I once knew an old man who liked to go on walks alone. I never really got that, people have always been my thing. Whenever I would drive by him, I’d slow down to wave, just to see him stop and stand up all proud and straight and look back at me. I never really got that, he took life so seriously. He returned every look right back eye-to-eye, just to show he was ready for anyone and everything. What a proud, silly old man.
A few years later, I went to that man’s funeral. He didn’t know he had one, because he was dead. He looked just as serious in that casket, though he wasn’t really there. I never really got that, I don’t want people to look at me when I’m not really there. But there he was, as proud as ever.
And I heard the speeches, of a man who was a savior, of a man who once defended what was soon to be my land. And I know it’s kind of mushy, to cry about a country, but I tell you I proudly did. They said he was a hero, they said he was leader, they said he was all that a soldier could ever possibly achieve. And then I finally “got” him.
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This is the worst case of journalism I’ve ever seen. The purpose of the article is obvious: paint Wal-Mart as big, greedy, evil and naughty-naughty. Let’s analyze what actually is going on.
The contract with Wal-Mart and the lady was that Wal-Mart doesn’t have to pay for your medical expenses if you get someone else to pay them. That makes sense. The CNN report calls that the “fine print”. BS. That’s not “fine print” that’s obvious. You don’t need to have medical expenses paid for twice.
The only reasoning given in this case for the lady (yes, I would say that this reporter tried everything in her power to flex a little influence for the “underdog” in this situation, regardless of the facts or contracts) is that “In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion.”
Read that again. Wal-Mart is a “Giant”. Understood — yet loaded language. Now seriously, go read it. Why was that sentence placed there? To show a comparison between the rich and the poor. Wal-Mart had a single spokesperson represented — the man had tons of ways to make his points, even though HE AGREED THAT WAL-MART WAS RIGHT.
The point of the story? The poor lady might not have a right to the money. She might not “need” it for medical expenses — but daggumit, she’s poor. Wal-Mart’s not. Oh, and Wal-Mart is evil.
Journalism my foot. That’s pure argumentation. Get a blog lady, and leave journalism for journalists.
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Authority is inherent with identity. You have authority over your identity. You have authority over using your legs because they are yours — authority, or rights, are found in self-ownership. All social understandings of morality is based upon this, explicitely or implicitly, intentionally or accidental.
Mainstream Acceptance
Both conservative and progressive beliefs are based on this concept of authority.
Progressives believe that it is wrong to legislate morality, like banning pornography, homosexuality, etc. They believe that you have a right over your own body to do what you like, at least to a certain extent. Their standard for the limits of this right is fuzzy at best.
Conservatives believe it is wrong to violate what they call “individual rights”, though exactly what those rights are is never really understood, accept through the lens of tradition or, to paraphrase, “If’n it was a good nuff for my grandaddy, it’s a good nuff fer me.” Conservatives adhere closely to the authority-identity philosophy in terms of economics — especially in terms of individual property rights. You own your land, so no one has a right to it. Again, the extent of the self-authority is fuzzy at best.
Basically, both philosophies just kind of randomly make up utter philosophical crap and adhere to it for socio-cultural reasons.
Mainstream Rejection
Progressives dislike the self-ownership/identity-authority principle in regards to property. They support individual restrictions, often confiscations, and other ideas for the sake of the “common good”.
Conservatives love to attack progressives for being collectivists. The conservatives are hypocrites. Conservatives typically take a similar approach, only they reject the individual nature of moral principles, and conclude that because others are affected, use of force is justified. For the sake of national-well being (collectivism of sorts — not all collectivistic principles are unjustified, but I find this one to be philosophical suicide) it is justified to ban pornography, homosexuality, etc.
Non-Political Implications
I find that morality transcends politics. If it’s wrong for me to rape a girl, it’s wrong for the cop to do it. If it’s wrong for me to shoot first and ask questions later, it’s wrong for the government to do it. (read: yay due process!)
This means that what makes sense in terms of us finding self-authority in our identity in the political arena also means that this principle works for non-political issues. Church, business, etc. Just think about it.
This was … random and nerdy.
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A couple of months ago, I was with a group of radical anti-capitalists. They thought that government was the answer to life, the universe and everything. They thought that businessmen secretly cheat on their wives and beat their children, whereas the poor starving individual was heroically beaten down by the brutal financial leaders. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit. But when I announced to them that I was a capitalist, they just gave me a blank stare.
