Remove the veil before your eyes...look beyond the curtain...look past all the hypocrisy presented before you as reality...and ask yourself WHY?
“Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without
government interference.” —
Rep. Ron Paul
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.” — Thomas Jefferson
“Every individual has a place to fill in the world and is important in some respect whether he chooses to be so or not.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
Jeremiah 8:8-12:
“How can
you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold,
the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men
shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they
have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?
Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to
conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy
for unjust gain; from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They
have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when
there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they
shall be overthrown, says the LORD.”
Does the Universe have a purpose?
The story of our enslavement...
We want to be free...
Two of the biggest truth seekers out there...
The Cloud...
Introducing the
20 ton mirror Magellan telescope!
Cuban Pete Spider...
Your
slavery in one lesson...
What you
think you become...
Tracking bank robbers nationwide...
Affordable Health Care Act is a
sham...
Bringing the
dead back to life?
Now that's a
tuna!
Detoxify the
pineal gland...
Dog
dancing to Grease...
10 people
you've never heard of who changed history...
Killing us slowly with chemtrails...
Top 10 packaged foods
NOT to buy...
Zona del silencio...
Angels and Demons...what is the
Vatican hiding?
Destinations for 2013...
Introducing illustrator
Dan Hillier...
Nanophotonics...
7 foods to eat when you are
upset...
Deer goes
head to head with wolf...
Headless portraits...
8 scary cleaning chemicals
NOT to buy...
Worst
free throw ever...
The
Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives bubble...
How tall can you
stack LEGOs?
LEGO Lord of the Rings...
Google
Black Marble Earth...
The end of prehistory and the
beginning of history...
Robot travels
9000 miles for the sake of science...
Being a hero...so easy even a
caveman can do it...
The
video Monsanto doesn't want you to see...
Is HFCS
natural?
Lord Monckton makes the
best case Obama is a fraud...
New missile
turns off the lights on the enemies...
The story of
our enslavement...
The
secret meeting that changed hip hop forever...
The
art of Big Data...
How to make an
apple pie in a mug...
Orchestra...there's an
app for that...
10
geek skills worth mastering...
Kentucky
Arsenic Chicken...
Where is the
energy in your home?
The real reason
hemp is illegal...
Making friends at Costco using songs...
I'll never use
this when I get older...
King Loses Crown -- My Revenge
music video...
Would you pay $240 for the
perfect pencil?
Top
alkaline forming foods...
Where is your
beef coming from?
How to
send 10GB files using Google...
The Ozark Conspiracy Theory...
Could this be our future???
3D sculptures of the country's coolest summits
Add a constant to the ever-changing mountain ranges of junk mail and
Tiger Beat
magazines in your home/office with a model of a real-life one courtesy
of TinyMtn, which's making ridiculously cool true-to-scale 3D-printed
mini sculptures of the US of A's most storied summits using data culled
from the US Geological Survey.
Keep reading for a peek at the peaks...
Bring The Force: LaserSaber
Transforming its Spyder 3 model "portable laser" into a real-life
lightsaber
glowing sword made from energy that infringes on NO copyrights
whatsoever, this 32" polycarb "blade" uses a magnetic gravity system to
achieve smooth power-up and -down effects, and is real enough to "cause serious damage to people, pets, and property".
Website
Hear The Past: Radio Time Machine
Like a DeLorean that can only send its FM dial into the past, RTM lets
you stream the Billboard Top 100 songs in their entirety for any year
since 1940, so you can "hear
how popular music has changed"
since the charts were dominated by acts like Gee Wiz Khalifa, and (The
John Birch Society Says We Should Fear The) Far East Movement.
Website
Boobzies
Initially developed as a one-off project for Hooters, Boobzies are
"voluptuous insulated beverage coolers" endowed with large,
polyurethane-gel-filled breasts sporting a "life-like" feel, not that
you'll have anything to compare 'em to after walking around a party with
one. Covered by shirts emblazoned with tongue-in-cheek slogans, each of
the "girls" comes with a backstory that's
as well developed as their mammaries, so prepare to meet dazzling personalititties like:
Mrs. Robinson
Shirt: "Got MILF?"
An "object of fantasy across many a schoolyard", this divorced mom
loves cooking & shopping, and is "more apt to educate than be
educated", though whether you want to listen to someone who's loaded
with beer and wearing a "Got MILF" shirt is up to you.
Tiffany
Shirt: "Boobs Gone Wild"
"Barely 21", Tiff loves drinking Jack, making YouTube videos, and is
so single that she's been "in more laps than a napkin", which
coincidentally you no longer need to
wrap around your sweating bottle.
Gabby
Shirt: "Motorboat"
Believing everything is "better when wetter", the Gabster's favorite
food is oysters ("love 'em raw"), and though she's "single and adrift",
she's "not afraid to tie the knot", which is nice, because again, you
aren't going to attract many women holding a coozie with heaving friggin' breasts.
Website
The smartest doorbell you've ever seen
 | Letting
you monitor the goings on outside your door from afar, Doorbot's a
battery-operated, WiFi-enabled doorbell with a built-in cam that beams
live video to/activates two-way audio with your smartphone or tablet
whenever it's rung, so no matter where you are, a well-timed shout will
scare the crap out of some hooligan about to burn a bag of it on your
porch.
Pre-order a unit for your pad at ChristieStreet.com |
DARwIn-OP Miniature-Humanoid Robot from Robotis
Bill Wong of Electronic Design magazine talks to Jinwook Kim, Managing
Director at Robotis about the DARwIn-OP (Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot
with Intelligence–Open Platform), a stable, customizable and affordable,
miniature-humanoid robot that plays a mean game of soccer.
How to Read Blood Chemistry Test Results
If you're like most people, you've probably looked over the alphabet soup of acronyms and abbreviations in your blood work results and wondered what it all means. So to empower yourself, here is a simplified guide to understanding blood test results. If you're interested in playing a more active role in your medical care --
something I strongly recommend -- then I suggest you save this. So that the next time you have blood work done, you'll be able to read the results like a pro!
Blood tests, sometimes called blood panels, are one of a physician's most basic tools. Not that long ago, doctors diagnosed patients through observation and the patients' answers to questions. Today, we have a wide range of testing options to choose from, with blood tests being among the most basic.
