Category Archives: Objectivism

The NFL, CBS, the Value of Money, and Enlightened Self-Interest

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“So you think that money is the root of all evil? . . . Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value.” — Ayn Rand Letter 1971-1976 (“Hunger and Freedom)

I often refer to service of others in my philosophy.  Indeed, serving your fellow human is a huge part of living a life of virtue.  Without a doubt, my serving others plays a huge part in my happiness. However, this does not mean I do not expect to be compensated for my service.  In many cases, in our current society of exchange I expect my neighbor to thank me for the value he has received by providing me with a “certificate” of his appreciation (in other words, a note of legal tender…money).  By providing money to me, the receiver of my service has said, “you have provided me something of value, I have labored to earn this money, and what you have provided is worth that labor.  Thank You.”

However, direct payment isn’t always how value is exchanged.  On this site, I hope to provide something of value to you, while also exploring the philosophical life.  This is provided free of charge…well, sort of.  When CBS televises, the NFL playoff game between the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots (go Houston!), both the NFL and CBS do so “free of charge.”  What they know, however, is that millions of fans are provided value in watching the game.  For 3 hours, they get to be part of something, whether it’s the feeling of being part of either team’s effort, just to escape for a while and have fun, observe the strategy of the game, or even observe the prowess of the athletes…millions find value in those 3 hours.  More importantly, advertisers know the fans are watching and want them to know that they can provide value as well, so they pay the NFL/CBS some big bucks to get their products in front of these fans.  These ads will mostly miss.  Many viewers will not even pay attention, others will watch the ads simply for the entertainment value, but if 1/10th of 1% buy the product and 1 million are watching, then that is 1000 sales, which would lead to those buyers telling their friends and maybe remaining a returning customer.  Value is very important in this whole setup.  Everybody divides their value into tiny fractions, and everybody is a lot of people (I think 7 billion or so at last count).

My game is just beginning. Not too long ago, was the opening kickoff.

My game is just beginning. Not too long ago, was the opening kickoff.

Whew, that was a mouthful, but it had to be said.  Anyway, I provide you with (I hope) just a tiny amount of value with each posting.  Just enough to make you (and me) think, and hopefully read again.  Maybe you’ll even share the post with friends, and they will tell their friends…and on, and on.  Hopefully, you will come back.  Like the NFL, I hope that these posts can take you to a place of value, and like the NFL I hope advertisers will see this through my number of hits, views, shares, loyal audience, etc.

Essentially, I am banking on my own ability to convey the Heroic Stoic philosophy to an audience such that they find value in my work.  First of all, I can look myself in the mirror each day and say that what I do is a worthwhile effort.  Additionally, I can view whether my work is catching on.  Without a doubt, this endeavor is not only for money (really, it’s not even close), but at some point I think the value of what I provide will manifest in “certificates” of value (i.e. money).

Certificates of Appreciation

Certificates of Appreciation

This, I think is the essence of enlightened self-interest.  I pursue my life, as well as my work because it satisfies me, AND I hope what I provide is a fair trade for others’ labor.  I help you, you help me, etc. We trade, albeit indirectly.

 

I am a Failure! What Now?

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“0h Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be. Anytus and Melitus may kill me indeed, but hurt me they cannot.” –Plato’s Crito

For my job, I am required to pass an evaluation.  I recently took one of these evaluations, and although I passed, I did not leave the lasting good impression that I had hoped to leave with my new boss.  As the new guy, this was my chance to break through, to develop a trust from my employer that would be one I could build upon.  That did not happen.  Instead, as one thing led to another I ended up performing badly enough during one portion that I now am “in a hole” that I must dig out of.  It left my evaluator, who just happens to be my boss, with a lack of confidence in my ability.  For all intents and purposes, I failed.

If at first you don't succeed...(photo by Ben Earwicker)

If at first you don’t succeed…(photo by Ben Earwicker)

So what can I, as a Heroic Stoic make of this?  Here are some thoughts.

1. Control

“What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

Much of what happened on this particular evaluation was out my control:  the situation I was put in, my own fatigue, my lack of situational awareness of how difficult the particular task was, my inexperience on the job, my own talent at performing the job, not to mention the boss’s opinion on the seriousness of the errors I committed.  These are not excuses, this is a simple acknowledgment that there are certain things that I cannot control, when I face a failure.  These are things that test me, that make me better.  They improve my skills.  Clearly, if I have failed then I have reached some kind of limit…at least I know where it is now, and what to do next.

2. Picking Myself Up

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”–Dale Carnegie

(Photo by Cheryl Empey)

(Photo by Cheryl Empey)

This failure has afforded me the opportunity to reevaluate my own attitude and what I can do better in the future.  For example, in this case I have committed to be better at the tasks I did not do well.  I will commit to never make those errors again.  They may be my weaknesses, so I am set on bringing them up to par.  Often, failures can close doors and force you to go in a different direction…it may lead to a change in focus in your life.  A failure may make you realize that you are not cut out for a particular task, and a new door will open.  It this is you, be on the lookout for it.