“Why on earth?“, was the simple question.
Here’s a paraphrase of what my answer was. First I defined capitalism as being a simple idea. It’s where the government leaves the corporate world alone, and doesn’t try to do business work in a senate committee with people who have never done business. Capitalism is economic freedom.
There are six reasons I like capitalism. They are as follows:
6. I like big business
Restrictive economic policies target big business. No, this doesn’t mean it’s good for the workers. Think about it. Hurting big business hurts the whole business — workers are part of the business.
Every restriction for big business ends up trickling down and hurting their workers, either through fewer pay upgrades or through laying people off to increase efficiency. Restricting big business is restricting the little guy.
Oh. And big business is actually good. Why? Because they became “big”. How did they become big? The market — or, for the socialists — society liked them. Big business only gets that way by offering the people nice stuff. If the people like it, then they aren’t evil.
It’s really not complicated. But we’ve been told by the restrictive forces of the world that big is bad, that little is good. I propose an alternative: both are good. Speaking of which, that brings us to reason number five.
5. I like small business
I work at a small business. My family runs a small business. This business is based on our family working hard. We’re not evil. We’re good. We help other business by helping them market their products and advertise to increase their profits.
By working hard, we only succeed through helping others succeed. Capitalism allows us to do that unhampered. But restrictive policies severely restrict our ability to do business.* Restrictions that might not seem like much to us on paper can be devastating in real life. Real people go under every time we pass another law. Every restriction destroys lives.
4. I like rich people
Rich people aren’t evil. I don’t care what Hollywood wishes me to think about “The Capitalists”. I won’t buy the commie propaganda. I like rich people. I don’t like snobs. There’s a difference. Poor people can be snobs. Rich people can be snobs. Rich people can be jerks. Poor people can be jerks.
The rich that I’ve met in my life are the hardest working individuals I’ve ever known. There’s a reason they are rich. And I appreciate their work, and recognize that their hard labor paid off both for them and the countless people who gained from the micro-economic impacts of their labor.
3. I like poor people
Liberals paint themselves as loving poor people. So they increase government programs, welfare, restrictions on the rich, etc. But their restrictions on business cause unemployment — liberalism causes poverty. Their welfare encourages dependence on federal aid, psychologically keeping the poor in their poverty. I am a capitalist because I hate poverty.
I am a capitalist because I hate poverty. I am not a liberal because I care about the poor enough not to buy into emotional arguments that realistically destroy the working class. Freedom brings prosperity.
2. I like justice
Capitalism is where everyone is allowed to unleash their minds in order to produce and achieve. You don’t get rich being a moron. You have to use your mind or muscle. Or, for most, a mixture of the two.
Capitalism rewards the hard-working and punishes the lazy. It’s the only economic system on earth that does this. This is why it works.
As Ayn Rand said:
“The moral justification for capitalism lies in the fact that it is the only system consonant with man’s rational nature, that it protects man’s survival qua man, and that its ruling principle is: justice.”
1. I like money
I know. I’m supposed to pretend like the only thing on earth important is people and puppy dogs. But guess what? I like nice stuff too. And so does the liberal. And Obama. And Edwards. Especially them. See, they like being commies in theory. But in reality, they like “capital”. They like money. They like private jets, private islands, nice food, nice clothes and $500 haircuts.
And you know what? That would have been fine, if only they didn’t pretend that it was evil. In their hearts, they know there’s nothing wrong with working hard and establishing a fantastic house, expensive car and great lifestyle for your kids. They know there’s no reason to think that we should restrict business owners, or try to go against wealth.
But in policy, they stop. They pretend that greed is wrong, because other people want your money (read that a few times, and see what’s amiss). But when it comes down to it, they know that capital is good. They live like rich cats.
Ironically, it’s for the same reason as me. There’s nothing wrong with material wealth. The whole goal of economics is understanding how to get our wealth to be maximized. Well, I have news for the news people and the politicians of the world:
Try Capitalism. Capitalism sets mankind free to work and achieve his values. It lets people barter in peace and choice rather than being manipulated by Washington elites. Capitalism works because it’s based on that age old principle that the human mind works best when it’s set free. Capitalism works because freedom works.
So that’s why I’m a capitalist.
*Our family business is an oldies radio station. The FCC’s policies are often random, restrictive and expensive. They hurt our customers and communities by forcing us to keep prices artificially higher than they would be if we didn’t have the nearly random restrictions.
