Feel free to stop reading this if your career is going great, you're thrilled with your life, and you're happy with your relationships. Enjoy the rest of your day, friend, this article is not for you. You're doing a great job, we're all proud of you.#6 The World Only Cares About What It Can Get From You.
If you want to know why society seems to shun you, or why you seem to get no respect, it's because society is full of people who need things. They need houses built, they need food to eat, they need entertainment, they need fulfilling sexual relationships.
Either you will go about the task of seeing to those needs by learning a unique set of skills, or the world will reject you, no matter how kind, giving, and polite you are. You will be poor, you will be alone, you will be left out in the cold.#5 The Hippies Were Wrong.
You don't have to like it. I don't like it when it rains on my birthday. It rains anyway. Clouds form and precipitation happens. People have needs and thus assign value to the people who meet them. These are simple mechanisms of the universe and they do not respond to our wishes.
#4 What You Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People.
Saying that you're a nice guy is like a restaurant whose only selling point is that the food doesn't make you sick. You're like a new movie whose title is This Movie Is in English, and its tagline is "The actors are clearly visible."#3 You Hate Yourself Because You Don't Do Anything.
Do the math: How much of your time is spent consuming things other people made (TV, music, video games, websites) versus making your own? Only one of those adds to your value as a human being. Because in my non-expert opinion, you don't hate yourself because you have low self-esteem, or because other people were mean to you. You hate yourself because you don't do anything. Not even you can just "love you for you".#2 What You Are Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes You Do.
Inside, you have great compassion for poor people. Great. Does that result in you doing anything about it? Do you hear about some terrible tragedy in your community and say, "Oh, those poor children. Let them know that they are in my thoughts"? Because fuck you if so -- find out what they need and help provide it. A hundred million people watched that Kony video, virtually all of whom kept those poor African children "in their thoughts." What did the collective power of those good thoughts provide? Jack fucking shit. Children die every day because millions of us tell ourselves that caring is just as good as doing. It's an internal mechanism controlled by the lazy part of your brain to keep you from actually doing work.#1 Everything Inside You Will Fight Improvement
The human mind is a miracle, and you will never see it spring more beautifully into action than when it is fighting against evidence that it needs to change. Your psyche is equipped with layer after layer of defense mechanisms designed to shoot down anything that might keep things from staying exactly where they are -- ask any addict.Coffee is for closers, motherfuckers. It is worth you time to read the full essay, if not for yourself then for someone you know.
So even now, some of you reading this are feeling your brain bombard you with knee-jerk reasons to reject it.
83 comments:
Wong is right in what he writes. Make stuff that people want, quit doing nothing.
Always Be Closing. Mamet FTW!
Simple summation: Get some skilz and do something useful with your life.
(hint: Pot smoking is not a skill.)
The guy who funded a big time rock and roll band that I associated with in my youth once gave me this very speech.
He stood over me while I sat on the couch. He leaned over, grabbed my collar with his right hand, breathed fiery whiskey and cocaine breath in my face and spit ferociously as he demanded:
"Are you willing to do whatever the fuck it takes to get where you want to go? Are you willing to eat any kind of shit? Are you willing to kill innocent puppies on national TV and tear out their throats with your bare teeth?"
I thought about this for a moment, and responded:
"Now that you put it that way... No."
What a load of nonsense.
In other words, if that's all life in this universe is, or amounts to, then I'm happy to move on to better planes of existence.
Saw this on Insta.
Basically, it puts the lie to the self-esteem thing.
Those of us taught and raised by WWII vets and Depression survivors (shape up or else) grew up with it.
...if that's all life in this universe is, or amounts to...
I don't think anyone is saying that. Instead, what they are saying is that the things of value in life can only be build on top of a solid foundation, and that foundation is providing value to others.
It might be done for monetary compensation, it might be done out of love or charity. But just being a good person or caring doesn't do anybody any good, not even yourself.
Love without works is dead.
Dudes, this post is a downer.
Maybe foe you it is, but that is not the case for everyone else.
Well, I was partially joking, and I realize I don't speak for all :)
Ah. Sorry.
:) No worries.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
You can love your neighbor as yourself, but that doesn't mean that you have to drag your neighbor around, weighing you and everyone around you down like a ball and chain in your life. People need to be able to pull their own weight to their abilities. Even if they are just small things, being productive, helpful and not a hindrance is all you need to do.
