the goal?

Bernie said it recently (yes, I’m on a Bernie kick) and he asked what is the goal of life? The purpose?

Is it to live well, to live happy, to enjoy life or is it wealth and power?

Of course, we would all say it’s the first, but how much of our life - the actual actions that make of our lives - point that way? Are we really pursuing wellness, wholeness, happiness, and enjoyment (in the purest senses) or are we pursuing wealth and power?

Worth thinking on, I suppose, especially when we’re in a society run by people pursuing wealth and power.

communism, socialism, nordics…

I posted this to Reddit yesterday. So might as well keep track of it here too.

—

Ok, go easy on me. Please.

I get so confused and (almost) sucked into the love of associating all 3 of the above words together that I have to go through this exercise every few months to remind myself of some things. And given Mamdani in NYC, it seems especially relevant - although it always is.

Again, please, I'm throwing this out for people to say where I'm right or wrong because I may not be that smart, but I'm smart enough to know this is all very complex and nuanced and my opinions are certainly wrong somewhere.

1. Communism is not socialism. (The Communist Manifesto is an interesting read.)

2. Communism has no official state. The state has dissolved into nothing as it's no longer necessary... it is the "final" expression of socialism, according to Marx.

3. Socialism is not Nordic Social Democracy.

4. Socialism is ownership of the means of production (wealth and power) by the workers with the state still functioning.

5. Nordic Social Democracy is capitalism with some caveats (but all forms of capitalism that have been attempted has caveats).

6. Nordic Social Democracy has lots of guard rails (in part guard rails to keep the flow of wealth and power moving to a broader group than a smaller group.)

7. Nordic Social Democracy has loads of safety nets (universal healthcare, free education, etc…)

8.Just repeating #5. Nordic Social Democracy is capitalism. All the Nordic countries have tons of millionaires, billionaires, and private capital.

9. Communism, as defined by Marx, has never really been attempted.

10. Communism as defined by the U.S.S.R., was a miserable failure. Socialism, in Venezuela as well.

11. Communism, as defined by Marx, is ownership of the means of production by the workers... and the state dissolves. See #2.

12. Communism, as tried, was, and has been (Venezuela included) state ownership which means, really, the government and its rich friends owned everything and had all the power.

13. Most forms of communism that we’ve seen are, in many ways, actually oligarchies. (Getting scary here.)

14. Oligarchies are the vast majority of wealth and power in the hands of a few.

15. Arguably, this is the U.S. or at least where we're headed fast. A very small number of companies own most of every other company. A very few media companies run the vast majority of media. A very small percent of the population own the vast majority of the wealth which often funds elections, etc… and leads to a lot of power. One could argue the U.S. is operating very similar to communism with just different branding on the wealthy and powerful class. (I know this is a big statement and probably an exaggeration but you get the idea.)

16. Which is ironic, because this is what Marx (who kinda came up with the idea of communism) warned about: capitalism leads to the wealthy owning most of the power and the state serving the wealthy and why his answer was socialism and eventually communism.

17. Which is ironic, because those in power (Democrats and Republicans) are threatened by anything which could chip at their power and wealth and thus run from words that contain "social" like vampires run from sunlight.

18. Which is why it seems they either a) ignore it (like Democrats) or b) call it communism (like Republicans). Both are scared of it and come up with different ways to make sure it doesn't take real foothold of power.

19. Which is why we’re at where we’re at with all these words.

20. Fire departments and Social Security are examples of social democratic programs already operating in the U.S... that are pretty great. There are many others - cancer research, hospitals, much of the stuff being defunded lately that most Americans like.

21. The vast majority of Americans want universal healthcare, free tuition (we used to have this), higher taxes on the extremely wealthy (we used to have this) and services provided by the government.

22. The vast majority of Americans want Nordic style social democracies and yet…

23. Our leaders (on both sides) never really do much for either because, again, they are funded by the wealthy who own all the power and wealth and it would threaten their own power and wealth, because we're closer all the time to an oligarchy.

24. All of this to say, Mamdani is not even anywhere near a communist.

25. All of this to say, if you’re not a billionaire, and you work, and you live in the U.S., and you’re not threatened, and you understand words, you really should be all for a Nordic style of social democracy. Which is maybe why Mamdani has gotten the support he has out of the blue.

