The Race Disgrace

I'm stumped as to why the human race has had so much racial in-fighting, throughout their history.   It appears obvious to me at this point, that every single race is merely, a product of their environment, with some help from evolution along the way.  Are humans just naturally fearful of anything different?

We are all humans in the end.  You look, and act, the way you do, because of where your ancestors came from.  It's not a coincidence that people from the extreme heat of India, have darker skin, or that Russians are more pale by comparison.  As you move towards the equator, skin tone darkens to protect the person who has to endure the environment.  This happens over hundreds of generations, and to me, that adaptability is a beautiful thing. It something to be cherished, not ridiculed.

The way humans have viewed racial differences over the years, is disgraceful, all things considered.  The good news is I feel we are headed in the right direction.  The invention of the internet, has made this world infinitely smaller.  People from all over the world will read this text, in many different languages.  There is no doubt this generation will be exposed to more cultures in their life time, than any ones to come before them.  Forty years from now, if you're still around, I guarantee, you personally, will have friends you talk to in countries you would never imagine.  The world is shrinking every single day.

Imagine back even 100 years ago, how many different races would you meet in your lifetime?  10?  5? The number today is probably in the hundreds.  It forces you to judge people based on "the content of their character".  Or at least it should.  It's much easier to say, "I hate (insert any race here)" when they aren't coming to your porch with spongecake, looking normal, and actually seem really nice.  We all have to work at multiculturalism, and as we do, it will become easier, and easier.  

It's very rarely I suggest you believe in anything.  Look back in my posts, I'm not trying to tell you how to think.  I'm just simply want you to question everything.  Personally in my own life, you either align with some simple core beliefs I have, or you can hit the road.  There is a big difference between imposing your beliefs on someone, and leading by example.

You must stand stand for peace.  When I close my eyes at night, I'm proud of this world, but my vision for this earth, is much more beautiful.  Things like happiness, and love, do not thrive in a war-torn environment.  It's impossible to create a stable environment for all, when buildings are being destroyed, and people are dying.  That brings out feelings like sadness, regret, and anger.  The exact opposite of what we are trying to accomplish.  If your beliefs cause anarchy, your beliefs are foolish.  You cannot make peace with war.

You must live, and let live.  This can be difficult because humans are so naturally judgemental.  It very hard to be open minded, but always give people the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe you believe all people under the age of 18 are dumb, and have nothing really valuable to say.  The real truth is maybe most youth can't impress you, but they'll be a few that blow you away.  A more extreme example...  You see any 50 year old man, out with a 25 year old girl, being cuddly.  You can't call him a pervert.  You can't assume she's a hooker.  You can't be grossed out by it.  You can't even think it's wrong.  The fact is, there's a chance, maybe you would consider it small, but a chance exists nonetheless, that these two are completely happy.  They might love each other to death.  They could go home, have so much in common, and have the best sex ever.  She could be from a great home, and just really likes some of his qualities.  He could be attracted to her other reasons than her appearance, maybe she's very intelligent, and ahead of her time.   Maybe the situation caught them both off guard, but they are both very happy.  If all those things were true, would it change your opinion?  The truth is your opinion doesn't matter here.  If all those things are true, then those people are doing nothing but being themselves.  Going with their hearts.  Spreading, dare I say it, love.  It can't be wrong.

Mind you this is just one extreme example, but I'm guilty of this all the time as well, in many areas of my life.  I'm in the habit now of correcting myself, or challenging my thinking, and you should to, at least until you have all the facts.  To jump to any conclusion, without proper knowledge of the peoples character is a mistake, and just because a mistake is common, does not make it acceptable.  

You need to be concerned with the next generation.  We need to live with concern for the future.  A successful generation should be measured by how empowered the younger generations are, and what state the humanity is in, when your generation is gone.  As you progress through these stages of life, make sure you are helping the best way you can to improve the world overall.  See you can either be a part of the problem, or part of the solution.  You can't be both.  You are either a net positive to this planet, or a net negative.  Simply living your life with an open mind, happily, free of bigotry is enough, you don't need to teach a kid math, or anything like that.  There's a saying we all know, "What goes around, comes around", meaning what you put out, you'll get back.  I like to expand that over all of us collectively.  What we all put out, we get back.