Blood tests allow a doctor to see a detailed analysis of the nutrients and waste products in your body as well as how various organs (e.g., kidneys and liver) are functioning.
Below, I've explained some of the commonly measured indicators of
health.
During a physical examination, your doctor will often draw blood for chemistry and complete blood count (CBC) tests as well as a lipid profile, which measures cholesterol and related elements. Here is a brief explanation of the abbreviations used in measurements followed by descriptions of several common test components.
Deciphering Blood Test Measurements
Blood tests use the metric measurement system and abbreviations such as the following:
•cmm ~~ cells per cubic millimeter
•fL (femtoliter) ~~ fraction of one-millionth of a liter
•g/dL ~~ grams per deciliter
•IU/L ~~ international units per liter
•mEq/L ~~ milliequivalent per liter
•mg/dL ~~ milligrams per deciliter
•mL ~~ milliliter
•mmol/L ~~ millimoles per liter
•ng/mL ~~ nanograms per milliliter
•pg (picograms) ~~ one-trillionth of a gram
CHEMISTRY PANEL (or METABOLIC PANEL)
ALT (alanine aminotransferase)
Healthy range: 8 to 37 IU/L
This test looks at levels of the liver enzyme ALT. When all's well with your
liver, your score on this test should be within range. Anything higher
may indicate liver damage.
Albumin
Healthy range: 3.9 to 5.0 g/dL
A protein made by the liver, albumin levels can be an indicator of liver or kidney problems.
A/G ratio (albumin/globulin ratio) or total protein test
Healthy ratio: a bit over 1, favoring albumin
There are two types of protein your blood -- albumin (see above) and
globulin. The A/G ratio test compares levels of these proteins with one
another. Elevated protein levels could indicate a health condition in
need of attention.
Alkaline phosphatase
Healthy range: 44 to 147 IU/L
This enzyme is involved in both liver and bone, so elevations may indicate problems with the liver or bone-related disease.
AST (aspartate aminotransferase)
Healthy range: 10 to 34 IU/L
This enzyme is found in heart and liver tissue, so elevations suggest problems may be occurring in one or both of those areas.
Bilirubin
Healthy range: 0.1 to 1.9 mg/dL
This provides information about liver and kidney functions, problems in bile ducts, and anemia.
BUN (blood urea nitrogen)
Healthy range: 10 to 20 mg/dL
This is another measure of kidney and liver functions. High values may
indicate a problem with kidney function. A number of medications and a
diet high in protein can also raise BUN levels.
BUN/creatinine ratio
Healthy ratio of BUN to creatinine: 10:1 to 20:1 (men and older individuals may be a bit higher)
This test shows if kidneys are eliminating waste properly. High levels of
creatinine, a by-product of muscle contractions, are excreted through
the kidneys and suggest reduced kidney function.
Calcium
Healthy range: 9.0 to 10.5 mg/dL (the elderly typically score a bit lower)
Too much calcium in the bloodstream could indicate kidney problems; overly
active thyroid or parathyroid glands; certain types of cancer, including
lymphoma; problems with the pancreas; or a deficiency of vitamin D.
Chloride
Healthy range: 98 to 106 mEq/L
This mineral is often measured as part of an electrolyte panel. A high-salt
diet and/or certain medications are often responsible for elevations in
chloride. Excess chloride may indicate an overly acidic environment in
the body. It also could be a red flag for dehydration, multiple myeloma,
kidney disorders, or adrenal gland dysfunction.
Creatinine
Healthy range: 0.5 to 1.1 mg/dL for women; 0.6 to 1.2 mg/dL for men (the elderly may be slightly lower)
The kidneys process this waste product, so elevations could indicate a problem with kidney function.
Fasting glucose (blood sugar)
Healthy range: 70 to 99 mg/dL for the average adult (the elderly tend to score higher even when they are healthy)
Blood sugar levels can be affected by food or beverages you have ingested
recently, your current stress levels, medications you may be taking, and
the time of day. The fasting blood sugar test is done after at least 6
hours without food or drink other than water.
Phosphorus
Healthy range: 2.4 to 4.1 mg/dL
Phosphorus plays an important role in bone health and is related to calcium
levels. Too much phosphorus could indicate a problem with kidneys or the
parathyroid gland. Alcohol abuse, long-term antacid use, excessive
intake of diuretics or vitamin D, and malnutrition can also elevate
phosphorus levels.
Potassium
Healthy range: 3.7 to 5.2 mEq/L
This mineral is essential for relaying nerve impulses, maintaining proper
muscle functions, and regulating heartbeats. Diuretics, drugs that are
often taken for high blood pressure, can cause low levels of potassium.
Sodium
Healthy range: 135 to 145 mEq/L
Another member of the electrolyte family, the mineral sodium helps your body
balance water levels and helps with nerve impulses and muscle
contractions. Irregularities in sodium levels may indicate dehydration;
disorders of the adrenal glands; excessive intake of salt,
corticosteroids, or pain-relieving medications; or problems with the
liver or kidneys.
LIPID PANEL (or LIPID PROFILE)
The lipid panel is a collection of tests measuring different types of cholesterol and triglycerides (fats) in your bloodstream.
Total cholesterol
General rules (best to worst):
•Healthy ~~ Below 200 mg/dL (below 5.18 mmol/L)
•Borderline high ~~ 200 to 239 mg/dL (5.2 to 6.2 mmol/L)
•High ~~ Above 240 mg/dL (above 6.2 mmol/L)
This test measures combined levels of both LDL (bad) and HDL (good)
cholesterol. The test may be done simply to record an individual's
cholesterol levels or for comparison purposes (e.g., to determine if
cholesterol-lowering medications or nutrients are working).
Triglycerides
Healthy range: 40 to 160 mg/dL
These fats are found in the bloodstream and may contribute to heart disease and other health problems.
HDL cholesterol
General rules:
•Best ~~ Above 60 mg/dL
•Good ~~ 50 to 60 mg/dL
•Poor ~~ Below 40 mg/dL for men; below 50 mg/dL for women
Also known as good cholesterol, HDL (high-density lipoprotein) protects
against heart disease. Low scores are risk factors for heart disease.
LDL cholesterol
General rules (best to worst):
•Optimal ~~ Below 100 mg/dL
•Near optimal ~~ 100 to 129 mg/dL
•Borderline high ~~ 130 to 159 mg/dL
•High ~~ 160 to 189 mg/dL
•Very high ~~ Above 189 mg/dL
Also known as bad cholesterol, LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is the
substance that clogs arteries and is linked to heart disease.
