Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
With the exception of the very young, those who live in caves and people in comas it would be hard to miss the accelerated trajectory of America’s decline in the past few years. Regardless of which side you may find yourself on in the culture war, your party affiliation or self-proclaimed gender assignment, the one thing we all share in common, is a pronounced sense of dissatisfaction and unease. The camps are divided into a panoply of discordant sects, each jockeying for an ever decreasing slice of American Pie; Vegans vs Paleos, He&She vs Xe&Xer, the SJW’s, and the Bitter Clingers, the 1% or the 99%, Red vs Blue, Progressive vs Conservative, insiders and outsiders, MRA’s and Third Wave Feminazis- no one is exempt from the agita of the age.
The use of anxiety medications is at an all time high, politics has become polarized to a degree that hasn’t been seen since 1860, and human beings are so deeply disturbed with their condition that extreme body modification has led a portion of the population to cut off healthy limbs, install horns, drill holes, ink their flesh until their own mother wouldn’t recognize them. America leads the world in obesity while at the same time less than 1% of the population lives on a family farm, highlighting a disconnect from something as basic as the food we eat. At a time when technology has made communications devices ubiquitous, we have never been further apart.
This divide has been blamed on religion, on politics, on ideology and even on something as immutable as the genetics that make us what we are. The one thing that escapes all responsibility and the only aspect of our decline that we control is our own actions and attitudes. Americans aren’t the Captains of their Fate, they are victims of the patriarchy. They haven’t got personal responsibility for their path through life when they feel the world owes them something just for being born.
Everyone knows that something is wrong. Starting today, every single one of us can begin to fix the world if we simply start to do something about it- all it takes is YOU.
1) Mind Your Own Business
In an era where privacy is virtually non-existent we have forgotten what it means to respect the personal. From the trainwreck lives of families like the Kardashians to the People of WalMart no one seems to be immune from the LOOK AT ME! impulse. For those who refrain from such toxic displays of maladjustment there are ten times the number who stop and stare, the people who buy People, the gossips and the doxers, those who settle down on the couch with the kids to stuff their pie-holes with super-sized bags of empty calories to watch the horror show that is reality TV as if it were entertainment when deep inside everyone knows they are just happy to not be them. It’s no different from the crowds that gathered for public hangings and no one makes you do it, it’s a choice. Cut it out. Keeping your eyes parked inside your head is not such a bad thing, especially since even the highest functioning among us still have their own problems to work on. Turn your curiosity inward, learn a new skill, spend time with a book or a child or a pet you’ve neglected, but for the love of God, or Darwin if that’s your thing, mind your own business.
2) Make Due With What You’ve Got
You don’t need another electronic device, trust me. Blu Ray today is the Beta Max of tomorrow. We have enough yard sales on any given Saturday to fund a mission to Mars. There are more Self Storage container farms than farms. We are literally being buried beneath the weight of our own surpluses and yet we are never satisfied. We eat to the point of obesity and yet we are not filled. Never have so many done so little with so much. Debt, both public and private is at a level so high that it will never be paid off, ever.
Default is the only way out and yet for 2 full hours on national television the entire left wing of the political establishment simply read off a list of things they were going to give away, from college educations to the posterity of the Founders in exchange for a vote. Our collective inner voice reads like the letter to Santa from Sally in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” …”I want what’s coming to me, I just want my fair share.” Let me clue you in, you’ve got enough. We all do. In fact most of us could use a visit from GoodWill and earn a tax credit in the process. The old way is coming to an end one way or another and those who learn to make due with what they’ve got will be well ahead of the curve.
3) Do It Yourself
One of the greatest curses of living in the era of specialization is that human beings have lost the fundamental skill sets associated with self-sufficiency. The refrigerator is broken, call the refrigerator guy. The toilet won’t flush, call the plumber. My children need distraction, hire an au pair. The list is endless and most, if not all of our needs could be met if only we gave ourselves a chance to do what we are convinced we cannot. I can’t tell you how often I have heard people, when faced with something as simple as a flat tire say “I’m not handy” or “I’m not a tool guy”. Reality check: see those things at the end of your arms? The ones with the fingers and the thumbs? Those are called hands and trust me, they work just fine.
