After watching
cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=3892900&ch=61492&src=news I decided it was time to make my opinions known on this subject of American consumerism and its affect on debt. Many Americans spend more than they earn, have large debt, and live well beyond their means. People like Dave Ramsey or this family have shown us how we can live frugal, cheap, meaningful lives.

I call bullshit.

I don’t think it is possible for the average American to enjoy life by being extremely frugal. Time is money, and spending hours planning meals, scouting for coupons, and going to the grocery store once a month is just plain stupid. I, unlike this family, like to enjoy wine, whiskey, firearms, and the independence of owning a car of my choosing and driving it whenever I feel like it. On the one hand these things cost money, perhaps more money than most of us make and we end up in debt and have to constrain ourselves. On the other hand we can be frugal but we are constrained about what we can and cannot do as our life passes us by. We wait and hope that one day; we will finally achieve financial freedom and live the life we always dream about. This theory is very much like Christianity, work hard and suffer in this life so that things will be okay in the next.

I don’t think so.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow and I believe in living in the now. That said I don’t waste my salary on hookers & blow and I always save 10% but I don’t flip out about debt (at least not unsecured loans). Many of these financial gurus give ridiculous advice about paying off your debt as quickly as possible so you can achieve “financial freedom”. I don’t know if these guys get a check from Chase from saying that but its total bullshit and I will explain.

The first rule is to always pay yourself first. No matter what, save at least 10%, this should be like a religious doctrine. Screw credit card companies, creditors, bills, pay yourself 10% off the top. That is what you get for busting your ass for the man from sun up to sun down every day. The best advice is to put that into an IRA were you can’t touch it easily and if you do you get hefty fines. Don’t put that into a savings account where you can “point and click” and get the money for an “emergency” like a really good sale. This money is for you, not some company that turns out plastic crap. The second rule is to moderate spending on consumable items and non-durable goods. For example, alcohol is a consumable item. Sure it may give us all reason for living or NOT chocking out that asshole in the cubicle next to use, but everything in moderation. Same goes for non-durable goods. If the item you are buying has absolutely no value after 5 or so years then do you really need it, can you resell it if you had to? For example my hobbies tend to be expensive but I really don’t worry about it. Firearms don’t depreciate in value much; in fact they may even appreciate many cases. Video game consoles, designer clothes, electronics all eventually break, get outdated, or get destroyed. In 5 to 10 years that crap you bought that was made in china is now worth nothing. Keep this in mind when you make your purchases. Its better to buy jewelry than designer clothes, at least one retains their value long after you purchased it. Third, the only real debt that should concern you is secured loans. Such as your car and your house (assuming you own one). Pay those bills first. Some people always stress about credit cards, and to this I say, “Why are you stressing about an unsecured loan?” The beauty of an unsecured loan is that you can just walk away from it. Lets say you have $30,000 bucks in credit card debt and one day you just say, “Fuck it, I’m not paying it”. Well guess what, it’s not your problem anymore. Sure the creditors will call you ever day, harass you, and threaten you but they have no legal right to and they can’t get their money back, all they can do is give you a nasty credit score. So my question to you is how much is a credit score worth? If it will take you roughly 10 years to pay off $30,000 in debt and a bad credit score only last for 10 years then…fuck ‘em! They took the risk thinking you could pay them back, its their problem. Now for those of you who are squeamish and believe you should “pay as agreed” and keep your word, good for you! This is just a realistic option, of course you credit will be thrashed and you can’t buy a house or a car but how could you if you have a bunch of debt in the first place? Understand, it’s a lose-lose situation. However it’s important to realize why and how you got into debt in the first place. Consumer spending might be a sign of other problem but sometimes honest people end up in debt due to medical emergencies or legitimate problems, not just “The Sale of the Century!”.

So in closing, pay yourself first, pay secured loans second, and unsecured loans last. Moderate your spending but an occasional drink at the bar, that latest Opeth CD and a cruise in your car will keep you sane and energized enough to continue on without being mentally bogged down. There is no need to go to extremes to save money, doing all your shopping at Costco and buying a fuel efficient Prius is no way to go through life.

