In case you had not yet noticed, I am a huge fan of mythology of all sorts, but I know the most about Greek Mythology because I spent the majority of my teen years obsessing over it. Whilst other people my age were reading Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, I took comfort in the tales of Poseidon, Athena and Aphrodite. Any lover of Greek Mythology knows that the best parts have to do with the raging passion of the perfectly imperfect gods and goddesses. Humans in these tales are nothing more than observers, people for the reader to relate to as the gods and goddesses destroy our flawed perceptions of ourselves and our world. There are many goddesses involved with love and sexual urges in Greek mythology, but there is only one goddess of pleasure and her name is Hedone. She is the daughter of Eros, who happens to be the god of love, and was more specifically the goddess of sensual pleasure and enjoyment. It is worth noting here that Eros was a close companion of Aphrodite's so it makes sense that his daughter would be a bit on the naughty side. In fact, Aphrodite is often listed as the grandmother of Hedone. But Hedone was not only sexual; she was related to anything that could cause one pleasure and had no specific morality. She also represented the pleasures brought about by material wealth, entertainment and a comfortable life. She is even associated with pleasurable dreams. It should come as no surprise that Hedone happens to be where we get the word "hedonism" from. While normal people loved Hedone, ancient Greek philosophers such as Epicurus and Aristotle warned their followers of engaging in too much pleasure. Aristotle specifically thought of Hedone as being only a part of a greater concept known as pathe, the other half of pathe being pain. These philosophers did not trust Hedone because they only valued the pleasure derived from reason, logic and intellectual pursuits, and essentially branded every other form of pleasure as being immoral vices. You still hear this idea of pleasure being bad trotted out today by the stoics, an even more boring form of Greek thought, which argued that all emotions were bad and influenced people to do corrupt and dangerous things. We still hear this moral grandstanding all the time: from the intelligentsia, from the church, from our families. Everyone seems to be down on pleasure nowadays. Everyone wants to be an Ancient Greek philosopher. Surely we need some pain to balance all that pleasure out. So let's talk about Algea, goddess of pain. Algea are actually various daughters of the goddess of strife, Eris. They were all personifications of wrong-doing and negativity such as murder, lies, forgetfulness, pain, and fights. The Algea are referred to as being full of weeping and obsessed with the torture of the body and the mind. They are represented by three minor goddesses: Akhos (distress), Ania (Grief) and Lupe (Pain). Aristotle's argument was essentially that too much pleasure would eventually lead to increased pain, and therefore pleasure should be reserved to "higher" intellectual pursuits. But modern science tells us that is is the other way around. Pain often leads to pleasure. This may sound odd, but think about it for a moment. Do you enjoy spicy food? Even if you do not enjoy five alarm chili, I am sure you use pepper on your salad and in most meals for that matter. What about that runner's high? If you have never experienced it, it gives you the same feeling as cannabis. How about tattoos or piercings or body modification? We do not just do these things because they are appealing to the eye. We do them because our pain censors also release chemicals that causes us great pleasure. Of course, you could be like Aristotle and stoics and rain on everyone's parade, making vast assumptions about how certain people have gone too far with their Hedonism. But what is too far and too far to whom? I personally think we all need a little more Hedone and Algea in our lives.  

