Crash Course on Capitalism (part 1)

You might think 35% income tax for the rich is too high, but only if you don't understand capitalism. In the 21st century, about four hundred people have almost 50% of the wealth in the United States (Forbes). Quick explanation below:

In a free market, those with money can make more money a lot faster than those without money. Over the course of generations, the playing field is more and more uneven. People without money have to seek out those with money and apply for a job. Those with money spend time investing, and those without money spend time working as employees.

The free market was only an even playing field when it began; now it is a very uneven playing field. That's why we need government to regulate with labor laws, social services, etc. Of course, the propagandists hired by the big financial interest groups will do everything they can to help the rich save money -- so we have the GOP pretending we can magically fix the economy by LOWERING taxes for the rich, increasing the retirement age so the poor can work more years, etc... and lately, they are even trying to de-fund the Environmental Protection Agency! Unscrupulous.

If you want to learn more about the conflict that causes the rich to buy politicians and use propaganda, please follow this blog.

Also, learn about Keynesian economics. John Keynes was a famous economist who observed that government spending can compensate for a lack of private spending during a time of economic recession -- and he believed government could effectively improve the free market. The purpose of government is to protect people, and after 2 centuries of free market American capitalism we do need to be protected from the effects of this exponentially increasing imbalance of wealth. Just like the rich, the government should make good investments.  To the rich, though, the government is just a big pain in the ass.

Strategy for ending an argument #1: "Offering a way out"

If the partner in argument already knows he's wrong and doesn't want to admit it, remember that there is actually no reason he should be forced to admit it. You know it, he knows it, and... unless there is an audience to the argument, that accounts for everyone involved in the situation. Instead of being a slave to your ego and working to get him to admit he was wrong, you can become the voice of the subconscious mind.  In doing so, one option is to offer him a way out:

[Someone unreasonably becomes angry and abusive]

Communication Ninja: “Wait a minute... maybe the reason you got so angry was because you care so much about Molly.”

(Maybe Molly has nothing to do with the situation, but if the partner in argument knows he was wrong he will quickly accept that idea and confirm it.)

Partner in Argument: "Yeah, I don't like anyone talking about her like that, and I know that's what set me off."

Communication ninja: “Well I'm glad I realized that before making a fool of myself. I was thinking about the whole situation the wrong way. I understand where you're coming from and I'm sorry we clashed like this.”

So the moral of the story is that getting the other guy to admit he is wrong is not real winning. That builds resentment that can't be helpful to your real purpose. You can win by suddenly “noticing” something that makes you “understand where he is coming from,” and you can admit that you had judged him prematurely and that now you “regret clashing with him this way.” And to take it to an excellent extreme you can even say, "I'm glad I realized this before making a fool of myself."  To the conscious mind of the partner in argument, this sounds like you are taking all responsibility for the problem, but the subconscious mind hears something like this: "REALIZE, before making a fool of myself, thinking the wrong way, understand where you are coming from..." 

If it's clear to you that the other guy already knows he was wrong, this powerful gesture of reconciliation can be a source of both healing and … winning. The other guy comes away from the argument with the knowledge that you are not someone who can be easily bullied, and he also feels that you suddenly understand him and genuinely like him. And if you are a good practitioner, you really do like him, just as you like life.

Expectation Magic

Most people believe that attitude influences outcomes, and usually they reason that it is because a positive attitude improves performance, perception, and the atmosphere of the whole operation.  Attitude influences outcomes, because a bad attitude brings everybody down, and a good attitude lifts spirits.  Also, people who understand the psychology of language know that attitude is transmitted from person to person via the words they share (and altered in the lens of associations).

But these are only the obvious mechanisms that cause attitude to influence reality.  Some of us believe that there is something more.

It has been called the "Law of Attraction," "Universal Will," "The Power of Prayer," "Creative Visualization," and many other names.  This mechanism is the mind itself, the one that Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki has called "Big Mind." You can find clues about it in every spiritual tradition and meditation discipline that has ever been practiced.  I have always thought of it as Expectation Magic.

