The Will to Power vs. the Work Ethic

Success and failure are relative concepts. A doctor who runs a family practice may be a success relative to his community, but he would be a failure relative to a pricey plastic surgeon pulling down seven figures in Beverly Hills. Similarly, that same plastic surgeon is a failure relative to the oncologist who is pulling off groundbreaking work in the fight against cancer. Success or failure is ultimately determined by values and whether you live up to them or not. But this essay is not about what constitutes success, but the path you choose to get there. How you get there counts as much as the destination.

Consider the example of Lance Armstrong. The man survives cancer and goes on to win the Tour de France seven times. The stories are legendary of the work he put into his training. But then there is the cloud of doping that is hanging over him. His guilt or innocence on that question is important because it determines which path he chose to achieve his values--the will to power vs. the work ethic.

Some folks believe that failure is the result of weakness. It is a lack of will. This is the Nietzschean way. In order to be successful, one must impose his or her will upon the world. The result is a certain viciousness. Fans of Nietzsche will decry my linking him to the Nazi state, but his philosophy informed that hollow movement. Likewise, Lance Armstrong demonstrates the characteristics of someone infected with the will to power philosophy--arrogance, meanness, and derision. The will to power is aggression--pure and simple. The manifestation of the will is all that matters, and success is achieved by overcoming all opposition. It is a war with oneself and with the world.

This will to power outlook is what informs most self-development literature. Believers in the Law of Attraction practice a variation of this will to power thinking. The universe manifests itself according to your will. Basically, if things don't go your way, it is your own damn fault. Quit being a whiny ass fucker. Quit being weak or negative. Since the key to success is merely a manifestation of the will, success promoters like Tony Robbins present a perpetual pep rally. You just need to pump up your will, and the rest will follow.

If all of this sounds like so much bullshit, it is. I think of the Cobra Kai dojo in The Karate Kid with their mantra of STRIKE FIRST. STRIKE HARD. NO MERCY SIR. Naturally, this makes them the bad guys. Yet, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi win with old fashioned hard work. It is this hard work that is the truest path to success.

Aristotle said that excellence is not an act but a habit. Success comes not from power but from practice. It is not an act of will but simply putting on your hard hat each day and putting in the hours. People who choose this path look askance at the will to power people. For the workers, there are no shortcuts. It is not a matter of willpower but work. Will to power people are always willing to take the shortcut. They are willing to compromise ethics, lie, and delude themselves. The work ethic people don't compromise. They are honest with themselves and with others. They know their strengths and their weaknesses.

The best example of this work ethic in action is world record holder Paula Radcliffe. You don't get the weakness/strength rhetoric from her. She is famous for being outspoken on the doping issue in a way that Lance Armstrong never was. And she got to where she is through simple work. She put in a lot of mileage, and it paid off.



For a world record holder, Radcliffe is humble and down to earth. Yet, there are those who deride her for crying over not getting a gold medal or what have you. That is the will to power crowd that smell weakness and pounce. These are the arrogant cocksuckers of the world. I hate these people. For them, owning the world record is illegitimate because the record holder displays weakness. This is absurd.

The reality is that the will to power people are full of shit while the hard workers are real. This is why I think it is important that Lance Armstrong be exposed as a cheater. Armstrong represents a myth. Armstrong beat cancer the same way he won the Tour de France --through the miracles of modern medicine. His victories represent not work but being more ruthless than his opponents. Needless to say, I am not a fan of professional cycling. I think that whole sport is bubbling cesspool of dopers and arrogant cocksuckers. But I digress. . .

I would counsel people to rethink success in terms of work. Put away the Tony Robbins and put together a plan. Figure out what work needs to be done and do it the same way you get up each morning to go earn a living. Be short on desires and long on execution. It helps to have simple goals since you only have so many hours to devote to the project. Then, just work. Put on the hard hat and put in the hours. I can tell you that I have achieved more through my work than I have through my will. I am not the product of my motivation but the product of my habits--for good or bad. The best habit you can have is a good work ethic.

The Lure of the Six Figure Income

I peruse the want ads on a regular basis, and I always manage to see one that says this:



There are variations on this theme. Work at home and make a six figure income. Or it may be making a six figure income in some other way. But the one thing remains constant. It is that six figure income. There is something about that amount that makes people get stupid. Yet, we need to consider some statistics.

According to Wikipedia, about 5% of the population make in excess of $100,000 a year on an individual basis. The median income is $39,000 which has probably dropped in this recession. The odds of you busting six figures are slim. But people still try.