People in the marketing, entertainment and business industries also tend to chant the same mantra when asked about keys to success in their respective fields: "know your audience". You could run a google search on the term right now and instantly be bombarded with thousands upon thousands of ways to achieve this seemingly simplistic goals. I mean, that is how people get noticed in these industries, right? All it takes to succeed in such incredibly competitive industries where most people end up failing is to simply read some article online on how best to identify the people who are sitting around just waiting for what you have to offer. That makes perfect sense...if you are about en years old. But perhaps it is a bit more complicated than that; perhaps you have to identify what people are looking for and then tailor your art to their needs. That has to be the right approach, right? I mean, how could it not be? You just identify what people like and then you give it to them. That is all it takes to be successful in any field...again, according to ten year olds with no real world experience. I have been a performer for over twenty years now. I have performed for more audiences than I could possibly remember and I have been fortunate enough to please the vast majority of those audiences. But here is the big secret about performance. It really does not matter what you perform for people, as long as you are committed to it that is. No, I am not bullshitting you to be contrary here. I am providing you with solid advice gleaned from over two decades in the business of audience pleasing. A person who knows nothing of the art of entertainment, when asked how to entertain people, will always go on the same rant about "giving the audience what they want". But, in case you had not yet noticed, what the audience wants changes with every director, producer, publisher, or content creator. That is because these people are simply guessing and, in many cases, projecting their desires on to what they have termed their "audience". But audiences are not irrational mobs of consumers. Audiences are a complex combination of different cultural, spiritual, national, and racial ideologies that, at a particular moment, just happen to simultaneously be interested in artistic expression by sheer coincidence. No two audiences are ever the same and no two people within an audience are ever the same. People often make insane assumptions about large groups of people. They say that young people will always hate classical art, for example, or that older people dislike pop culture. But, as young boy of 13, I absolutely loved classical art and I know many older people who enjoy contemporary pop culture just as much as the average teenager. The art world often makes incorrect assumptions about the consumers of art. Organizations of artists come up with ridiculous rating systems that essentially make the argument that certain types of art are strictly made for certain types of people. But do these organizations ever stop to think for a second that it is the rating system itself that discourages the consumption of art amongst certain groups? Do these organizations ever stop to think that they are alienating their audience by obsessively seeking out an audience? Studies have demonstrated quite clearly that, when we use the jargon of our field of expertise, we tend to discourage people who are non experts from learning about the beauty of our fields. We shut people out with these assumptions; we do not attract new viewers. And so I say to you that, if you really want to attract a larger audience, you should remember that you do not have an audience, that audiences are not set in stone, that they change depending on the month, day or hour. In order to attract others, we must stand out and have the courage to be different. Boiling people down into an algorithmic soup will not accomplish this goal, it will only hinder it. Only innovative knowledge is power.  

You can never stop being yourself, but people sure will always try to remold your personality in their image nonetheless. The rational minded person will tell you that you are not rational enough, that you are lacking in logic and valid argument, that you must increase your vocabulary and read more philosophy. But what that rational minded person is really telling you is not that you have failed to be rational, but that you have failed to be like them. A person prone to belief will tell you that you lack faith, that you must pray for forgiveness, that you must cry out to the lord in various ways. But the believer is telling you the exact same thing, that you are not enough like them. Try as you might to please the believers and the so called logical people of the world and you will always fail. They will never be satisfied with your answers. No matter how much you pray or philosophize, they will always seek to bully and humiliate you until you bow down and worship them, until you fall down and repent for the sin of thinking for yourself. This is why I am the way I am. This is why I shut myself off to the influence of others. I am not a hermit, nor am I opposed to different ideas. I just recognize the simple fact that what people are really after is to impose their will upon me, to shape me like a piece of clay, to distort my worldview. I refuse to let this happen. I reject the notion that going with the flow is the answer. I take pride in the fact that I can stand on my own, that my thoughts were not given to me by people who died hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Even if I tried to please others, it would not be possible. We live in a world that emphasizes the importance of competition and so people are always scheming, always trying to find a way to punish you for doing the right thing. In this case, “the right thing” happens to be hearing others out. Well, they will punish you for that too. They will lecture you on having improper listening skills or for interrupting them or for having the wrong facial expression during their monologue. People are always labeling each other, always trying to fit others into their own little script. I have no need to be a part of another person’s drama for I have my own drama, and it is far more interesting than anything I’ve ever known. I will not edit myself. I will not tone it down. I will not be polite. I will not do these things because it will never be enough. I will always have to keep changing for the next person and the next person and the next person. I say enough. No more changing to please others. No more seeking the praise of foolish players in their