Dr. Deepak Chopra has reported many miraculous healings that have been the result of attitude and expectation. Zen masters are reputed to have been able to perform various miracles with their meditation. Dr. Paul Cho, a minister in Korea, has written about the power of petitionary prayer when it is followed by a period of feeling intense appreciation, as thought the request has already been granted.  Father Anthony Demello has written about a similar phenomenon in his book Sadhana. Pagan magical traditions use rituals that amount to a powerful affirmation of expectation.  It is not far-fetched to believe that expectation influences reality.

And for all you empiricists who are scoffing at me right now, I'll offer this argument to show that your assumption is not better than mine:

Empiricists assume that physical matter somehow came into existence and that some of it somehow came to life.  That leaves little room for expectation magic. I begin my thinking with the assumption that it is consciousness that somehow started existing -- not physical matter. 

Consider the implications of that.  It is not a new idea. If it seems new, it's just because it is hard to explain. This is an old idea:

If it is consciousness that somehow started existing, it would surely be having a dream about physical matter. And we all know how expectation can influence events when we are dreaming.        

Online writing services offered by PracticeOrNot, based in Boston

Writing with perfect English is difficult!

College students, including busy professionals and bilingual/multilingual (ESL) English language learners, can have papers, reports, and presentations written by meditation practitioners from a Buddhist organization in Boston.

The city is full of diverse people who hire writers to promote their businesses or write thesis papers and dissertations. It also has some of the best educational institutions in the world.

Here is a list of the most active English writing companies for students affiliated with the Buddhist organization 'Practice Or Not' in Boston.

www.DoctorMyDocument.com

Here is one of the most unusual essay/paper writing companies in Boston. DoctorMyDocument began as a document editing service for bilingual/multilingual (ESL) people learning English. Now they help with all types of projects: Assignments, Coursework, Research Essays, Thesis Papers, Dissertations, Online Classes.

Contact DoctorMyDocument when you need perfect English for your website, thesis paper, professional reports, resume & cover letter, advertisement, or professional bio.

Ask about the strategic 'psycholinguistic' edit to instill a positive feeling in readers and motivate them to take action. The editors will improve the English and make suggestions about how to structure sentences to get the desired result. Any time you write something in English, you can send it to DoctorMyDocument for improvement based on the principles of psychology and persuasion.

PsychologyOfLanguage
This website uses linguistic psychology to choose the words that feel better to read -- the words that motivate the reader to take action. Document editing is a meditative art, and linguistic psychology should be part of any online English editing service. If you know the benefits of meditation, you might want to hire professionals who share that knowledge. Any kind of work can be like 'meditation in action' and it can be a source of great ideas to help you achieve your goals.
Say Ellis, the owner of the site, compares the psychology of language to the 'Jedi mind trick': I always think of the part in Star Wars when Obi Wan Kenobi uses the Jedi mind trick and tells some imperial soldiers, “These are not the droids you are looking for.” And he hypnotizes the guy for a moment. That is the kind of powerful psychology I want for my document editing. Consider these Boston meditation practitioners when searching for an excellent online English editing service.

Jay's Online English Editing Service
'Reviews By Jay' was a humorous collection of product reviews by a retired English professor from Boston. He now applies his talent by ghostwriting and editing for people who need their English improved. He explains, "Many of our clients at Online English Editing Service have great ideas, but they sometimes struggle with English grammar, or they don’t feel sure about how to express their ideas in a way that’s professional and persuasive. That is where people find the usefulness of an online English editing service.

Jay and his associates will revise your content based on the collective ideas of everyone on his team. He promises, "We are sincere in our work, whether it is a very small job or a year worth of document editing." They specialize in helping English language learners express their ideas with clarity and confidence.

A disoriented incarnation of god.

Person - per·son/pərsən/Noun - A disoriented incarnation of god.

I was arguing with an atheist, and he said he had no reason to believe "god" exists.  But "god" is a word, and it refers to something I do believe in.

God is the word we use to name that being which is having a creative experience.  The being's motive for creation must be the same as my own motive, which is to make existence tolerable. 


You can't deny the existence of a creative being having an experience. Here you are! And it would be egotistical of you to assert that you are the most powerful kind of creative being.  So what is far-fetched about a god-concept?  You are like a goddamn god walking around right now, muttering about how far-fetched it is to think some being like you could exist.