Again, love for you all to correct me where I'm right and wrong and I can further try to understand and differentiate the complexities.

acknowledge the problems.

Happy Election Day. I’ve been listening to Bernie Sanders on Trevor Noah’s podcast and (along with lots of other voices) it really is starting to come together. How did Trump win?

He won the same way every demagogue wins: first, he talks about the actual problems. This is the Democrats first mistake. They don’t talk about actual issues that Americans face, and instead focus on peripheral stuff. Second, he offers solutions. The solution is to blame a minor group of people that can’t really defend themselves but at least it’s a solution. This is the Democrats second mistake. They simply side with the group of people being targeted instead of talking about the fact that they are not the actual problem - but they won’t really talk about the problem in the first place anyway - so, it would be hard to talk about solutions.

But both sides suck, because both sides are inherently tied to money and power that come from corporations and big donors and both are threatened by anyone or anything that might take that power. This is the Democrats final mistake: they act exactly like Republicans and bow at the throne of money and power.

He references Mamdani a lot. You have a young, progressive whom people are coming out in droves for and the Democratic establishment won’t support him because he threatens them and their power.

Of course, all of this is contained within the facts of massive inequality in this nation that gets progressively worse every year and gives more power to the rich to control everything.

Listen to the whole thing. It’s sobering, for sure. No real easy way outs. I’m not sure there is any way out?

But it sure as hell doesn’t make me want to be a Republican. Or Democrat.

that’s a small tree.

Yeah is that kind of critique that is absolutely pointless. Why thank you, I just planted it and it’s growing.

Beware of critiques that come without the ideas of time and, worse, come with some expectation of an action because the idea of time is absent.

In other words, never listen to someone who says to cut down the tree because it’s too small. Listen to those that understand trees take some time to grown and recommend water and sunlight instead.

everywhere on earth…

Every location on earth gets the same amount of daylight each year. Think on that for a second. It’s not the amount per year, it’s just how it’s divided up. So tropics, more steady, north and south extremes, less in winters and more in summers but every location gets the same amount of light.

I don’t have some deep thought with this other than a) when you live in Seattle and you’re jealous of Hawaii in the winter, just remember you have it way better in the summer (for light, at least). b) It’s pretty cool that the sun, that light, makes sure everyone gets the same of it.

complex questions deserve…

If you’re going to ask a complex question…

Is there a god?
What does it mean to forgive?
Are you a socialist or a capitalist?
Are you pro-immigration?
What is your biggest regret?

Please allow the answer to be complex as well.

One of my biggest issues with religion is that it gives simple answer to complex questions… and I’ve noticed it much of the deconstruction movement, it continues to.

In fact MAGA does it and so does WOKE.

It’s one of my biggest pet peeves.

In short, beware of simple answers. They’re only deserved if the question was simple. Otherwise, avoid.

learning from mistakes.

It’s such a cliché but, like most, for a good reason.

I've run 08 Left for over 10 years. In that time, I’ve ordered lots of artwork, apparel, etc… and I’ve made a ton of mistakes in my orders.

And now, every time I order, I’m consciously (almost) thinking about all those mistakes. I remember I missed this or that and I double-check (especially big orders) so as to not miss it again.

This. Is. The. Thing.

It sounds so simple and yet it’s amazing how many people don’t do this.

They just keep making the mistake over and over. Of course, there are all kinds of reasons - and sometimes they are not in their control - but, if you can, just learn from those errors.

It’s what keeps us going.

life giving disruptive force.

Brueggemann said it. (He always was one of my favorites.) RIP just last June - did I know that?

Anyway, he said, We should be life giving disruptive forces. What a beautiful way to put something I’ve been trying to put a certain way for a while.

Life giving. For sure. Yes. Kind. Love. Forgiveness.

Disruptive. Not a doormat. Not moving along with the systems.

Force. Making an impact.

It’s all there. Love it.

regret trees.

Two things I’ve loved over the years merged together today.

1. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

2. Regret is the most powerful negative emotion. It tells us what we value(d) and we can use that to inform our decisions today.

Listen, this no regrets shit is… just that. Shit. Of course, you have regrets. Of course, I do. And rather than bury them, think about them, analyze them, ponder them, and then use them to plant the tree you wished you had planted 20 years ago.

Today.

what percent?