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So the other day I was thinking about what I would say if I knew that I could write one letter, or a note, to the whole world, and know that they’d read it.
Well, there’s so much that I want to say about all of the important things that make life what it is. Something tells me that the “Christian” last letter would be to say something about living for God, but I know that it’ll take a hey of a lot more than this note to convince anyone of anything like that. I know the “freedom” loving letter would be something along the lines of asking for a defense of social and economic liberty, but that’d take even longer than talking about religion.
So when it comes right down to it, I guess there really isn’t any cliche statement that needs to be said that can be said in just a few paragraphs. So instead of convincing the world of any idea, instead of addressing you all as people who need convincing — I’ll just say some words to the people that probably could use some encouragement.
The people that I’m writing to are the heroic individuals who aren’t blind followers. I would expound a little more, but, that’s just exactly who I’m talking to. So here we go:
Whenever you see a group of people laughing at you because they think your shoes just aren’t quite up to par, it’s okay. Their shoes probably suck as well, and the people in charge of fashion and trends just don’t know it yet. Give it 12 months, and the popular opinion will be on your side.
Whenever you see a politician talking out of his rear, making up stuff so that the fools of the world will give him a few more months of that sweet power, just know that something is terribly amiss. You’ll be heads above the rest if you do that, at least. Most people don’t even know that there’s something wrong with the man. Or woman.
Whenever you see that pastor asking his people to be blind, and to be proud of their ignorance, or when you see him arrogantly defending some doctrine that doesn’t matter at all, while he props himself up in his little empire that they call the church… it’s okay. By his own standards, he’s going to get what he deserves for it all in the end.
Whenever you see that person that puts a bad taste in your mouth, but you know that they have hundreds of “friends”, and they could destroy you and make you look bad without even trying…just remember: they’re more miserable than all the people they hurt for sport.
Whenever you feel like you just can’t do something, and you feel down about yourself, and you are beating yourself over the head, and you wish you had someone to give you a hug, but no one wants to hug you… chances are, you deserve the pain. There’s no place for pointless self-pity. Get over it. Happiness is a choice. Be who you want to be, then deal with the consequences.
Whenever you see a Christian reference a popular junk-food “devotional” book, while they say that faith doesn’t make sense, that God is above “human logic” and that we have to utterly “abandon ourselves”…and then they walk away and buy some nice pants, and a shirt that they saw some famous person wear, and then they go back to their life and their pursuit of that Mac and the nice cell-phone, and they can’t wait for that wonderful drink at Starbucks, and they keep on living so differently than the trash they read — it’s okay. They know you’re right. They just don’t know it yet.
Whenever you’re in a crowd of people, and you feel funny because everyone is expecting you to do something, and you aren’t quite sure what that is, and then they end up laughing at you because you used a word in a way that they weren’t expecting, or you blurted out an obvious truth and they want to play their cowardly little games — it’s okay. The jokes on them. They just don’t get it yet.
In the end, just remember that it’s okay to be you and to not be everyone else. It’s okay to start your sentences with “I” instead of “We”. It’s okay to laugh at the guy who has the big audience, and is making a lot of money with some lies to the people who just want something easy to believe.
You’re on the right track. Just don’t fall away, and join the ranks of the people who actually think that if you wear the right kind of pants you’re a cool person, or if your glasses don’t look nerdy then you really aren’t, or that your car makes you something, or that saying the “right” thing is really the right thing at all. Just don’t give in to them. You haven’t yet. Ideas do matter. You are right. It’s okay to be a “just me”.
So what would you say? Pour your guts out. 
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Okay. I decided /not/ to make this a “how-to” guide to making money online, and instead decided to keep it as a place to rant and rave, and post poetry and the like. For tips on making money online, check out my new website for the purpose: Work at Home. =p
::goes back to writing a rant::
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Working at home has its perks. Like waking up in your office. It just simplifies life. Your office is, well, your home. Considering I’m still in high-school, my office is still my little home, or my bedroom. 
Keeping the office /feeling/ like an office is helpful and more to keeping one’s perspective right. A productive environment encourages productivity.
Take some pictures of your workspace, and post them on your blog and let me know so I can link to the post.
My Office
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We’ve all read at some point that if we want to write some really good link bait, all we have to do is slap together a top ten list. We’re told that StumbleUpon and Digg users just eat that stuff up, so, if we want to manipulate them, all we have to do is spend five minutes on the list and BAM! we are going to have to upgrade the ol’ hosting, because our pipe’s just aren’t big enough to hold all the traffic. Or not.
