There things that we must observe as we grow and as we guide those who grow older under our charge. We must allow them to grow organically and guide them and we must accept responsibility for how we guide them. If you are older, you are a guide, a mentor no matter how old your charge is. The opportunities to guide and teach exists daily and if we as parents and mentors fail to observe them and only serve our own selfish agenda then we contribute to what we most detest in this society.

The gentlemanly way is perhaps all but lost. It is described in these times as being kind and agreeable. But being a gentleman is not agreeable. He is about living deliberately and with a keen awareness of consequence. Are you a gentleman of are you something less?

We get locked in the race. We are blinded by the bright lights and distracted by the gladiators and the dancing girls. They keep us doped up like cat nip. I talk about 7 things men must learn to do if they are to be of value to their families. 7 things that will enrich your life beyond measure.

Have we lost a sense of gratitude for what the planet provides us with? In our daily need to fill the role of a consumer as opposed to a replenisher we move further away from a sustainable lifestyle. The act of finding your own food or interacting with people who can tell you about where the specific food came from is no longer relevant because we choose to have an impersonal relationship with what we eat. As a contemptible gentleman I have learnt to respect my place in the circle and be observant of the effects of my presence. I don't mean that in some hippy or artsy manner but as deliberately sincere as possible.

It is really difficult to maintain friendships in this time. We live in a society that has become so sensitive and must comment on everything as if they have been hurt by life. But what does it mean to be a friend, a true friend? Perhaps you will find value in what I have to say this week.

It would seem that our goal in social environments is too find the person willing to complain about life and all the shit that billions of people before us has had to endure. No one is happy anymore. I mean really happy or spiritually fulfilled. fewer people live their passion today than 20 years ago. Everyone is so eager to be offended by an opinion or ready to attack someone else's position. It would seem that discourse cannot take place without someone getting their shit twisted in a knot. We talk about the need to be happier and grateful and when to let the shit that you can't control just lay in the table.

I have always wondered why men fear confrontation and why when they feel they have no way out they default to violence. We cannot allow disrespect to prosper but we must find the appropriate responses. How do we teach young men what those responses are. If we teach them how to carry themselves and how to speak a language that will let others know that disrespect will not be allowed, from the onset, we could build a society not dissimilar to when we grew up.

To write is to be able to publish your thoughts to paper. To be able to do this you must be skilled at getting your point across. To do this you must first be able to comprehend what you hear, see and read. I think every employer should ask an employee to write their thoughts on a range of topics. This is one of the most accurate ways to determine if someone is competent. Writing by hand has become a lost skill because, perhaps being stupid or ill informed has become cool. I cannot remember how many times someone has tried to make me feel inadequate for being more than intellectually adequate. Being able to use your hand to record your thoughts are essential and a primary life skill. We explore the need for this skill and why it is an expansive skill, why it makes you a better human being and why it helps with your personal development.

What can you believe when you are looking for answers about human trafficking? What is the Police doing? Is kidnapping becoming a viral epidemic? If I read social media threads it seems to be a frightening reality. But how much of what I read can I trust and where do I go for the answers? There are many credible organisations doing splendid work around human trafficking around the world, even in South Africa and we should start there. It is important to remain aware of the dangers of becoming saturated by paranoia because you cannot make critical decisions in this frame of mind. This episode highlights some of the important points we must remember as we seek to find the truth about this topic. The undeniable fact is that human trafficking is a very real, clear and present danger. It is very true that young girls all around the world are being taken against their will and sold into slavery and violated and this battle must have every available and willing person as a soldier in the fight. In the South African context we must understand the size of the problem and be able to discern truth from fiction.

I have always been a fan of old, dead tech, only to find that it's making a resurgence nearly 45 years since it first appeared. I have books with entire chapters dedicated to why it is better to listen to 90's boom bap on a cassette deck that on a CD or why it is better to listen to Wes Montgomery on vinyl or Chicago on CD. What Rev and I agree on is that the appreciation for the artist is lost in streaming. You can't hold a CD booklet in your hand and go through the lyrics or list of gratitude when streaming. I watched my daughter look through album artwork as I pick records to play. She compares them with a book I have on Album art, an entire side discussion to be had there. In the old days the artist received R2.00 off every CD sold after the advance was paid back. Today they cant get R1.00 off a single stream. This business is not set up for the artist to win even though the artist puts in all the work. The discussion had by SNOOP and the strike by SAG must surely raise conversations around fair treatment. All I know is the old tech allowed us to respect the body of work much more than we are allowed to now. Keep your old tech, it would seem you can serve the artist better this way.