one holding the degree. It is supposed to signify accomplishment in a field of study, but grade inflation has made this dubious. In addition, a Harvard grad with a C average will make more than a State U. grad with a 4.0 for knowing the same information. It's like owning a Lexus which is a Toyota with better marketing.
In technical fields and the blue collar world, this bullshit does not exist. If you don't know what the fuck you're doing, you can't fake it in these fields. In addition, these worlds often have accomplished workers with no sheepskin whatsoever. The only thing that matters is skill which is the way it should be.
The greatest value in education today is technical training. The tuition is surprisingly cheap, and the return on investment is much higher than having an MBA. This training almost always comes with a guaranteed job. Learning electronics at your local voc ed school will be a better investment than a mathematics Ph.D.
To tie this in with my earlier thoughts on generalization, I envisioned what I call the "Blue Collar Ph.D." Essentially, this is the combination of skills and technical knowledge resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For instance, imagine an industrial maintenance tech who is also a certified welder and a diesel mechanic and knows carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring, etc. This may seem like an impossible task and a lot of stuff to know, but I don't see it that way. Blue collar types are supposed to be stupid, but we know better. But the time and money committed to the blue collar Ph.D. is considerably less than you would spend on a real Ph.D. or an MD, or a law degree. Plus, you become more employable the more you learn.
Entrepreneurship is for Suckers
I would love to run my own business, but as Virginia Postrel points out, entrepreneurship is the province of lucky fools. These people are not brilliant or brave so much as lucky and stupid. They have more in common with the lottery players who finance many government expenditures with their ignorance of simple odds.
Taleb made the same points when he said you were better off being a venture capitalist than being an entrepreneur. This stings for me because I see entrepreneurship as being the best way for an average guy like me to make it rich. But Taleb is rich and is not an entrepreneur unless you count starting a hedge fund as a business. I don't.
The best place to put capital is not in a startup but in a diversified portfolio of investments. Whether or not it is Taleb's treasury bond/options strategy or index funds like I prefer, you want to spread your bets and stop envying lucky fools.
The Work Ethic
I read a lot of blogs and books about business, economics, and personal development. Except for Larry Winget, none of them talk about the work ethic. Here's a handy formula for you:
HARD WORK + SIMPLE LIVING = WEALTH
There is a lot of conjecture about why the USA has become the wealthiest nation on the planet. We talk about freedom, innovation, and the like, and I agree that free societies are better than unfree societies. But why? This is because they are more productive. It begins and ends with production. You achieve more by doing more. Unfree societies decline because they steal this motivation through taxation and regulation.
The great dream of people is wealth without production. Everyone wants to live at the expense of everyone else. This isn't just a political thing but a social thing as well. I haven't read in any of the literature that the surest route to success is to spend more time working. But it is.
The mentality is that work is for suckers, and people that work hard are pathological and clinically insane. But I notice these people don't make much money, or they think the way to make money is to "get over." In other words, if you want to be rich, don't be the sucker. Be the fucker who sticks it to the sucker. Sad shit.
Simple living is also condemned. People have leisure time which necessitates leisure activities requiring expensive toys. These would be boats, ATVs, RVs, motorcycles, jet skis, etc. Blue collar people are especially susceptible to this as I see most of these items for sale on the lawns of houses in working class neighborhoods.
When I have free time, I like to spend it with a low cost book. I might splurge on renting a DVD from Blockbuster, but my leisure activities are cheap. My rule is to do nothing that requires purchasing expensive equipment.
Conclusion
The bright red vein running through all these topics and insights I've discussed here is status. People want status, so they spend money and labor on getting advanced degrees, promotions to meaningless jobs with titles, starting businesses that are ovewhelmingly doomed to failure, and living large to impress their friends and families. People crave status and pay a premium to get it. My insight is that we should consider not paying this premium anymore. Work hard instead. Acquire job skills that are marketable and produce something of real value. And live simply. The result of these choices should lead to less stress, greater satisfaction, and financial stability in your life.
Generalization vs. Specialization
Wise Bread had an interesting article here on the subject of being a jack-of-all-trades or a master of one. I am in the generalist camp. I think specialization will make you a huge roll of cash if your specialty is in high demand, but you will pay it all back when the market for your skill reverts to the mean and craters. This happened with the computer sci people who made it big during the 90's building the internet, and then found themselves downsized as that same internet enabled companies to hire people in India to work for half the salary of their American counterparts.
