From Out Of Nowhere

Sometimes, while you are frantically typing, dumping your personal thoughts all over the page, you come up with an idea, or quote that is more profound then you expected.  It sort of flows out of you, and then you pause, evaluate it, and end up liking it even more.

I've been having a very good time writing blogs over the past months.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from the 2011 material.  We'll check in at the end of next year, to see how far we've come.  All the quotes below are JBangin' originals.  Hopefully 2012 will hold even deeper insights.

Photo By Kyle McCulloch

November 25, 2011 "Are You A Believer?"

"Naturally I judge people like all humans do, but I question where those pre-concieved notions come from, and adjust my thinking accordingly."

December 9th, 2011 "The Contemporary Dating Game"

"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."

Dec. 13th, 2011 "We Are All Stars"

"The unknown creates our daily excitement, and the multitude of answers to these fundamental questions, create unique people, with unique perspectives."

"You don't see monkeys, and dolphins, building satellites, and spaceships."

Dec. 30th, 2011 "The Race Disgrace"

"Everything you do, everything you think, has consequences.  Consequences that quite possibly could echo through time, long after you are gone."

Please take time to browse my older posts if you haven't already.  All your reading, and sharing is really starting to help getting this blog noticed.  How can you help us grow in 2012?  First of all keep reading.  Second, share any post you like with your friends, via email, Facebook, or Twitter.  Third, if you do buy products on Amazon, do so through the links provided on this Website.  Purchasing directly benefits the Author, and encourages him to keep the content coming for you all.

I plan to take this blog to the next level in 2012.  Any comments, suggestions or critiques, are always welcome.  Also if there's another quote of mine you enjoy, please leave it in the comments section below.  Thanks for taking the time to read, I really appreciate it.

Obsessed With The Best

It must be possible to have a thought, that no one else has ever had before.  New ideas seemingly come out of nowhere, but the brain produces a new idea at some point, or there would be no human progression at all.  I find it fascinating that at any one moment in time, one of us, could have a completely original idea, that could change the course of history.

I would bet the breakdown of original ideas, goes something like this.  The majority of people never have a truly, original thought.  Remember we are talking thoughts that no person throughout history has ever had, those should be considered rare.  The people that are lucky enough to have a completely original thought, probably have many, many more in their lifetime.  It would not surprise me if the majority of original thoughts, we're created by only 5% of the total population, alive or dead.

These great thinkers had minds that weren't closed, and weren't impacted by negative energy.  The better condition your mental state, the better the ecosystem for a great idea to formulate.  It's proven fact that our brains function much more efficiently in a positive mental state, then a negative one.  An overall negative perspective, a general lack of intelligence, or past trauma, all would negatively affect original thought.

Thought itself should be moral, pure, and unbiased.  Children have some of the greatest ideas, because they are not taking into account so many different variables.  A lot of times, the simplest thought, is actually the most correct one.  Let's say it's Christmas Day.  Your whole family is getting together, but there's a bunch of in-fighting.  People are getting grouchy because the food is delayed.  Everybody is bitching.  A frustrated 5 year old might pipe up "could you guys just please, stop fighting, and be nice to each other?"

It's a simple thought, a simple solution, and a simple question, but it carries a ton of weight.  In this case a 5 year old would be the wisest person in the room.  The idea itself is perfect.  It reminds you how petty your squabbles are.  It reminds you how much you love your family.  It reminds your of what's important.  Best of all, if you listen, the time your currently having, would improve substantially, right now, in the present.  They might not be able to articulate it as well, but there idea is better than yours, and they are only 5 years old.  Don't get too hung up on the source of the message, as long as, it is moral, and unbiased.

I suggest I have had truly original thoughts, no matter how stupid the thought itself might be.  There are times when I stop myself, inside my own brain, and think "I know no one has ever had this thought before, ever." That's a pretty magical thing really.  I don't take it for granted.

I'm obsessed with the best.  People use words like "best" lightly all the time.  "You're the best." They might say.  But am I?  Am I really the absolute best?  Probably not.  But, someone has to be.

Right now on this planet there is someone who is the best.  It can only be one person of course because the best is singular.  If another person somehow became better, the person who used to be the best, would now be 2nd best.  But that person really isn't 2nd best, because as soon as this new person became the best, they actually became "2nd to the best".  They are no longer a best, they aren't even a 2nd best, because that implies, they are some form of best, however, we know this to be impossible.