poorly staged dramas. I am. I exist. I breathe. I live…for myself and for those who would have me be myself. My creations are mine. I came up with them. I am not going to change them for others. If other people want to create, then they must get up and do that on their own. I encourage them to do so because I quite their drama long ago. Nowadays, I recognize the beauty within myself. It is a bold task to undertake, to truly be self aware, to truly practice self-love. Few will understand it, but then again the point is not that you understand me. The point is that you recognize that you will never fully understand me and that I will never fully understand you. We are too unique to be alike and we are far too different to be similar. So, if you do not like the way I speak, find another podcast to listen to. If you do not like the way I write, read something else. If you do not like me, find someone who you actually do like. But do not try to make people like you; that is the coward’s way out. Dare to be different, a little bravery never hurt anyone. Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to be myself again, which, of course, means being unlike anyone else. So, the next time you think you will totally own me with your rationality or religiosity just remember that you are wasting your time. I cannot be owned for I am my keeper

The old saying goes that the best things in life are free. But today you would think the best things in life are dirt cheap. I am often told by some silly bargain hunter of the immense pleasure they get from saving money. Whether it be at Walmart or the Dollar Tree, these cheapskates love to brag about their recent acquisition of various goods. But are they really getting more bang for their buck or have they simply found another way to screw themselves over? When times are tough, people tend to look for an easy way out instead of weighing their choices wisely and making the best decision based on the facts. People do not have time for facts. They are far too busy trying to prove whatever fantasies they believe in to be bothered with actual investigative journalism. But I have long since separated myself from the cult of consumerism and so I have all the time in the world to scrutinize those who claim to have discovered ways to save money. Whenever you save money on a product, that generally means the product is either stolen or somehow defective and therefore low in quality. Thieves will sell hot items they steal in large quantities for ridiculously low prices in order to increase profit, for example. However, I have not yet found any evidence that any of the Dollar Tree stores are stealing goods from high end stores, though I would not put it past them. What I have found is that many of the products on your local Dollar Store shelves are actually broken, contaminated, expired, toxic, or all of the above. This should come as no surprise to the consumers who are purchasing traditionally expensive products for almost nothing. The businesses of this nation must pay extremely high prices in order to stay open so it only follows that the only way to charge such low prices on a consistent basis is to cut corners when it comes to ensuring the health of your consumers. Further, American industry has a long tradition of selling defective products to its consumers with no regard for the consequences of their actions. The Ford Pinto, a car that would burst into flames upon the slightest impact, was sold to consumers even though Ford was well aware that their cars were not properly built. Asbestos was used for years as insulation, even though plenty of evidence existed proving the deadly substance's connection to causing cancer. Business operates for one purpose: profit. And profit does not care if you live or die. Putting yourself and your family's and friend's health at risk is no way to save a few dollars. I understand times are hard, but a bargain is only a bargain if the product you are purchasing actually works. If the product you are buying is ineffective, you are not saving money, you are wasting money. The product will not work sufficiently and you will be forced to buy more and more and more, essentially spending the exact same amount of money you would have spent had you just bought a quality product in the first place, and more than likely spending a bit more on all the gas you will have to buy to make that tenth trip to the dollar store each month. The reality is that you are living in a time of high prices and that means that you will have to make reasonable sacrifices, none of which should involve sacrificing the quality of your health. Products such as medications and supplements, often sold for a buck in Dollar Stores, have been found to be expired before the time of purchase or to not contain the ingredients that they claim to contain on the label. Food items bought at Dollar Stores have been found to be expired while on the shelves. Clothing items sold at Dollar Tree stores have been found to contain bacteria like the kind that causes various skin infections. Many of the chemicals and pathogens found in these items have caused severe illness and even death. But you wouldn't know about that because, in certain states, none of this is even illegal. Still feel good about saving all that money?    

Catharsis is the act of purifying or purging emotions and tension, primarily through artistic expression. Well, you can consider this particular episode to be a form of cathartic expression from me. Regardless of what your conservative friends may say about me, I have no desire to be violent. I have never, not once, harmed a person in my life because I have never been attacked physically, and so I have had no need to do such a thing, and I still don’t. However, I have absolutely no problem expressing my emotions, even if those emotions are “negative” because, as I have proven extensively in prior episodes, any thought that does not align with a person’s particular narrative is now written off as “negative” and every single person on the planet has their own unique narrative. I no longer try to please people because you cannot begin to please a person until they have recognized that they cannot be pleased. And, of course, if a person cannot be pleased, there is no point in hiding our emotions from anyone. People will always assume the worst of your intentions. They will always say, “I am not listening to you because you use dirty words” or “I will not listen to you because you are making light of serious situations” or “I am not listening to you because you are a communist.” Whatever it is, the point