Just being a 'nice guy' isn't enough. Through self improvement, you help not only yourself, but everyone around you. It isn't about what people can do FOR you....it is about what you can do FOR everyone else.
Even the Hippies (I was there, I should know) would eventually kick the useless, resource sucking slugs who have nothing to bring to the 'collective' out of the commune.
The Hippies: intrinsic value of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
There is also the intrinsic value of getting up off of your ass, doing the dishes and cleaning the bathrooms once in a while.
Wong lost me at "a Better Person."
Great post as usual Michael.
Thank you.
DBQ is completely in sync with St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians, warning against idleness:
"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one’s bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living. Brethren, do not be weary in well-doing."
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that do. And those that talk about it.
Never the twain shall meet.
The Hippies are all dissatisfied.
They all managed to get jobs in academia through affirmative action or some other crooked deal other than merit. Now their perpetual adolescent idiotic spawn
are sitting on the couch in their footie pajamas sipping coco and telling them how stupid they are.
Where did all the flowers go?
... the thing many of the original hippies got right was the intrinsic value of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Total bullshit with a bit of horseshit.
Those weren't hippies. Those were militants.
How convenient for you. And you know this how? Were you there?
Yes, I was there...
Bullshit. You aren't old enough.
Ah but then I WAS old enough...
Prevaricating piece of work you are...age 10 to 15 is hardly of age in the movement. I'm sure you think you were now...delusion does that.
Haz, You are a valuable addition to the lineup. Horseshit flies usually are all dead in this arctic cold, but one must have super powers or just not gotten out since October.
I was 10 in 1964 and 15 in 1969
Yes, I am sure you were, adolescent that you were and all that.
Bye now. ZZZzzzzz...
Well, I was there. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1969-1973.
The romantic notion of peaceful, kind, laid-back hippies was bullshit then, as it is now. They were (and many remain) hate filled anarchists who reveled in drug use, protest and crime.
I saw the demonstrations that closed UW. I heard the explosion that killed Robert Fassnacht. I saw the group violence and experienced the individual violence.
And I can assert without any equivocation: The hippies got it wrong.
Haz ... don't you dare listen to the utterances of the delusional hobbit. The post was excellent. We can all agree or disagree in varying amounts, but the discussion is worth the trouble. For one, I agree with the post premise. Feeling good isn't enough, you must act.
But let's not get distracted from Palladian's timely dissent ...
Ah, that's why you popped up here today. You miserable little anal sucking schmuck. I'll listen to Palladian because I respect him, you however, ... just fuck off. You amply demonstrated your peace & love credentials a while back asshole.
When I was a kid we used to call people who didn't try to improve themselves bums.
Freddy the Freeloader just took. Perfect emblem for the taker society that Obama and Hugo de Blasio want to create.
Of course instead of the Emmett Kelly makeup he would be wearing footie pajamas and drinking coco.
An artist like Palladian is all about self-improvement. His work is always being changed and improved and made better. Bringing art into the world is one of the most valuable ways to not just improve yourself but the world around you.
I just wish it would pay better.
There was a guy who used to walk 6 miles into our town, collecting bottles for the 2 cents he could redeem them for.
He was a bum, but at least he tried to earn his bottle of fortified wine, rather than just "marry" in order to stay soused.
I was 18 in 1968. Lived in San Francisco for 5 years. I was active int the music scene at the time. Walked the walk... until I realized like Haz said. There were mostly wanna be "hate filled anarchists who reveled in drug use, protest and crime," who wanted ride on the "Hippie" movement. There were also earth groovy, well meaning, get back to nature, let love be your guide starry eyed idiots. Most of them have morphed into green peace and global warming fanatics.
Life isn't as simple as some people want it to be.
DBQ said...[vis a vis Palladian]
YOU are an artist. You make things. You create things that have value to other people.
Damn right you do, and I'd hope I am proof of that. Not just me, but others who have acquyired your work or helped in other ways. The gift you sent me Christmas Eve made my season. For numerous reasons I cannot thank you enough. Visiting friends and my better half have re-christened "William II" as "Willie" and he's proudly hung on the wall by the window to garner the morning light. It will not be the only original I ask for I assure you.