Everything you do, everything you think, has consequences.  Consequences that quite possibly could echo through time, long after you are gone.  It is disgraceful how collectively, we stereotype each other.  To prejudge anyone based on their race, sex, age, or appearance is an absolute travesty.  It limits you.  It limits us.  You create racism, sexism, ageism by prejudging people. Your prejudgement, and closed mindedness will affect you too.  It might stop you from seeing that area of the world, you'd actually love, or cause you to miss a key piece of advice in your own life.  The impact could be huge.

You may have met 10 people in a row of a certain race, that are complete jerks, and you should patiently waiting, for just one to prove you wrong.  You do this not because you are foolish.  You do it, because you understand that in the end we are all humans.  All races have jerks.  All races have people you would absolutely love to be around.  Maybe the gift to the future, from this generation, could be true multiculturalism.  If you think relatively, we are still at the forefront of advancement in this area, and have a lot of room for improvement.  Our actions today, will have an impact on how society works together going forward.  The first step is actually pretty easy, we all just need to stop being so damn judgemental.

Star North

Days are long, pushed on strong,
The year, nearly done.
Darkness reigns, wisdom gains,
A year, clearly won.

Remember back, reflect, relax,
Love ones, of your choice,
Take things back, you can't retract,
Use more ears, than voice.

Cheer the ghost, make a toast,
Tonight can't last forever,
Make the most, stand a post,
You've seen harsher weather.

-JBangin

Photo by Suphakit73

The Fall of the Immortal

Sometimes people can be so blinded by a seemingly good idea, that they'll fail to see the apparent downside in it.  This is magnified when emotions are involved.  For every action, a reaction.  For every cause, an effect.  Changing something even for the positive, will have some form of negative effect.  These can range from obvious to nearly impossible to see.  It certainly doesn't mean that the idea is not sound, or that it shouldn't be done immediately, but failing to see any inherent downside, is a gross mistake.

Maybe you live in an area where using a cell phone, while driving, is banned.  I do.  There's a number of reasons I dislike the law, but I'll save for another blog someday.  The idea is what's important.

I fully support the notion that people should be concentrating while driving a 3000 pound hunk of metal, at speeds nearing 100 miles/hr.  That's just good safety.  However, you have to consider the negative effects just as greatly.

The downsides are usually more difficult to anticipate.  Driving and talking, allows you to fit in those dialogues for both business, and personal, turning a meaningless task, into something productive. In a grander scale it could impact economic activity, and economies.   It also gives law enforcement an impossible to argue, justification, for a pulling a civilian over, "I thought I saw him talking on their cellphone", infringing on your rights.  Is it possible that people pulling over to answer their phones, could cause the same amount, if not more accidents?

I like to poke holes in arguments, it's what I do.  I dig down deep, to see what's inside.

Do we protect a relatively slight few from doing this certain activity, or allow everyone to fend for themselves, and take our chances?  Notice how now a seemingly good idea, is now almost equally weighted?

We have to make sure that the scales are tipped in one direction.  We have to be certain of it.

Take Immortality for example.  I love the idea of Immortality.  I'd love to be running around in a toga, invulnerable, shooting lightning bolts, until the end of time, wouldn't you?  You could see and do, everything you ever wanted.  You could live to the end of time, if there was one.

Well, not so fast.  If everyone was Immortal, this planet would be over-run with Immortals in no time.  We'd have people who would have opinions formulated thousands of years ago.  Think of how stubborn they'd be.  Try to get them to use a computer.  Think about the perspective of the oldest, angriest, old cook you've ever met, but 40,000 years more grumpy.

If you were the only Immortal, you be the star of the show...  All the time.  Everyone, would idolize you endlessly.  No doubt you would be a god on earth, with unlimited power, and riches.   Humans, animals, and weather would be your only things to play with.  As you got older, and smarter, humanity would seem infinitely more ignorant.   You'd probably start to feel empty inside, and bored with life.  However, the end would never come.  Still sound like fun?

I mentioned in "We are All-Stars" that change is essential to the excitement in life.  "The Power of Positive Thinking" told us that we might just be able to impact our future, with our minds.