And that other accessory up there underneath your blue hair and neck beard? That’s called a mind and it is a terrible thing to waste. I know things are complicated, but when was the last time you actually took the time to examine a broken dishwasher or leaky faucet and tried to wrap your head around the mechanical process. Why does it work and what makes it function? There is system to virtually everything and all of them were created by and made into being by other homo-sapiens… not that there’s anything wrong with that…You are no different than them with the possible exception of your totally unique skull tattoo, of course and with just a little bit of effort you can fix what’s broke. Or grow your own tomatoes. Or paint your own toenails, whatever floats your boat. And in the end you not only save yourself a couple of bucks, you’ve picked up a new skill and boosted you confidence level to new heights.
4) Get Healthy And Stay That Way
On average Americans spend over seventy quadrillion dollars per year on medical insurance and Xanax. Or something close to that. The fact is that most of our current health issues stem from our own inability to maintain the flesh suits we were born with. Yes, I know, some people have problems that are genetic or so serious as to be insurmountable without real medical care, but they are a minority. Forget old age related health issues as well because as we all know by now, on a long enough timeline the survival rate is zero. I’m talking about the easy fixes that every man, woman and child ought to do for themselves daily.
Eat what’s good for you, use your body, entertain your mind and keep it challenged. Walk, swim, play, get outside, go to bed at a decent hour, solve the problems that cause you stress instead of medicating the symptoms into submission. All of this is far easier than it seems but it requires the inner discipline to make the right choice. Everyone eats and no one ever says that’s hard to do. Ask them to eat foods that they know to be fresh and healthful and they’ll give you every excuse in the book- why? Because they’re lazy, not because those foods aren’t available.
They’ll tell you eating well costs too much, but that’s a lie. Processed food costs a fortune in poor health, medical care and a shortened life. McDonald’s fare doesn’t fill you up with what your body needs, it’s clogs it up with with empty calories and chemical stabilizers leaving you starving for real nutrition. People say they have no time in the day to exercise yet the average American spends 5 hours a day in front of a High Def jumbotron watching people living equally empty lives. If you worked out 35 hours a week you could turn yourself into a human sculpture. If you spent only a fraction of those wasted hours doing something physical you’d begin to feel better almost immediately. It’s your body, your choice, as they say.
5) Own It
Here’s the kicker; no matter what you think the world or the government or the 1% or your parents or the guy next door owes you, in the end it all comes down to you. There’s probably a French philosopher who’s articulated this better than I, but he’s dead and I’m not. So listen up, this is all on you. Every word, every action, every thought that issues from your mind, body or soul is your responsibility. You do the wrong thing, it may affect another, it may not, but it definitely stays with you. Like scar tissue, every infraction or cruel word, every minor violation of the code of conduct we call morality is a stain that spreads across your internal wall until at some point you are forced to face it all alone.
No one gets away with anything, really. Those people you think have it all? Imagine what thoughts inhabit their darkest dreams. We live in the age of the victim, where none are to blame but others, where every injustice and misfortune is the fault of some shadowy conspiracy of patriarchs and privileges, where ones rights must be adjudicated or legislated into correction by governments and bureaucracies- staffed, ironically by privileged patriarchs. Bad news, it’s not going to happen. The world will always have it’s poor, it’s downtrodden, it’s pariahs and outcasts, but lets be serious, you aren’t one of them. In fact most of those reading this today live better than the aristocracy of the last century so start enjoying the privileges and perks of your own time and realize just how lucky you are.
Accept equally the social responsibility that goes with such fortune, apologize sincerely if you wrong someone, but try not to do whatever you did in the first place ever again. Watch your tone, be kind for no reason, help someone who needs help, share your new skills you’ve learned doing it yourself with your brand new healthy body you’ve been feeding and exercising and you’ll feel what real empowerment is all about. And if you do it the way your inner voice is telling you to, you’ll make the world just a little bit better today.
Beautifully simple and true. Thank you HSF.
When I was young, back in the Dark Ages of the late ’70s, the two most common things we heard were, “not my business” and “if your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?”
We have brought judgement to an art form. Sadly, unlike most art that lifts the human spirit, judgement of others diminishes us all.
I can remember the time my dad pointed out that when I was pointing my finger at “others,” I still had four fingers pointing back at ME.
Only one more thing I would truly add to your list, apologize and MEAN it.
I am truly sorry for things I’ve done that I know are wrong. The reason I know I am sorry is because I no longer do them AND I apologized sincerely to both the wronged party and God.