The lure of the six figure income makes people do dumb things. To make this kind of dough requires risk. Now, as we see, there are plenty of scams as evidenced by the ad above, but people may not be aware that other avenues have the same effect as those scams which is to lure people with expectations that cannot meet with reality. Here are some of the things people fall for in pursuit of the six figure income:

1. EDUCATION

Glenn Reynolds and others have highlighted the bubble in higher education. People today go to college, grad school, and professional school with their ballooning tuition rates to end up taking jobs that pay what a decent truck driver makes. Basically, this is the median income which isn't so bad, but those debt payments make these folks go back to live at home with their parents. The whole thing is a crock, and you can't count on higher ed to tell the truth about this. They are raking in all that dough. But people are wising up.

2. CLIMBING THE LADDER

Another option is to fight it out in some corporation and move up the ladder red in tooth and claw. Some people pull this off if they are particularly vicious and lucky. But as I've learned from Taleb and from personal experience, the ladder climbers are lucky coin flippers. You either make big bucks, or you get fired. There is no middle ground. And none of them are happy.

3. CHASING THE HOT SECTOR

During the housing bubble, I ran into this dumb blonde in a bar one night, and she told me this amazing story of how she was pulling down big bucks in the construction industry working for some big firm. It wasn't a blue collar job, and she was just a high school grad. I doubt she is making that dough now. I hear similar stories in tech and what have you. One day, some clever economist will come up with an Idiots With Money Indicator and find out where the next bubble is and short it. These folks make big dollars but only briefly.

4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Starting a business has dismal odds, and most people would be better off not trying. Less than 5% of startups make it past five years. Not all of those are lucrative enough to yield a six figure income. But people try anyway.

Everyone wants to max out on their income. This is rational. What is not rational is the expectation of making a six figure income. Granted, doctors regularly make six figures, but this is the product of that high barrier to entry called medical school. Spending eight years in poverty racking up debt is a real gut check. The reason so many foreigners come to be physicians here is because they have a lower barrier of entry back in their home countries. Of course, if those barriers were lowered, the incomes would be lowered as well.

People want to make more money because it provides them more material security. The problem with this thinking is that people who make more do so almost entirely out of increased risk to their material security. It is a Catch-22. To be a financial success, you must risk absolute financial ruin. Even the doctor in training is one blown final away from oblivion. The flip side to all of this is that the ones who do make it to six figures do so out of bad habits that become their own undoing. Doctors are famous for being bad with their money to the boon of stockbrokers everywhere.

What is the antidote to all of this? I think the antidote is to have diminished expectations. I recently read an article from TechCrunch that says that tech firms in Silicon Valley prefer younger workers at $60K a year to the gray hairs making $150K. Basically, middle aged programmers end up jobless or taking a significant pay cut. This is because tech is new and always changing. My personal theory is that new comp sci grads or what have you are schooled in the latest which is in high demand for a short while. It is like working in a perpetual bubble factory as it all reverts to the mean again. The answer is to be blue collar.

Blue collar jobs don't pay six figure incomes. Some electricians and plumbers pull down some big dough, but they all do this by running a business which is entrepreneurship. For the most part, blue collar people pull down the median income. Some like diesel mechanics make far more, but this is a result of a shortage. In time, this will revert to the mean as well. But this will be a slight reversion since few of them make six figure incomes.

People think I am crazy for telling people to learn a trade and get their hands dirty with this blue collar advice. But I think they are crazy for chasing the six figures. Over the years, I have been made offers in the hot fields of mortgage brokering, annuities, and management. I turned them down because I know the truth about these endeavors. They involve moral compromise, unhappiness, and eventual unemployment.

My advice is the same one that Daedalus gave to his son Icarus. Don't fly too close to the sea or to the sun. Basically, this myth was a parable about reversion to the mean. You want to avoid the outliers because they seldom last. The six figure earners fly close to the sun.



Blue collar folks excepting UAW workers in Detroit don't make six figure incomes because they don't live in what Taleb calls "extremistan." They fly neither close to the sun nor close to the sea. They are in "mediocristan." Over the course of my lifetime, I have witnessed friends from high school who never went to college go on to comfortable middle class lifestyles while working blue collar jobs. Granted, some have money problems because they can't make the payments on their bass boats or they like to play the lottery. But these are not problems of income but financial mismanagement. This is why I say that hard work needs to be packaged with simple living. But they make the median income or better.

I know this post will get peppered with comments from folks who will denigrate working people, or there will be one wise ass who is making a mint from some hot job he got. But that is the stupidity at work. I'm sure Icarus thought he was hot shit before his wings fell apart. But working a blue collar job beats living at home with mom and dad and servicing student loan debt or getting shitcanned in middle age because you make too much money and/or had a bad run of luck for which you will take the blame. All of this comes from extremistan. Everyone sees the sun, but no one sees the ocean below. They don't take that middle path.