Ideas are difficult things.  Sometimes, a burst of excitement, or passion, can spark us in one direction or another.  I always want you to consider the cause, and effect, of everything.  Especially things, that seem completely one sided, and obvious.  This alone can widen your perspective.  It can be very difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone you greatly dislike, but sometimes that perspective changes your actions, and therefore the direction of your life.

There's an old saying, "There's two sides to every argument."  In my experience, a strong, and a weak one.  Each time this situation arises in your life, I want to look at it objectively from the negative side, as well as the positive.   I like to argue the other party's perspective to myself, to see if I can poke holes in my own opinion, and stay unbiased.  You need to consider opinions from all angles, and don't make a move until your sure the scales have tipped in one direction.

The Power of Positive Thinking

I read a book by Norman Vincent Peale about ten years ago called "The Power of Positive Thinking".  It was written around 1960, by a minister, and it's worth a read.  He's obviously a little more, (cough..  cough) biblical, than I am, but the general message of that book is, if you believe it can happen, and stay focused on an end goal, that it will happen, and in miraculous fashion.

This idea is aligned with many religions, as well as many other positive type thinkers.  Religion calls it "Faith", but I think faith, and positive thinking, have much more similarities, than differences.

The real question is does positive thinking actually work?  Which leads to an even bigger question, which will discuss later in this blog.  Those who are regular readers are aware that I'm skeptical about everything. I need concrete proof to declare something valid.  I have no concrete proof to offer in terms of positive thinking, but let me tell you something.  I believe in it.

People that know me, might not consciously recognize it, but one of my greatest qualities is my attention. Have you ever heard anyone brag about their attention?  "Well, I... just... did." (Quote by C. Prest)  My Dad, is a great guy, and a very smart man.  He enjoyed talking, a lot, so I learned quickly to keep my ears open always.  As long as you haven't lost my respect, when you are speaking, I am listening, remembering, analyzing, and this goes for everybody in my life, in all stages of my life.

All my analyzing and listening have added up to me coming to the conclusion, that there is power in positive thinking.  In every successful, genuine person, I've heard speak, they credit their success to the very same things.  The combination of a clear vision, the belief you can accomplish your goal, verbal reinforcement, tied with hard work, it all seems to have magic.

I've seen it in my own life, many, many times.  When I'm thinking clearly and positively, living morally (I use this term loosely), things seem to come easily.  Conversely, when my mind is not right, maybe I've been drinking too much, or not exercising enough, procrastinating in life, I find bad luck finds me easier.  I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, you tell me.

On the other side, negative reinforcement sealed the deal, for me in terms of being a believer in the power of negative thinking.  You meet people in this world all the time, who are negative thinkers.  It's disease that can be cured, but a disease it is until then.  Negative thinking can, and will kill you.  As much as I've seen positive thinking propel people to new heights, I've seen negative thinking destroy people from the inside out.  It's almost miraculous, that the same person, with the same bad attitude, can have the same stories, about all their tribulations, and it's all true.  They aren't making this stuff up, they have bad luck, or so they believe.  What they have is a bad mind.

The only major elephant in the room of course is this, can our thoughts actually have an impact on the future? For this to be true, the thinking itself would have to do the manipulating, or a higher power would have to assist with the connecting of thought, to outcome.  I'll let you decide.  Either way, you'd have to believe in something you can't see, and really can't explain.  I wouldn't believe this to be possible if it weren't for the hundred of signs in my own life, as well as others lives, to support what I have been seeing for all my days on this planet.

This kind of thinking actually throws the whole fate, or freewill argument, on its head.  If our minds can manipulate the future, then fate is essentially gone, as your destiny is only what you make of it. Freewill, is the idea the future is not predetermined, but that doesn't factor that you can impact the future with your mind.  Could it be that the answer is a combination of both fate, and freewill?  Freewill to decide your outcome, but fated by your thoughts and actions?

Give people an option between two possible outcomes, and more often then not, they will pick one.  Could it be that the fate or freewill argument, has blocked out some other possible outcomes?

Let me remind you that right now, we are currently spinning on a huge ball of mass, that is floating in middle of space.  You are made of billions of atoms, and the way you have formulated, has give you has a collective conscience.  I'm uploading my text, to your computer, which has a microchip processing information.  Does any of this make any sense at all?