So, here we are as the "imagination of ourselves" (Bill Hicks said that...).

As you can imagine, it was an unforgettable experience, arguing with that atheist.  There I was, face-to-face with a disoriented incarnation of god... trying to convince Him that He exists!

;^) -- You know who you are, you idiot!

Reasons NOT To Believe the Government is a Puppet Show

Some people think all the lawmakers are just actors in a scripted play. They think a few very rich people set up this play and give us a struggle to watch: Dem v. Republicans.  A "puppet show" like that may be achieved a few years from now, but in 2011 you can see that a large-scale conspiracy like that still is not quite possible.

1.) Secrets are hard to keep. If the big financial interest groups were really calling the shots and the congresspeople were just actors, this would have to be a very large scale conspiracy with many people involved. Someone would blow the secret.

2.) Humans have been known to martyr themselves. Yes, even if you tell someone you'll kill him for revealing the conspiracy... humans have been shown historically to put themselves at risk based on their ideals.

3.) Yes, we still have ideals.  In the ongoing battle between good and evil, there may be a lot of conspiracies, but... good is not entirely dead yet.

MANY government officials are bought and paid for, sure.  And that is why we need people like Elisabeth Warren, Obama, Bernie Sanders... fearless idealists willing to poke the beast in the eye.

Do you get it?  Good is not entirely dead yet! It is not realistic to think no one would disrupt the puppet show.  

**** Also, here is a gift you can get for your kid. It'll help her in school....

Can a man be a feminist?

Of course a man can be a feminist!

People think I'm joking when I tell them I am a feminist. I guess they think guys can't be feminists. But this is not, like, boys against the girls in the game of global hegemony; we should just be rational. Women are better leaders.

I'm not saying women are good decision-makers or anything like that. They are goddamn crazy. But men are, too. Men and women are irrational and foolish in completely different ways, but letting a woman make the big decisions... well, it's just a safer bet.

• Women lash out by using a guilt trip and making you feel bad. Men lash out by punching or shooting each other.
• Women produce a hormone called oxytocin that is associated with feelings of nurturing. Men produce a hormone called testosterone that is associated with aggressiveness and competitiveness.

Humans are nutty, completely batshit. But in light of the differences between male crazy and female crazy, it seems a lot better to have a woman calling the shots for a while. Patriarchal ideas are so deeply rooted in our society that people don't even realize it. If women were the leaders and lawmakers in every country, it would be a completely different world.

If you agree that a man can (and should) be a feminist, maybe you would like to continue the conversation by following DoctorMyDocument, the coolest blog on the Internet.

Feeling that smooth circulation?

 "Come on! Let's be ninjas!" -- Bill Hicks

You invest $2.95, because it will force you to follow through with your plan.

If you don't follow through with your plan, you'll have wasted three bucks, and you'll feel like a clown.  Come on! Just pay me my three bucks and follow the steps for setting up your online business!

$2.95

I want to make this connection with you, but I have to charge you $2.95 Heh, heh. Because we are all here to prosper. So please, jump into the game and start to circulate some money.

Add energy to the system, and get that ball rolling.

The "least you need to know" to start making money online:

We want to help you get your online business started.  The little e-book you are thinking of buying contains the most useful methods we know for creative people trying to make money and be happy. Quickly and easily, you are about to learn the same method we use:

1. Set up a web page and make it easy for people to pay you online.
2. Write documents and web content strategically, according to your purpose, with good style and structure.
3. Get some traffic to your page.

We hope you find success and stay in touch with DoctorMyDocument so that we might contribute to one another's success! Help preserve the tradition of Step-Aside Style Communication Kung Fu.  Step-Aside Style is our family art, a kind of kung fu for writers and other people who know that the pen is mightier than the sword.

And now you are going to the next level...

DAY ONE: Set up a PayPal Business Account

DAY TWO: Set up a Blog at www.Blogger.com

DAY THREE: Buy a Domain Name at www.GoDaddy.com

DAY FOUR: Get a shopping cart from PayPal’s “Merchant Services”

Getting People to Notice You

Important Resources

Go to the next level with strategic writing…

NLP for advanced writing techniques

Strategic Writing: Trim away unnecessary words

How to write a thesis sentence

Go to the next level with your meditation…

Energy follows attention

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Why are liberals frustrated with Obama?

