LegendaryLife Blog

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Jon

7.5 trillion dollars is a lot of change!

ABC News published an rather interesting article about how the United States is trying to spend itself (to the tune of 7.5 trillion dollars) out of a self-caused and predictable economic disaster.

Mmmm… predictable? Well… YES!

From what I understand of this financial crisis, the path it took should have been easily predicted by those in the “know”. Put people into houses they cannot afford, have investment institutions re-sell the mortgages to other investors (washing their hands in the process) and the population, including the government, borrowing off the backs of future generations to solve NOW problems. Living in debt only causes MORE debt to be accumulated.

Empire USA?

I don’t know where to start but the United States has been run like an empire for as long as I can remember. They have military bases all around the world, five nuclear powered aircraft carriers with more on the way along with subs etc… basically, there isn’t a place on Earth where the United States does not project it’s power though its dominant music, language and financial practices. I have been in the boonies of Malaysia and heard Michael Jackson as well as shanty towns in the middle of nowhere in the Philippines and yes, again, heard American music. I don’t think there is a place on Earth that isn’t Americanized in some degree. This isn’t a good or bad thing, just a fact from personal experience. The US dominates this planet, in the sea, air and even space! This is more power projected by the United States than the Roman Empire could have ever imagined!

Resources Ending!

What does the Mayan Empire, Roman Empire (to a certain extent), Ottoman Empire and even the Russian Empire have in common? Well, they all RAN OUT OF RESOURCES! Russia went essentially bankrupt, so did the Ottoman Empire when their currency dropped due to the Spanish influx and the Romans had a rather similar issues as the USA is facing now (army spread thin, attacks and deflation). History does repeat itself, and sadly, people, especially governments, always seem to think that they are the one “exception” from the rule. Why is running out of resources bad? Well, no money means cut-backs by everybody involved, exponentially more vulnerability to outside influences and generally a hollowing-out of the citizenry who support economic activities (middle class). If you are in debt and have a negative net value, you are essentially broke… the United States needs to realize this NOW and make decisive changes NOW to avoid the end of the United States as we have all known it.

What can we expect in the coming years (decades)?

Generally speaking, an economic collapse usually happens VERY FAST! If the USA goes down, China will soon follow because, guess who is the guarantor of most of US debt? Well, you guessed it… the communist country that has become the worlds factory! Second is, I believe, Saudi Arabia! So, two very valuable economies would surely go bankrupt very fast leading to a worldwide depression that makes what happened in the United States decades ago look like a drop in the bucket. Basically, the two main columns that support the United States onto ever-precarious heights will be squashed by the weight coming down. This is what the world leaders fear as, you guessed it, the weight would also crush their economies! The last G20 meeting, didn’t you notice that not one world leader shook hands with President Bush when they stood for a portrait? The United States Empire is incredibly fragile, more than the government will ever admit and it’s literally scarring the shit out of other world leaders! The consequences are already being felt, municipal, state and even federal coffers are full of IOUs, there is a lack of money to fund education, housing, social security and the vast list goes on!

Any Solutions

First, who ever said deficits don’t matter belongs in a loony bin or is eating too many Lucky Charms. If debt matters to you and me, it sure as hell matters to those “higher-up” the food chain! The bigger the numbers, the bigger the headaches, as governments around the world are well aware of. You cannot SPEND YOURSELF OUT OF DEBT! So, solution number one – NO MORE BORROWING. This means lots of tough decisions need to be made, better now than on the backs of future generations!

Second, if you are super wealthy, time to pay-up! If you make over 10 million a year TOTAL, it’s because of your country, the lives lost in war and investments by the public into YOU that you are so wealthy. Sure, you probably worked your ass off as well, but 10 million is a heck of a lot of money, if you can’t live off that, you need a quick trip into a ghetto for a reality check. Anything over 10 million means 90% tax rate (without any allowable deductions).

Third, cut the government by 75%! The role of the government is to help run things but not to provide jobs to everybody who wants one. This means military spending needs to be dramatically cut along with a lot of other redundant roles, many of which can be automated.

Forth, lead by example. If your congressman can have free health care, than the general public should as well. Basically, whatever you give to the “higher-ups” must automatically be given to those “lower-down”. Power shouldn’t lead to free lunches.

Fifth, and most important, get health care out of the private sector. When people no longer need to worry about their health care (within reason), then they can concentrate on improving their lives and that of their family. Now, I would also go a step further and ban access to people who abuse their bodies by living an unhealthy lifestyle or at the very least, make them PAY until they are healthy, otherwise, tough luck. You don’t care about yourself, we don’t care about you. Getting hit by a bus is usually an accident, choosing to drink and smoke and eating junk food all day is quite another.

