Conversation of Our Generation

We have a problem in our society of standing on the bodies of innocent victims and placing blame. Instead, we should do the right thing: pray for the families, allow them to mourn in peace and quiet, and not demagogue on policy while the bodies are still warm.

Today we'll talk about what's wrong with what we do, how to do it better, and how to handle people who are using this as a political club.

I am in favor of every means of exacting back power and sovereignty from government overreach that does no harm to individuals in the process. I do not advocate defiance of every law, but I do see it fit to have the states stand against unjust laws as well as the individual, in the most prudent way possible.

Nullification: This is the idea that because states are equal partners with the federal government on many programs, and that through the delegation to the federal government its powers by the states it was created, that the states have the right to disobey the federal government when it oversteps its bounds.

Historical Uses of Nullification:

Personal Nullification: I am not advocating vigilante justice or tax evasion in anyway. However, there are ways to nullify federal overreaches through individual actions if there is a critical mass of people. A few places where we are seeing it are homeschooling, people not taking government loans for liberal arts degrees anymore, and gray markets.

Today, art is most often trivial or vile, and there's little that truly brings enrichment to the human experience. But how can we find a way to make art that's hard-hitting, true, and beautiful, without making it vile or grotesque?

Truth and Beauty: These two must be in concert with each other, two sides of the same coin working together to bring more out of each other. They are the source of real art, and they do not come from the artist, but rather they move through the artist.

Current Institutions: Currently, every institution of the arts puts forth relativism and often leftism as well. You can hear it in the music with the way discord is so widely used, in the movies when you can't tell a difference between the good guy and the bad guy, and in the novels where the character's intersectionality trumps the creativity of the author.

Taking Control of the Arts: This isn't just an infiltration of the current institutions. They're too powerful and have walls to keep honest truth-seekers out. Instead, new institutions must be established like Podcasts, subscription-based web content, and more.

The recipe for success is not as straight forward as people like to make it out to be. There are many factors that play into success: how hard you work, inherent skill, passion, and some luck.

Today, I'll explain insights I've recently come across into success and a recipe that I've seen work for me and others around me.

Recipe for success: This is just the quote above. You need to be constantly working on building new skill sets and uncovering new knowledge. All that must be done, and then you can practice seizing opportunities. If you're not ready for an opportunity and try it anyway, you have more wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of what it takes. If it works out, you add to your body of success.

Individualism: Success is key to freedom. Not filthy rich, super famous success, but something that allows you to rely on yourself and have excess to save for the future and help others. The growth of the victim mentality we see today is directly correlated to the spreading of a  false understanding of success, and by pushing back against that, we can help people find a new individual liberty.

Community: Success in a community breeds success. Look at top universities. Schools put out alumni that will make a lot of money. They then pay that back to the school in donations and opportunities for the next generation of students there. It builds its own network and recruitment system to some of the best-paying jobs in society. However, there's more. In any community where moderate wealth and many virtuous people are, it can be a spring of wealth that is more than just money.

Society: We are the wealthiest nation on the planet today and throughout history. However, people still feel left behind. Why is that? There is a need in the human heart to participate. Even in Eden, Adam and Eve were told to tend the garden, which is to work. We want to take part in something meaningful and challenging, and I think that what Jordan Peterson is doing is exactly what we need.

With the Fourth of July behind us, I wanted to take time to reflect on what it means to love your country and to be a patriot. I think this is an important thing to remember in a time when America is divided over whether or not this is a good country.

I will give 4 tips to show how you can be a patriot, while not condoning everything your government does.

1. Be thankful, not proud.

2. Criticize, don't hate.

3. Know your neighbors. Be a neighbor.

4. Country over politics.

Use these to vet whether you're falling away and hurting your country or too loyal to your country to the point of fault.

It's all too common for us to jump to conclusions in the digital media world. But, a little patience and context can help us save ourselves from rash judgements, and therefore, save the person we're judging.

Pope Francis: Conservative Catholics think he's too soft on moral issues. Liberal Catholics think he's to hard on moral issues. Where is the truth? I think it's hard to tell with a media that misrepresents everything he says and does.

President Trump: He's obviously a firecracker, and deserves plenty of criticism. The problem is the criticism he receives is rash and often overblown. I think people would be more receptive if the Never-Trump right and left didn't hate him for exact opposite reasons on issues every time he's in the news.

War Cries: We are often either all for war or totally against it from the start. This rash decision shows our hand and doesn't allow us to make the right judgements based on a given situation. Nor, does it allow us to negotiate.

Our Neighbors: By being charitable to those we deal with daily and face-to-face, we can practice not rushing to judgements. It's far too easy to do so when it's a picture in your news feed or a video on the TV. But, when someone stands in front of you, it's much more difficult.

We need forgiveness and mercy to return to our society if we want to see it mended. You cannot reconcile, nor would anyone look to do so, if there is no sense of mercy toward others.

Kyle Kashuv: Do you deserve to have your life ruined for something you said at age 16? I think not. So, today we talk about public figures that I believe deserved forgiveness and mercy, but didn't receive it.

Rosanne Barr: We talk about what happens when someone says something they shouldn't after moving into the public eye. How do we forgive and move on? When should we not do that?

James Gunn and Joy Reid: To show that these beliefs are not partisan in any way, I talk about two people I believe deserved a bit of grace and charity but didn't receive any. How can we create a standard that we can hold our political opponents to?

We often hear stats and detach ourselves from their reality. Yesterday, I heard a podcaster make a great point about statistics and give them life. Today I'd like to look at that and expand on it.

Unemployment: The real hidden number here is twofold. You have to take into account the number of people who are either getting back into the labor market or leaving the market. Plus, you have to take into account the number of people finding jobs and losing jobs.

Housing Prices: This is often overlooked when talking about economic crashes. But, as we saw in 2008, the pricing of houses can be a huge deal to people. It's often their biggest single investment, and the price of the house going way down can be the same as a bloodbath in the stock market.

Polls: I think the thing that is lost in the poll data most often is the human element. Computers aren't being surveyed, but flesh and blood people. And, we don't necessarily comply with or give the full truth to pollsters. There are also those who rally to give the pollsters too much.