Total cholesterol/HDL ratio
American Heart Association guidelines:
•Optimal ~~ Ratio of 3.5 to 1
•Healthy ~~ Ratio of 5 to 1 or lower
This ratio is another way of checking your risk of heart disease. It is
determined by dividing your HDL cholesterol level into total cholesterol. But don't worry about the math -- the lab normally does the calculation, so your doctor will simply tell you what the ratio is.
COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT (CBC)
The CBC test examines cellular elements in the blood, including red
blood cells, various white blood cells, and platelets. Here is a list of
the components that are normally measured, along with typical values.
If your doctor says you're fine but your tests results are somewhat
different from the range shown here, don't be alarmed. Some labs
interpret test results a bit differently from others, so don't consider
these figures absolutes.
WBC (white blood cell) leukocyte count
Normal range: 4,300 to 10,800 cmm
White blood cells help fight infections, so a high white blood cell
count could be helpful for identifying infections. It may also indicate
leukemia, which can cause an increase in the number of white blood
cells. On the other hand, too few white blood cells could be caused by
certain medications or health disorders.
WBC (white blood cell) differential count
Normal range:
•Neutrophils ~~ 40% to 60% of the total
•Lymphocytes ~~ 20% to 40%
•Monocytes ~~ 2% to 8%
•Eosinophils ~~ 1% to 4%
•Basophils ~~ 0.5% to 1%
This test measures the numbers, shapes, and sizes of various types of
white blood cells listed above. The WBC differential count also shows if
the numbers of different cells are in proper proportion to each other.
Irregularities in this test could signal an infection, inflammation,
autoimmune disorders, anemia, or other health concerns.
RBC (red blood cell) erythrocyte count
Normal range: 4.2 to 5.9 million cmm
We have millions of red blood cells in our bodies, and this test measures
the number of RBCs in a specific amount of blood. It helps us determine
the total number of RBCs and gives us an idea of their lifespan, but it
does not indicate where problems originate. So if there are
irregularities, other tests will be required.
Hematocrit (Hct)
Normal range: 45% to 52% for men; 37% to 48% for women
Useful for diagnosing anemia, this test determines how much of the total blood volume in the body consists of red blood cells.
Hemoglobin (Hgb)
Normal range: 13 to 18 g/dL for men; 12 to 16 g/dL for women
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which makes blood bright red. More
importantly, hemoglobin delivers oxygen from the lungs to the entire
body; then it returns to the lungs with carbon dioxide, which we exhale.
Healthy hemoglobin levels vary by gender. Low levels of hemoglobin may
indicate anemia.
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV)
Normal range: 80 to 100 femtoliters
This test measures the average volume of red blood cells, or the average
amount of space each red blood cell fills. Irregularities could indicate
anemia and/or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH)
Normal range: 27 to 32 picograms
This test measures the average amount of hemoglobin in the typical red blood
cell. Results that are too high could signal anemia, while those too
low may indicate a nutritional deficiency.
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
Normal range: 28% to 36%
The MCHC test reports the average concentration of hemoglobin in a specific
amount of red blood cells. Here again, we are looking for indications
of anemia if the count is low, or possible nutritional deficiencies if
it's high.
Red cell distribution width (RDW or RCDW)
Normal range: 11% to 15%
With this test, we get an idea of the shape and size of red blood cells. In
this case, "width" refers to a measurement of distribution, not the size
of the cells. Liver disease, anemia, nutritional deficiencies, and a
number of health conditions could cause high or low RDW results.
Platelet count
Normal range: 150,000 to 400,000 mL
Platelets are small portions of cells involved in blood clotting. Too many or too
few platelets can affect clotting in different ways. The number of
platelets may also indicate a health condition.
Mean Platelet Volume (MPV)
Normal range: 7.5 to 11.5 femtoliters
This test measures and calculates the average size of platelets. Higher MPVs
mean the platelets are larger, which could put an individual at risk
for a heart attack or stroke. Lower MPVs indicate smaller platelets,
meaning the person is at risk for a bleeding disorder.
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED TESTS
Thyroid
While not part of the standard blood panel, I often order thyroid tests
for my patients, especially if they report fatigue and weight gain, or
weight loss and feelings of nervousness or hyperactivity. Some
physicians dismiss borderline low or high tests, but I've found that
these can be very helpful for identifying problems with the thyroid
gland. Here are the ranges I look for in thyroid tests:
Test Normal Range
•Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) 0.3 to 3
•Total T4 (total thyroxine) 4.5 to 12.5
•Free T4 (free thyroxine) 0.7 to 2.0
•Total T3 (total triiodothyronine) 80 to 220
•Free T3 (free triiodothyronine) 2.3 to 4.2
If your test shows you are below the minimum numbers, you may be
suffering from hypothyroidism, or low thyroid. If your scores are above
the normal range, you may have an overly active thyroid, or
hyperthyroidism. In either case, your physician can advise you on
appropriate medication. You may also want to read my earlier newsletter
on
thyroid issues.
Vitamin D
Normal range: 30 to 74 ng/mL
Regular readers know I often recommend supplemental vitamin D, since
deficiencies are very common. Too little vitamin D can put you at risk
for broken bones, heart disease, cancer, and a host of other ailments.
Our bodies can make vitamin D, but only when bare skin, free of sunblock
and lotions, is exposed to sunlight. And even then, people of color and
older individuals may not be able to manufacture sufficient quantities
for optimal health. The best way to determine if you need supplements is
to have a vitamin D test, known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Here again,
doctors don't always agree on how to interpret the results. My own
preference is to see readings in the normal range.
There are quite a few more tests available, but the ones included here are among the most common.
To get accurate readings, be sure to follow your doctor's instructions in
preparing for tests. You may, for example, be asked not to eat and to
drink only water for anywhere from a few hours to 12 hours beforehand.
Please follow these instructions, or your results may be skewed,
requiring additional tests or even unnecessary medications.
If you don't understand something in your results, remember it's okay to
ask questions. Doctors are busy people, but you are entitled to the
information. If your doctor can't provide it, ask the nurse or
physician's assistant for help.Knowing where you stand with these important parameters is essential for being proactive and owning your own health.
Thrive in Health & Wellness...