3. Worry (That is, Worrying About Fate)

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” –Marcus Aurelius

I could worry about how this will affect my future.  How will this affect my work environment?  Will the boss be looking for my mistakes now?  Will it affect any raises I get?  What happens if I make another mistake?  Could I lose my job?  All these things are possible, but they will largely be controlled by fate.  There is no reason to worry about these things.  What to be concerned about are the things I can control.  I need to do the best job I possibly can.  Will I make mistakes? Sure.  Will I have to prove myself? Most definitely.  All I can do is the best I can do…it is the only way to be virtuous.

4. Pride

“I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.”   George Burns

It is better to have tried at something I am committed to, than to not have tried at all.  Along the way, there will be failures for things that are worth it.  Failures don’t mean the end, and failures while doing something you love are worth it.  It is my pride in my craft that will motivate me to be better…to be excellent!

Failing at something he loves?

Failing at something he loves?

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” –Michael Jordan

Do We Need Structure and Regulation?

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I just want to be free.  I want to be free to do whatever I want, wake up when I want, eat what I want.  As long as I do not actively harm those around me, I should be able to choose the path to take without someone else’s interference.  I want to keep the fruits of my labor, and to share or trade with my property as I please, in ways that I find most effective.  I maintain that this is the supreme state for the individual.

We all want this, we all want freedom, no?.  To do whatever we want, whenever we want.  However, is this really freedom?  Will this really bring happiness?  Does living in a world without rules really bring happiness?  Isn’t it better to live in a well-regulated environment?  Well, as is frequently the case, I think the answer is “it depends.”  It depends on the source of a person’s structure, internal or external.  Where does your structure, your regulation come from?  Is it an external or internal source?

With any structure there is great freedom.  A prisoner is relieved of many burdens when his schedule is laid out for him.   0630 Wake Up, 0700 Eat, 0730 shower, 2200 lights out, etc.  No weapons, no cell phones, 1 phone call per day…follow the rules.  You must wear the orange suit…follow the rules.  The prisoner is relieved of the burden of responsibility through a highly structured environment.  His structure was decided by someone else:  the prisoner is not really free, is he?  A child has great freedom because she does not have to worry about what rules are correct, and which rules are not.  All the child has to do is follow the rules, and she is relieved of the burden of judgment.  When she is given a template to follow, and follows it then the results are fairly predictable.  There is freedom in structure, but is this really freedom?

The prisoner is “free” of many burdens, but not really free.

The inevitable question to ask myself is, “Do I want to be a child or a prisoner forever?”  In other words, do I want someone else to make the rules for me, or can I discover my own structure?  Where would I find this structure?  I will propose that you can have freedom from an outside influence and structure…as long as you maintain your philosophy.

Through philosophy, in my case a Stoic one, I can regulate myself.  In essence, I can self-govern.  In regulation, there is freedom.  In self-regulation, there is transcendence, maturity, and happiness…you become a fully virtuous human being.  When you let someone else govern you, it feels safe and secure, but you won’t be happy and you are not truly virtuous.  To be truly happy, you must self-govern.

So, to summarize:

  1. Our ultimate aim is happiness.
  2. Happiness can only be had when we are truly free.
  3. To be truly free, our lives must be governed…we must follow certain rules.
  4. To be truly free, to be a man or woman in full (a nod to Tom Wolfe below), you must govern yourself through your philosophy.

I think that sums it up.  What do you think?

 

How Can I be a Hero? Ten Things to Try Now!

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“Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.” –Kansas

“We are the champions my friend, and we’ll keep on fighting til the end!” –Queen

Fate and impermanence are powerful concepts.  I’ve dwelled upon them in my previous posts…just about all of them, in fact.  You can find examples of this here, here, and here.  If I am destined for failure, doomed to death, and my world will eventually crumble before me, what’s the point?  Should I just throw in the towel?  If we are all destined for misery, then why should I even try?

Should I just give up?

No, no, no!  That is not my point!  It is true that much struggle, much strife will befall us.  It is also true that your existence, as well as that of all around you will be gone in no time.  Face it, in about 100 years it will all be new people.  100 years…that’s a blink of an eye in the continuum of the 13.7 billion (or so) the universe has existed.  For comparison, think of the age of the universe as a year.  If you live to be 100 years, your life span would be less than second in that year (actually, about 0.23 seconds).  So if our time is so short, then what does that mean?  What is it you want to do with those 100 years…with that blink of your existence?  How can I be a hero?  Here are some suggestions:

13.7 Billion Years!

  1. Make Something – Set yourself to building, or creating.  Build your child a treehouse, build a business.  Create art, music or poetry.  Design a widget to make someone’s life better.  Leave a legacy…for your own sake.
  2. Help Someone – You can volunteer at a soup kitchen, be a crossing guard, find a career where you can help someone…as a doctor, nurse, architect.  Be a banker, but bank with passion and compassion to make a difference in your world (not the ENTIRE world, just yours).
  3. Become a Master– Master the piano, brain surgery, flying a helicopter, fixing motorcycles.