Sixth, if there is NO money for something, you can’t do it. If you want to build a vast array of wind farms across the world, the private sector needs money so why shouldn’t the government be held to the same standards?

Seventh, automatically spend 10% of GDP on research and development. Money comes from advances in the future, not living in the past, preach entrepreneurship to children, not 905, tell people it’s up to them to create the life they want, not to believe in tooth fairies to improve their lot. Basically, stop being dilusional and become a realist.

Eight, NOBODY is “too big to fail”. This is pure nonsense, that is as dumb a philosophy as “pre-emptive attack”. What happens in a forest when the biggest tree dies and falls? Well, a new clearing is formed and innovation, growth and ultimately, NEW life emerges. If GM, CitiCorp or (name your company) fails, it isn’t the END… it’s a huge opportunity for new beginnings by more innovative firms and people! Trying to support a dying company is like trying to keep a person on life support, the end has already come and passed, you are just prolonging the agony. No matter the cause, shit happens to everybody and if it causes you to fail, so be it.

(feel free to suggest your own)

The Bottom Line

Pay now or pay later, either way, you have to pay but sooner is always better than later.

Buzvia: ABC News 7.5 Trillion dollars in borrowing!

Note: This is my 300th post on this blog…

One of my several zests in life... but time is always too short!

Let’s face it, not everybody is as lucky as you or I are… they live a meager subsistence living full of disease, war and famine. If you can read this blog, “YOU ARE ONE LUCKY SON OF A BITCH” as my old barber would state in his heavy Italian accent!

Zests come in all flavors

Maybe your zest for life is cooking, or doing floral arrangements… each person has their own hobbies or better yet, businesses evolved from hobbies, that make them wake-up in the morning full of vigor and life! If you are lucky, truly lucky, then you have several hobbies which you have been successful at converting into several different profit generating enterprises. The nice thing about zest is that it can evolve, like your taste buds, into new discoveries like finding-out that “Mint Chocolate Chip” ice cream tastes good but man does “Strawberry Shortcake” taste awesome!

Finding YOUR zest

If waking-up on a daily basis becomes a dreadful experience you wish you didn’t have to bother, don’t expect any pity from others. You decide, daily, what your future will become. If life is a routine of boredom, you need to get a life that honors the give your parents gave to you. No matter your geographical, cultural, economic or ethnic background, everybody has a brain which they can use to create the life they want! Life is way too short as it is, why waste any small part of it being unhappy? If you have a goal, turn it into reality because tomorrow never comes.

Zest, check… now show me the money!

Alright, you found your reason for being, great! Now, the next step is to generate money from it. The easiest way to do this, nowadays is to get a blog going. Find others who share your zest and develop links with them and stick an “welfare for bloggers” Google Adsense thing on it. You can get free hosting and this entire enterprise costs you NOTHING. This can be done within an hour!

Google, check… now show me REAL money!

Although some people have made substantial income with just a blog, they are very few and far between. Once you have a blog, you need to diversify yourself OFFLINE. You invested the time online, now start splitting your time towards getting aspects of this zest known by local newspapers, retail or service shops. You need to tell everybody about your blog, build your community and then lead them to think of you as an expert in the field of your zest. Basically, you want to become the go-to person when questions arise in your field of endeavor. This can take a few months or several decades to achieve.

Will “I” succeed?

The word “I” is completely irrational, unless you plan on becoming your own best client… you need others to believe in you ENOUGH to spend THEIR hard-earned money on YOUR stuff or service. In other words, you should be asking, will “WE” succeed? The answer is probably NO. I challenge you to prove me otherwise.

The Bottom Line

Success takes time, ambition and a heck of a lot of luck to achieve AND maintain.

If this fish learned how to fly, it wouldn't have been caught!

Entrepreneurship has more than its fair share of challenges, but from my experience, each time I have been HEAVILY challenged, the opportunity they opened up for my personal growth have always been even more monumental!

Opportunity comes to those who knock on the door

There are two ways you can live your life, either you sit back and live with what life provides OR you put all your effort into making your dreams a reality and make providers give you the life you know you deserve. In other words, the squeeky wheel always gets more oil Most people, sadly, never achieve the life they truly deserve BECAUSE they never bother taking a stand and making active decisions on a daily basis to make them a reality.

