I often talk about my belief that hard-work, education, thrift/delayed gratification, perseverance, honesty, and trustworthiness are the keys to long-term success. I believe that young people with these characteristics can be successful even in today’s economy. I am frequently howled down by naysayers.
I want to tell a story about a young man I know. This young man decided 4 years ago to abandon a promising individual athletic career to take up a team sport, as he missed the camaraderie of a team sport. He also decided that his goal was to play NCAA basketball. Now, given that this young man had no basketball experience whatsoever – he could not dribble a basketball, much less shoot, defend, pass, etc. – this was a lofty goal indeed. Although the young man was athletically talented, he was not Lebron James, and he was not seven feet tall, and so his chances of playing NCAA basketball would ultimately be determined by his skill level.
The young man’s father, who had reasonable basketball experience, began to show the young man how to dribble. He showed him how to shoot, and demanded the young man learn proper techniques right from the start. There were squabbles, but the young man had serious goals, and ultimately was convinced to do what was asked rather than fight the father.
The father and son sought out advice with respect to what had to be done for the young man to achieve his goals. They were told straight forward that the odds of getting a NCAA basketball scholarship is miniscule – perhaps 3 percent of all high school players get a scholarship of any kind, and perhaps half that get a full scholarship. They were advised that in addition to being a great player, the player would markedly increase their chances of being selected for a scholarship if they were excellent students – coaches want players they can rely on to stay academically eligible, and the demands of NCAA athletics are extreme. The coaches need to know that the players can handle the athletic and the basketball workload.
The young man began practicing every day. He would rise early and practice. He would practice after school, and then he would study. He would do the same on weekends. He strictly controlled time spent with friends, and he was very selective of his friends. He sought out friends that had serious goals in life. He never drank or stayed out late. He practiced, he studied, and he held down a part-time job, and he spent time with friends wisely.
One day when he was practicing early at a local court, he was noticed by an older man. The older man asked him if he wanted to practice with a group he was coaching. It turned out the older man was an ex-NBA point guard. The young man was thrilled at the opportunity, and began to practice with this coach, and has continued to do so since. He has become a favourite of this coach, as he has never wavered from his goals.
The young man tried out for the basketball team, and scraped into the freshman team. The following year he made the varsity squad, and began to see a lot of the court. By the junior year he was starting.
Then disaster struck. He suffered a serious injury, and was out the entire year. He went through months of painful rehab. His therapist said that the pain he was suffering was terrible, and that few of his patients ever managed to put themselves through that rehab program. The therapist said he himself quit his sport after suffering a similar injury, as he was unwilling to go through the necessary rehab. The therapist further stated of the two or three other patients he had had that had gone through the rehab, one became an Olympian, and the others professionals. The point the therapist made was that athletes get injured, and if you want to become elite, you must persevere through injury.
And so the young man persevered, and he overcame. And he resumed basketball as a senior, and continued his pursuit of a scholarship.
And lo and behold, NCAA coaches were interested. Lots of them were interested. They loved that he was a good student. The young man feared that when they found out about his previous injury, they would be too scared to recruit him. But – surprise! – they were virtually overjoyed to find out about that. They loved that he had persevered and overcame the injury. They all had stories about their own injuries, and they could relate. They loved his references from his coaches and teachers. They loved that they could see how he had progressed year to year.
Scholarship offers began to come in. The young man was never going to play for Kentucky or Duke or Kansas, as he was not in that league. But he had offers – lots of offers – to good schools with good coaches and high character teammates. He began to narrow his choices, and he was honest with the coaches of schools that were not in serious running as he felt that was the right thing to do, and he was polite and respectfully in doing so. Almost every one of the coaches responded to his honesty by saying if he were to change his mind, please contact them immediately as they would still be very interested in him if things changed. Ultimately, he verbally committed to a school, and stood by that commitment in the face of efforts by other coaches to pull him away.
And now he has a letter of intent in hand which he will sign in two days. It is for a full NCAA scholarship to a private school, and it is worth around $200,000. The money is not the biggest issue for him – the real issue is the scholarship places him on the team. No scholarship means no position on the team. His family is, however, overjoyed that they do not have to pay for his college, as you can well imagine.
And so, this young man’s story so far is about hard-work, dedication, valuing education, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and delayed gratification. These characteristics have paid off handsomely for the young man. This young man had some advantages that other young do not. For instance, he was born into a family that valued hard-work and education, and preached honesty and integrity at him non-stop. Both of his parents were totally committed to helping him achieve his goals. They required his total commitment in return. They provided guidance during dark hours, and cheered during the good times. They were able to provide financial assistance where needed for camps and coaching.