Praying and focusing on the light returning to our collective psyche. As long as we are breathing there is more time to make right with the universe.
Bless you.
This is a great site.
Just a little insight of how I feel…
wip stands for Work-in-progress.
Probably a little too kumbaya-ish for the tough crowd here, but all good advice. Thanks.
I’d like to add don’t support / waste your money on crap like: professional sports, lottery, Las Vegas, cruises (where you drink/gamble).
I have never copied and pasted anything from TBP to send to both my sons. Not even my own articles.
Today, an exception will be made.
This article should be preached from the mountaintops, in very church across this land, sent to every lawmaker in ‘Murika, and would be a suitable replacement for Paxil for every feeling-sorry-for-myself depressed soul.
@HSF: My thumbs up of +20 TRILLION is > the national debt.
You article is all that really needs to be taught in our government run propoganda farms, oops, I mean public schools. But it won’t, sadly, because our culture these days is all about finding a Sugar Daddy, avoiding responsibility and indulging in the very worst excesses of narcissim and sloth. We have regressed to being squalling spoiled-rotten 2 year olds. It’s be a real bad day for a whole lotta folks when Reality applies the spanking!
I’ am totally on board with everything you said except the painting of ones own toenails. Sorry, I will be going to the spa for a pedicure when the nuclear bombs are falling, not giving that up, you can pry my cold dead feet from the whirlpool when I’m dead but not before!
That’s all fine and dandy but the socialist , communists , fascist , Nazis and other progressives are not going to let you mind your old business. They are not going to leave you alone and when they get real power they come after people just like you HSF.Your farm and anything else they can steal.
You seem to live in a fairytale.Don’t know.Maybe I’m to pessimistic. We are going to lose everything we have taken for granted. This includes property rights.
Brilliant, just like Stuckey, I am sending this to my little liabilities (daughters).
Oh, and how can we inject this into the skulls of the politicians?
@bb: ” but the socialist , communists , fascist , Nazis and other progressives are not going to let you mind your old business.”
Yes this is the problem. It seems world wide.
Here in Minneapolis we have virtually a socialist city government. Their agenda is unionization of the minimum wage workers by passing $15 hr wages / scheduling / sick pay.
Removing driving lanes, to be replaced with bike lanes. First there are very few bikers, and secondly it’s snow / ice six months a year – and then you can’t bike.
We built an LRT between Mpls and St Paul for over a billion dollars. It’s nothing more than another welfare benefit. It’s the honor system to buy a ticket. My friend who sometimes rides the LRT has been asked to show his ticket by the Transit Police. The Transit Police only check the white people’s ticket. My friend asked the cop “Why don’t you check those Somali’s tickets”. The cop replied “Do you want to start something?”
Our mayor said she would gladly accept some of these migrant creatures MENA.
These socialists hate cars. Hate us people who drive them. Hate white people who work (except for the taxes we pay).
Over the years my family has worked to insulate ourselves from this shit. We have a nice stone home on a lake, and sufficient income, and savings.
But I worry cause these other people are working hard against us. It happens so fast, and its planned so secretly that it’s hard to respond, before they shove it down your throat.
Bullseye.
BB – you still don’t get it…even if you are right and the future is exactly as bleak as you suspect…IT DOES NOT MATTER…it does not change what you can control and what you cannot.
Follow HSF’s advice today. Then repeat each day after. That’s it. That’s ALL that you can control. The real problem is that your fear of that possible future is poisoning your attitudes and actions today. (I know it poisons mine at times)
The bible also has similar advice, you know:
“Therefore, never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34
Good article, HSF. I grew a lot of tomatoes this year and fixed several things around the house. I will not change my own oil, though.
Very sage advice HSF………….. I”ve done the following for this year: installed bee packages & collected swarms from them,..laid pavers….planted beets, carrots, garlic,onions,celery,pole beans, more beets, more carrots,german camomile, tended my hops, brewing beer w/ said hops, made ginger mead w/ own honey,blueberries & huckleberrries, making mucato wine, repaired &detailed a circa 50’s portable space heater, raising americanas, Making our yard habitable for birds & pollinating insects, taking home produce to local food bank & giving away some honey, eggs & produce to friends ,neighbors & family…………..from a typical 50′ x 140′ city lot.! I’m by far from perfect…but i do what i can as a hedge against hard times…….. which appear on the horizon.