Challenges come in all shapes and sizes

The only people who don’t have challenges in life are those who are six feet under. Everyday presents its own amount of challenges and opportunities, big and small… but for entrepreneurs, they are magnified. Challenges don’t just affect you personally, they seep and grow like wildfire with those you deal with. For instance, you got a web designer who is off on vacation but you get a call from a client who needs something done yesterday… what do you do? Call the designer back from vacation OR delay a project OR try to do it yourself OR outsource… the possibilities are as vast as the stars in the universe. Each has its positive and negative aspects! Balancing the challenges, trying to create some homeostasis WHILE pursuing a goal that is somewhat rocking the boat of competitors and the world is a tough act to achieve.

Opportunities come to those who wait… NOT!

I don’t know who said that opportunities come to those who wait because they rarely do! If you sit and watch television and are hoping to build an international company… you need to throw the television our along with the couch you where sitting on in the garbage! Opportunity comes to those who really, with vigor and zest, try to make things happen in the face of constant rejection, down-talk and the most evil of all, the status quo. Entrepreneurs are usually the mavericks trying to unbalance and create a little chaos in a world that is hell-bent on creating stability and predictability! Entrepreneurs are the people who realize they have nothing to loose and endure no matter how much is thrown right back at them… they use the momentum of failure to power their success.

Why do we teach children 9-5?

With all the economic chaos right now happening in this world that that seems to come every 5-7 years on a cyclical basis, why do we still teach our children the importance of a 9-5 life? This is like teaching a fish how to breath slower in a tank that is slowly emptying! We need to teach our children to fly, not hold their breath! Entrepreneurs, both successful and otherwise, are the high-fliers who are usually given very little credit for their failure. Failure is an incredible teacher that just keeps on giving, we should teach our children to take a leap of faith, rock the boat, screw homework… go out and create a little chaos! Homework is a method of control, control leads to a reduction in creativity which ultimately, makes them perfect candidates for the 9-5 lifestyle that they need to avoid like the plague. 9-5 is NOT a career in my opinion, just ask all the people who believed in this false-prophet looking for jobs now in a downed economy. 9-5 just create an environment that is constantly striving to create stability in a world full of chaos… learn to control and master chaos and you will be going WITH nature instead of against it! Stability is but an illusion.

The Bottom Line

Challenges are GOOD, chaos is GOOD, stability is BAD, 9-5 mentality is EVIL.

Mental blocks come and go with time.

Anybody who has created enough stuff eventually hits a mental block where the mind simply goes to mush, unable to think or more accurately, create more stuff!

Why do we hit mental blocks?

Although everybody hits mental blocks for different reasons, whether stressful events in their life or the lack of them, change in weather or sleeping patterns or sometimes, for no reason at all. Mental blocks are rather evil when you have a deep passion for something but the mind seems to have other goals than your own. They seem to come and go… and last as long as they want. Many authors and artists have hit deep mental blocks that lead to deep depressions and even suicide but what I find particularly interesting, is once these mental blocks go away, they usually lead to an incredible boost in creative juices.

How are mental blocks caused?

Although nobody knows 100% why they happen, I think, personally, mental blocks are simply the re-organization of the brain to over-stimulus. Neurons get stronger and more efficient with use, like roads, the more you use them, the more maintenance and resources are alloted to them. The problem comes when these neurons, or roads, are suffering traffic jams in which they have hit peak capacity and can no longer “grow”. What is the brains solution? Well, time to put the “under construction sign” and do a major upgrade to those associated neurons. During this time, traffic is detoured and limited, leading to a fundamental change in how the creative parts of the brain work. No matter how much you try to fight this change, you keep getting detoured. Now, this can take a few weeks, months, years or even decades to happen but when it does, it tends to take a little while for the renovations to be complete.

How to solve mental blocks?

At least for me, I tend to hit them rather often, hence why I am heavily diversified in what I do throughout the day. If my brain cannot think anymore about creating wooden items for one of my sites, I simply switch to another company, go for a hike or weight lifting etc… basically, mental blocks are the stop sign in my life telling me to shift course. This works for small blocks but for more enduring ones, you need A VACATION! I am not talking about a weekend stint, other that is nice, I am talking about leaving for a few weeks to a month! Completely changing your environment is a fantastic way, at least for me, to allow the mind to completely refresh itself, especially the creative parts!

Mental blocks are part of life

I believe mental blocks are part of life, you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously nor these blocks… the more you think about them, the worse they seem to be. If you hit one while, for instance, writing a book… trying to work through it does nothing but produce sub-par results. If you need to take a week or month off doing other things, then do it! The worst thing you can do is try to fight because that is when, I believe, depression and anxiety begin to seep into your life. Brush off your mental blocks, go do something else and in no time, you will be back creating at an even better rate!

The Bottom Line

Roadblocks are part of life, especially the mental ones!

Buzvia: Stinkyandsticky.com, WoodMarvels.com