Most
of us—no matter how many time-saving techniques we employ—don't have
enough time to waste. When we do, we try to fill the void with more
tasks. The problem with all your productivity? Turning down the volume
on life is extremely beneficial. We fight
against boredom, distraction, and procrastination all the time, but that doesn't mean you should get rid of them completely.
It probably sounds a little
counterintuitive to suggest to anyone that they start slacking off, but
in reality it's about as important to your brain's health as sleeping
is. Being bored, procrastinating, and embracing distraction all help
your brain function. In turn, you understand decisions better. You learn
easier. You even foster creativity and productivity better. Let's take a
look at this holy trinity of inactivity from the points of view of both
science and creative types.
How Boredom Works to Boost Creativity and Positive Behavior
If
millions of children's books are any indication, then boredom is well
known to lead to mischief of all types. However, in some ways, boredom
is the necessary filter we all need when we have too much information in
front of us.
The New York Times explains it like so:
Some experts say that people
tune things out for good reasons, and that over time boredom becomes a
tool for sorting information—an increasingly sensitive spam filter. In
various fields including neuroscience and education, research suggests
that falling into a numbed trance allows the brain to recast the outside
world in ways that can be productive and creative at least as often as
they are disruptive.
I have to use all these
programs that cut off the internet, force me to be bored, because being
bored is an essential part of writing, and the internet has made it very
hard to be bored. There's just so much to do – it's funny, because I'm
more creative, but I'm getting less writing done. I'm trying to balance
that at the moment. It's a difficult one.
Once we've opened ourselves to
the idea that boredom can be the initial step for creative productivity,
it becomes pretty quickly apparent when those unengaged, uninterested
moments are really the mind's bringing a blank canvas to your
psychological easel, ready for you to begin painting.
The argument is that boredom gives you a blank slate to work with. This is echoed in
research from the University of Limerick
that suggests boredom can lead to more prosocial behavior because it
pushes you toward meaningful activities. Boredom on a large scale might
be a sign of depression, but cutting off the world for a little while
each day is a good way to help make sense of it.
Photo by Monica Kaneko.
How Distraction and Focus Work Together
Boredom
is one thing on its own, but one of the side effects of some types of
boredom is another productivity killer: distraction and inattention. We
get distracted easily—so easy that an entire ecosystem of apps and
browser extensions
exist to help you minimize distractions. However, being distracted is a boon to creative thinking because it allows you to think outside the box.
Scientific American explains
Insight problems involve
thinking outside the box. This is where susceptibility to "distraction"
can be of benefit. At off-peak times we are less focused, and may
consider a broader range of information. This wider scope gives us
access to more alternatives and diverse interpretations, thus fostering
innovation and insight. Indeed, [the study] found that participants were
more successful in solving insight problems when tested at their
non-optimal times.
Distractions aren't just necessary for creative types and problem solvers, they're important for you to focus.
NY Magazine explains:
Focus is a paradox—it has
distraction built into it. The two are symbiotic; they're the systole
and diastole of consciousness. Attention comes from the Latin "to
stretch out" or "reach toward," distraction from "to pull apart." We
need both. In their extreme forms, focus and attention may even circle
back around and bleed into one another.
The ideas in NY Magazine are backed up with research from the
Journal of Neuroscience
that suggests that daydreaming improves focus by creating long-range
neural connections. In short, getting distracted and letting your mind
wander can actually make you smarter and more focused in the long term.
You shouldn't stop in the middle of a productive moment and surf the
internet, but if you catch yourself being distracted you don't always
have to fight it.
Photo by Ben and Kaz Askins.
Why Procrastination Helps You Make Better Decisions
Procrastination
is a productivity buzzkill for everyone, but it's not always bad. In
fact, procrastination is an essential part of the human condition and
actually a huge help for decision making.
In his book
Wait: The Art and Science of Delay,
author Frank Partnoy suggests that procrastination is integral to good
decision making. He also suggests a simple two-step method is necessary
for making good decisions and being happy. He calls this, "don't just do
something, stand there." At a presentation at the Royal Society for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA),
Partnoy lays out his process:
- Think about what the greatest amount of time you could delay before taking an action or making a decision.
- Wait until the last possible moment in that time frame.
If Partnoy's philosophy sounds a
little odd, it's because it's in exact opposition with Malcolm
Gladwell's praise of gut-reaction thinking in his book
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking.
Where Gladwell praised our innate decision making ability, Partnoy's
idea is that we're not good at decisions and we should give them more
time by procrastinating.
These aren't just decisions
about yourself or your life, but also political decisions, corporate
decisions, and everything else. In an
interview with the Smithsonian Magazine, Partnoy adds an importantant disclaimer to this idea:
Some scientists have argued
that there are two kinds of procrastination: active procrastination and
passive procrastination. Active procrastination means you realize that
you are unduly delaying mowing the lawn or cleaning your closet, but you
are doing something that is more valuable instead. Passive
procrastination is just sitting around on your sofa not doing anything.
The study Partnoy refers to is out of
Columbia University
and suggests that some procrastinators make a deliberate decision to
put things off. In itself, this isn't a bad thing and provided you know
the time frame you can take action within, procrastination can have the
same positive effects as getting things done right away.
Photo by Paul Swansen.
How to Avoid the Excess and Embrace Inactivity Without Becoming a Slob
We
know a little inactivity is great and you should make time for it. That
doesn't mean you can turn into a total slacker and expect to see life
improvements. All the above ideas accent productive living and are best
used in moderation.
We've
talked before about prioritizing nothing
as a means to give yourself a break and just relax. It's advice I've
had to take myself because I found I was filling every moment of my day
with
something. If there wasn't a screen in front of me there was
audio playing. Now, I'll let myself be a little bored when I'm cooking
dinner instead of listening to a podcast, and I don't always force
myself to focus on things all the time. More importantly, I've taken
Partnoy's advice stopped using procrastination as a bad word. After a
couple weeks of this I feel less anxious, and more resolved in my
decisions.
As for other methods? Here's Linehan again, with his solution:
Presently he's trying to force
himself to take an hour-and-a-half every day to force that boredom to
happen, where he sits in a cafe with just his phone switched to Flight
mode – no internet, no calls. "The creative process requires a period of
boredom, of being stuck. That's actually a very uncomfortable period
that a lot of people mistake for writer's block, but it's actually just
part one of a long process."