is that most of us are not really listening anyway, which is why we never really feel heard. But some people, on occasion, will listen, if your message resonates with them that is. And so my cathartic rants are not really for me, but for the people like me that live in fear: fear of judgment, fear of bullying, fear of abuse, etc. I speak for them, not for me. I am the sum of their regrets, their dissatisfaction, their grief, their empathy, their depression, their heartache, their loneliness…Their tattered dreams live within my mind and, late at night, those dreams come to life in my heart. What a wonderful thing it would have been for Tammy to play Hamlet like she always wanted. What a glorious triumph it would have been for little Danny to hit a home run in the big game. What an awesome feat it would have been for Bill to start that new business. How grand it would have been. But Tammy did not get the part because women cannot play men in that Shakespearean troupe. Danny did not hit the home run because his dad was a little too mean when teaching him how to swing the bat. And, sadly, Bill was unable to start that business because he has too much financial aid debt to get the required loans. And so you are left with nothing but could haves and would haves. How great that would have been. How awesome we could have done, if only someone, anyone would have taken a chance on us. At that point, when all hope is lost and the leaders’ hearts have turned to stone, all you can do is express yourself. So I give you this ode to unhappiness, this sonnet of marred expectations, of wounded pride, and disappointment. But I do not mean to depress you. I made this episode to remind you that, even though we suffer great defeat, we must continue to remember that our wants, our needs and our desires are important. You never really lose a fight as long as your heart is still ticking. So get up off the mat, go to your corner, tend to your wounds, and take a breather champ. This guy’s tough, but he doesn’t have your fighting spirit. Maybe try a little rope a dope next round. Ding, ding folks. Round two is coming up. So brush up on that monologue Tammy. Get up early Danny; it's time to go to the batting cages. Come on Bill, I know you're down, but look into starting that business online. You do not need to be discovered; you can discover yourself. You do not need to be the star of the game; you just need to keep showing up until you get your shot. You do not need money; you need to be creative. We live in a privileged world, but resilience is strongest in those who have already suffered great defeat. Bob and weave kid. Keep those feet moving. 

Everyone loves to debate. Unfortunately, everyone also hates to listen. So, usually what happens during a debate is that two people who start off acting like adults, quickly get frustrated and begin shouting at each other like a couple of teenagers fighting over where to eat for lunch or who has the best taste in music. "Yeah, but like you don't understand Travis Scott Jessica; his music totally changed the world," teenager number one says. "Travis Scott? Oh my gosh, you must be joking," teenager number two states mockingly, "everyone knows that Justin Timberlake is a far superior dancer. I mean, just look at the way he dances like Usher. Only he could have had the knowledge to steal that." This is where people usually stop paying attention or just leave the room entirely, allowing the two chuckle heads to duke it out over who has the best music, the best hair, the best dance moves, the best whatever. Blah, blah, blah. People may like to participate in debates, they may like expressing their own opinions or asking difficult questions, but that is pretty much where the interest in debate stops for most people. Don't get me wrong, people will listen to you if you are engaging, if you are an eloquent speaker, if you understand the art of public speaking is much more about entertainment than about proving a point. But very few people understand this, even some people who make a living off of public speaking (politicians come to mind) do not understand this very crucial element of their trade. Appeals to emotion are often demonized in these debate settings, but humans are emotional creatures. If you refrain completely from appeals to emotion, the average human being becomes terribly bored and then stops listening completely. While you busy yourself explaining why, according to the science, this is why I will make the best president, the average person is wondering why you are prattling on about science when you are supposed to be addressing the problems they have in real life. How does citing a study on the effectiveness of the local police department solve the crimes that they have struggled with solving, the ones that people see everyday on the news? It doesn't and that is part of the problem of debates. You may be correct statistically, but statistics cannot right wrongs; they only provide us with the facts as they are at that moment and even that is questionable at times. You can certainly claim that you are the best candidate and you can even give various reasons why you are superior to other candidates. But what can you really say to the people to convince them that you are correct? Well, you can make a bunch of promises. You can say things like "if I am your next president, I will be tough on crime" (a favorite of modern politicians). But does being tough on crime get rid of crime? Or does it just force criminals to be creative? The recent surge in theft, for example, has been funded by the invention of online shopping. It is easy to create dummy accounts on Amazon or EBay. So, the old days of stealing and selling at flea markets are pretty much gone; now all you have to do is boost a bunch of goods from the mostly deserted mall and sell to the people who are scared of going out to shop. Another slogan politicians love to use during debates is "I will protect your right to choose." But choice means different things to different people. To one person choice is the right to decide what goes into their body, while to another person choice is the right to choose what comes out of their body. Yet by being generic, you can appeal to all people who use the word choice as a political slogan. And so, when it comes to debates, no one really has to make a concrete argument and, in fact, they are often avoiding making any kind of argument. They are really just trying to get you to like them so that they can go viral on the internet and save a bit of money on their campaign expenditures. Yet the master debating continues.  