My advice is simple. Forfeit that six figure dream. Walk away from it. This is why my blue collar peers do so well. They didn't listen to the high school guidance counselor because he was too busy telling people to go to college. They took what they could get and learned a trade along the way, and they make average incomes now. Some are slightly above while others are slightly below. When they want to make more money, they work more. As for their skills, they never become obsolete. The pace of change in their industries is leisurely. And older workers are valued for their skills and experience.

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NOTES

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_figure_income

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education_bubble

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus

Weekend Warrior Bullshit

Imagine you have a guy who decides he wants to paint portraits. He wishes to paint in the classical realist vein like da Vinci and Rembrandt. So, he goes to the art supply store and he puts down $75 for brushes and paints and whatnot needed for the task. He paints diligently every weekend for a couple of years. Finally, he produces this masterpiece:



At this point, you might tell our painter fellow not to give up his dayjob. He has no talent for the craft, and he is wasting his time. He just isn't a good artist, and he might find better success at something else like music. He might tell you that what he does is "fun." That may be the case, but it is better to have fun at something you do well than to have fun sucking at something. But when I apply these same thoughts to golf, everybody's opinions on the matter changes. Suddenly, the rules that apply to the painter don't apply to the golfer who never breaks 100 while hacking and slicing up the fairway. One such golfer agreed with me on the painter example but went ballistic on the golf viewpoint. Golf is "fun." But it really amounts to the same thing.

There is a reason we encourage the suck ass golfer but not the suck ass painter. This is because it costs more money to be a golfer than to be a painter. You don't see many commercials or TV shows devoted to painting. But golf is mega bucks because equipment for the sport is pricey. So, golf is marketed heavily while painting is not. This is why it is socially acceptable to be a horrible golfer but not to be a horrible painter.

I don't really care about either golf or painting. I do care about the marketing. The purpose of marketing is to create a felt need within the customer. When a customer wants or needs something, they spend money to acquire that something. Nevermind that this something will probably be abandoned once the marketing wears off. Once the money is acquired, fuck you. Good luck pawning those clubs.

This struck me the other day as I saw a billboard near my home that says, "Finance your toys." On it are pictures of a boat, a jet ski, a fourwheeler, etc. Marketers create the felt need, and this particular credit union is willing to supply the funds. Between the marketing and the easy credit, it is easy to understand why people spend so much money on shit they don't need.

For people like me, I see all these other folks with their toys, and I wonder where I went wrong. Why is it that I don't have all these things? I start to think that I don't make enough money, but I find out that these people make the same amount I do or even less. They are simply spenders while I am a saver. They borrow money for toys and struggle to pay for it while I save money and feel good knowing my bills will be paid each month. When I want something like a computer or a Glock, I spend money I earned and saved and pay cash. I avoid debt as much as possible. This is why I am "poor."

All of these things have one thing in common. It is all mental. People succumb to marketing about what the good life is about, and it is always about things. Then, they finance it all and drown in debt for the sake of this good life. I think a better way is to work, save, and enjoy low cost leisure activities. The reality is that the suck ass painter is actually smarter than the suck ass golfer simply because the painter has spent far less on his hobby. But this warped sensibility fueled by marketing and cheap credit makes the golfer look cool while the painter looks dumb.

When I drive on the road on Saturday, I see the idiocy on full display. I see fools on high priced Harleys motoring around living their Easy Rider fantasies. I see lots of boats, jet skis, and four wheelers. I see kayaks on roof racks and mountain bikes and on and on. Yet, this is just the tip of the shitberg as most equipment like this goes unused in garages, storage sheds, and backyards across America as people engage in their real weekend hobby which is watching sports on TV.

I'm kinda nutty, so I recommend people do things on the weekend like work a second job. Instead of spending money on a four wheeler, they should spend it on tools or a new lawnmower and start a side business. It is great to have fun, but it is better to have fun and earn money at the same time. But most people balk at this suggestion. The idea of work being fun is more than they can bear. But it is fun. It is people's mental hangups that make it not fun. As Mark Twain put it, "Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do." This is why a guy loves restoring an old car but gets pissy changing the oil on someone else's new car even though he is getting paid to do it.

This is the flip side of the weekend warrior bullshit. It makes work harder to bear because suddenly you have to do it in order to pay for all the "fun" shit you financed. You feel the obligation more acutely than someone who has a cushion of savings. One of the ironies is when the weekend warriors end up envying the simple livers. Being free of debt and financial worry beats having a bunch of shit you can't afford and struggle to pay for. People's idea of the good life is fucked up, and we have the marketers and the banks to thank for that.