I recently heard Stephen Dubner say something along the lines of, the amazing things about humans is that we are not binary. We should be taking advantage of that.

We are not creatures that are either liberal or conservative. We are not either social or capitalist. We are not theists or atheists. We are percentages.

Next time you’re in a conversation - I’m going to practice this as well - and a topic comes up, don’t ask if you’re for or against, ask what percent?

What percent pro-life are you?
What percent gun control are you?
What percent socialist are you?
What percent pro-ICE are you?
What percent anti-tariffs are you?

You get it. Very few people are 100% anything. And that means that, even if there is an only 5% match on something, it could be worth exploring that 5%, compared to just arguing binaries that probably don’t exist.

anger and fear and politics

In some recent “not sure either is great and I don’t even know how I feel…” studies, researches have found that anger shifts political beliefs more than fear. So… I guess if you want to change someone’s mind, get them angry more than afraid.

But, both work pretty great, so you’re probably good with either.

In other news, Trump arguably uses both more than any president in modern history which is why people will follow him off of a cliff. They are angry and afraid and he feeds them both.

And this all makes me wonder if one of the main problems of liberals is not admitting how afraid and angry we are. It’s almost looked down on - which makes sense in some ways - but it’s also a reality we often ignore with the optimism and go higher train. But we’re all afraid, just of different things as I said in this post in 2021.

And we’re all angry as well, just about different things.

So let’s all admit it. And talk more about it?

same old, same old.

Listened to an amazing podcast about the founding of the first megachurch (in the 20’s) and oh boy, it’s a fun one. Affairs, cover-ups, power grabs, you know… the usual... but this clip really got me.

America needs a tidal wave of the old time religion. America needs to be taken down to god’s bathhouse and the hose turned on her. And the time isn’t far distant when the wheels of god’s judgment go sweeping through this whole god hating world. I want to take a pledge and this audience to join me in a pledge that you will never rest until this old god-hating, christ-hating, whiskey soaked, sabbath breaking, blaspheming, infidel,  bootlegging old world is bound to cross of Jesus Christ by the golden chains of love.

That’s from 1926. Billy Sunday.

Holy shit, it’s just the same exact script for 100 years.

No wonder we’re all so exhausted from it.

Which oddly makes me feel better somehow.

they’re still here sadly.

I’m sure I’ve heard it, but when you’re living it, it just hits different. I’d always thought most of the church in Germany during the 40’s was fighting the Nazi regime - not supporting it (i.e. Bonhoeffer). But, I know that’s dumb the more I think about it. It was a perverse form of Christianity (or just Christianity depending on your views) that allowed Hitler to get to power and maintain it. Of course, a fair portion of the church had his back.

Just like the church has Trump’s back in regards to most things today - even those things that are so anti-Jesus it’s almost laughable. The irony is thick enough to choke on. Let’s be clear, it’s mostly the white evangelical church…. which might as well be called the Pharisees but, yeah, they’ve got his back.

This kind of stuff, of course, makes me really sad but I guess those power loving religious people haven’t ever really gone away despite Jesus’ best attempts.

artificial exhaustion.

I guess the exhaustion is not artificial but it is caused by an artificial intelligence. Which, by the way, can I digress for a moment? Isn’t it weird that we call it artificial intelligence? Artificial? Yes, the word means created by a human but it also means imitation or synthetic… a copy of a product used as a substitute.

Ok, so intelligence that is a substitute for actual intelligence.

Which brings me to my very real exhaustion.

I’m so sick of being told I will be left behind if I don’t get on board with AI or that it’s going to save us all, or kill us all. It’s truly exhausting, especially because it’s not very intelligent - it tells me I’m great way too much and it tells me wrong information way too much and it creates stupid videos that no one cares about way too much.

Came across this quote and thought I’d share - it helped my exhaustion. It’s from Andrej Karpathy and is directed toward coding - which is pretty amazing I’ll admit - but applies to everything.

Keep a very tight leash on this new over-eager junior intern savant with encyclopedic knowledge but who also bullshits you all the time, has an over-abundance of courage and shows little to no taste for what’s good. Keep an emphasis on being slow, defensive, careful, paranoid, and on always taking the inline learning opportunity, not delegating.