One of the finest posts to appear on this site lately.
“Mind your own business” – PLEASE! I simply refuse to be bothered by other people’s actions that do not need to affect me. I am not bothered by other people’s flaws as long as they don’t affect me. I cannot be bothered to notice that some stranger is fat, or dressed and tatted like a freak, or whatever. I don’t walk around looking for people to mock and criticize. Your strange gender issues, your freaky religion, your horrid taste in clothes, your disorderly “love” life, is all your business. Just don’t make me pay for all that.
“Make do with what you have”- better yet, be GRATEFUL for what you have. Sure, I don’t have an $8 Million pre-war co-op in Lincoln Park stuffed with gorgeous antiques, but what I have is pretty nice, and way more than sufficient. A lot of people in this overly indulgent culture mistake relative poverty for absolute poverty. Relative poverty is when your neighbor has more money and luxury than you do, and I’ve met way too many affluent people living in vast luxury who feel “poor” relative to anyone who has more, and are full of envy and grievance. So you’re living in a studio with a 15 year old car? Do you have heat and running water? If so, you’re better off than 90% of the world’s population. Be glad.
“Own it”- Take responsibility for your actions. Sure, I’ve been fucked over a few times, and in most cases, it happened because I let it- I didn’t inform myself, didn’t watch my back, wouldn’t be bothered to get everything worked out properly. I have to allow that I have fucked up a lot, mostly out of greed, arrogance, complacence, and a sense of entitlement. One of the nice thing about owning your faults and errors, is that you can claim credit for what you, and only you, did right. But, most of all, you never learn from your errors if you do not own up to them.
I meditate……….fuck that.
Well done HSF.
“5 Ways You Can Fix The World”, what a grandiose title. Grandiose–” Psychiatry. having an exaggerated belief in one’s importance, sometimes reaching delusional proportions, and occurring as a common symptom of mental illnesses,..”–Wikipedia. But…reading your post, I know what you mean.
Being a kid, that was so long ago that I hardly ever remember being one, I never understood why people can’t ever leave each other alone. I still don’t understand it, fully, today, although, I have arrived at some insight in my old age. Humans malicious fascination with each other to an alien species, must border on extreme neurosis. Just look at our fascination with the Kardashians, Wives of New Jersey, Dear Abby, the National Inquirer, and People magizine. People living their lives vicariously through the lives of others. A national sickness to be sure.
As a kid, I learned that I couldn’t fix the world. Hell, I couldn’t even fix myself, always having my parents, priests and other adults constantly reminding me of my ‘short comings’. One of which was questioning everything, especially their inane edicts, which was probably the source of my greatest
undoing. Authority so lacks understanding. Boy, I was so dumb. I thought, what right do you have to punish me? I have done you no harm. I have never gotten an answer to that question.
I know what you’re thinking. Stalin, Hitler, Mao changed the world, yes, I agree, but they didn’t fix anything. They just made a bigger mess of it. I learned, early, that I am powerless to fix the foibles of humanity and have concluded that I only have the power to fix myself. This I have tried to do through education, reflection, and challenges and feel that I have become a better person through it all.
What Mr. Farmer is saying, I think, is that you can’t fix the world, but you can fix yourself and through that you can fix the world. This is basic Metaphysics. This is Neo becoming. You are the One!
don’t knock cast-offs. yesterday’s junk is another consumer’s treasure. ..and no price is too high to pay.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3284428/Women-allow-filmed-stripping-naked-middle-Russian-nightclub-win-iPhone-isn-t-new-model.html
Desiderata – Max Ehrmann / Music: Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings
youtu.be/1dPDO3Tfab0
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
wow HSF mind body and soul that’s the only tattoo I have and I live it
HSF – very nice.
HSF, I especially like #4. Just being healthy and reasonably fit improves your life so much. I spent the day today planting 800 coconuts. I haven’t grown a crop of coconut palms in four or five years. They are one of my favorite trees. I don’t get the chance to be hands on as often as I would like, it calms me down. Coconuts are heavy, I will feel it tomorrow. But in a satisfying way.