Consider these two people:

PERSON A:

-Works two jobs that he enjoys
-Has no debt except a mortgage
-Plays basketball and ultimate frisbee with his friends after work and on weekends
-Is an avid player of chess and is close to being a grandmaster
-Speaks two languages he learned from self-study

PERSON B:

-Works one job he hates
-Has a house payment, car payment, boat payment, RV payment, and motorcycle payment
-Goes hunting, fishing, and riding once in awhile. Takes two weeks of vacation every year. Watches NFL and NASCAR most of the time.
-Plays a round of golf on Saturdays

Which person has the richer and more fulfilling life? Unless you are an idiot, Person A is kicking it, yet his lifestyle costs virtually nothing. This is because he has invested in experiences instead of stuff. When I criticize a weekend warrior, they always counter that the alternative is an empty life. But this isn't true. In fact, they already live empty bankrupt lives. They don't see how they are being short changed by the weekend warrior mentality.

I have a friend who does weekend warrior stuff, but he does it on the cheap. He likes to fish and what have you, but he is smart with his dough. He buys used equipment at a significant discount usually from people who blew their money on shit they couldn't afford. While some guy lets his deluxe fiberglass bassboat collect dust and mold in the garage, my friend is out catching fish in his $500 jon boat. The fish don't know the difference. If you can have the same experience for so little money, why spend the extra money? The answer to that one is simple--STATUS.

Toys are status symbols. You can't brag to your friends about a jon boat. But you can show off the bassboat. It is all just vanity. In fact, I think this status symbology is the primary reason behind the weekend warrior mentality. This is the itch they are trying to scratch. This is why activities that require stuff beat out activities that don't require stuff. It is the stuff that they care about and not the activity. You can rent most of this stuff for very little and still have the same great time. But having a great time is not the point. It is about having great stuff.

I think all of this weekend warrior bullshit is one colossal waste. It is vanity, emptiness, and unsustainability. It is easier to buy stuff than it is to do stuff, and the product is always a counterfeit compared to the real thing. My advice to people is to liquidate all these big toys. Get rid of those payments. If it is something you really love, then enjoy it at a lower cost. But, above all, eliminate the vanity. There is no status or good life in getting your shit repossessed or struggling to pay for it all.

The WSJ on the End of Management

The End of Management

In recent years, however, most of the greatest management stories have been not triumphs of the corporation, but triumphs over the corporation. General Electric's Jack Welch may have been the last of the great corporate builders. But even Mr. Welch was famous for waging war on bureaucracy. Other management icons of recent decades earned their reputations by attacking entrenched corporate cultures, bypassing corporate hierarchies, undermining corporate structures, and otherwise using the tactics of revolution in a desperate effort to make the elephants dance. The best corporate managers have become, in a sense, enemies of the corporation.

The reasons for this are clear enough. Corporations are bureaucracies and managers are bureaucrats. Their fundamental tendency is toward self-perpetuation. They are, almost by definition, resistant to change. They were designed and tasked, not with reinforcing market forces, but with supplanting and even resisting the market.

This just reflects what I've been saying in previous posts. Management isn't the solution. Management is the problem.

Quotable Quotes

We in the West have deluded ourselves into believing that we actually have a truly free press. We don't. And we can see that in the difference between what Wikileaks does and what the rest of the press does.
JULIAN ASSANGE

... shameless sponging on friends and relatives ... Marx affected a hatred and contempt for the very material resource he was too anxious to cadge and use so recklessly. Marx created an entire philosophy around his own corrupt attitudes toward money.
MURRAY ROTHBARD

The larger the government, the more our livings standards are reduced. We are fortunate as a civilization that the progress of free enterprise generally outpaces the regress of government growth, for, if that were not the case, we would be poorer each year — not just in relative terms, but absolutely poorer too. The market is smart and the government is dumb, and to these attributes do we owe the whole of our economic well-being.
LEW ROCKWELL

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
ALBERT EINSTEIN

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
STEVEN WRIGHT

Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. ASSANGE "RAPE" CHARGE

Julian gets charged with rape. Then, they drop the charge. Unbelievable. How inept can these fucking bastards be? Meanwhile, the Pentagon is trying to muster up some way to bring criminal charges against an exercise of that pesky First Amendment.

Folks, let me put it to you straight. The bastards in government don't give a fuck about civilians, US citizens, or anyone else. They are evil, and Wikileaks is the light. This recent stupidity is like kids trying to shoot the light out with a BB gun. I have to wonder when they will send out the assassins. All I know is that we need more people like Julian Assange. Our democracy counts on it.