As for procrastination, Partnoy has his own solution to delay without forgetting entirely:
Just take a breath. Take more
pauses. Stare off into the distance. Ask yourself the first question of
this two-step process: What is the maximum amount of time I have
available to respond? When I get emails now, instead of responding right
away, I ask myself this. It might seem rude, and it did feel rude at
first. But the reality is if you respond to every email instantaneously
you are going to make your life much more difficult. If the email really
doesn't have to be responded to for a week, I simply cut the
information out of the email and paste it into my calendar for one week
from today. I free up time today that I can spend on something else, and
I'll be unconsciously working on the question asked in the email for a
week.
We can't be inactive all the
time, but it's a task we're losing touch with. Like all things, it's
about balance, but the next time you're sitting at the bus stop,
consider leaving your phone in your pocket. Take a walk without those
headphones now and again. Procrastinate on your decisions for a couple
of days. A lot of things in life happen at warp speed and you can't do
anything about it, but a few moments each day can help you better
understand the world.
| The Daily Reckoning Presents |
| How Government “Works,” Part II |
|
 |
| Bill Bonner |
In the case of Egypt, people listened and obeyed — at least, as much
as they did — because Pharaoh was, in theory, a god. In the case of
Rome — with the exception of Caligula’s claims — and the Mongol
empires, the theory was similarly simple, though different.
Tamerlane made no claim to divinity. He merely made it clear what he
would do to you if you resisted him. Towns that submitted were
generally governed passably, according to the standards of the
day...and taxed, but not razed to the ground. Those that contested
his authority were destroyed, often with all the inhabitants killed.
| Everybody — or everyone who isn’t either feebleminded or a saint —
wants wealth, power and status. And the easiest, fastest way to get
it usually is to take it away from someone. That is government’s
role. |
|
In Rome and out on the steppes, those who controlled the
‘government’ were in the favored position. They could reach out and
impose their will on those who were not favored. Which is exactly
what they did. As long as they were able, the insiders took from the
outsiders. In both cases, the outsiders were literally outside the
ruling group and its homeland.
This is perhaps a good place to point out that government is a
phenomenon, not a system. It is best understood as a fight between
the outsiders and the insiders. The insiders always control the
government...and use it to conquer and control the outsiders. Why do
they want to do so? The usual reasons. Wealth. Power. Status.
Everybody — or everyone who isn’t either feebleminded or a saint —
wants wealth, power and status. And the easiest, fastest way to get
it usually is to take it away from someone. That is government’s
role. Only government can take something away from someone else
lawfully. Why? Because governments make the laws.
We’ve already seen how a small group of Romans were able to reach
beyond their home town, for nearly 1,000 years, taking wealth from
people on the outside. One tribe fell under their control. Then
another. Then, one town. And another. And always the power, prestige
and wealth flowed back to Rome.
But not all Romans benefited in the same way. Rome itself was
divided. During the Republican period, the insiders were the leading
families who controlled the Senate. Then came the dictators, the
emperors, and the scalawags who were able to get control of the
government. Often, they were military men, popular or cunning
generals who rose through the ranks, murdered their rivals, and took
the reins of power for themselves. Each brought in new
insiders...and kicked out some of the old ones. Rome sizzled with
intrigue...and sometimes erupted into open warfare, with one group
of insiders battling it out with another.
After Rome fell, barbarian tribes swept over Europe. Local strongmen
were able to set up their own governments. There was little theory
or justification involved. They used brute force to take what they
wanted. Then they settled down to govern. One local lord provided
protection from other local lords. All demanded payment, tribute,
wealth and power. In the largely un-moneyed economies of the Dark
Ages, taxes were in the form of a share of output...and/or days of
labor. A serf typically worked one day in 10 for his lord and
master.
| In the fixed order of the world, each person had a job to do. One
was a hewer of wood. Another was a drawer of water. A third was a
king. Each man did his duty. |
|
The local warlord and his entourage were the insiders. They took
from the outsiders as much as they could get away with. Or as much
as they thought it prudent to demand. Some even asserted a droit du
seigneur, known in France by the more carnal expression “the right
to the thigh.” The local chief demanded the right to deflower the
brides of his peasants. Even as recently as the beginning of the
last century, Kurdish chieftains claimed the right to bed Armenian
brides on their wedding night.
As the Dark Ages progressed, government became less locally
peculiar. Across Europe, serfs, lords, and vassals knit themselves
together into the feudal system. One governed a small area and was
in turn governed by another, who governed a bigger one. At the top
was the king, who owed his allegiance to God himself.
Justifying and explaining the phenomenon of government also evolved.
How to make sense of it? Why was one man powerful and rich and
another weak and poor? Europe was Christianized by then. All men
were supposed to be equal in God’s eyes. How come they were so
different in the eyes of each other?
Reaching back into antiquity, the doctrine of the “Divine Right of
Kings” was developed to explain it. Scholars did not maintain that
kings were divine, because that would undermine the foundations of
Judeo-Christian monotheism. Instead, they claimed that kings had a
special role to play, that they were appointed...and anointed, by
God (through his ministers in the church of St. Peter)...to rule.
Some people thought the kings were descended directly from the line
of Jesus Christ. Others thought that God gave kings a “divine” right
to govern in His name.
In the fixed order of the world, each person had a job to do. One
was a hewer of wood. Another was a drawer of water. A third was a
king. Each man did his duty.
Scholars in the middle ages spent a lot of time on the issue. As a
theory of government it seemed coherent and logical. But there were
traps and dead ends in it. If the right to rule were given by God,
man could not contradict Him. But men did. One divinely-appointed
ruler met another divinely-appointed ruler on the field of battle.
Only one could win. What kind of game was God playing?
And if God granted a man the right to rule other men, did that mean
that every order he gave must be obeyed, just as though it had come
from the mouth of God himself? And what if the king seemed not to be
doing God’s work at all? Adultery was clearly a no-no. God
disapproved of it. But kings often made it a habit and a sport. Did
not the king defile his body and betray his Lord? In an effort to
explain away the problem, scholars put forth the idea that the king
actually had two bodies. One sacred. One profane.