Today, I finished plugging fescue from the chicken yard that I plan to turn into garden next spring into my hillside front lawn. I wanted to buy sod and simply roll a new lawn onto that one acre expanse our neighbor was kind enough to landscape for us (at a very reasonable price… is really best to pay for a person’s labor and hard work when one can, or barter fairly.) However, the sod guy hasn’t had enough rain to cut and roll and has his irrigation equipment on his golf course grass, since he has been contracted to supply a new golf course in St. Louis with grass that sells at triple what my fescue would yield.
So, I decided that I could pick up the rocks myself and haul chicken manure, good soil and fescue plugs to stop the runoff on the hillside and put down seed myself. While my dedicated husband has been working hard on the detail work inside our home, I have been in the trenches with the chickens, feeding them worms and getting to know their personalities, cleaning up their mess like it is treasure (which it is… better than horse or cow manure and doesn’t have to be composted.) And I have been working the soil with my hands, which has done wonders for those stiff knuckles that were slow to heal after I almost dislocated them when I hit that deer last spring.
Your post, HSF, reminds me another piece of wisdom. If you want to change the world, change yourself.
I have a hillside full of grass after two weeks. I may not get the whole acre covered, but I will stop the washout of the winter with my efforts. And I made a difference.
I should note w/ regard to my post above that I’ve been able to do these tasks because Mrs polecat is the breadwinner for the immediate future…..as the shit started to hit the beginning in 08′ I received a nominal inheritance from a family member …. so I paid off our mortgage and started mini farm/large kitchen garden as an attempt having at least SOME resiliance as things go south! TRUST FUNDER you might exclaim….. but……we have no pensions, no heathcare, no financial investments, & only a small amount of savings….am I scared for my & my family’s future survival…..hell yes! ….but i do what i am able while my brain and limbs still function……. this is our probable collective furture for most of us. …..at least those of us who are not scum sucking ticks
in all sincerity,
your humble serf, polecat.
Thanks HSF
Simple rules. I learned quite some time ago to stop worrying so much about what is happening everywhere else and focus on making my life better here in my own home. Spiritually and financially.
It’s okay to be informed about goings on Wall street and also world events. I’ve been known to rail about this or that. However you can only fix what you control. I try my best to “do the right thing” by my family and those closest to me. All I want is to be able to look in mirror and be able to say I did my best. The rest will take care of itself.
What I learned in the ’60’s’ from the Hippies and, somewhat before that, the Beatniks is that “It’s all relative and there no fast set rules”. It was a wonderful time filled with ‘free love’, ‘Hair’ and a lack of responsibility. It was a wondrous elixir of self expression, drugs and irresponsible action. It was the near adults in the ’60’s’ and, today, ‘boomer adults’ fixated in the two year old stage of human maturation. …And what has this experimental dalliance in immaturity unleashed? Why, what we as a society are experiencing today. A breakdown in Law, Community cohesion, the Economy, Family Life, and the Sanctity of Life–among others. A Prez and Government that Divides rather than Unites with an endless string of wars. Lying as a standard course of action at all levels of government. Selfish corporate malfeasance. A world where it doesn’t matter, nothing matters–it’s all relative. God is dead and we are masters of our own universe. We are all powerful and I’m goin’ a get mine mentality. …But
What if it’s not true. What if the premise that it’s all relative and there are no absolutes, isn’t true. What then??? Are there absolutes??? If the foundation for a belief is in error, all that flow from that belief is in error. How could it be otherwise?
So, you want to ‘fix the world’, do you? First, fix yourself. How do you fix yourself? Easy, fix your beliefs. All actions stem from beliefs. Everyone acts consistent with their beliefs, there are no exceptions. Challenge your beliefs for in doing so truth will be revealed to you. It is the unchallenged beliefs that cause the most trouble in the world.
It’s interesting the HSF referenced 1860’s as a great period of division in the country, as it was. That polarization that so firmly gripped the country and led to the War of Southern Independence and 850 dead souls had little to do with Slavery and everything to do with the beliefs of the New England “Damn Yankees” of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Such is the power of beliefs.
Be wary of what you believe, be very wary, for it will be the scaffold which you will walk.
HSF, great piece as usual. You are a superb writer. (You should be published.) You offer sound suggestions, which also may make you wise. And yet, have you considered that normal folks have a tenth of your talent, resolve, and work ethic?