2. NUKES IN IRAN

I've been waiting for Israel to bust an egg on the new nuclear plant in Iran, but as of this writing, nothing has happened. As far as I know, Iran's nuclear program is benign. It is the USA and Israel that want to make it into something sinister. What troubles me is how US foreign policy is hopelessly chained to whatever Israel wants. Naturally, the antisemitic remarks will be lobbed my way for pointing this out. All I know is that with two wars already bankrupting us, the US does not need a third war.

3. NYC MOSQUE

I think the mosque near Ground Zero is dumb, but I can agree that they have property rights that need to be respected. As for Obama, he is not a Muslim. Yet, the wingnuts will persist in claiming that he is. Otherwise, this is a dumb issue. It amazes me what people get worked up about. My advice is to go protest. Use freedom instead of force.

4. BED BUGS

Bed bugs were wiped out by DDT. Then, shitheads wiped out DDT. Now, the bed bugs have returned. It's time DDT returned as well.

The case against DDT has turned out to be a bunch of overblown hype. As a consequence, many people have died from malaria carried by mosquitoes. But a million black deaths does not equal the discomfort of a white couple being feasted on in their NYC apartment. If DDT isn't brought back to the market, I predict a black market in the stuff. I would buy some without hesitation or remorse. It should never have been outlawed.

5. THE "END" OF THE IRAQ WAR

I am trying desperately to find one person who actually believes Obama on this one. I have to wonder why he even tried this bullshit. The war goes on without end. It will end when Ron Paul gets elected.

The Parasite Class, part 2

So hard on people that you need everyday. wow. open your eyes, look around. you need them.

This is a comment left on the first part of this series on the Parasite Class. Basically, the argument is this:

-Parasites exist.

-Existence implies necessity.

-Therefore, parasites are necessary.

The problem with this argument is obvious. It is the idea that existence implies necessity. A parasite is an organism that lives to the detriment of its host. A parasite is something that takes but gives nothing in return. When two organisms give something mutually beneficial, this is called symbiosis. An example would be the lichen that is a combination of a fungus and a plant. Another example would be the bacteria that live in our guts that help us to digest our food.

There are three categories of symbiosis:

-mutualism: both derive benefit

-commensalism: one derives benefit at no harm to the other

-parasitism: one derives benefit at the harm of another

Now, one of my wild and crazy ideas is to take biology and apply it to economics because I notice a lot of overlap in the strategies of nature and human action. A large organization is like a giant organism. All organizations are devoted to a single task. Here are the three I pick on the most and their purpose:

-government: preserve freedom and maintain justice

-university: promote learning and discovery

-corporation: earn a profit for owners and shareholders by satisfying customer demand

The value of any member to an organization must be tied to the purpose of that organization. Parasites do not serve the purpose. They detract from the purpose. Amass a large enough group of parasites, and the whole thing shuts down. Parasites are the enemy.

I was reminded of this recently while reading an article on Microsoft and Apple. Basically, Microsoft is losing its way as it rots from within from corporate bloat. Apple remains as nimble and as minimalistic as the products it makes. Microsoft has managers that fire everyone but themselves, so they end up with bosses who have no employees. This makes sense in a weird way because no boss will fire himself. The reality is that Microsoft is succumbing to the parasites. Microsoft is dying. For it to live, it must eliminate the bloat. It must eliminate the parasites. The same can be said for universities and government. Tenure needs to end. Whole government departments need to be abolished.

Parasites work to convince others of their necessity. This is because the truth will mean their elimination. Parasites know the truth about themselves. They know it because of that vague lack of satisfaction in their jobs. They usually fill that hole with free time, bloated compensation, perks, and status. But their ultimate trick is to convince everyone else that everyone else is lazy. As long as the gaze is on yourself, it is not on them.



The fundamental motivation behind parasitism is laziness. Parasites don't want to work. They may engage in activity so long as it does not involve manual labor and keep them from the golf course. But parasites achieve through theft what the rest of us achieve through work. Like a thief, when work is involved, the return on the labor must be exponential to the cost of the labor. A bank robber can achieve in less than five minutes what it may take a month for you to make. Really brazen bank robbers achieve in a day what you will never make in your lifetime. Similarly, parasites work enough to save themselves from being either gainfully employed in a real occupation or unemployed. But most of their work is expended on maintaining the illusion that they add value. This is why they focus on ephemera and have lots of meetings and what have you. Plus, there is the outright taking of credit for work they didn't do like this Dilbert cartoon illustrates:



I have personally watched valuable employees get slandered and even terminated to protect a parasite from exposure. This Machiavellian chicanery abounds, but it is to everyone's detriment including that of the parasite. Without a host, a parasite will die. But there is no intelligent design in this. Parasites will kill off a host. This is what they do. It is called disease.