A cultural disconnect

There seems to be a massive cultural disconnect between the western nations and some of its supposed allies. This came to my attention after a “conversation” with an individual who came from South Korea. In case you haven’t noticed South Korea has been in the news recently due to a number (approximately 32 or so, I forget) Christian missionaries that volunteered to go to Afghanistan to help the Afghan people. These missionaries were doing their work for the good of mankind when a group of hostile afghan terrorist kidnapped them. Along this long process, two of these individuals were executed for one reason or another. After a rather long series of negotiations all the hostages were freed and sent back to South Korea. This is where the fun begins. Apparently all Koreans (a culture subject to the wonderful dynamics of group think) believe that these hostages should pay back the money that used as ransom for their lives to the Korean government, AND apologize to the Korean people for embarrassing their nation. Apparently the Korean cultural believes in blaming the victim, something I find appalling to say the least. Blaming the Korean hostages for getting kidnapped because they went to Afghanistan is akin to blaming a girl for getting raped and forcing her to pay her own hospital bills because she wore a short skirt or acted flirtatiously. It is important to note that South Korea is an “ally” of the United States. Never mind the fact they refuse to support the United States militarily in armed conflict in either Afghanistan or Iraq but we support them in defense of their “nation” from North Korea. The sentiments of South Korea are repeated throughout the Asian continent. There is a massive cultural disconnect in how we think and do things. All over South Korea, “people” are angry at these individuals accusing them of helping the Afghan people for their own personal profit (what profit you get from going to a third world country is beyond me), and putting themselves at risk despite warnings from the South Korea government. Never mind that they were kidnapped by terrorist, held captive, and two of them were executed. Let’s not blame these asshole terrorist, no, lets blame the people that’s easier because we can take out are aggression on them since we are too cowardly to go to war against the Taliban. These people weren’t acting like human shields; they were trying to help poor and starving people displaced by war, which is lot more than could be said of the average South Korean citizen that thinks life revolves around karaoke bars, soju, and cultural excepted infidelity.

The United States definitely needs allies in this day and age but we can be a bit more discriminating in who we choose especially when we have so much to loose. Cultural factors are more important when shit hits the fan than the economic conditions of a state. A man who believes in what he is fighting for will jump on a live grenade and sacrifice himself to save his allies, a neurotic coward only cares about his own skin.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a rather big music aficionado. One of my favorite genres is heavy metal due to usage of guitars, drums, and first and foremost talent. Heavy metal has a raw untamed edge to it that makes it appeal to some people, me being one of them. But what I like most about Heavy Metal as opposed to other forms of music are the lyrics. Which is really no surprise, people tend to gravitate towards what they can identify with. Being a soldier, I can relate to it more than others. As to why so many teenagers who live in their mom’s basement love it is beyond me. I can understand if you’ve been to war, but Counter-Strike and Halo isn’t exactly combat experience.

Alas, I am rumbling. So I will post gratuitous shots of nudity with the lyrics of Slayer’s Skeletons of Society

Minutes seems like days
Since the fire ruled the sky
The rich became the beggar
And the fool became the wise
Memories linger in my brain
Of burning from the acid rain
A pain I never have won

Nothing here remains
No future and no past
No one could foresee
The end that came so fast
Hear the prophet make his guess
That paradise lies in the west
So join his quest for the sun

Shades of death are all I see
Fragments of what used to be

The world slowly decays
Destruction fills my eyes
Harboring the image
Of a spiraling demise
Burning winds release their fury
Simulating judge and jury
Drifting flurries of pain

Deafening silence reigns
As twilight fills the sky
Eventual supremacy
[as] daylight waits to die
Darkness always calls my name
A pawn in this recurring game
Humanity going insane

Shades of death are all I see
[skeletons of society
Shades of death are all I see]
Fragments of what used to be
[fragments of what used to be
Skeletons of society]

Minutes seem like days
Corrosion fills the sky
Morbid dreams of anarchy
Brought judgment in disguise
Memories linger in my brain
Life with nothing more to gain
Perpetual madness remains

Shades of death are all I see
Skeletons of society
[shades of death are all I see]
Fragments of what used to be
[fragments of what used to be]
Skeletons of society

It is my firm belief that legalized prostitution would create a better world. I have lived outside of my country for extended periods of time (being greater than two years) and have noticed that societies in which position was legal (not just tolerated) has created a safer society. And I will attempt to rationalize why this is.

First and foremost when prostitution is illegal it causes crime to skyrocket. People will always have sex; this is in our genetic DNA. Like the saying goes, “Sex Sells” and there is a very good reason for it. Many studies have showed that many men work extremely hard from the age of 18 to 26. The reason for this “peeking of performance” is a natural attempt to prove how fit they are in order to attract mates. This “peeking of performance” can manifest itself in sublime pursuits such as music, sports, scientific achievement or even criminal activity. Most famous and infamous individuals from Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Al Capone, to Nikoli Telsa or Buzz Aldrun did some of their most legendary accomplishments within this age timeframe. The reasons for this, is the same reasons why wild wolves fight with other wolves, to prove their superiority and attract mates.