So I free myself to imagine a way where both fate and freewill can be the answer.  It's possible that you have the power to change everything about your life, just by keeping a clear imagine of where you want your life to head.  Of course, none of this makes sense, but I implore you to try it.  You might start noticing weird things happening, and sometimes the changes won't be dead pan obvious, until later on.  Pay attention.

Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us, had the ability to be whatever we wanted, as long as we could picture, and believe in it?  It sounds to good to be true.  But then again, so is this wonderful existence.  "Anything is possible" (Quote by VSP), there really are no rules, because as we mentioned in "We are All-Stars", nobody has a clue.

Do you believe your thoughts today, have an impact on your future tomorrow, or is it all a bunch of baloney?

We Are All Stars

One of the my favourite things about living on this planet, is how we all have fundamental ideas about our existence, we still don't understand.  Imagine, if we had reached the point, where we had all the answers, knew what our purpose was, and knew why we were here.  Predictability, leads to chore, and the mundane. It's the randomness that leads to excitement.

None of us know why we are here.  Stephen Hawking doesn't know what my purpose in life is, or whether there is one at all.  The greatest astronomers think they know how the earth was created, but nobody can claim to know why.

The inpredictability of the unknown is what keeps us growing, and changing all the time.  We live as if each one of us is very important, and collectively we are the most important species that has ever existed. The ironic part, is nobody knows why we are here, or if we have any collective purpose at all.  Maybe we do have a collective purpose, just none of us understand what it is.

I'm not sure about any of it to be honest, so don't continue on reading, like there's going to be some great prophecy listed below.  There isn't.  I'm not sold on the fact that humans have any more of an important role, in progressing life, than the standard house fly does.  Won't the world just keep evolving, eventually with us ending up in some form of extinction?  Are we really the one species, that is more important than all the rest?

My rational mind says that we are just a cog in earth's engine.  A mere stepping stone, to another, even more advanced form of intelligence.  The real question is whether humanity by themselves, or all the species of this planet, and all future species, have any collective goal.  Are humans the key to unlocking the stars?  Are we meant to ever see what's out there, past our own galaxy?

I can make a decent case to suggest humans are special.  Unless I'm missing something, we are the first species to sit atop the food chain, using only our wits, and technology.  It's taken thousands of years, but it is difficult to imagine a future, where humans aren't on top.  I can't envision anything short of global disaster removing us from our perch now. 

You have to marvel at the incredible intelligence of humans, in groups, or as individuals. The technological advances we have made really are astounding when you think about it.  You don't see monkeys, and dolphins, building satellites, and spaceships.  We've broken into space, and returned humans back to earth, something I'm sure most assumed, impossible, just a hundred years ago.

The quest to discover life outside our planet, will either be the most important thing we do as a species, or a complete waste of time, depending on the outcome.  You see, we are either designed to explore and discover, or there was never a reason to.  It appears impossible at this point, to ever make it close to the next closest galaxy.  To put this in better perspective the moon, is 400,000 km's away.  The Sun is 150 million km's away from earth, or over 300 times as far as the moon.  The next galaxy, is 4 light years away, which is roughly 40 trillion km's, or 3200 times as far as the sun. 

Photo by nuttakit

Unless we have a break through in manipulating time, and space, it appears, we were never meant to ever explore the next closest galaxy.  We may never have a man on another planet, but Mars appears possible at this point.  Space is vast, has zero oxygen, and little sunlight.  Not exactly the ecosystem for humans to thrive.  Isn't this all just a sightseeing tour, unless we have some purpose to explore further?  Supposedly we are looking for other intelligent life.  Even if we find it, so what?  That doesn't really show a collective purpose, or help any of us know if there is a reason we exist.

Let's flip it around, and look at it from the other perspective.  Maybe we have no importance at all.  It's probably more likely that our existence has zero grandiose purpose, even over the long term.  Humans run from this type of thinking, because nobody wants to believe that this is it.  It's much easier to believe in either reincarnation, aliens, or some form of after life, rather than a complete end to your own existence, and someday, the end of existence for all Humans.