But which was which? “The Divine Right of Kings” was a theory of government that held
water. But you had to put the water in the right container. You had
to believe in God. You had to believe that He gave out job
assignments. You also had to believe that He didn’t mind when His
employees and agents made a mess of things...or even when they
contradicted His own orders. Looking at the history of the monarchs
who were thought to have been given this divine authority, you would
have to conclude that God was either a very tolerant task-master, or
a very negligent one. Adultery, murder, thieving, lying — there was
hardly one of God’s commandments they obeyed.
As a theory of government, the ‘divine right of kings’ would have
been okay had it not been for the kings themselves. Some were
reasonable men. Others were tyrants. Many were incompetent, largely
irrelevant and silly. Taken all together, it was very difficult to
believe that they had been selected by God, without also believing
that God was just choosing His most important managers at random.
Kings were not especially smart. Not especially bold or especially
timid. Not especially wise or stupid. For all intents and purposes,
they were just like everyone else. Sometimes smart. Sometimes dumb.
Sometimes good. Sometimes evil. And always subject to influence.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the ‘divine right of kings’
lost its following. The church, the monarch and the feudal system
all seemed to lose market share. The Enlightenment had made people
begin to wonder. Then, the beginning of the “Industrial Revolution”
made them stir.
| When the point of diminishing
returns is passed, the payoff from further investment of resources
in policing and wealth re-distribution declines. Then what happens? |
|
In 1776, Adam Smith published his “Wealth of Nations,” arguing that
commerce and production were the source of wealth. Government began
to seem like an obstruction and a largely unnecessary cost. Its
beneficial role was limited, said Smith, to enforcing contracts and
protecting property.
The school of laissez-faire economics maintained that government was
a “necessary evil,” to be restrained as much as possible. The
“government that governs best,” as Jefferson put it, “is the one
that governs least.” This is, of course, another way of saying that
government — like every other natural phenomenon — is subject to the
law of declining marginal utility. A little government is probably a
good thing. The energy put into a system of public order, dispute
resolution, and certain minimal public services may give a positive
return on investment. But the point of diminishing returns is
reached quickly. For reference, here is the ‘take’ by modern governments today.
Government — according the Liberal philosophers of the 18th and 19th
century was supposed to get out of the way so that the ‘invisible
hand’ would guide men to productive, fruitful lives. Smith thought
the arm attached to the invisible hand was the arm of God. Others
believed that not even God was necessary. Men, without central
planning or God to guide them, would create a ‘spontaneous order,’
which would be a lot nicer than the one created by kings, dictators
or popular assemblies.
This idea of government, such as it is, leads to what we know of
today as “libertarianism.” Libertarians argue about how much
authority the government should have. They scrap among themselves
over what the government should do and how big it should be allowed
to get. But all libertarians agree with Jefferson. And all agree
that the governments in the world circa 2011 are much too big.
The libertarians are concerned about their loss of freedom. But what
we’re concerned about is the downside. When the point of diminishing
returns is passed, the payoff from further investment of resources
in policing and wealth re-distribution declines. Then what happens?
We’ve already seen what happened to Germany in the ’30s and ’40s.
Hitler was elected. But then, the Reichstag burned and he suspended
democratic institutions. Perhaps more robust, modern democracies can
adapt more readily and thereby avoid the downside? |
Dumb Ways (for an Economy) to Die
Laissez Faire Today
 |
| Douglas French |
A
viral video
from Australia, complete with a clever song and dance step, describes
the many dumb things people do that threaten and extinguish their lives.
"Dumb Ways to Die" includes warnings against selling both your kidneys
on the Internet, getting toast out of the toaster with a fork, eating a
two-week-old unrefrigerated pie, and so on.
In a similar way, there are many dumb ways to kill an economy. Over
the last five years, the federal government seems to have set the record
for attempting as many as possible in record time. Then we look at
growth rates and wonder why they are so anemic, why our kids can't get
jobs, why sector after sector seems to be crumbling, and why so many
people are looking abroad for opportunity.
In today's issue I thought we'd look at the dumb ways for an economy to die.
Stimulate Failing Sectors. The crash of 2008 exposed
gigantic investment errors goaded on by previous bad Fed policy. The
market tried so hard to make things right. But the Fed, the Treasury,
and every living government official fought the entire way, with TARP,
QE, ZIRP, Operation Twist, bankruptcy protections, debt creation, and
many trillions of dollars in squandered wealth. And for what? To save
the housing, banking, and financial sectors from the consequences of
their errors. But the errors haven't gone away. The sectors haven't been
stimulated. The net effect has been to ratchet down wealth creation,
and so it will be until the stimulators stop diverting wealth and start
facing up to reality.
Protect Against Imports and Exports. "Economic
patriotism" is one of the most dangerous phrases in the English
language. It means using the taxes called tariffs and quotas to prop up
economically inefficient industries in our borders and failing to allow
consumers to get the best deal whenever they can find it. Obama brags:
"We've brought twice as many cases against unfair trading practices than
the previous administration and we've won every single one that's been
decided." The archetype case concerns China. You are paying more for
lower-quality tires due to this intervention, at an estimated cost to
consumers of $1.1 billion. The goal of energy independence is a bad one
because it diverts production from efficient to inefficient
technologies. Protectionism (and we have it for thousands of goods such
as sugar, cheese, and ball bearings) is for losers. The belligerence
against China is harmful. The sanctions against Iran and a dozen other
countries are stupid
The U.S. economy needs to embrace the global economy, or else it will
die alone.
Regulate Everything. In the name of health, safety, the
environment, and intellectual property enforcement, nothing that exists
has been left outside regulatory management. Each day, an average of 68
new regulations appear, giving bureaucrats the opportunity for endless
meddling and harassment, and shutting down entrepreneurial ideas. Every
machine in your home has been forcibly degraded, from your toilets to
your washing machines to your soap. We can't kill bugs in or out of our
homes. Lawn equipment is wonky now, thanks to the regulatory tsunami. IP
enforcement through patents and copyrights has slowed the pace of
development of media, software, and industrial machinery. Enterprise
lives in a cage and still somehow manages to stay alive. But what are we
missing as a result? That's the great unknown.