You have to be thinking outside the box, and I'm suggesting most never do.  Who has had the best kiss?  The best love?  The best sex?  The best time?  All these questions have real answers.  Real people behind them.  Is there really only one person who has had the best kiss ever, Bangin?  Yes, absolutely, and it was the freakin' best kiss ever.

But people having sex, or kissing, that takes two people, so really two people experienced the best right?  Nope.  Are you certain your reading carefully enough?  Even the same two people, who share the best kiss, only one of them, truly experienced, the best kiss ever.  The best is singular in every regard.  One of them enjoyed the kiss more than the other, and that person, had the best kiss.  Get it?

I wonder who had the best bacon and eggs ever, before the year 1900?  This is my attempt at proving, completely original thought can happen right now.  Do you think anyone else has had this thought before? At first glance, I'd say no, but there are billions of people, so who can say for certain?  If a thought this ridiculous, isn't original, you can imagine how difficult it is, to truly have an original thoughts.

Great thoughts are formed the same way as stupid ones are;  by being open minded, and focusing your thoughts.  I imagine many seemingly dumb ideas, have led to absolute breakthroughs.

New thoughts are magical, even stupid ones, because they expand your mind.  A seemingly stupid, or funny thought, no one has ever had, could lead into full blown innovation very easily, when you keep your mind open.  You could think up a new joke, that leads you to a solid business idea.  Or you could tell that joke to someone, and they could run with it, forming a new idea.

Original thinking is important to me.  I'm thankful I have been born in an environment that has given me every opportunity to expand my intellect, in a safe, supportive  environment.  Original thought is about the most amazing thing you can leave on this planet.  The problem is, you have to be brave enough to speak up, and get people to hear you.  If your thought is completely original, and no one ever hears it, it will guaranteed have no impact.

It takes a massive amount of guts to have an original idea, but even more guts to voice it.  Look back through history, people that have gone against the grain, for the most part, haven't faired so well.  Humanity as a whole, resists change, and resists new ideas.  I want you to be someone who speaks up for what they believe in, even when it's difficult.  Also keep your mind as open as possible.  For each great new idea humanity has had, there are probably five more, that were buried, because humanity is a bad incubator for original ideas.  Our natural reaction is to condemn and discredit, rather than support, and inquire.  The road less travelled is absolutely the hardest one, no doubt about out it, but I wouldn't trade it for the street in a million years.

5 Simple Rules for Starting a New Age Religion

History is littered with examples of what works, and what doesn't, when it comes to organized religion.  I thought it'd be fun to theorize what traits a new age religion might have.  Many religions are having trouble growing a membership base in today's environment.  My guess is the more you align your new age religion with my 5 simple rules, the more people you'll find interested in your cause.  Throwout every preconceived notion you have about what religion is, and let's go back to basics.  Here's 5 rules for starting a new age religion...

No Money

At no point when making this religion will we make, or accept money, even if it's charitable.  It's not just about the natural greed, money has surrounding it.  By accepting money, religions are forced into certain decisions, which are counterproductive to being successful.  If I give your religion money, and others do to, what would you do with it?

Maybe you would open a bank account, and put the money in there.  Sounds reasonable to me.  So now your new age religion has a decision, about how to spend that money.  Who's going to make those decisions?   What are we going to spend the money on?

Accepting that money has forced you down a path, maybe you never wanted to go down.  You need a place to put that money.  You need people to spend it.  You need ways to spend it.

The only interest true religion has, is to spread it's word, so that as many people as possible, can benefit in a positive way.  If your message is a good one, naturally, the more people that believe it, the more the impact that positive message with have on humanity.  I have trouble seeing how mixing money into the equation is a net benefit for your new age religion.  Sure, you can have money to expand operations, but you also have to deal with business, which brings many negative implications, like needing a hierarchy, greed, corruption, and power.  Your religion doesn't need any of that involved, so let them keep their money.

No Churches


In order to have churches and locations, you would need money.  You don't have any.  You need to think outside the box in terms of organization.  The internet would be a perfect organizer for a new age religion.  You can find programs that can organize people, and make communicating easier, many for free.  The power of people networking, heavily believing in anything, is incredibly powerful.  If the message was clear, and positive enough, I'm sure your new age religion would grow easily.