When I see humans, believing in something, that science can't prove, or where no visual evidence exists, I assume it's something they have created consciously, or subconsciously, to aid their physche.  I'll talk more about this in a future blog, but I believe it has roots in this topic.  That doesn't mean I'm right, or that I don't hold beliefs of my own in which I can't prove through science, but you can bet, I challenge each and every one of them.  You should too.

I could think about the universe, and research it, for the rest of my life, and I'll never have the answer to my fundamental questions about why the universe is, the way it is.  If we had these answers, I see it only affecting our lives in a negative way.  The unknown creates our daily excitement, and the multitude of answers to these fundamental questions, create unique people, with unique perspectives.  Never let anyone tell you that your version is the wrong one, because no one will ever have the answer.  At the same time, if you ever want to have a shot at some real answers, you better make sure the things you currently believe, aren't just crutches, you've designed to protect you from coming to grips with your own mortality, or a general lack of purpose.

Canada - My One Tax Idea

Have you ever come up with a great idea, shared it with someone, and heard a response similar to "That will never happen..."  They say these words with the implication, that the idea is so radical, that it will never happen in reality, therefore, you should stop thinking about it immediately.

I dislike this type of thinking because it's very close minded.  Innovation is always unexpected, and great ideas can seem radical, until they are implemented.  I have a simple idea of making Canada, a one tax country.  I know it will never happen, but that is not the point, so hear me out.

The fee for living in this great country is large.  According to one source, we are the 11th most expensive place in the world to live in.  My source arrived at this, by looking at the highest income tax brackets for each country.  I don't believe this tells the whole story, as income tax, is only one of probably 50 different taxes you will pay in your life.  Property tax, sales tax, hotel tax, excise tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, dividend taxes, just to name a small few.  We pay so much tax, from so many angles, none of us know just how much tax per capita we are paying.

Over taxation, in general, is a terrible thing.  The main reason is due to the inefficiencies of government spending.  The less money the government spends for us the better because things like bureaucracy, overpaying employees, and government waste, all create an entity, that spends, and does projects inefficiently.  Pretty much any job the government can do, the private sector can do better, and cheaper.  Essential services should be there only role.   The less money the government handles, the better.

The governments of today don't share my sentiments.  In fact, every way in which they operate is counter-intuative in my opinion.  You see, you can't tax your way into good times.  The more taxes people have to pay in tax, the less they have to spend out in the real world.  If all the sudden income tax was eliminated, what would you do with that extra money?  You'd probably put it away for safe keeping right?  Wrong.  You'd spend it, because humans are natural spenders, as we all know our time on this planet is limited.  More than likely, you'd go out to eat more.  Maybe you'd buy that dream car you've always wanted, or plan to go travel the world.  All that spending, supports small and big businesses alike who are the real creators of jobs, and innovations.  The government just needs to help in areas where they belong.  Things like business quality control, labor rules, environmental responsibility, that where government can really help.

In our current tax system, there is no way our taxation rate will ever fall, it will only trend higher.  Politicians can, and will reduce taxes to appease the public, but all they will do is find another area to tax to make up for it.  There's so many taxes, you couldn't keep track of what is going up, and what's being lowered, if you tried. 

The system is designed to be confusing.  It has to be, or thousands of government agencies would be closed overnight, and thousands of longtime government employees, would be out on the street.  If we collect 50 different kinds of tax, you can bet, there is a government agency, with a government hierarchy, being paid to do the collecting.  A one tax system, would certainly aim their focus, and would cut government costs drastically.

Canada needs to be run like a good business.  We should be able to pay all our essential services, as well as have a focused, unified, government, that at the end of the day, turns a decent profit for us.  There is no justification for anything else.  We should not fall into the trap of borrowing, and pushing debts further down the line to our children.  That is the most bogus, immature way of thinking I can imagine.

We pay too much for what we get back in return.  This may sound spoiled here, but all I'm saying is the spending is done inefficiently.  With all the tax collected and paid, we deserve more than crowded hospitals, cracked roads, our terrible judicial system, and overfilled classrooms.