For an organization to survive and prosper and fulfill its function, there must be hygiene. Parasites must be eliminated. They threaten survival. This hygiene is produced by transparency. It comes when people speak out. This is why I expend so much time and energy bitching about the government. This is because the government represents the greatest threat to my survival and flourishing. Corporations do bad stuff, but they eventually die out from their own mismanagement and are no threat but to themselves. The free market produces its own hygiene. This is why big companies are regularly replaced by new companies.

But all of this nonsense comes down to people trying to get out of work. This is why I love this recession. The big fear is not unemployment. It is having to find employment in a real job. This is why I laughed at the story in the HuffPost about the MBA and former exec who turned to lawn mowing to make ends meet. Instead of being an entrepreneur and building a landscaping company, he spent his time trying to get another sweet corporate job doing nothing for six figures. You figured someone who knows business would be great at starting a business. But entrepreneurship is work, and parasites hate work. Basically, he was looking for a new host to suck on.

I know I will get a lot of flak for this post along with the other ones. This is because most of my readership is in the Parasite Class. I know you guys read my blog while you are at work. If I was getting paid for this gig, I would tailor the content to appeal to you lazy ass motherfuckers. But this is my hobby I do for the love of telling the truth. This is why I quit keeping track of my stats with a stat counter because it disheartened me to see the bulk of my readership hitting my blog in the prime time of the internet which is M-F 9-5. It is probably how Dave Chappelle felt when he realized that most of his audience was white folks laughing at racist jokes that only black comedians get to tell and which white people tell each other when no black folks are around. But I digress. . .

I don't respect people who don't work, and these parasites don't work. Yes, they exist. But if they didn't exist, everyone would be better off. My challenge to parasites is very simple. What do you do? What value do you add? What do you do with your days except read my blog? Every parasite I talk to says the same thing involving meetings, emails, conference calls, etc. To hear them tell it, they are the hardest working people on the planet. But they never mention the purpose of the organization or their relationship to that purpose. At the end of the day, they can't point to any accomplishments because they don't have any. Rational people abhor meaningless work which is why they will bust their asses to get a hard job done but dread filling out a pointless form.

The problem with this country is that people need to get back to work. I'm not talking about having a job. Having a job is easy. I'm talking about doing actual work for a change. This is why I deplore socialism and the welfare state because it subsidizes the lazy at the expense of hard working people. I read stories of public employees with bloated salaries like the government parasites in Bell, CA. I read about tenured professors who look down on adjunct faculty that actually teach. Meanwhile, the quality of a college education has declined considerably while the costs have skyrocketed. I read about high paid CEOs who get paid enormous sums to run their companies into the ground. This is because today's CEOs are culled from the ranks of middle management instead of being entrepreneurs and founders. Company founders take as little as $1 annually in compensation. Even Warren Buffett takes about $100K in salary from Berkshire probably to pay for all those steaks and Cherry Cokes.

A recession is simply reality. You can't consume more than you can make, and you can't make anything if you don't work. The shock of it all is that people have to do real work for a change and offer real value. My critics will try some "sophisticated" argument to try and take me down on this. But I have already pointed out this trick in this series. This is what parasites do. Reality is "complicated." You just don't understand, Charlie. Blah blah blah. Save the horseshit for someone who might buy it. I know better. I know that you are a worthless piece of shit. Your life is a lie. As a human being, you have no value. You do nothing. You lie and steal. You suck the blood from life. The most noble and useful thing you could do would be to paint a wall with your brains.

I believe in blue collar values. The world may change, but these values never change. Success is not a trick. Success--real success--is the product of work. It isn't about getting over on people. It is about providing value. It is about being authentic and real. It is about taking pride in your work. These values were lost in the bubble economy. But no bubble economy is sustainable. This is because reality has the last word. We shouldn't call them recessions but reevalutations. Just as bloated house prices have come down to reality so should people's values. People valued high living, status, and big paychecks. Now, they value simple living, honesty, and a good work ethic. The Parasite Class despises these values, but the parasites are as dependent on these values as anyone else. Parasites will lie and steal and do nothing, but they expect everyone else to be truthful, honest, and hard working. As I said, the host doesn't need the parasite. It is the parasite that needs a host. Once the host dies, the parasite dies, too. I've never seen it any other way.

The Parasite Class

I spend a lot of words here talking about useless white collar workers, shithead tenured academics, and government bureaucrats. Naturally, some people get pissed off because they belong to one of these groups, or they think they belong to one of these groups. So, in the effort to tighten up my shot group, I will explain how these people belong to what I call the Parasite Class. I will now elaborate.

