Status is: a person’s condition, position, or standing relative to that of others.
Please read that definition again and consider this slowly:
Status automatically creates division and conflict. Continue reading “Status, Evolution And Human Nature”
Golden Disobedience
(This post was written by my friend, Sandy Sandfort. It’s an important glimpse into an historical event.)
Inertia is a human frailty. Too often, we go along to get along. We conform. Because of this, those who claim authority can get most of us to do their bidding if it comes with a plausible justification and is only incremental. We get nickel-and-dimed to death, the death of a thousand cuts. Continue reading “Golden Disobedience”
The Perfect Time Will Never Come
Lots of good people are frustrated with the state of world, and I understand that only too well. They are, furthermore, eager for the world to improve, and I respect that a great deal.
Their problem arises, however, right on the heels of these desires, when they ask the question, “What should I do?” And that’s where the wheels fall off. Continue reading “The Perfect Time Will Never Come”
How to Gain Confidence and Courage
For more than two years I wrote a free monthly newsletter called Individual Virtue. Here’s a piece from one of them (with light editing). Continue reading “How to Gain Confidence and Courage”
The Wisdom of Ben Hecht
I was introduced to Ben Hecht, many years ago now, by my friend Paul Greenfield. Like most people of my generation I had never heard of him. He had been fairly famous some decades earlier, know early for his cynical and cutting criticisms, then as Hollywood’s premier script doctor.
Here’s a typical Hecht aside: Continue reading “The Wisdom of Ben Hecht”
The Obedience Cult
(Originally published in 2015)
Not too many years back, warnings of Peak Oil circulated widely, and they made me consider something a good deal more dangerous: Peak Obedience.
If that concept strikes you as odd, there’s a reason: We’ve all been living inside an obedience cult. Continue reading “The Obedience Cult”
The War On Mating
The pairing-up of young men and women has always been a difficult process. What has appeared recently, however, is a multi-media assault upon mating per se, and that’s new.
This is something we need to see clearly, and so I’ll jump right in by telling you that an Anti-Mating Industry has arisen in the realm of social media. We’ve all seen this, but we’ve seldom appreciated it. Continue reading “The War On Mating”
The Way of the 21st Century: Going Nowhere While Very, Very Frightened
(Originally published in February, 2015)
We’re 14 years into a new century, which is typically how long it takes for a century’s unique characteristics to show up. The 20th century, for example, looked a lot like the 19th until 1914; from there on it looked a lot different. So I think this is a good time to take a look at our new century and see how it’s shaping up.
I see two particular things that are defining the mainline culture just now. Let’s go with the easy and obvious one first: Continue reading “The Way of the 21st Century: Going Nowhere While Very, Very Frightened”
Looking for a Reason to Believe: The Benefit of the Doubt Is Cracking
Those of us who pursue positive change are very often frustrated. We see the necessity of change all too clearly, and we can explain how it should come about, but it never seems to happen.
The truth, however, is that change does come; it just comes more slowly than we’d like, and in ways that differ from those we imagined.
One real change I like to point out is the passing of blind trust in politicians. In the 1950s and ‘60s, most people spoke of politicians with respect and even with reverence. Now it’s almost standard for people to agree that they’re liars and thieves. That’s a very significant change, even if it did take several decades to unfold. Continue reading “Looking for a Reason to Believe: The Benefit of the Doubt Is Cracking”
The Surprise Opportunity We Need To Recognize
Once in a while in human affairs, things go right.
Today we’ve issued a special report. I’ve been keeping notes on this subject for some time, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever use them. Over the past several weeks, however, so many pieces have come together, and in durable ways, that I’ve had to accept that a surprise opportunity is underway. Continue reading “The Surprise Opportunity We Need To Recognize”