Top ten lists don’t work as a rule. Blogging doesn’t work as a rule. Most things don’t work as a rule. In that way, the “secret” to social networking success isn’t a quickie “top ten” list — it’s deeper than that.
The key to success with anything online is good content, and that certainly includes lists. Lists can be done incredibly well, but only if a lot of time and work is put into it, or if it’s simply ingenious. For example, the Mashable’s 100+ ways to make money online was certainly an incredible success, but it certainly wasn’t fired out in 5 minutes.
Of course, resource lists and “Top x” lists can certainly work — but they have to be well-crafted. A well-created list recognizes the need of his basic viewers and then gives a supply to that demand. The best top lists are the lists that make themselves, not the lists that are consciously forced into existence. If your number-one priority is thinking about the social networking sites, your focus is off — focus, instead, on providing resources that serve your base audience, and the traffic and links will follow on their own.
Your subscribers trust you. With their subscription they are saying that they trust your website to produce content that is quality enough for them to dedicate time to read — pumping out “Top x” lists doesn’t just get cheap social networking traffic — if the content isn’t there, you lose your trusted subscribers. In the same way, if a potential subscriber is reading your articles and is considering subscribing, a set of cheap looking posts doesn’t just not help your trust — it can destroy it.
In the end, the old principle still rings true: Content. Content. Content. That’s the best social marketing strategy of all.
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The following is the former home-page of Reason and Capitalism. ShaunConnell.com has since gone on to focus on business, blogging, working at home and making money online.
Millions around the world have abandoned reason as being cold and unpoetic, and have concluded their theories purely on emotional and cultural pressures. Without logic to guide their conclusions, their conclusions clash and contradict, leaving us without true guidance.
Capitalism and a desire for profit, called “greed”, have been rejected as morally wrong, while, ironically, morality has also been rejected as being something only mystical rather than concrete — right and wrong are not even supposed to exist.
The individual is told, through the philosophy of collectivism, that he is unimportant — that his individual desires must be sacrificed for the desires of society, which is, ironically, a collection of individuals.
The result of this horrific philosophical shift could not be more obvious. The world around us seems to be constantly strained to its limits, with ever-increasing control and restriction by the political-states, with crime, depression and general depravity reaching all-time highs. In America, our economic policies become more and more dangerous, with each new wave of candidates promising more governmental policies to fix the problems found in other governmental policies.
We’ve acknowledged the failure of government to solve problems, yet to solve this failure we want more coercive government policies. We’ve accepted the existence of infinite double standards and hypocrisies. We’ve abandoned liberty for control.
Rationality, morality and capitalism are essential for the survival of any advanced civilization, and more so for a Western civilization battling for its own existence in the fight against both Islamic Jihadism and socialism. In order to survive, a return to rationality, freedom and morality is not just helpful — without it our world will perish.
In the name of reason and liberty, Reason and Capitalism was started, to encourage conversation and discussion of the philosophical war that wages around us, and to explain the necessity of rationality, morality and the ethical understanding of economic liberty.
In the end, remember the words of Ayn Rand:
“Reason and morality are the only weapons that determine the course of history; the collectivists have dropped them because they had no right to carry them. Pick them up; you have.”
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As many of you know, I love blogging about Making Money Online — it’s a great hobby and part-time job for me. I’ve bought a lap-top and some other cool stuff with my income generated through my blogs. I’m the main author and operator of Reason and Capitalism, Rebirth of Freedom, Money Talks, Rational Christianity and several other blogs.
However, I’m thinking about merging several of them. My “Money Talks” blog is located at ShaunConnell.com/make-money-online. The URL is, well, obviously hard to remember. So I’m thinking about doing the following:
1. Turning “ShaunConnell.com/make-money-online” into a static tutorial on making money online. The blog part will be zapped out.
2. Turning ShaunConnell.com into a blogging-blog — a blog about business, money, making money online and the like.
3. Having 1-2 off-topic posts per week on ShaunConnell.com, both to spicen the site up, and simply as an outlet for my random ideas that I think the readers might appreciate.
4. All political writings will go to the RoFF.
5. All philosophical/religious writings will go to Rational Christianity.
6. All personal writings go to my facebook account.
Thoughts? I’ll obviously have to rename the blog to something else, like “Money Talks” or something similar. Any suggestions?
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