I will say more in an email shortly. Trust me that Judi is delighted with the addition to our gallery. I have one of my closest friends, a RVN combat buddy, who is an artist as well, so I understand the drill. He wants nothing to do with the public and I get it, but you've the advantage becasue you are willing to step out and expose yourself. "Norm" has a "glitch" ... whihc is simple enough, he is forever beset by the fact that once you send a bullet away to kill another man, it is forever. He never really recovered from that...but he'd be the very last man you'd ever want to pick a fight with. Many of us are like that. Immune at times. But we know what is real and your work is all of that and more.
Does censorship make one "a better person"?
Why don't you ask your wife?
Meade, when you post comments on posts I put up on Lem's blog, expect them to be deleted when you begin calling other people names. You called DBQ "Dust Bunny Welfare Queen". Short leash.
Comment moderation, and all. I no longer comment on your wife's blog; please stay off of my posts here at Lem's.
Regards,
Haz
"...we..."
Bwahahahaha.
The HazHammer is banging. This thread reminds of that pubic hair spider video.
Ari you are right on the mark.
Palladian's work stands by itself as a testament to his talent and artistry.
I feel your friend. The guy that lived upstairs from me went to Nam in 1968 and was severely wounded. He became a playwright but a recluse. He had a lot of talent that he didn't get to share with the world.
It sucks when that happens.
God bless your friend and I hope he can eventually share his vision.
We need more art in the world.
I feel like I am watching Brandi Glanville. Tampon string and all.
Happy New Year!
Wait a minute.
We can still make fun of Real Housewives right?
Depends upon whether they actually got married or just sat high up in the Rockies.
And whether or not they are drunken Depends wearing cougars.
It's all about the details.
"I don't delete because of viewpoint. I delete a couple people all the time, whatever they say. These people should know who they are. Email me if you're uncertain.
Tips for avoiding disapproval and deletion: Read the post and see what topics are raised. Address these topics. Express ideas and make good observations. Don't make any personal remarks and don't go back-and-forth with another commenter (except at the level of responding to ideas about the topic under discussion). "
Not complicated, is it?
That will leave a mark.
I would break the "rules" if I answered that question.
#6 The World Only Cares About What It Can Get From You.
So true.
I always say that you are only as good as your last favor. You can do a million things for a client and help them out of every jam they get into but if you don't do the last thing they ask...you suck.
That is exactly how life is.
The bluebird of happiness is fickle. It can alight on your shoulder if you "follow the rules" or for no reason at all or decide to fly away...just like that. Which is to say that living right is its own reward. But to expect that being productive and useful and considerate and all that good stuff will deposit you at the Happiness Station is naive...very.
Was that profound? Stupid? Hey, the words come. I just put them down. :^/
When you're in a jam, here I am.
When you're in a mess, SOS,
When you're in jail, I'm your bail...
Ric, when in doubt, haiku it.
Make stuff and sell it
Listen to your customers
Snow falling on pines.
SUSPENSE!
He walked round the block,
Not knowing, was it worth it?
Then he rang her bell.
I bring you presents
Our relationship is short
Then I go away.
I bring you presents,
Not knowing, was it worth it?
Snow falling on pines.
Damn. Men are more artistic than women!
Trooper, You're generalizing. There were some clients I would walk through fire for. Others I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire.
Of course I am generalizing Nick.
You how it is. Some people get it. Most do not.
And they will never learn. I mean we just saw it right here. Just sayn'
The hippies were wrong
Sex and drugs and rock and roll
Whoa, dude, what happened?
Just making sure you haven't gone completely over to the dark side. Thanks for the reassurance.
I used to be a good person, but I'm feeling much better now. I think I'm almost cured.
I had a broken molar, so today I went to the dentist to get it pulled. The dentist proceeds to tell me how he used to be nice guy, but thinks it's a mistake to roll like that, so "I'm not a nice guy anymore." he says as he goes into my mouth with a huge needle. Nice to hear right then.
He prescribed me some good pain killers, so I think he's really a nice guy after all. Consequently, right now I feel like I love everyone. Yes, even you.
I listened to Baldwin's speech. Wasn't much of pep talk. The real point of it was to inform those beneath him in the pecking order that they were insignificant--and that he was an important man, despite those nagging two a.m doubts.....Isn't there some kind of middle ground between Baldwin's character and the Big Liebowski.......I myself embrace insignificance. It's a kind of protective coloration.
It was Pogo who said everyone disappoints us, eventually.
I hope you feel better, Bagoh.
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