That's where my one tax only idea was born, and the more I think about, the more it makes sense.  The higher the tax rate rises, the better people get at working around the rules.  This applies to anyone, from people on welfare, to corporate CEO's.  If you knew just how much tax ducking went on, it would make you sick.  The government has to get their tax pool to a certain size, so when anybody ducks taxes, who do you think ends up paying?  That's right, all of us.

There should be a single purchase tax that all citizens pay on everything, but that is all they would pay.  How high this rate would be? I'm unsure, but my guess would be around 20-30%, based on todays taxation rates.  What would happen is, you would get all your money to spend each year because there is no income tax.  Any money you made on that money, you would no longer pay capital gains tax.  Instead, you would pay all your tax, up front, on all purchases.  Things like gas, liquor, cigarettes would be much more affordable because so much of their costs is taxes you wouldn't be paying. 

Under this system, the government initially, would take no more, or less taxes then they do now.  It's just no longer will people be able to duck taxes, through weird tax loopholes, or illegal activity.  Think of all the people in Canada that make their living illegally one way, or the other.  They obviously pay zero income tax.  This purchase tax would be a great way, to impose taxation on these people.  Sure they could buy some of their goods on the black market, but for a lot of the day to day purchases, they would be paying their taxes, which they aren't paying now.  Rebating low income earners would be fairly easily with one, transparent, tax.

Think about filing taxes, and how complex that form is.  How much paperwork gets pushed, and how expensive that all is.  Boom, one tax system, you don't need to file at all.  All the tax is already collected on a daily basis, and the government could make each business submit on any timeline they choose.

That's only part of the many reasons why this would make for a better system.  The transparency is it's most important feature.  You would know if you  paid 21.8% purchase tax on everything in 2010, that if you paid 22.5% in 2011 that taxes went up.  Conversly, any in-roads governments made to curb spending, could be seen by decreasing this rate.  You would know exactly how much tax, on a percentage basis, you paid that year.

I know this idea will never happen... I get that, as even I could poke 100 holes in my own idea.  I like to think I could also teardown those same roadblocks, with a little creativity.  The government has essentially become  a union.  At first, unions always start out with the interest of their people, but over time, develop into an entity that can be more concerned about it's own survival, that it's original purpose.  It's going to take a major overhaul, and some radical ideas, if we ever stand a chance at increasing efficientcy in government.  Simplifying the system would be a good start.

The Contemporary Dating Game

If you are a Man, born after 1970, and have had even minor success dating women, I want you to reach your hand up over your head, and give yourself a pat on the back.  From a male perspective, the dating game of today, is the hardest it has been since the dawn of humanity.  There has never been a harder time in history to attain, and keep a mate.

Think about it for a second.  It wasn't until about 150 years ago a women voicing for equality, even began to be heard.   Before that, as unfair as it was, Women were essentially the property of the man who provided for them.  For the most part their needs were basic.  They needed protection, food, shelter, and probably in 4th place, love. 

Photo by DigitalArt

Woman were used to being provided for, and Men were used to doing the providing.  Fast forward to today, and things have completely changed, and for the better I might add.  These changes however, have not made the dating game easier for Men, but harder by an order of magnitude.

A whole new host of outside factors have been added to a Women quest for a mate, but those factors I'll call mental factors.  These are factors that through the social changes of society, woman have added to their list of things they want in a mate. 

These mental factors, are decided, not innate.  Shelter, protection, love etc, those are things women need innately. Things like prestige, money, job quality, appearance, are now being factored in a woman's decision when choosing a mate.  To me these new external factors, are ruining a Woman's ability to choose the right mate for them.

The right mate, is always the one that makes you the most happy day in and day out.  They give you love without holding back.  They listen.  They are strong when you need them to be.  They cheer you up when you are down.  You can trust, and rely on them.  You are enamored with them.

Those are the traits that all Women want in a Man, whether they know it or not.  Not only that, if a woman chooses their mate based on mental factors, rather than their innate ones, the relationship will fail eventually, guaranteed.  The very act of choosing your partner based on these mental factors, rather than what you feel innately is what I call, "building a house on sand".  I've seen many of these relationships in my life, many of them appear to be successful, but they were born by a either party selecting their mate by their own criteria, rather than allowing thousands of years of history to guide them.