Both optimists and pessimists are incorrect. Life is good. Life is also bad. And, yes, life can be downright horrifying to look at. Though it comforts people to develop some label for individuals, to boil them down to either absolute positive or negative personality traits, this is extremely misleading for each individual is complex, multi-faceted and tragically misunderstood. Yet still people continue to try to separate the good from the bad, the intelligent from the stupid, the wheat from the chaff. But this is an impossibility. No one is good at everything and so no one person is always good. No one knows everything and so there are no people who know it all. There really is no such thing as expertise; there are only people who tend to be correct more than others. There is no such thing as a good leader, only leaders who are satisfactory and unsatisfactory. Even a five star meal will taste like a cow pie if we are sick. Perception is the ultimate judge of character and what is true varies from experience to experience. And so there is goodness and ugliness in everything on the earth. I think a perfect example of this in the modern era is a particular incident I once saw on the news, where a car thief furiously drove back to the scene of his crime only to get out and berate the owner of the car for leaving her child in the backseat of the car. The car thief returned the child to the mother unharmed, got back into the recently jacked vehicle and went along his merry way. That was a somewhat comical example, but there is truth in humor. That car thief, in a sense, is a bit of a hero. He risked being arrested to return the poor child to his mother; of course he would have never been in that situation in the first place had he not put himself there by being a thief. While the car thief may be in the wrong, there is a certain romanticism about a person who risk going to jail all to reunite a child with his mother. There is always beauty in tragedy, always love to be found in hatred. This is the natural way of things. As I listened to this episode, I was reminded of the story of Medusa, a beautiful young woman turned into a mutant being by a vengeful god. Medusa was mortal, but her siblings were not. She was beautiful until she disgraced the temple of Athena, provoking Athena's wrath. It was Athena, the Olympian goddess of war and and wisdom, that punished Athena for being raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple. That's right, Medusa was punished for being raped and it was Athena, the goddess of wisdom and, paradoxically, peace who saw fit to torture Medusa by stripping her of her natural beauty. The irony there is so unbearable that just thinking about it almost turns you to stone. Athena was also quite beautiful, but she was also quite territorial and downright spiteful at times; this is not only proof that wisdom can harden the heart, but that beauty is only skin deep. Even the gods are never perfect; in fact, they're often prone to madness. Indeed, perfection itself is nothing more than a myth. I think that many people vainly hunt for things like wisdom, beauty and perfection for the same reasons the ancient Greeks wrote about vengeful and sex obsessed gods, to feel a sense of connection to the heroic, the valiant, the perfect, even when life itself, at times anyway, is a horror show. I personally cannot point at any one person or group of people and say that they are all bad, nor can I say that they are perfect. I was never all that good at writing myths. I can only tell you the whole truth, even while knowing that you secretly desire sweet nothings. There is goodness in those you consider evil, just as there is evil in those you consider heroic. I used to be a right wing conspiracy theorist and now here I am searching for the truth, but in an honest way this time around. Though I once played the role of the villain, I now make up for it by playing the hero. And so the struggle continues.     

We often are forced to listen to celebrity "success" stories. During these "success" stories we are told that if we work our asses down to the tailbone the magic job fairy will come along and offer us our dream job. This story has been preached as the gospel truth by almost every celebrity that has ever graced a movie set or a microphone. But the reality is much different; the reality is that favoritism, the act of giving unfair preference to one person or group not based on talent but on superficial things like attractiveness, and nepotism, the act of giving all jobs to your unqualified relatives and friends rather than giving it to the person who has worked the hardest, often lead to what we call success. I personally see a lot of favoritism in the rap scene play out today. Modern rap has become more of a fashion show than an art form. There are not many Missy Eliot's making it into the higher levels of rap today. There are not many Eves coming up in the game anymore. The aforementioned artists had mad talent and they are proof that you really do not have to look like some fashion model to make great art. That is why Nicki Minaj's ascent to fame was so depressing to me. I don't even think Minaj remembers her own hair color any longer. She actually fashions herself after a Barbie Doll as her stage personae. Really? A Barbie Doll? The toy that is pretty much the standard of beauty for all young white girls, that instructs those white girls that that is how you are supposed to look, that makes them hate themselves. Some of those white girls, who no doubt hate themselves because no one looks like a Barbie Doll, grow up and bully black girls in order to make themselves feel better. These white girls, not all, but some, call black girls ugly all because their mothers taught them, by buying them toys like Barbie Dolls, that black girls are ugly. But this is what you base your persona on? How disappointing it is to know that one of the number one artists in a