By way of research, I did find and watched your comedy routine back in the day. Very good. Very funny. You are quite talented no doubt–you are a good comedian, writer, artist, farmer, sniper, father, husband, and whatever else you choose to do. Has it occurred to you that you are exceptional? I mean, with respect, the vast majority of young people, not to mention we old timers, do not possess your skills and inborn talent.
I think what you neglect is the ordinary person, who has none of your skill and wherewithal. What do you say to him?
850 thousand dead souls as of last count.
Archie says, “…what you neglect is the ordinary person, who has none of your skill and wherewithal. What do you say to him?”
Homer sez, “God gave you a brain. A wonderful tool for learning. In many people it is underutilized, a pity. Take hold of it and put it to work.”
This is something you have to do for yourself. Remember there was a time when HSF was a ‘blank tablet’. Something happened between then and now. What could it be? Hmmmm!
I often refer to the Civil War as the War of Southern Independence. It was more truly the War of Southern Liberation. If you don’t know the subtle differences in these terms, you’re sorely under educated. Yes, Southern Liberation is the historically correct term.
Yes, the Civil War was a clash of beliefs as are all wars. If you want to discover the mettle of a man, search out his beliefs. That’s how I knew BO was a fraud.
What is the mettle of the candidates in the 2016 election? Hillary, Trump, Carson, Sanders, etc.?
For ten thousand years mankind has fixed nothing. From the cavemen peering out of their cave looking over the valley below watching for strangers to ambush to the modern banking and monetary hijackers, from the armies of stone throwers to the drone assisted mechanized warriors of modern times, from chieftains, warlords, kings, emperors, to todays presidents and dictators a great deal has changed………………..Except for the nature of men.
No one has ever fixed the nature of mankind. No one. It probably can’t be fixed or changed and very likely should not be. It may not be broken at all. So stock up that ammo and get ready for some Doom like it’s never been seen before.
Bone broth and a good shot of HSF’s common sense will cure you and the country. Also being “old school” to as high a level as you can will help you become human again……see that is what is wrong with people and in turn the world. We have forgotten how to be human.
TPTB won’t let us be human and do the things humans should do, you can’t market the latest electronic gadget to someone who tends the land and animals and makes most of their possessions as they have no time for them in their day.
FB and Twitter keep everyone right up in everybody’s business 24/7 which is making people extremely strange IMO. Your business now belongs to everyone like it or not and if you don’t participate you are tagged as antisocial, WTF? Ever ask yourself why you don’t see any of the Rothschilds blathering on FB? THEY have privacy, THEY have the luxury of being left alone they are the .001% and they are free to be individuals where we are not. They are immune from the claws of this construct that is tearing us to shreds.
Good advice about staying fit and healthy, your life will depend on it in the future. The infirm won’t hold up under extreme conditions like collapse/ war/ civil unrest. Thanks HSF!!
Yes, mind your business to a point. But what we have today are people faking their acceptance for criminality, sloth, and degeneracy. For those thinking “Do what you want, just leave me alone” — news flash, we’ve tried that. and you are paying for it already. Society’s unwillingness to gently shun abhorrent behavior has made that behavior into a powerful incentive for lobbying groups. Make no mistake, these various interested aren’t interested in “equality” or “being left alone.” They want your resources, your job, your social standing.
People have become professional actors. We shake hands with people we despise. We hide our views if they might offend someone. We call people Sir who are a mockery to the idea of a gentleman. We ask people how they are doing when we couldn’t care less. And why? Because we are scared of losing a job, a networking connection, etc. Maybe minding your own business is a less undesirable personal strategy. But this decrepit society refuses to mind its own, and the ever shrinking amount of ‘norms’ out there should probably start speaking up.
Hardscrabble::::
Please retain a file of each article you write and that are posted on your own web site or sucked up by TBP or some other site to share your views, common sense and lovely prose about reality as widely as possibly.
Then, in a few years, put those articles all together and publish a fine book about the real world, sell it through Amazon in both trade paper (higher quality than “paper back) and as an e-book..
I’ll be your #1 customer with a buy of at least 4 books – 1 for my library and 3 to send along to some others I know really need the wisdom you so sweetly present!
Best…
MA
HSF says
“You don’t need another electronic device, trust me.”
My downstairs neighbor yesterday bought a new ipad mac air thingy. It is a pretty mesmerizing gizmo.
