If someone treats you poorly in a free market, the best option is to disassociate and share the information you acquired with other people (if you wish). However, our emotional ecosystem still wants to use mechanisms from evolution where disassociation isn’t an option … tit for tat, anger, retribution, “Justice”, revenge, etc. Emotionally, we are the same as our historical relatives and it is difficult to adapt to a radically new incentive structure.
Tag: action
Mental Resiliency: Letting Go of the Guilt of Not Getting Things Done
It happens to all of us: we don’t get done what we hoped to get done, then we feel stressed or guilty about it. It’s time to let that go, because it’s not helping us. We can build resiliency around this, with a little mental training. And it will help us in magical ways.
Government Involvement Not Helping
It’s a wonderful thing when someone decides to help the community. I might even join them if their efforts align with my values. I’m somewhat less thrilled when someone mistakes running for office, getting a government job, or passing a law for helping. A government position or job is nothing to be proud of. It’s not honorable or praiseworthy. Everything is better without the threat of law or punishment, and when funded voluntarily. Worthwhile ideas don’t require arm twisting.
Freedom is Winning in the Encryption Arms Race
If you thought the perpetual whining from law enforcement about encryption was about fighting terrorism, think again. It’s mostly about the money. Like other mobsters, politicians and their accomplices hate the idea of their rackets coming to an end.
In Favor of Impetuosness
It’s not that impetuous action doesn’t have costs. It definitely does. It lacks precision, it’s sloppy, never perfect, and sometimes just wrong. But the cost of correcting an impetuous action is generally low, and the feedback you get is quick and clear. The knowledge gained from ten impetuous actions that fail is worth more than the marginal mental improvements you can make to one untaken action.
How I’m Fighting Hurry
In the last four years, I have spent a lot of time rushing from one thing to another. By choice, I have brought in a lot of challenges and opportunities into my life. Ever-changing conditions, urgency, and “hurry” come with the territory. I’m alright with being hasty when I need it, but I don’t want my attention and time filled with rush. Here are some ways I’m keeping hurry from dominating my attention and time
The Secret of Selfishness
One of the great secrets I’ve discovered is that determining to find something beneficial and refusing to be merely a critic of anything I encounter changes my entire outlook and sets fire to my imagination. I’m not very good at it.
Trump Isn’t the First War Criminal President; He Should be the Last
The strikes on Syria constitute a war of aggression. The Syrian regime has never attacked, nor threatened to attack, any of the three countries which just attacked it, nor are its alleged domestic crimes, however horrible, the bailiwick of those three governments. And as the Nuremberg Tribunal noted, “To initiate a war of aggression … is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Donald Trump, Theresa May, and Emmanuel Macron are war criminals.
The Criminal Injustice System
An interesting fact about the U.S. criminal justice system is that the people charged with enforcing the laws are people with virtually no desire to act justly.
Guilty Statists?
How much guilt does the “average statist” have for their beliefs, and how much slack should we cut them? I’ve been having an interesting discussion with Jim Henshaw, the former Chair of the Hawaiian LP, recently of regions closer. He says I “come across as a bit unforgiving at times“. And, I can see that. I’m pretty sure this has caused me to lose followers and financial supporters. So, I asked his advice.