I've seen these types of relationships a thousand times in my life.  An example would be the overly attractive female, with the pushover boyfriend.  He chose her because she was gorgeous, and he wanted prestige.  She chose him because he had money, or a car, or she could control him.  Clearly a relationship that should've been aborted right from the get go.  Humans are amazing at fooling themselves though, as well as staying with the status quo.  People try to turn these types of arrangments, into relationships, with devastating consequences.

Photo by DigitalArt

The house these people build, can be beautiful.  Their two wonderful children can be the windows.  Their matching Mercedes' can be the doors.  Their successful business can be the beautful landscaping.  The whole house they are constructing however, is built on sand.  Their relationship was born for the wrong reasons, meaning nothing they accomplish, or do, going forward will matter.  The very foundation the relationship was built on in the first place, is rotten, and no amount of renovating will fix that.

In my single days, I would read many online profiles.  Many would want specific things, like tall, attractive, non-smoker, good job, no drugs, must love dogs etc.  I always kind of chuckle to myself when I read these criteria, knowing that if any of these women met a short, broke, ugly, smoker, who hated animals, and he actually knew how to take care of a Woman, they would fall head over heels for him, and throw all those bullshit mental factors, right out the window.

Women all want the same thing, though with all the terrible decision making, it's really hard to tell.  Women want to be in love.  Not the bogus love, born out of circumstance, and mental factors, the real, "fuck me right now before I explode" type love.  This type of love can be given by anyone, to anyone, who has a clear, clean perspective, good morals, and an understanding of what it takes to please the other person.  It does not take into account, appearance, money, status etc. 

You are allowed to be confused in this dating game.  You'll find two types of Women out there these days.  Women who are completely in touch with what their real needs are, and know what kind of a man that can provide it, and others who are misguided, selecting mates based on mental factors, which really have no bearing on what's important to their overall happiness.  The simple female needs, are being drowned out, by these mental factors, and it's confusing the game for everyone.

Make sure you don't build your house on sand.

Seniority Is A Myth

I'm not sure where some of these ideas are born, but sometimes human beings have expectations that are completely unreasonable.  Seniority is a myth, and it's one that most people believe wholeheartedly. 

Let's make it clear just what seniority is, seniority is the idea that the duration you have worked for a certain company, has some effect on your standing with such a company, offering you some form of protection above other employees, who don't have seniority.

When I began my quest to learn about the stock market, it solidified for me, the true difference between business and personal.  People don't get the difference.  They think they do, until a situation arises where something is happening to them in a business sense, yet they take it personally.

Let's make something clear.  Business is in business only to make money.  All other reasons to be in a business come after making money.  "But Bangin', I know good businesses..  I've seen them donate to charity.  I've seen others focus solely on using products that don't harm the environment."  I'm sorry, but you have been duped.  They donated to charity, or chose to be environmental, in order to hook you into doing business with them. 

Businesses are not supposed to have morals, and you shouldn't expect them to.  They shouldn't be immoral either.  They should be considered amoral, and all good businesses are.

Why am I blabbing about the difference between business and personal?  The best examples of this failing, are hidden amongst seniority.  I can look at the employee-employer relationship from both sides, without bias.  Which is really difficult because everyone understands taking something personally, and not everyone understands business.

When you first negotiated a wage for your first job, did you also inform the employer that you expected to be employed for the next 50 years?  Did you make sure they were aware that as you got older, and your job skills declined, that they were expected to keep you on regardless?

What most likely happened, is they offered you a wage per hour, and you accepted it.  From there, you would go to work, and they would pay you for each hour on the job.  Basically the moment you get your cheque you are up to date with them, and the employer owes you nothing.

No where is duration of employment ever discussed.  So where does this odd expectation come from?  I can't say for sure completely, but back in the 50's and 60's things kind of were this way.  You would, and could, work your whole work life at one employer.  There was an expectation that all university grads would be guaranteed careers.  Times have changed since then.

I'm here to tell you drop the whole entitlement thing when it comes to your job, and make sure you always have some kind of contingency plan.  Leaning on seniority to keep you safe in this workplace environment is a fool's game. 

You might hear a long time employee, recently fired, say something like, "You can't fire me, I've worked here for 30 years."  The employer could easily fire back, "Yes you have, but I've also paid you for those 30 years."