As the religion grew, possibly some of the members would have locations or areas, that different people, in different places, could use to meet.  Volunteering land, time, a good laugh, or a shoulder to cry on, all seems safe to me.  While I can respect, and picture, a new age religion working strictly on the internet, meeting each other is important I think.  Bonds are more strongly built in person.  Your religion should have a sense of community, without ostracizing, non-members.

Whether you like it, or not, if you have locations and income, you may be a church, but you are also a business.  Your new age religion should understand to stay as far away from business as possible.

Sex Is Okay


If people are forced to restrict natural human emotions, you will always see something occur in society to counter-balance it, and it will be negative.  This happens both on an individual level, and in masses.  Marijuana is one example.  A certain amount of humans developed a want for marijuana.  Nobody decided for them that they liked it, but they tried it, and made the decision they wanted more in future.   An outside force comes along, that restricts that natural human emotion.  They lie about the effects, and make it illegal, to curb usage.  Our result?  Wide spread availability through a huge black market, generating zero taxes.  Gang, and turf wars.  Huge expenses through our judicial system.  Zero quality control.

Not exactly a success in my opinion.  Restricting natural human emotion, will equal negative consequences.  Ask a priest to restrict his natural human emotions, and I don't need to tell you the results.

Besides sex is okay, in fact, it's awesome!  My religion would make it very clear, that consensual sex, between two loving, mature people, would be encouraged.  If it feels good, and it doesn't hurt you, or anyone else, I say do it.   It's never been the sex anyone has had an issue with anyway.  They dislike young people having sex, teenage pregnancy, STDs, rape etc.  What does any of that actually have to do with sex?

I'm glad the age where when we didn't want our kids to do something, we just straight lied to them, appears to be over.  Kids are just too savvy, now days, too connected, to have the wool pulled over their eyes so drastically.  Lying to people, as an ends to justify the means, is wrong, and it just plain doesn't work.  Your new age religion will go without all that.

No Denouncing

Whatever your version is, you have to allow for others to have a different view, and you have to respect it.  We said above that "the only interest true religion has, is to spread it's word, so that as many people as possible, can benefit in a positive way".  This means of course, my new age religion has zero concern about what any religion is doing.  What that religion is off doing, and believing, has no interest to my new age religion.   All my religion cares about is spreading the word, and benefitting as many people as possible.

That means my religion will never say your religion is wrong.  It makes it impossible to have an us, versus them, mentality.  They have a right to believe whatever they want, and so do we.

I would say it's impossible for one religion to be mad at, or condemn another religion, would't you?  That sounds much more like a human emotion to me.  Your new age religion certainly won't make people feel stupid, for believing something different than you.

No Converting Pressure

If your religion is that life expanding, and awesome, you shouldn't need the hard sell.  What would you say if you saw a group of seemingly happy people, getting together for BBQs, playing games, and giving back to the community?  You probably be like, what are those guys doing?  Looks fun, maybe I'll see if I can join.

Let's not overcomplicate the process.  Your new age religion needs no sales pitch.  You're not trying to recruit, if it happens, it happens.  You will understandably be excited about your message, your people, and your own journey. Understand though, you aren't looking to impose your will, or pressure people in any way.

This means no weekend doorbell rings at 8am.  Have your new age religion simply present the information, and let the potential member make up their own mind.


Conclusion


I was going to suggest you formulate your new age religion's version of creation, based on science, and proven fact.  My thinking is it would be an easier sell in today's day and age, but I also realized in saying that, I was actually showing too much of my own personal bias, and an overall incorrect thinking.

Whether your religion even chooses to attempt to explain the universe's creation is totally up to you.  It's certainly not up to me, to tell you what to believe in.  Regardless of what explanation your new age religion can muster, it will never be as important as what your message for today is, and the action your new age religion takes. How your members behave will have much more of an impact on membership, than having the perfect answer, ever will.

The most important rule not listed is you have to have a respect for every single person, and creature on this planet, and their right to exist.  I can assure you, the God that created this wonderful world, doesn't play favourites.

I wrote these rules to help you avoid some of the pitfalls that might come with starting a new age religion.  I'm certain all religions started out with their compasses pointed due north.  Combine my rules, with a whole bunch of general happiness, love, and understanding, and I'd be shocked if your new age religion, can't both stand the test of time, as well as inspire millions.

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.