However this behavior continues to display itself in “modern societies” and sometimes with disastrous results. There is nothing to pacify many men in today modern societies except for the widespread availability of pornography in western cultures. As a result many men form relationships with members of the opposite sex for the sole purpose of sexual activity. This relationship may bear illegitimate children and result in a marriage of necessity and stagnant life. Coupled with the fact that the sexual needs of the said individual are still not met because marriage rarely suffices one’s sexual appetite. Hence the individual is still in this perpetual loop of sexual neediness that is rarely met. Hence this surplus of energy may be spent in trivial pursuits, expensive hobbies, garage tinkering, alcohol, or forming additional false and meaningless relationships with “friends”.

However legalized prostitution can actually provide benefits to society and alleviate some social stresses. For one legalized prostitution actually empowers women contrary to the belief that it doesn’t. Women have legal recourse, are not abused by pimps or gangsters, and can have a legitimate professional career with which to build savings, credit, and establish a said identity in the world. However legalized prostitution provides more than that, it provides many individuals with a way to effectively relieve stress and focus on their jobs and professions. As invigorating as playing golf is or watching a football game few things are as renewing as sexual activity with another individual of your choice. Granted legalized prostitution does not provide one with the close physical intimacy that we all crave, it does provide us with an outlet for our innate sexual aggression. After all, sometimes sex is the communication of two people who are in love expression that love to each other and other times it’s just a really good fuck.

When we think about society, we think about a modern society in which natural tendencies are channeled effectively instead of being unrestrained. A person that is predisposed to violence can find a career in the military, a naturally sexual person could find good money in position, and certain character traits such as psychological described “loner”, homosexual, book reader can all thrive. We must keep in mind that without society we only have two types of people, hunters and gathers. The establishment of modern farming gave us an excess food supply in which we could support individuals such as engineers, scientist, doctors, etc who require food but fail to produce any. However we have learned that such individuals are indispensable to society, so when why have we let cultural norms dictate the establishment of additional individuals who could be beneficial to society? Sexuality is as much a part of our society as eating and religion yet somehow we have stifled its development greatly with excuses ranging from “it’s for the children” to “Christianity – a religion that has no problems bombing the shit out of other countries”.

I believe the hallmark of a civil society, is a society where all individuals are free to be themselves and can channel their natural tendencies and dispositions into a series of skills that can benefit society as a whole, position included.

I will continue Part II after hashing out my ideas, this post is subject to change bearing comments.

Murder at your every foot step
A childs toy sudden death
Sniper blazes you through your knees
Falling down can you feel the heat
Burn!

Ambushed by the spray of lead
Count the bullet holes in your head
Offspring sent out to cry
Living mandatory suicide
Suicide

Holes burn deep in your chest
Raked by machine gun fire
Screaming soul sent out to die
Living mandatory suicide
Suicide

Lying, dying, screaming in pain
Begging, pleading, bullets drip like rain
Minds explode, pain sheers to your brain
Radical amputation, this is insane

Fly swatter stakes, drive through your chest
Spikes impale you as youre forced off the crest
Soldier of misfortune
Hunting with bated breath

A vile smell, like tasting death
Dead bodies, dying and wounded
Litter the city streets
Shattered glass, bits of clothing and human deceit
Dying terror
Bloods cheap, its everywhere
Mandatory suicide, massacre on the front line

Despite what some would have others believe Christianity and the western mind are borne out of each other. One could not exist without the other. Christianity as we know it is an evolution of western ideals mixed with Middle Eastern beliefs and culture. What today we call Christianity has little if nothing in common with its ancient roots. The beginning of this could be traced to the Roman Empire were Christianity was first adapted. As Christian persecution ceased and Christianity became the official belief of the Roman Empire it went through a metamorphosis. For better or for worse this has defined what we know as Christianity today.

Many of the beliefs of the western mind have their origin in Christian-Judeo thought. Marriage, friendship, war, sacrifice, and a belief in the after life are all unique to Christian-Judeo thought and one could go so far to say these beliefs are inline with similar beliefs north of the Caucuses Mountains. For example as far as we look back into Mediterranean or Nordic religions we see similar recurring themes. For example, the belief of an after life, the belief of a heaven and hell, and the belief that one remains in their earthly form and are either rewarded or punished in the next life was consistent with their belief system. In contrast, the Asian and African continents did not readily accept this as it did not fit in with their views of how things work and what things should be. About the only “successful” conversion of a people to Christianity was done in the Americas and that “conversion” was done primarily through the sword. The people subjugated to colonial rule had little choice to believe if they wanted to survive. Not surprisingly this “conversion by the sword” had left a culture of violence that still permeates those regions to this day.

The question remains, is one’s belief system pre-determined by their genetic code or is one truly able to exert their free will and choose a belief system of their own free choosing? Is the failure of Christianity to convert the hordes of unbelievers a fault of historical and cultural factors, or is this merely a genetic constraint which can only be influenced through violence?