The specialization route demands ever more specialization as people train and acquire more education in ever narrowing directions in a vain attempt to maintain their place in their niche. This is why we have so many people in graduate school learning shit applicable to only narrow fields. The result is a glut of higher degrees and mounting student loan debt. This can't go on forever. If you factor in costs of education and the job market volatility, I don't see these specialists being better off than generalists though they make huge dollars in the fat years. They pay it all back in the lean years, and the lean years always come.
I recommend generalization. The result will be lower pay but more consistent employment.
Blue Collar vs. White Collar
I am someone in the unique position of having a foot in both the blue collar and white collar worlds. I work a job that does not require a degree, but I find it more lucrative and personally rewarding than the jobs I could get with my degree. Granted, your typical middle manager will make more than I ever will, but as Taleb pointed out, middle managers are merely lucky coin flippers paid for taking credit for things they did not achieve and fired for taking blame for disasters they did not cause. I am also mystified by the entry level managers who work for less pay than their own employees. The reason for this disparity is simple. Entry level managers take a paycut in the hope of gaining entry into the casino. They take one step backward to take two steps forward. What they don't realize is that a step forward could find themselves stepping on a landmine.
Middle management is not skilled labor. Middle managers produce nothing of value. They make no decisions of any great importance because they are mitigated and ignored as they go down the chain or get overruled by someone up the chain. These people can be fired and not replaced resulting in a positive to the company's bottom line as the company saves money on not paying their bloated salaries. (I worked for a company where a multi-million dollar operation was saved by the brains and balls of a maintenance tech who got written up by a middle manager for not following company policy. Basically, he used a paperclip to fix a relay instead of waiting the week or so it would take for the replacement part to ship. Insanity like this only exists in large companies where office politics and the CYA principle matter more than satisfying customer demands and making profit for owners and shareholders. FWIW, that manager got fired later while the tech accepted an offer for more pay from another outfit.)
I see the white collar world as a world of bullshit. This is a world where an exec spends a bunch of time crafting the perfect PowerPoint presentation for the next big meeting that will amount to nothing. Some part of him yearns to make something of value. But satisfaction eludes him. Meanwhile, a metal fabricator puts a perfect weld on a tank that will hold solution for a factory somewhere. No one will care about that weld unless it breaks, but he cares. It is because his work matters.
People look down on blue collar people or anyone else who has dirty hands at the end of the workday. They place a premium on status which is why we have the bullshit of the white collar world. I can appreciate an accountant, a computer programmer, or an engineer. But these people have more in common with electricians and plumbers than they do with the pointy haired boss in Dilbert. There is a division between the labor and the corporate political class, and you are either on one side or the other. You will either take your plays from Machiavelli or Adam Smith.
Middle managers are useless parasites. This realization quells one's ambition. My own ambition is simply to work hard and be skilled across a variety of fields. I care less about high pay than I do about consistent pay that comes from being able to get a job no matter what economic turmoil may ensue.
The Education Bubble
A college education is free. All you need is a library card. This realization has done a great deal for the expansion of my mind. I am smarter than the average person, and this includes those with advanced degrees. This is because I read. That's it. College education amounts to charging people for reading books. Only dumb people pay to read.
A degree merely confers status on the one holding the degree. It is supposed to signify accomplishment in a field of study, but grade inflation has made this dubious. In addition, a Harvard grad with a C average will make more than a State U. grad with a 4.0 for knowing the same information. It's like owning a Lexus which is a Toyota with better marketing.
In technical fields and the blue collar world, this bullshit does not exist. If you don't know what the fuck you're doing, you can't fake it in these fields. In addition, these worlds often have accomplished workers with no sheepskin whatsoever. The only thing that matters is skill which is the way it should be.
The greatest value in education today is technical training. The tuition is surprisingly cheap, and the return on investment is much higher than having an MBA. This training almost always comes with a guaranteed job. Learning electronics at your local voc ed school will be a better investment than a mathematics Ph.D.
To tie this in with my earlier thoughts on generalization, I envisioned what I call the "Blue Collar Ph.D." Essentially, this is the combination of skills and technical knowledge resulting in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For instance, imagine an industrial maintenance tech who is also a certified welder and a diesel mechanic and knows carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring, etc. This may seem like an impossible task and a lot of stuff to know, but I don't see it that way. Blue collar types are supposed to be stupid, but we know better. But the time and money committed to the blue collar Ph.D. is considerably less than you would spend on a real Ph.D. or an MD, or a law degree. Plus, you become more employable the more you learn.