    Master Brain Surgery!

    It may take years, it may take much of your time, but find something you love and master it!  It will make you proud, it will be worth it.

  4. Love Someone – Take a chance on an old relationship gone bad, maybe it is with your mother, father, brother, ex-husband, or an old friend.   Take a chance on telling someone how you feel…someone who might not know it…maybe it’s that huge crush, or a friend who doesn’t know about your romantic feelings.
  5. Love Everybody – You don’t need to trust everybody all the time, but you can give them a chance.  “Respect all, measure each.”  Most of those around you struggle to hold their ground in this wrestling match called life, and many are doing it honestly.  Have compassion for them today.
  6. “Be” with Someone – When you are with someone you love, pay attention to them.  Really listen.  Feel their feelings.  Empathize with them.  When you interact with anyone reallypay attention.  Be with them in the moment.

    Listen!

    You will notice more if you really pay attention.  Remember, you only have 100 years so use every moment wisely.

  7. Appreciate this Day– What kind of day is it?  The warm sun, the cold breeze, the wet rain, the cold snow…appreciate them all.  Take a deep breath…notice how it feels so refreshing as it replenishes your oxygen stores.  If 100 years is .23 seconds, then 1 day is 0.0000063 seconds.  Sands in the hourglass, no?
  8. Teach – Share what you know with someone.  Share your talents, pass on your skills to the next generation, or your current community.
  9. Reach a Goal – Finish that marathon, lose 10 pounds, golf below 80.  Finish college (just make it a degree worth pursuing)!  The pursuit makes life interesting.
  10. Relax – Yes, just take a break once in a while.  Maybe you could use a “staycation.”

No need to try them all, although you could in a 100 years, but maybe just try a few.  So, even though fate will have its way with you, you can take it on with tenacity.  You can be a hero if you put yourself to it.

…and you can be proud of it, because YOU made the effort!

The Truth Hurts: What the Gurus Won’t Tell You, but I Will.

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Searching for the truth is hard work.  Particularly in this era, we are surrounded by conflicting theories.  They are available to us at the click of a mouse, or the selection of an app.  It is very difficult to ascertain what is true and what is propaganda or delusion (this includes the self-delusion of the provider of the information).  Speaking of delusion and propaganda, we have our own biases to deal with as well.  Delusion is all around us, but we can still seek truth, no?

We want to believe in something…something magical, or mystical even.  When someone tells us “it will all be OK,” we want to believe them.  For this reason, we may accept what they have to say.  If someone tells us that, “all we have to do is visualize our future and it will become reality,” then we certainly want to believe that as well.  The success of self-appointed and celebrity-endorsed gurus is an indication that we all want to believe something, especially if it is something positive; especially if it means that we can have more control over our destiny.  I think most people choose this route…to believe.  It feels better to “feel” like we are in control, even if it is only in our mind.  Furthermore, we want the biggest payback with the least amount of work, toil and suffering.  I think we are just wired that way.

The problem is that most of these guru-issued assurances are lies.  They are pretty, they are comforting, they are delicious (like a dessert), but they are lies nonetheless.

Is this really sustenance?

Eventually, the sugar-high wears off and we are stuck with more hunger, and we feel lousy as well.  Throughout my life, I have read a wide assortment of New-Age gurus, religious apologetics, spiritual advisors, and self-anointed prophets (maybe I should have spelled it “profits”).  The most successful of these seem to be saying things like this

  • Your future is yours.
  • Trust in the Lord, and it will turn out all right.
  • All of us have a destiny, when you are aware of yours, you can’t fail.
  • Just believe and it will happen.

This advice may help us cope, but I don’t think it changes the reality around us:  You win some, you lose some and sometimes you just keep losing.

This is not to say that having a positive mental attitude is not helpful.  Certainly if we envision something, like a goal for instance, this can help us obtain it.  It can direct our energies toward accomplishing our own betterment.  But that is only the beginning, and it’s a long haul indeed.  What the gurus won’t tell you is the following:

  1. Accomplishment requires hard work.  Certainly our desires and passions drive us to work harder, but desire and wishing will not get us to where we want to be.
  2. Your success is not guaranteed.  People fail all the time, over and over again. Some will die in poverty, depressed, alone.  Some will be ill their entire lives, some will lose their life too soon, possibly the moment they think they have figured it all out.  This is not their fault, it is just fate.
  3. You will suffer, as long as you are on Earth.  It is all around us.  You will face disease, death, and destruction.  You cannot wish this away.

You must train for the struggle!

To know these truths is to be armed and ready.  Ready for what we will be challenged with, and ready for when things don’t go our way.  The simple fact of the matter is that a large majority of our lives are out of our control, and much of life will pummel us.  This does not mean that we shouldn’t have goals, or try to make things better.  Knowing these truths, while maybe brutal at first, should motivate us to do our part to serve, to excel, to care.  In my view, this is what calls us to try, to accomplish, to wrestle with existence.

But you can’t be a wrestling champ if you don’t train.