mostly all black genre is contributing to the bullying of young black girls cannot be put into words. But if you are willing to do that, if you are willing act white instead of sticking true to your roots, then you can make it in rap pretty easily. But don't get it twisted, I ain't impressed by Nicki Minaj or anyone like her who decides to put on white face, while at the same time acting like she's a soldier for the black race. This is favoritism act work, only the black people who act white ever get anywhere anymore in this country. That is a fact. The same can be said of men in the rap game. It used to be that you could be an Old Dirty Bastard type and achieve measurable success in the hip hop world because no one used to care how you looked as long as you sounded great. Nowadays, you have to have the perfect haircut and the perfect clothing style to be a famous rapper. I don't know what happened in hip hop, but somewhere along the line it became a requirement that you had to look like Puff Daddy to be a hit rapper. That's the standard now and a lot of serious talent is getting passed up because of this high fashion movement that has taken over rap. But it's not just favoritism; nepotism is also taking over entertainment. The reason there are not enough jobs for up and coming artists like me, the reason they lock us out of Hollywood, is because they give all the jobs to their untalented relatives and friends. It's not enough for celebrities to have requirements for how you must act and look to get into their cool kids club; now you actually have to be related to them! When does it end? How can you possibly please such people? How can you sit there and expect me to keep a positive attitude when these drama queens are going out of their way to lock people like me out of the industry? Some of us don't have money to go to the damn spa, alright? I can't always afford to buy a new suit and tie for an audition and they know that. They have locked normal people out.  

We are often told to be hopeful; we are rarely told what hope actually is. It turns out, hope is nothing more than a fancy word for expectation. When wellness gurus, psychotherapists, politicians, journalists, and religious leaders tell you to keep hope alive, they are simply telling you to continue to expect things from others. But why? Why should we expect to receive things from people who, for the most part, are completely opposed to helping their neighbors? Why should we expect anything of anyone? Expectations ruin relationships. If you expect your lover to cook for you everyday, eventually they will grow tired of you and seek love elsewhere. If you expect your children to do exactly what you say at all times no matter what, they will grow to hate you and rebel against everything you have to say, even if it makes sense. If you expect your boss to give you a raise for Christmas, he will give you a lump of coal and pink slip instead. If you expect your prayers to be answered then people will laugh at you. If you expect your wish to be granted then people will call you spoiled or selfish. Political movements are often based on hope, hope that a better tomorrow will occur someday, somehow, somewhere over the rainbow...But the hope is never fulfilled, the dream is never accomplished and the belief in miracles is never legitimized. Many people were hopeful that Joe Biden would be the next FDR, but his policies are so far to the right of FDR, and always have been by the way, that such a hope is simply laughable. Many hoped Donald Trump would clean the swamp of political corruption, but he only became a part of it and made it ten times worse. We hope for things all the time and we are constantly disappointed when, yet again, Santa never leaves the little boy with cancer a Christmas present, Scrooge never lightens up on his workers and The Grinch gives Cindy Lou Who the finger as he races back to his ice mansion with all the toys and decorations on black Friday. Hope will drive you mad in the end. It will send you over the edge and there will be no one there to break your fall. You cannot expect things from people who lack empathy, who refuse to understand, who continue to mock and laugh at your suffering. Expect nothing from these people and you will be happier, much happier than you have ever been in your entire life. Identify the people who deny you, who scorn you, who would rather leave you for dead than give you a job with a fair paying wage for they are the ones who murdered hope, not me. Should you be able to expect decent working conditions, a reasonable salary and adequate transportation? Of course you should. You should also be able to work for someone who cares about your well-being. You deserve that, most people do. But, looking at the state of things today, can you really expect such things? Can you really keep living under the delusion that the same wealthy people, with all the money and resources in the world to feed, house and clothe the earth's inhabitants, and yet who choose not to, will actually help little old you? Can you really expect the leaders of today's world, who time and time again, have refused to do anything to stop climate change, but instead ask you to save the climate by denying yourself food, water and even the right to start a family, will help you maintain your civil rights? Can you really expect a government that has consistently failed to prosecute known criminals while at the same time jailing and, in some instances, murdering people for committing petty crimes will bring you any kind of sustainable peace? You would be foolish to have such expectations. You would be doing yourself great harm to expect a murderer to save your life. But do not worry because you do not need hope; you do not need expectation. You can achieve what you like with thought, with your mind. You can transcend belief. You can make the rainbow come to you. How? Value yourself and the answer will become clear.