Hyphenated Names Make No Sense

We really need to just stop this.  This utter madness.  I'm mad about hyphenated names.  I'm not certain when the first hypenated last name occured, but my guess is sometime around the 80's, probably coinciding with the female revolution, that was taking major steps forward in terms of a woman's equality.

It makes sense that hyphenating a name was a female born idea.  For years, and years, woman mostly would take the mans last name, or just keep their own.  Both ideas I think are great.  With keeping their own name, an issue comes up as to what name the kids will have.  Putting a hyphen in between both names, while seemingly a decent idea, is a slapstick solution, that I dislike for many reasons. 

First of all, your last name has heritage.  More than likely, it has been passed down through a couple hundred years, if not more.  Make no mistake that heritage dies when you hypenate your last names.  You, or your kids, are no longer a Smith, or a Jones, you are a Smith-Jones a brand new name, with a brand new heritage.  A direct result of this new name, is the death of your previous one.  You are in a sense, killing a historic name, to create a new one altogether. 

Secondly, what are you kids going to do when they want to marry someone, and they have a hyphenated name also.  The reason you've chosen to keep both names, is because you couldn't decide on one or the other, they were equally important in your eyes, and now what are you going to do?  When a Smith-Jones marries a Wayne-Cruise what are they to do?  Add them all together and be the Smith-Jones-Wayne-Cruise's?  Drop a name or two, but which ones, as you can't single out one family over another?  Your putting a really tough decision on the kid potentially.

Thirdly, is how your name writes, sounds, and is entered in data form.  I have customers all the time come in, I say what is your name, they say Wayne Peters.  I look for their file under Peters, but it's not there.  Why not?  Because their name is acutally Wayne-Peters, and they have just given their last name.  Obviously in terms of data entry it's a longer name to enter.  Every time your child signs something, probably 10,000 times in their life or more, they have to write that extra name.  A lot of programs also don't like hyphens, and won't even let you enter them.

Any solution you can think of works better.  Keep your own name.  Make up a brand new one that combines the two.  All I'm asking is just pick one or the other, or make up something new.  Putting a dash in between two names, is not a solution that will work long term, without having some annoying effects.

Are you a believer?

Welcome to my new blog site.  You can call me JBangin', and I'll be your guide to life for as long as you'll listen.  I've titled my blog page Bangin' Believers because I want the people who read my blog to believe in me, and believe in what I am stating.

You might be asking yourself, what can I learn here?  There are no rules to this blog.  I will write about anything and everything, and I will do so in a matter, that doesn't hold back. 

The real question is what qualifies me, to give advice to you?  The answer is a very deep one, that I will try to keep as simple as possible.  I've always been good at being rational, and knowing what's technically right, or wrong with something.  It's a very tough topic to speak about, because it inheriently sets you up to sound cocky, or conceited.  I don't think I am either of those. 

What I am, is a good thinker.  Some people are good at sports.  Others at learning languages.  I'm a good thinker, always have been, always will be.

At 29, I can honestly say I have a very open mind.  Naturally I judge people like all humans do, but I question where those pre-concieved notions come from, and adjust my thinking accordingly.  That right there is something you won't see 90% of humanity do.  I question everything in this world, and it drives me crazy, when others question nothing, but I see it all the time, from the majority of people.

I can't tell you how many times I heard another human state something as fact, only to have my whole inner being know for certain, that either something they have said is incorrect, or that their whole statement was incorrect.  Intially, I can only recognize this by the uneasy feeling I get, then it turns into a constant obsession to prove myself, or my intuition correct.  I can't recall a moment in my life where I've had this feeling, and it doesn't materialize, just as I had anticipated.

Call it a 6th sense.  Call it whatever you want, but I can say with certainty most humans do not inately have this trait.  This is why periodically I would go on to sites like Craiglist, pour my heart out in an amazingly well worded thought, only to have it completely fall on deaf and dumb ears. 

That's why Bangin' Believers was created.  I'd rather my opinions fall on the ear of people who are smart, and can hear clearly.  People who will challenge me, to challenge myself. 

Einstein once said "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.."

Bangin' says:  "Well, we'll just see about that."