Entrepreneurship is for Suckers
I would love to run my own business, but as Virginia Postrel points out, entrepreneurship is the province of lucky fools. These people are not brilliant or brave so much as lucky and stupid. They have more in common with the lottery players who finance many government expenditures with their ignorance of simple odds.
Taleb made the same points when he said you were better off being a venture capitalist than being an entrepreneur. This stings for me because I see entrepreneurship as being the best way for an average guy like me to make it rich. But Taleb is rich and is not an entrepreneur unless you count starting a hedge fund as a business. I don't.
The best place to put capital is not in a startup but in a diversified portfolio of investments. Whether or not it is Taleb's treasury bond/options strategy or index funds like I prefer, you want to spread your bets and stop envying lucky fools.
The Work Ethic
I read a lot of blogs and books about business, economics, and personal development. Except for Larry Winget, none of them talk about the work ethic. Here's a handy formula for you:
HARD WORK + SIMPLE LIVING = WEALTH
There is a lot of conjecture about why the USA has become the wealthiest nation on the planet. We talk about freedom, innovation, and the like, and I agree that free societies are better than unfree societies. But why? This is because they are more productive. It begins and ends with production. You achieve more by doing more. Unfree societies decline because they steal this motivation through taxation and regulation.
The great dream of people is wealth without production. Everyone wants to live at the expense of everyone else. This isn't just a political thing but a social thing as well. I haven't read in any of the literature that the surest route to success is to spend more time working. But it is.
The mentality is that work is for suckers, and people that work hard are pathological and clinically insane. But I notice these people don't make much money, or they think the way to make money is to "get over." In other words, if you want to be rich, don't be the sucker. Be the fucker who sticks it to the sucker. Sad shit.
Simple living is also condemned. People have leisure time which necessitates leisure activities requiring expensive toys. These would be boats, ATVs, RVs, motorcycles, jet skis, etc. Blue collar people are especially susceptible to this as I see most of these items for sale on the lawns of houses in working class neighborhoods.
When I have free time, I like to spend it with a low cost book. I might splurge on renting a DVD from Blockbuster, but my leisure activities are cheap. My rule is to do nothing that requires purchasing expensive equipment.
Conclusion
The bright red vein running through all these topics and insights I've discussed here is status. People want status, so they spend money and labor on getting advanced degrees, promotions to meaningless jobs with titles, starting businesses that are ovewhelmingly doomed to failure, and living large to impress their friends and families. People crave status and pay a premium to get it. My insight is that we should consider not paying this premium anymore. Work hard instead. Acquire job skills that are marketable and produce something of real value. And live simply. The result of these choices should lead to less stress, greater satisfaction, and financial stability in your life.
Random Thoughts on Various Subjects
1. TIGER WOODS
Tiger was cheating on his wife, and she beat his ass with a golf club. That's my take. Will have to see how the story unfolds.
2. CAROLINA VS. CLEMSON
If Spurrier doesn't win, that fucker should be fired.
Tiger was cheating on his wife, and she beat his ass with a golf club. That's my take. Will have to see how the story unfolds.
2. CAROLINA VS. CLEMSON
If Spurrier doesn't win, that fucker should be fired.
11.27.2009
DVD-Star Trek
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the greatest Star Trek movie ever made. Everything else in the Star Trek canon is a colossal joke, and this includes JJ Abrams' reboot Star Trek.
Star Trek is indebted to Khan and uses it as source material to begin the tale of Capt. Kirk and the gang. The first problem with the movie is the colossal bad acting. You quickly realize you don't give a fuck about any of these people. They act as people who know they are going to loom large in the future. It's like a bad sci fi version of Behind the Music.
The plot is also stolen from Khan with Eric Bana playing a bad guy who destroys Vulcan and does his best to piss off Spock in the process. Khan was an epic. This movie is more like a special effects soaked roller coast ride along the lines of Transformers.
Star Trek is bad acting and eye candy and nothing more. It will appeal to younger viewers who are stupid, but it did nothing for me. This flick will be an excuse to continue the series with the original characters, but this franchise is doomed. It is time to let Trek rest in peace.
11.26.2009
Why People Can't Get in Shape
Getting in shape is easy. Eat right. Exercise. There is no mystery to it. There is also no lack of external motivation. Society and the media urge us to lose the flab. Finally, getting in shape makes you feel better and feel better about yourself. So, why can't people get in shape?
The conventional wisdom points to a lack of will power. People are just lazy. But this just isn't true. The USA is the fattest nation on the planet, but it is also the hardest working. Americans work more than anyone else. They put in the hours and get shit done.