She came over all excited about it to show to me. While she was here she gave her iphone as she didn’t need it anymore. I didn’t want the iphone but couldn’t think of a gracious way to not accept it. I’ve never had a cell phone and I have no idea how to use one. I don’t want one either.
So today this fucking iphone is on the dining room table kept doing shit – all by itself! It would start playing little tunes and lighting up and if was really annoying. I don’t know how to make it stop, I don’t want this damn thing and it won’t shut up.
So I took the iphone and locked in the bedroom where I can’t hear it. I’m hoping the battery will die soon? What an invasive piece of shit, how do I make it shut up? I’m considering taking a hammer to it or throwing it in the trash.
Use hammer and
Post pictures
minding one’s own business is not always an option…some skull stomping may be required.
Thug Teens Sickening Knockout On A Helpless Woman…This attack occurred on October 17th in Browns Park in Atlantic City. Two young black males are involved in what appears to be an unprovoked attack on an older white female who is sitting down. One of them is videotaping the incident and egging the other one on. The other screams abuse at the woman and then hits her in the temple with a haymaker. The woman is knocked unconscious and the pair laugh gleefully.
Then the attacker remains standing by the unconscious woman and brags about the assault while the cameraman continues laughing. Numerous bystanders seem unfazed by the assault, as if it was a normal everyday occurrence. The attackers don’t run away and no one tries to intervene.
The victim is a 45 year old homeless woman who was in critical condition when she arrived at an Atlantic City hospital. A spokesman for the police says she suffered serious head trauma and is still in serious but stable condition.
Twenty-five year old Ibn Hunter was arrested this morning and charged with aggravated assault…No Water Mark 😉
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b5a_1445300086
A flash of anger, insight and some very good advice. Wisdom is a rare commodity. Thank you, Hardscrabble.
This morning here in central New Jersey i went out to our garden and picked fresh turnips, carrots and beets. If not for an early frost, there would have been more. I can thank in part Mother Earth News which i started reading when i was 19. It was a about self relance, making and doing things for yourself.
I have a small house, that’s been paid off for 11 years, that has a wood stove that heats the whole place and was a god send when there was no power for 2 weeks during Sandy.
I’m 63-self employed work about 25-30 hours a week. When not working, i read, kayak and hike. My Tee Vee was was elimnated long ago and my 2004 Honda Civic has $191,000 miles on it.
I’ve always sought an alternative to the mainstream bullshit and i’ve found some of it.
#6:
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Would like to have family,friends and neighbors like HSF. bb has a point but I would bet that someone who messed with HSF would regret it.
Nice list HSF. The only quibble I have is that #2 should say make do, not make due.
Stanley, sell the damn gifted iPhone! Let someone else live in slavery … and like it.
Can you think of a better reward than turning your discipline into someone else’s vice – at a PROFIT?
Best of luck!
Stanley, those are probably alarms or “notifications” from the programs running on it.
The easiest way to walk you through making it stop would be to tell you how to shut if off. I’ve never had an iCrap, but I bet if you search it on the ‘net you’ll find instructions for the off button. The “easy to understand” symbols for things like on/off have become nearly impossible to decipher. If there is a button along any of the sides, try holding it down and eventually you should find a menu popping up that will have a shut down option. Good luck.
@flash, that doesn’t have a freaking thing to do with “Minding your own business,” that has to do with human life and defending the defenseless. You remain clueless, better luck in your next go round.
@TE –
I’m saved! Neighbor came back today to tell me she needed to retrieve some information from the phone so she needed it back. I was only too happy to accommodate, the thing has been locked in the bedroom in isolation for days.
Goodbye iphone! i sure as hell will not miss you. And shut the fuck up. I can’t believe people spend $600 or $700 on such a caterwalling annoying device.
I’m free! It’s gone!
@Stanley… I had one phone that was so annoying that even when I let the battery run down, it continued to beep to tell me the battery had run down. I had to burn it.
How to fix the world…Elect Donald Trump?
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I eagerly await my 500 thumps ups..
Very nice post HSF. I’m fascinated by the way the comments seem to break down between optimists–the guys who think the world and life and humanity can be better in the future and want to help us get there–and the pessimists who have given up on humanity and want to go hide in caves with guns and rail against The Government or The Corporations or The Socialists.
It’s the old “wolf you feed” story. I think I’ll continue to feed the one that leads us to hope and tomorrow.
But then, I’m an Optomist..