30 Minutes To Excellence

Excellence is attainable, and by every healthy person. I received this lesson from a man I never met, named Earl Nightingale. Today I’m passing it along to you.

Earl researched and taught about success for decades, and he took his job seriously. His work is often forgotten now, but if you can find it, it is definitely worth your time. I had it on cassette tapes, but I suspect it’s still available in some format. Continue reading “30 Minutes To Excellence”

Our Moral Obsession

Humans are moral obsessives. Anywhere you go, you’ll find people speaking in moral terms: “He didn’t treat me right,” “She’s arrogant,” “That’s a man you can respect,” and so on. All of these are moral judgments. Even confirmed criminals will routinely say things like, “That ain’t right,” which is, again, a purely moral judgment.

On top of that, moral judgments vary fairly little between individuals. There are exceptions, of course, but nearly all of us will agree on the majority of moral judgments, staying close to the model of the golden rule. Continue reading “Our Moral Obsession”

Bitcoin Is Far More Than An Investment

Over the past few years, huge numbers of people have come to see Bitcoin as an investment… like a stock. That’s because a significant percentage of the populace knows someone, at least a friend of a friend, who has done very well with Bitcoin. That’s the kind of thing that people notice, and not unreasonably so.

The truth, however, is that Bitcoin is more and better than an investment… much more and much better. Continue reading “Bitcoin Is Far More Than An Investment”

The Cure In Our Hands

I don’t recommend watching television, but I fell into one useful experience while watching it, some years ago:

It was well after midnight and I found myself in front of a TV, killing time. There wasn’t much on, but after some scanning, I found a rustic infomercial from a local church. They were offering prayer for the sick, depressed, and overwhelmed. My thumb was poised to move to the next channel, but instead I stopped and watched. I decided to look at the people in the pews—to really look at them. Continue reading “The Cure In Our Hands”

A Frank Letter to the Homeless Man Under the Bridge

letter-to-homelessThis is a re-post from years ago. I still feel the same.

I see you standing here, asking for help, about once a week. You are always polite, and I respect that. I’d like to do something for you… something that would matter long-term. Giving you a few notes or coins now and then may be fine, but I’d really like to improve your situation more permanently.

In other words, I’d like to give you a job. Continue reading “A Frank Letter to the Homeless Man Under the Bridge”

Child Abuse On A Civilizational Scale

(Originally published in October of 2022, and tragically still necessary.)

This is not something I ever wanted to write or even imagined writing. And yet, here we are. I’ve been receiving a stream of reports from wildly divergent sources, all saying the same things.

The fact is that child abuse is being perpetrated on a civilizational scale… massively financed on a civilizational level. This needs to be addressed. Continue reading “Child Abuse On A Civilizational Scale”

The Forbidden Thought

The dominating systems of our world require us to feel weak, afraid, and insufficient. They couldn’t continue if most of us didn’t feel that way. And so the friends and operators of these systems must suppress the opposite thought: that we are not inadequate.

I’ve watched popular culture for a lot of years, and I can tell you that since the 1970s, one concept, above all, has been forbidden in intellectual circles: Man as a glorious creature. Continue reading “The Forbidden Thought”

The Inflection Point of Putin’s “Evil Empire” Speech

(Originally published October 12, 2022.)

I prefer to focus on building the good rather than identifying the bad. But there is also a place for understanding what is happening in the world. (“Wise as serpents, innocent as doves.”) This piece, written by one of my friends, is serious, far-reaching analysis. It is especially important as we pivot into a different world than we’ve known. Retain whatever quibbles you like, but read this and understand it. Continue reading “The Inflection Point of Putin’s “Evil Empire” Speech”

United We Fall

We’ve all heard the slogan,United we stand, divided we fall” hundreds of times. It is portrayed as wisdom, but in fact it’s generally false. If you require a mass of bodies to charge another mass of bodies on a battlefield, unity matters. But when you want honesty, intelligence, compassion, innovation and evolution, unity is your enemy.

Unity works for body-power, but it works against all the higher and better aspects of our nature. That’s why the sacrifice collectors preach unity: they want obedient bodies, not self-determinant minds. Continue reading “United We Fall”