I love that last line. Always take the learning opportunity. Amen.

that sucked…

Yeah the Mariners were within 8 outs of winning their first ever American League championship and going to the World Series for the first time! They are the only Major league team to have never been. We were at a hyped bar having so much fun until it all unraveled…

And sent me into a mild depression.

Which is so weird. We humans are an odd bunch aren’t we? The thrill of victory and the agony - and man it’s pure agony - of defeat for a sport we’re just watching.

At its best though, it seems its way more than a sport. It’s a community. It’s a tribe. It’s ecstasy for a greater purpose that transcends most things we divide over. Sports get knocked around a lot - as they should - but, damn, when they bring people together it’s pretty special and when all those people collectively have the air knocked out of them, it sucks.

If I want to be petty and mad, I’m also sick of cheaters (Springer) and rich people (the Dodgers spent more than twice the Mariners payroll and the Blue Jays more than 100 million) winning because it feels like we’re in a world where the ultimate piece of shit rich person is leading it.

But, I’m not going to be petty and mad. Just a little sad today and looking for ways to continue to surround myself with a community of people rooting for less cheating and more kindness and equity and the person who doesn’t spend the most money… still winning somehow.

it’s not burying your head…

It’s accepting more trauma than you can handle. More and more people are starting to ask really serious questions around the news and social media - duh - but it’s a good perspective shift for me and I’m sure others. It’s not, not knowing, or not staying informed, or ignoring… it’s saving ourselves from trauma and losing a bit of ourselves.

Love the questions they ask in the article.

What am I hoping for when I pull up social media?
What needs am I trying to meet?
Is it to connect, to zone out, to amuse myself, to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in the world?
How are my mind and body reacting to what I’m seeing?

this blog is hard

I spent years writing this thing every day. Starting up again, I’m seeing how hard it is.

I’m out of it. And AI has not helped my skill level either.

And, yes, I could feed all my blog posts to AI (and sermons and books and everything else I’ve ever done: side note this is harder than it appears actually, I’ve tried it a few times) and let AI write new posts for me every day… but…

That’s not going to help me in this skill of writing. Which many say is a skill we won’t need in the future.

But writing is thinking, and putting the thoughts to words, and if we don’t need thinking in the future, well, shit, actually I think we’re already there.

Nope, that’s the problem. We need thinking more than ever, it’s just less and less people are doing it.

Cheers to more of the things that help us think more and to less of the things that help us think less.

mango ink is 20

Happy Anniversary to Mango Ink. Our company is 20 years old, which is crazy!

We started because we thought we could do something as good or better than what was already available.

We still believe that.

Is that all it takes?

what is cool…

Dax, on Armchair, told this story.

His daughter was upset that she was at school and her friends were talking about K-Pop Demon Hunters and they knew all the band members but she only knew a few. She wasn’t “cool”. She came home and said “I don’t even know where to find this information!”

Dax then told her, he hasn’t been a lot of things but he has been “cool”. He said you know what the cool person does when asked if they know all the band members… no, I don’t know any of them. And they say it with confidence and then the “cool” people wonder how this person can be so cool that they don’t care what the cool people doing.

My god, us humans are a mess.

But, that got me thinking… does this make Trump cool? That’s pretty much how he acts. Tariffs? Immigration? Antifa? Portland? He smugly smiles.

Then it got me thinking…

Wait, that’s the exact opposite. He’s actually not cool because he acts like he knows shit that he has no idea of. How cool if he just said “I don’t know.”

Then it got me thinking… cool is cool. Whatever. It seems like the times it really gets us - as far as not being cool - is when we’re not “in” on something: dating, the party, the job, the trends, the fashion, the joke, the band members…

So is saying I don’t know, in those times, actually cool because the best kind of cool is just confidence in not knowing?

I don’t know.

Good stories…

I was talking to someone the other day about marketing. Every product is a story. People pay more for passion. Then we really got into what is the right kind of passion or story or….

Every good story has passion. Someone, somewhere has it. There’s never been a good story without it.

So… if you’re selling something, what is the story? What is the passion in that story?

If you’re living… which I assume you are if you’re reading this. If you want a good story, where is your passion? What’s the drive? What’s the tension? What’s the relentless motivation in your imagination?

It feels like many have uninteresting stories because they have so little passion and the passion they do have is buried under routine, stress, and the treadmill systems.