Once upon a time in the distant past of humanity, our ancestors were hunters and gatherers. They sought out game or whatever they could pick from trees and bushes or root out of the ground. As time passed, they got better at these activities. They fashioned spears, arrows, clothing to protect against the elements, and all of the rest. Eventually, agriculture and livestock entered the picture. But all in all, humanity progressed by work, discovery, experimentation, craftsmanship, and development of technology. But make no mistake. It was work--pure and simple.

Now, there were people amongst these primitive peoples, but they were intelligent but averse to work. So, they used their cleverness to concoct bullshit stories about invisible forces and beings. They took advantage of the superstitions of their peers and developed religion. And all these religions demanded sacrifice of animal flesh, grain, and virgins. These traits are so common to religions all over the world that one must only conclude that the gods were horny and hungry all the time. The reality is that these pagan priests were just duping the fools into providing for them. From the shaman to the pope, this was the establishment of the Parasite Class. They made their livings from the stupidity of others.



I would like to say that humanity is much smarter than it used to be, but this isn't true. Religion persists in this day and time, but even for those not inclined to religion, the Parasite Class exists in other organizations and endeavors. They follow the same tricks:

1. Obscure language.

The Parasite Class always uses a different language than the laypeople. Whether it is Latin or mystery speech or corporatespeak, the parasites speak in tongues that you and I can't understand. This helps to feed the other trick.

2. Hidden mysteries.

The Parasite Class is privy to secrets and knowledge that is inaccessible. Not only do we not know, but we are not permitted to know. You can always tell the Parasite Class because they do everything behind closed doors. They stamp TOP SECRET on their files, and everyone else is kept in the dark. This helps feed the next trick.

3. Indispensability.

The Parasite Class plays both sides of the coin. If things go well, they claim the credit. If things go poorly, the blame is dispersed. For the pagan priests, a bad crop only meant that more sacrifice is needed to appease the anger of the gods. Today, it is replaced by the tweaking of rules and policies and the surgical termination of subordinates. No matter what, you can't live without those parasites because they are "necessary." But it is all the same trick which leads to the ultimate trick.

4. Pay day.

The pagan priests made sure to collect even though they provided nothing of value and could not prove they provided anything of value. Today, the same parasites get paid exorbitant sums of cash for pulling off the same tricks. These people provide little of value, but since people are unable or unwilling to question the trickery, they go along with it.

In government, we have the bureaucrats who police our lives with their endless regulations. No one questions their value even when shit continues to happen despite all of these "rational" policies and regs. Whenever there is a failure, it was not the fault of the regulator. It just means we need more regulations and more regulators. In academia, you have tenured faculty that don't teach or do any meaningful work but are sure to take their paid sabbaticals. Similarly, in corporations, as companies grow, another layer of management is needed. You ask these managers what they provide, and they will say "leadership." Yet, when the shit hits, these fuckers scurry like roaches when the light goes on.



If you call these parasites out, they will react with righteous indignation. Then, they will try to malign you as being jealous for your lack of similar "accomplishments." Finally, they will admit it is one huge con job, and they are some clever motherfuckers and maybe even offer you a promotion to their ranks of bloodsucking. I know because I call them out repeatedly, and they follow this same pattern every time. It is really pathetic to behold.

Now, I want to make pains to say that just because you work in an office doesn't make you a parasite. If you can describe what you do in concrete terms and plain language, you do not belong to the parasite class. Computer programmers code. Doctors treat illness and promote wellness. Bottom level managers keep the parts moving. But if you have to resort to political spin, corporatespeak, academic jargon, or theology to describe your profession, you have a bullshit job, and you belong to the Parasite Class. The world does not need your ilk, and I am calling you out.

Unlimited Paid Vacation

Unlimited Vacation Time Not A Dream For Some

This is the stupidest shit I have ever heard of--giving workers unlimited paid vacation. Here's the clincher:

Of course, Sanicola says this is limited to white-collar professionals. He's never heard of it for hourly employees; you can imagine a factory shutting down without a steady stream of workers.

No shit.

Here is the real deal, folks. Most white collar workers are useless pieces of shit. Only in the bizarro world of Corporate America can such a crazy idea actually be considered. The reason you can give these fuckers unlimited paid vacation is because they already have it. These fucks are paid to do nothing. This only takes it the extra step and lets them off the hook for actually having to show up.

Why do we pay these people? What is it that they do? And how important can it be when we can pay them not to do it?

