Isn't It Obvious

Phil asks if we should think twice on any given advice. Micah and K Sera then bust out their "smoker voices" which is both impressive and deeply disturbing.

 

Show notes:

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After thoughts:

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K Sera asks whether we really need last names. Micah discusses the importance of surnames and the necessity of middle names. Phil thinks that without last names we'll need to have genetic testing.

 

Show Notes:

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After thoughts:

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Phil asks if Christmas is for children. K Sera discusses her Christmas experience as a child, Micah talks about how he ruined it for his brother, and Phil has a plan for his Wii U.

 

Shownotes:

N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Baby-lizard-me was a born skeptic. I remember lying to my brother and younger cousins about Santa so as not to "spoil the magic" or whatever. When I called my folks earlier this evening to ask if they recall whenabouts I stopped believing in Santa, the first thing out of my dad’s mouth was, “Did you ever believe in things like that?” - so, there you have it. Nope. 

My best winter and Christmas memories remain being up north, making snow forts and sledding with my cousins, playing cards with the family pinochle players, eating my grandmother’s cooking, and rolling my eyes when uncle Kevin would turn on the Christmas Story and have it playing ALL DAY. ON REPEAT. 

A full house, surrounded by people who I love. That was the best part of the holidays.

- The worst part, in my recollection, was the gifting portion. Gift giving and receiving started out innocently enough for me. As a kid, it was always exciting to know there was something shiny and new just for me under that tree, building up my expectations, imagining all the cool things that might fit in a box this or that size… except, when I finally opened my gifts, I got punched in the gut by the disappointing reality. It was never as good as what I was hoping for, and yet I was expected to be grateful and gracious, and I was gracious, at least; but comparison is the thief of joy, and everyone else I knew got everything they wanted and more for Christmas (or their birthdays), and here I am with nice gifts, sure, but not the coolest, new game/toy/whatever that five and more of my closest friends had. My high expectations and crushing disappointments have been an ongoing learning curve in my life. Eventually, I learned to protect my fragile hopes with a high defensive wall of low-to-no expectations, surrounded by a deep protective moat of ‘let’s not care about what other people have or are doing’ with apathy-alligators ready and willing to eat up any left over fucks still floating around the edges. It took some time, but eventually I figured out that things are not happiness. Good people are happiness - at least, to me.

- I feel like I have a lot of emotional traumas around holiday gifting. I hate it. It makes me feel anxious and awful, because it feels like a game I can’t win. I could literally rant for ten paragraphs on this subject and how miserable it makes me feel, but… I think I’m going to leave it here. It’s enough that I’m worked up over this coming holiday season.

- On a completely different note: Phil eventually did drop off the Wii U so I could play Breath of the Wild. It really was an amazing game! So, thank you Phil, for sharing that with me!

 

Phil's after thoughts:

- The fact that BOTW 2 will come out before Advance Wars (for the Nintendo Switch) still bothers me.

- Also, the fun fact I forgot to mention about the coal: the Editor gave the same piece of coal THE NEXT YEAR. The long-range planning of this Editor is scary impressive, and also just SCARY.

 

In this episode K Sera discusses the obvious needs of having multiple pillows. Micah helps formulate an equation.

 

Shownotes:

n/a

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- Today there are 6 pillows on my bed. 2 more are off to the side requiring clean pillow cases.

- I am also down 2 beds. Micah took my 2nd bed (Necessary. You heard him!). A few months later, my aunt took my pull out twin-to-king. No one stays the night here anymore - probably because they sense danger - so I ditched the extra furnishing. 

- There might be a spiritual sequel to this episode in the future, but it will be about the appropriate number of blankets per household. The answer is, of course, a minimum of 10. 

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-I don't mind having more pillows than needed, in fact I don't mind having only one pillow! WHAT I want is a sequel to this episode about the correct number of blankets per bed. Obviously, I have a bet to settle with the editor on this subject.

Micah brings up capitalism, Phil asks Micah about history, and K Sera may have suggested that Micah's life is in jeopardy (from her), allegedly.

 

Shownotes:

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Micah asks if we can have a police force on a rotational basis. K Sera brings up questions about how it could work and who would be qualified. Phil discusses (yet again) why he does not like downtown Minneapolis.

 

Shownotes:

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Phils' after thoughts:

-This episode was recorded in the late Fall of 2021 (and published in the Fall of 2022) and I have to say that sadly we have not progressed as much as we should have (in regards to law enforcement in Minnesota).

 

In this episode, Phil wants to be lazy but not feel guilty about it.

 

Show notes:

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K Sera's after thoughts:

- It is okay to take breaks. It is okay to take time for yourself. You don’t need an excuse to rest or enjoy a fun activity. But rest and recreation should not exceed the time, work and planning that goes into taking care of your responsibilities: your family, your home, your work. The goal should be to seek a balance that is sustainable. 

- The “life script” is a good guide if you need a direction to achieve fulfillment. If your fulfillment comes from setting and meeting certain goals, there is nothing wrong with striving for those goals. A life script can be incredibly empowering, or it can be severely limiting. The trick is not tying your self-worth so strongly to meeting that timeframe that you crumble if your arbitrary deadline isn’t met. Recognize that many deadlines are arbitrary and if you fail once in a while, that doesn’t make you a failure. There are an abundance of life paths, alternative routes, and ways of existing. 