I just want to share this, because this morning I thought about it in a new way.

I think nobody ever talks about their progressive or conservative ideologies in Washington. What is there to say? They all know what they want, and they help each other get what they want. They all want to satisfy their supporters.

All those cronies (both parties) just hash it out in discussion, and they speak plainly about how they can all come out ahead.

"You know damn well we need to do XX or our base is going to crucify us."
"Yes, but if we let you do that, we will look weak, and you know it."

Some are getting bribed, while others are just trying to get re-elected, but they all share a common experience: They are doing what people have always done when they have a lot to gain or lose.  They say to each other, "Okay, let's just stop and think about this for a minute."

The politicians do what rich people do when a rivalry begins.  They work out an agreement.  One rich guy says to the other, "Look, we both have a lot of money. Let's squash this little argument and go eat some truffles."

It's the same among politicians. Behind closed doors, they all discuss their respective narratives and needs, and together they figure out what is best for each of them. The lawmakers have no incentive to do anything real; it's all about appearances.

So, for example, right now Obama is arguing with the GOP about a deal for raising the debt ceiling.  All the progressive people want Obama to hold his ground for once and not cave in to their demands. But the only reason people are frustrated with him for "caving in" in the past (i.e. extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, etc.) was because of this same phenomenon described above: Obama wanted to take progressive action, so he agreed to let the GOP seem like they were kicking his ass.

And in this current (theatrical) debate about the debt ceiling, they are just working out a deal where all of them get to look good.  One side asks for enormous concessions, the other side concedes, and at the end of the day they just do what enables them to all look good to their constituents and the big financial interests whose junk they are secretly sucking.  

But the difference is that Obama is an idealist, and that is why he has had a surprisingly productive presidency. How many times have you heard liberals expressing frustration with Obama?  It's because they don't recognize his wisdom.  He has high aspirations, so he does not even give a crap about looking good.  In the Tao Te Ching, something is specifically mentioned about the fact that if you are popular with others, you are probably a goddamn liar.  (Not in those exact words)

So, yeah. Obama has had the most legislatively productive first term of any president in like 60 years or something. Don't quote me on that, I just heard it somewhere, and I'm not trying to be a big shot fact checker.  How do you measure that sort of thing, anyway? Legislative productivity, I mean.

The point is, he has wisdom. Obama got the GOP to agree to all sorts of stuff by allowing them to save face -- and because the average citizen barely pays attention to the news, it is easy to frame the whole thing in a way that allows the GOP to look like a bunch of bad asses telling Obama what to do.

So, remember, the politicians in congress are just like the rich people eating crumpets.  They say, "Hey, lets try to make this as easy on one another as possible." It's easy and typical for politicians to help one another look good.

That's why every time you hear a liberal complaining about Obama, it should remind you that he is a little different.

How to start a sentence with the words "I believe."

What is the correct way to start a sentence with the words "I believe?"

The correct way is to omit that stupid, awful phrase.

I believe the best way to catch a ninja is to use some sort of humane trap that is not likely to cause injury.

Just cut it right out of the sentence:

I believe The best way to catch a ninja is to use some sort of humane trap that is not likely to cause injury.

So, that is the lesson for today. Kill that awful, little phrase.  When you say “I believe,” it is like saying, “This may not be true, but I believe it is true.”  

You have a more powerful sentence when you just state what you believe.  You do not have to qualify your assertion as something YOU believe. If you are saying it, you clearly believe it.  

If you want to look at a more serious example, consider this line from a professional letter:

I believe my areas of interest and specialized knowledge enable me to find real inspiration for this kind of work.

Cut it out:

I believe my My areas of interest and specialized knowledge enable me to find real inspiration for this kind of work.

Even if you see it in the middle of the sentence, cut it out:

My areas of interest and specialized knowledge enable me to find real inspiration for this kind of work, and I believe my own values are consistent with those of your fine organization.

Cut out those two awful words, and your sentence will pack a harder punch. :-)