Kill Cars and the Gas That Runs Them. American cars
used to be cool, even amazing. Now the new cars all look alike, like in
the old East Germany. The central plan has done this through "Corporate
Average Fuel Economy" standards that have forced cars to take a certain
shape unless they can be redefined as light trucks. Then there are the
extremely weird regulations on pedestrian impact. As a result, the
vehicles on the road look boxy and boring or seem big enough to
transport the high school band. This is why the only good-looking cars
in the new models are hybrids: Only the mix of electricity and gas gets
around the regs. And speaking of gasoline, 40% of America's corn crop is
burned up in our tanks (thanks to ethanol regs since 2008), and then it
leaves residue that degrades engine quality. And we wonder why the
American car industry is being creamed.
Save the Banks. Few remember that then-Treasury
Secretary Hank Paulson's first plan as the financial system melted down
was to have the Treasury buy $700 billion in bad assets from the banks.
That would not have been enough. Banking is a leveraged business. What
the system really needed was capital injections. Thus, the birth of TARP
and so many other programs. It was all designed so that we could go to
our ATM machines and have money come out. The problem is that the whole
system is unsound. If the banks had been allowed to fail, a banking
system would reemerge that is sounder and less likely to create the
booms and busts that continuously rock the U.S. economy. Instead, the
banks live on, getting bigger and more unstable all the time. The latest
estimates guess that TARP will cost taxpayers $65 billion. That's
nothing compared with the coming costs of sustaining this dinosaur
industry that is so easily replaceable in the digital age.
Raise the Minimum Wage. It's tough enough for young
people and unskilled workers to find gainful employment. Legislators
have had make it impossible for some by pricing this labor out of the
market. Gas stations used to have attendants, typically young men. They
would pump your gas, check your oil, and fill your tires. With labor
price control, technology had to replace labor (except in
attendant-mandatory states like New Jersey). Grocery stores are going
the same way. The unemployment rate for workers under 25 years old is
16%, more than double the overall rate. It's no wonder the minimum wage
has been hiked three times since 2006 by a whopping 41%. On top of the
federal requirements, some states like Nevada and California have higher
rates. Indexed to inflation, the minimum wage is 50 cents higher in
Nevada, and in San Francisco, the minimum jumps to $10.55 this New
Year's Day. Youth unemployment in California has grown 35% since 2000.
Unemployment among yo
ung people in Nevada is 27%. The young should blame their rulers for
this calamity.
Soak the Rich. The war on the rich is completely out of
hand, so much so that no one dares state what everyone once knew: The
rich are our benefactors. They give most of the donations to
philanthropy. They start the new businesses. They provide the capital.
They most often have the good ideas. Their consumption habits provide a
testing ground for innovations before they reach the rest of us. Yes,
there are some sectors of the rich who become that way at others'
expense, but that is still the exception, rather than the rule. But
don't the rich need to be looted to pay for the debt Congress has run
up? Doing so would fund the government for about 10 seconds. No, the
real driving motivation behind the campaign against the rich is plain
old envy. Envy is a bad habit of heart, one that will kill prosperity
dead if it is unleashed in public policy.
Start a War. It was bad enough that the Bush-era wars
have been sustained, maintained, and even entrenched in the Obama era.
The war hawks seem to be on the lookout for other countries that the
U.S. military can muscle and invade, with Iran topping the list. The
U.S. military is outrageous bloated. The U.S. spends 800% more than
Russia, the next-highest spender on the planet. The military budget is
15 times that of Japan, 47 times that of Israel, and 73 times that of
Iran, according to many reports. It has doubled over the last 10 years.
To maintain that kind of bloat, you have to whip up the population in
periodic frenzies about witches abroad that need to be burned. From an
economic point of view, this is catastrophic, throwing good money after
bad and killing people in the process. Yes there are winners: the
military-industrial complex. But the profitability of DynCorp, ManTech,
Textron, Honeywell, and Northrop Grumman is not authentically based on
consume
r demand; these companies are private in name only.
Confiscate Private Property. The war on drugs has
turned into a war on private property and private citizens. In most
states, if you are stopped by law enforcement, your car may be searched,
and any item suspected to be involved in the drug trade may be
confiscated. Cash is the primary item local law enforcement agencies are
looking for. Carrying a large amount of cash in your car, instead of
having it in the bank is thought to be suspicious. These asset seizures
are all an attempt to pay for the prison industrial state that has
nearly 2.5 million people behind bars. It's impossible for taxes to foot
the bill for all this policing. Now cops on the beat have turned into
pirates seeking booty on the streets. Investigating murders and rapes
doesn't pay the bills anymore. And stopping the inflow of drugs is the
last thing on their minds. They just want the money.
Socialize Health Care. There is nothing more dastardly
than ruining the ability for people to get medical care. It is a
life-and-death matter. To destroy the market mechanism of property and
prices is to destroy economic rationality, with the result being
poverty, chaos, sickness and death. Ludwig von Mises wrote in 1922 that
to socialize health care was the equivalent of placing this vital
service in the hands of the army or prisons, centers of disease and
disaster, not health and well-being. Americans complain about health
care in this country and agitate for socialized care, when, in fact, 29%
of American adults get their health care from Uncle Sam. Three-quarters
of those over 65 years old depend on the government for medical care.
Medical care is a scarce good. It must either be allocated by force or
voluntarily at a cost of either time, money, or both. The price system
in health care has been destroyed by government force, making health
care unobtainabl
e for millions.
Kick Out the Immigrants. Immigrants have been demonized
for decades. The Irish used to be lazy drunks. Now it's Latinos. A
strange brew of political bedfellows -- the nativist right and
environmental left -- seek to shut the borders. But the facts prove that
immigrants make us much better off. Immigrants are more likely to save
and start businesses. They don't steal jobs from Americans; they create
new jobs and do work natives don't want to do. The beauty of
(especially) illegal immigrants is that they respond to the business
cycle by arriving when work needs to be done and being flexible enough
to go where the jobs are. In my own home state, the immigrants are
sustaining much of the economy. By the way, the cost to keep immigrants
out is billions of dollars and doesn't begin to pay the "supposed" costs
that immigrants impose.
Abolish Interest Rates. Since 2008, the Fed has decided
to go after natural law itself by using its power to impose a policy of
zero interest rates. Problem: You can't earn money by saving anymore.
That's seriously awful, since saving is the basis of investment and
growth. Another problem: Banks can't earn money by normal lending
anymore. That's just extremely strange. Banks, instead, are learning to
live on the income stream that comes from keeping their deposits at the
Fed, playing the derivatives market, and selling inflated debt
securities. This is one step short of nationalization, but it is far
from normal banking. Then there are the private-sector lending
institutions that are completely ignoring the yield curve and getting
normal market returns. But this private sector is seriously hindered by
regulations and the money monopoly. The result: a broken banking system
that has no conventional way to fix itself.