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-Rest is more important that we give credit for. Americans weirdly brags about "how little we sleep" while admonishing those that just want to relax. At least that is how I grew up (thank you Catholic church).

  -I agree with K Sera on our All or Nothing nature. If people feel like they failed a milestone then apparently it's all over. Life is way more messy than that. I mean, realistically it's pretty much over before you even started unless you're lucky, rich, or both. But I digress.    -Maybe "work hard/party hard" should be "work hard/lazy hard" cause I can get behind that!   Micah's MARS rating -Bubblegum

Micah brings up a question about federalization at the global level. Phil wants to like this idea but is too cynical. K Sera tells us she is a lizard (without telling us she is a lizard).

 

Show notes:

N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

Sarah Hartwick Sat, Oct 22, 2:14 PM (2 days ago)     to me            

- Good luck convincing world powers to give up sovereignty to follow under one set of super broad rules.

- To correct Micah’s death penalty numbers (because Micah thinks the rest of the world feels like he feels about capital punishment, but he’s wrong): In 2021, there were 55 countries that still used the death penalty for “ordinary crimes” (which includes murder, btw). Wikipedia has some updated information for 2022, bringing that number down to 53. The percentages are clearly favoring abolitionist views. And while 27% is still a significant chunk of the world retaining the death penalty, I feel a little vindicated in being right that the majority of the world does not view the death penalty as an acceptable punishment - at least under ordinary circumstances. This particular issue has two extreme philosophical sides that I predict would prevent the formation of a world federal order (or whatever Micah wants to call it). Or, it would at least be an issue that effectively guts any real authority the global legislative powers have - see exhibit A: the UN.

- Maybe we’ll get there someday, but I highly doubt we’ll see that happen in our lifetimes.

 

Phil's after thoughts:

-This episode was recorded in the early fall of 2021 (one year prior to the publishing of this episode). As you can see, having a centralized government would really help right now (in Ukraine, and possibly even in Taiwan in the future).

Setting, 1880s America in the Wild West:

-Micah: "hey, maybe we should get some law and order at the Federal level? -K Sera and Phill: "lol, no"   -Maybe we are in the wild west era at the global level, and maybe we will have accountability, but I know for sure that Capitalism will be involved (and not in a good way).

Micahs MARS rating:

-An ice cream sandwich

Phil discusses how upkeep costs need to be emphasized more when purchasing goods and services. Micah discusses our consumerism issues in America and how capitalism exploits (and eventually) destroys us. K Sera discusses her toaster!

 

Shownotes:

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K Sera's after thoughts:

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Phil's after thoughts:

-I said "Biden Dollars" as far as costs in this episode, but please keep in mind that this episode was recorded in the early Fall of 2021, I had no idea how bad inflation was going to get.

 

Micah's MARS rating: Banana.

K Sera discusses the striking similarities between Nationalism and Religious Extremism. Micah argues over the differences and Phil flip flops.

 

Show Notes:

-N/A

 

K Sera's after thoughts:

- After listening to us ramble on, my thoughts on this haven't really changed. I still think of nationalism as an exclusionary love of country. Not just pride in one's country, but a belief that one's country is better than all others. Which is that same gross feeling I get from religious fanatics. They don't just love their god, their god is the best, most powerful, most amazing god and they are better and more right than anyone who believes differently. It's more than pride. It's exceptionalism.
- I think it's harder for me to understand that as any kind of positive feeling. It is great to love something, and share the thing you love with others who are receptive. It's disrespectful verging on awful to intimate that others are shameful, inept or somehow less than because they don't share or participate in your beliefs... Or non beliefs.
- Anyway… I am tired of people.

 

Phil's afterthoughts:

-- In the Fall of 2022, we have seen political extremism, religious extremism, and extreme nationalism. Sometimes all combined.
- I am hoping that for the most part, the vast majority of the people (99%) are normal, moderate, and reasonable folk that just want a better future for their family and that it is the small (and very vocal) group of fanatics (or extremists in any topic) that are yelling the loudest.
- I say this because while some people are just going to be horrible human beings, I am really hoping that they do not represent who we truly are. That deep inside us, most people are just doing the best with what we have, and that we will help those in need (but we are afraid to because we do not want to be taken advantage of). That we are somehow tricked into believing that most of everyone are the loud and cruel extremists (but in reality many of us are just normal people, but now are concerned about "who is who").
- We often get our news and information outside of first principles. This is designed (we are overworked, overtired, and overdone) to ensure we do not challenge the status quo. The funny thing is, if we only had the energy to realize that most of us are also overworked, overtired, and overdone, we would realize how manipulated we all are.

- Too Long; Didn't Read Version: We are too tired to realize we are all too tired. Only the extremists have been able to tap into rage and fear to gain energy. Yes, every kind of extremists are very similar in this regard (Nationalists fear their way of life is threatened, Religious Extremists fear that they will be punished in the afterlife). News Flash: we are all misled, not because we are stupid, but because we have no energy to fight back. Who are we fighting? Well isn't it obvious?