As anyone who reads my blog or talks to me knows, I am pretty merciless on the white collar world of middle managers, useless academics, and parasitic bureaucrats. These people do not have real jobs. And the reason blue collar people aren't paid to take unlimited vacations is because we need them to do the work that matters. They are indispensable. One day, people are going to wake up to this stupidity and throw these useless lazy bums out into the street. These people deserve unlimited vacation. They just don't deserve the pay.

The Curious Case of Bradley Manning aka BradAss87

Bradley Manning is facing a court martial. Some say he is a hero. Others say he is a traitor. Who is right?

Imagine this scenario. A gangbanger has witnessed numerous crimes including murder, so he goes to the cops to rat out his fellow gangbangers. Whether you agree or disagree with this move, one thing is clear. The rat has betrayed his fellow gangbangers. He is a traitor to his gang. According to the ethics of the street, he must die.

Bradley Manning is in the same boat as that gangbanger. He broke the law for the sake of a higher law--the cause of human rights. But make no mistake. He is going to pay for this in much the same way that the Founding Fathers were going to hang if they lost the War for Independence. You can be both a hero and a traitor at the same time.

People expecting the US Army to excuse Manning's actions are asking for something that can't be done. If you are in the service, you never reveal secrets. You know this going in, and you know this while serving. Manning broke those rules, and he will pay for breaking those rules. But those rules cannot and must not change. Those serving in the military don't get to spill the beans whenever they deem it necessary or right.

I am glad Manning did what he did, but I would still find him guilty and sentence him. People may find this contradictory, but that is why it is called "sacrifice." Erwin Rommel made a similar sacrifice in trying to assassinate Hitler, and he failed and died as a consequence. This is the way it is.

On the other side of this debate is Julian Assange who obviously published the info Manning provided. He did the right thing since this is the job of a journalist. Journalists reveal secrets and expose the truth. They are protected by the First Amendment, and they do us a service by exposing this truth. So, how can I defend Assange and not Manning?

The ethics of a particular situation depend on the role you play. A doctor can cut you open where I cannot. If I cut you open, I'm killing you because I'm not a doctor. Similarly, Assange is a journalist while Manning is not. We don't allow soldiers to reveal secrets that may compromise the mission. These soldiers are welcome to oppose the war when they have completed their terms of service, but while in uniform, they do what our civilian leaders tell them to do.

Consider it this way. Imagine a whistleblower in a corporation that rats out his company causing material loss to the company. This whistleblower may have done the right thing and even exposed lawbreaking. But under no circumstances does anyone think the whistleblower should keep his or her job. Those who do are being foolish. Whistleblower protection laws are nonsensical. You cannot ask a person, an organization, or a company to continue to trust someone who has betrayed their trust.

Let us consider the case of Adrian Lamo, the man who ratted out Manning. Lamo is not a journalist. The moment he knew of Manning he had to go to the authorities or risk being a conspirator. Lamo betrayed Manning, but here's the difference. Lamo doesn't expect Manning to trust him again or to be loved by Manning's supporters.

The nature of ethics is problematic because we are put in contradictions and trade offs. There is a cost to doing the right thing. You may be imprisoned or even die. This is the way it is. The nature of life is such that these conflicts are unavoidable. This is why it behooves everyone to decide what their code is going to be because they are going to bear the costs of living according to that code.

We do have rats. These are people who work as spies, moles, or turn whistleblower or informant. In each of these situations, these rats play a dangerous game of trust and betrayal. Yet, they do us a service by being rats. But being a rat also involves a rat code of ethics which is very elemental. Don't get caught. This is why the FBI has the witness protection program.

Bradley Manning is a rat. He betrayed the trust of the US military, and he is going to suffer for it. He was undone by another rat. The only question Manning has to answer was whether it was worth the sacrifice. I can't answer that for him, but from what he has said, he considered it worth the risk. Now, he will have to suffer the consequences.

The Truth About Immigration

There's a lot of talk, talk, talk about blocking immigration and there has been since the beginning of the nation state, and probably the city-state and all the way back to ancient tribalism. The facts are these: people who want to get in WILL ALWAYS find a way to get in. The notion of blocking human beings from infiltrating through the almost infinite borders of a country the size of the US is insane, since it has been demonstrated impossible in a country the size of Italy (which can fit inside of about half of Texas.) People in first-world societies do not even want to imagine working the kinds of jobs that legal and illegal immigrants work. The US economy, along with the European ones, would collapse completely without this hypocritical game of complain and hire, complain and hire. Nothing is ever actually done about immigration "problems" and never will be, since the corporations you are talking about RUN THE PLANET and they need those workers, while the politicians need the racist subplot to get you to vote for them!! The whole thing is a political game and you are being manipulated by the pols for votes. Nothing else.
FRANK FRANCO, a Facebooker on immigration