Some will argue that we just have bad habits of spending our leisure time on the couch eating potato chips. There may be some truth to that. But you can't watch much TV without getting the guilt trip about being out of shape.
I will tell you the reason why people can't get in shape--OTHER PEOPLE. That's right. Other people are holding you back.
Announce to all your friends and family that you are going to get off your ass and eat right and exercise. These people will be nothing short of enthusiastic and supportive of your new lifestyle direction. This support will end the moment you actually start doing it. Then, these same people will hamstring you at every step.
The reason for this is that a fitness lifestyle is an antisocial endeavor. It divides you from the herd. It is an individualistic pursuit, and it will cause all kinds of friction.
You will notice this when you start eating healthy. Your loving girlfriend or wife will make you a fat filled meat loaf, and you will have to tell her as nicely as you can that you can't eat that bullshit. She will cry, pout, or do whatever. Your friends will invite you over for beer and burgers, and you will either decline, go and not eat, or bring your own food. All three options will not make you a popular guest. Or they will all want to eat at some restaurant that has nothing but lard and gravy on the menu. If you get the idea that healthy eating means eating alone, you would be correct.
The same thing happens with exercise. Hitting the gym, riding a bike, or going for a run all involve being alone for some bit of time during the day. Naturally, in our constantly connected world, being AWOL for an hour per day is unacceptable. Your wife or girlfriend is mad because you are late for the fatty dinner you can't eat. Your friends can't understand why you have to cut out early to get some sleep for tomorrow's century ride. Where are you?
These same people who were so supportive of you getting into shape could really give a rat's ass. Their habits are your habits. To change those habits is to cut across the social grain.
If you look at people who are in shape, you will notice two things. They either do it for a living (pro athletes, models, personal trainers, etc.,) or they are self-centered types who are either introverts or narcissists. If you don't get fit for a living, then you have to be selfish.
I don't have an answer to this problem. The reality is that bad habits are social habits (smoking, drinking, eating bad food, etc.) while good habits are solitary (eating right, exercising, studying, working, etc.) Very little is said about this social dimension, and the impact it has on your life. I think it helps to have friends in the lifestyle you choose to have. But in the end, doing something remarkable is a subversive act. Don't expect people to like you or applaud your efforts in these things. Nothing good comes without some sacrifice.
The Case for Working with Your Hands
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=print
How was it that I, once a proudly self-employed electrician, had ended up among these walking wounded, a “knowledge worker” at a salary of $23,000? I had a master’s degree, and it needed to be used. The escalating demand for academic credentials in the job market gives the impression of an ever-more-knowledgeable society, whose members perform cognitive feats their unschooled parents could scarcely conceive of. On paper, my abstracting job, multiplied a millionfold, is precisely what puts the futurologist in a rapture: we are getting to be so smart! Yet my M.A. obscures a more real stupidification of the work I secured with that credential, and a wage to match. When I first got the degree, I felt as if I had been inducted to a certain order of society. But despite the beautiful ties I wore, it turned out to be a more proletarian existence than I had known as an electrician. In that job I had made quite a bit more money. I also felt free and active, rather than confined and stultified.
This is an outstanding article.
How was it that I, once a proudly self-employed electrician, had ended up among these walking wounded, a “knowledge worker” at a salary of $23,000? I had a master’s degree, and it needed to be used. The escalating demand for academic credentials in the job market gives the impression of an ever-more-knowledgeable society, whose members perform cognitive feats their unschooled parents could scarcely conceive of. On paper, my abstracting job, multiplied a millionfold, is precisely what puts the futurologist in a rapture: we are getting to be so smart! Yet my M.A. obscures a more real stupidification of the work I secured with that credential, and a wage to match. When I first got the degree, I felt as if I had been inducted to a certain order of society. But despite the beautiful ties I wore, it turned out to be a more proletarian existence than I had known as an electrician. In that job I had made quite a bit more money. I also felt free and active, rather than confined and stultified.
This is an outstanding article.
11.25.2009
The Curious Case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Trying KSM in NYC is a mistake. The reality is that this terrorist will be treated with greater legal rights than our own uniformed soldiers get when accused of crimes.
I've given it a lot of thought, and I have come to a middle path between those who believe that terrorists like KSM should be locked up with no due process and those who demand they be tried with the same rights as US citizens. Neither path makes sense to me. What does make sense is a military tribunal and a firing squad.
The tragedy of a place like Gitmo isn't the guilty who rot there, but the innocent who have done nothing and have no recourse. For their sake, due process is necessary. But this doesn't mean a civilian court. Try them as war criminals and let them have their say. This is fair both to them and to America.
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