Look at this list of dumb ways to kill an economy. It is a stunning
tribute to the private sector and the power of enterprise that we manage
to grow and still somewhat prosperous, regardless of this relentless
beating.
And we wonder what's happened. We wonder why capital is fleeing, why
people are leaving, why wealth is not being created, why growth is
anemic. This is not a reality built into some kind of civilizational way
or some inexplicable great stagnation. It is all a direct result of a
conscious decision to wreck the machinery of freedom. It's dumb.
Sincerely,
Douglas French
The Exploitation of Labor by Government
 |
| Jeffrey Tucker |
Considering taking a job with the
government? You might want to rethink that. The new survey from
Partnership for Public Service paints an ugly picture of job
satisfaction at government agencies.
It's worst of all at place like the departments of Housing
and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Education. We find
that only 50-60% of workers are satisfied with their jobs. To put it
another way, every other person working in these concrete bunkers is a
wreck.
To be sure, according to the survey, it's not living hell
at NASA, the FDIC, and the GAO, but it's dreadful at the Federal
Maritime Commission and the U.S. Trade Representative. Even that's not
the worst of it. The folks at the Transportation Security Administration
seem ready to explode, with only a 48% job satisfaction rating.
At the TSA, we find people begging to be fired -- testing
the limits through unspeakable rudeness, outright thievery, and
preposterous antics such as confiscating toys and testing people's hands
for built-in bombs. When they don't get fired, they sink into further
depression of the sort that comes when a person discovers there are no
standards at all.
In the private sector, job satisfaction generally floats
above 70%. This would seem to be enough evidence to seal it. It should
be obvious that the most important first step in having a reasonable
chance at a happy life is rather simple: Don't work for the government.
Yet for most, government work offers higher salaries and
benefits. This is true across all professions except those with advanced
training such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers (remember we are
speaking about averages here). Yet the security and pay don't compensate
for the misery.
It's not hard to understand what's going on here. Being
part of the commercial life of a society, where there is a real sense of
serving people and where change and development is the goal, is
invigorating and life affirming. You are part of something. Your job is
part of real life.
Being stuck in a dead zone like government -- where the
money you make is taken from others by force and used only to beat the
paying classes over the head even more -- runs contrary to the noblest
aims of the human spirit.
It doesn't take long to discover that this is true. If you
are in Washington, D.C., you might strike up a conversation in the lunch
areas outside of a government agency. You will get an earful about the
evil of management, the idiocy of co-workers, the sheer depressingness
of the whole place.
Why do they stay? The people feel stuck, fearing life
outside like prisoners too acclimated to flee. Even when the bars swing
open, they sit on their mattresses and wait for the next meal.
It's hard not to feel sorry for these people. They made bad
choices in life and now are stymied and risk averse. The job "benefits"
are excellent on paper. The raises come regardless of the quality of
your work. You get lots of vacation time. The workload is minimal at
best. What's not to like?
Well, it all seems fine from the outside. You can make
every rationalization. By the time you realize that you should have
listened to that inner voice, it is too late. You are in the system. You
are part of the problem.
I had a friend who was ill yet had an incredibly creative
mind. He was a fine writer and thinker, and a very dear person. He took a
job with an agency in D.C.. He was a good sport and tried to like it.
But gradually, he lost touch with his old friends, and his new friends
were all from the same agency -- drones mostly, people who live to
complain.
He ran out of stuff to do at the agency and started to
loathe his colleagues, but he couldn't leave. The money was too good and
the health care was generous enough to cover all the expenses of his
Marfan's syndrome. Over time, the spark in his spirit went away and the
gleam in his eye flickered out. He stopped writing, stopped thinking,
stopped enjoying life. Then, a few years later, he died.
I can't shake the profound sense of loss that I feel over
this case. I swore I would never let another friend go this direction
without getting a warning from me.
Government work really is a terrible trap.
Not all jobs at the federal government are alike. What
draws many people of talent are the political positions, the appointed
ones that total about 6,000. It's the first duty of any new president to
find friends and benefactors to fill these jobs.
It's all that's left of the "spoils system" that prevailed
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The new president would fire
the old and hire the new. The whole thing came to an end in 1883, when
the civil service came to be professionalized and the permanency of the
modern nation-state took hold.
Today, the real state that runs our lives operates outside
the influence of politics. There is nothing the elected classes can
really do about it, even if they want to. They can hire their 6,000, but
those people are coming and going and can do very little to outsmart
the permanent class.
Plus, at the end of every political season, the political
appointees engage in a massive scramble to convert their jobs from
political to permanent ones -- and they do this because they fear the
private sector and what it would do to their inflated self-esteem.
Yet we can get carried away by drawing too sharp a
distinction between the public and private sectors here. The mandated
benefits in the private sector, set to increase dramatically with
Obamacare, are making these jobs stickier than ever. People are fearful
of leaving even jobs they hate, mainly because they don't want to give
up these benefits.
The irony is intense. The left always celebrated mandated
benefits like company-provided health care on grounds that these
benefits give power to labor. Actually, the opposite is true. These
benefits give the employer more leverage over laborers than would occur
in a free market.
Fearing the implications of being fired or let go -- and no
one who has had good health insurance ever wants to be without again --
workers put up with an uncommon amount of abuse.
In contrast, a clean wage contract allows anyone to say,
"Take this job and shove it." Pile a bunch of benefits on that wage
contract and suddenly the employee is beholden and stuck in a job he or
she can't live without.
These benefits are making the private sector more and more
like the government sector. They represent gradual steps away from the
empowerment that everyone feels in a world of fluid labor contracts and
the freedom to hire and fire. And it's all brought to us by those who
imagine they could use the force of government to uplift the working
class. It is making this class more downtrodden than ever.
People learn too late in life that their job actually
constitutes their major life activity apart from sleeping. It defines
us, determines our level of happiness, forges a major part of our circle
of friendships, and shapes how we think about ourselves and our role in
the world.
Choosing where we work and what we do is a human freedom, a
human right -- one of the last that we have. Don't waste that right by
feeding yourself to Moloch.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Tucker
Peace, love, and happiness...until next time...