ARK3 Returns, Income Tax Fraud, Libertarians, & Intellectual Property (1h4m) – Episode 384

Episode 384 welcomes back Alex R. Knight III to chat with Skyler on the following topics: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and nominating new Supreme Court justices in an election year; Biden and presidential debates; origins of political party colors red and blue; meeting Harry Browne; The Law That Never Was by Bill Benson and the 16th Amendment (income taxation); Cracking the Code by Peter Hendrickson; Irwin Schiff and income taxation fraudulence by the US Federal Government; the difference between libertarians and modern conservatives / modern liberals; government interference in market relationships; nonvoting and culpability for bad politicians; private censorship and when it becomes aggressive; historical capitalism verse free markets; intellectual property disagreements; and more.

Alfie Kohn: Happy Kids, Better Relationships (33m)

This episode features an interview of education and parenting researcher, writer, and lecturer Alfie Kohn from 2016 by Neil Sattin of Relationship Alive! When it comes to parenting, rewards and punishments are an easy one-size-fits all approach that lets people go into auto-parenting, but unfortunately does more harm than good. While rewards and punishments may get the short term reactions we are looking for, there is a lot of research and evidence suggesting that this parenting style ultimately damages and holds children back. The alternative is not just the absence of bribes and threats, but an entire complex network of guidelines – the most important being that you let your kids know that you accept them no matter what. With this attitude you can begin to work WITH your child, getting to know their perspective and world, and bring them into decision making. Children learn to make good decisions by making decisions (and learning), rather than learning to follow directions (on making good decisions).

Stories Open Doors

When someone tells you, “I’m an engineer”, instead of filing this as a fact in your mental Rolodex, you immediately want to know the story. How did they end up an engineer? Is this the end of a long journey, the beginning of a new story, or the middle? Curiosity drives you to ask good questions, good questions make connections, and connections lead to opportunities.

The Power of Getting Clarity

Before I started Zen Habits, I was in a place in my life where I had a beautiful family, but I was stuck and dissatisfied with myself. I knew I wanted to change things — my health, finances, job, way that I was approaching life — but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do about any of it. Most of the time, I just ignored all of this, and distracted myself. I didn’t have any clarity on what I wanted or what I needed to do.