Nonetheless, what this young man accomplished was stunning – he overcame monumental odds, and accomplished a goal that looked impossible. Four years ago he stated that he wanted to play NCAA basketball, and he could not dribble a basketball. All he had was above average athletic talent, a goal, and self-belief. He surrounded himself with good friends, he accepted advice from folks that had experience and knowledge, he put that advice into practice every day, and he never, ever gave up.
I say again – there are things that young people can do that will increase their chances of success. These things include hard-work, getting a good education, being honest and having integrity, never giving up, and being prepared to delay gratification in order to accomplish something significant.
By the way, his parents are enormously proud of this young man.
I agree with hard work and all, but that was one dumb ass story.
By the way, the young man’s name is bb.
This is the first thing I read today. Wha. Whoo. Gonna be a great day! Thanks!
Just sayin calling Llpoh’s story dumbass might be the last thing he ever says on TBP. The wrath of llpoh shall rain down upon him like hellfire. Get out the popcorn.
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My story of how I overcame all obstacles to became an accountant is virtually the same. The rehab from multiple paper cuts and carpel tunnel syndrome would bring a tear to your eye.
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The first two comments were from an asshole and a doppler. Guess which is which.
The message I am trying to convey is this. I know a lot of young folks via my kids. They are ALL doing well. Birds of a feather.
They work hard, they are honest, they are goal driven. They do not buy into the crap that they are doomed. They will be fine.
I will get back to JustSayin later.
The third paragraph sums it up. I agree. The story was long and lame. Don’t waste your time writing up the big dog response, I’m done on this thread.
Tough crowd this morning.
Nothing more satisfying for a parent, or a outside observer, to see a young person set a goal and achieve that goal with hard work, assistance from others who want to help, and honesty.
That young man will grow up with humility, integrity, dedication, openness, assertiveness, and probably be successful in what ever endeavor he so chooses.
Sad, “he didn’t build dat.” is the norm today.
“he was born into a family that valued hard-work and education, and preached honesty and integrity at him non-stop”
And there you have it:
Born into a family (not welfare, which rewards out of wedlock birth and irresponsible behavior).
Valued hard work (not rewarded for idly sitting on the couch eating free crab legs)
Education (didn’t drop out of school to sling dope and become a baby daddy)
Preached Honesty (not a lying sack of monkey shit like our president)
Integrity (Not fraud and criminality like Washington and Wall Street)
At him non-stop (parents actually involved in the parenting process, wow)
It’s not hard to figure out success.
“These things include hard-work, getting a good education, being honest and having integrity, never giving up, and being prepared to delay gratification in order to accomplish something significant.”
This is pretty much all it takes right here. “But what if he has a kid???”
Thats covered under “delay gratification”.
Llpoh,
Great story. While my kids will not get NCAA scholarships they did get some based on academics. One of the points you make is so important,
” He strictly controlled time spent with friends, and he was very selective of his friends. He sought out friends that had serious goals in life. He never drank or stayed out late. He practiced, he studied, and he held down a part-time job, and he spent time with friends wisely.”
I have emphasized this with my kids constantly, low and behold they are both excellent students, good kids, son completing his junior year in Chemical Engineering, daughter going to start next year as a Chinese major. My wife and I could not be more proud. Who they hang out with makes a world of difference on what direction they take themselves. I have seen some kids, that were good kids, that ended up going down the wrong path influenced by the wrong crowd.
Bob.
@llpoh: “there are things that young people can do that will increase their chances of success. These things include hard-work, getting a good education, being honest and having integrity, never giving up, and being prepared to delay gratification in order to accomplish something significant.”
I owe my sucess in life to the above principles.
However in todays climate of bold face lies, economic manipulation, endless corruption in both government and business – I contend that this enviornment has rendered these principles almost useless.
Everyone is holding their breath – waiting for the big Fourth Turning crisis to sweep away this terrible situation we now live in. Then, the chance of success will be much greater.
But right now it might improve your chance of success by .001%, cause this country and the people are too messed up to appreciate it!
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Yawn. You could have taken the length of this story and cut it in half. The whole time I was reading I kept thinking “Bitch, where is your thesis”. Sign, I am used to Stucky being mushy, but llpoh writing a lifetime inspirational lifetime movie is not his forte.
Wallow in doom, you all.
It is not all doom and gloom. There are bright spots out there. There are pockets of young folk that have not bought into the “all is lost” scenario. They seem to be children of folks very much similar to the folks that read TBP. So despite the doomsters here, the kids of the doomsters may well be the most positive group of young folk.
The next group would be the children of the run of the mill boomers – entitled, coddled, waiting for everything to be served up on a platter. They will be unlikely to help any any crisis.
Nor will the hordes of un and under-educated sons and daughters of the lower middle class.
And of the kids of the FSA – they will turn into the same as their mothers and fathers.
These are some of my kid’s friends – a girl getting amaster’s in agriculture so as to run the family farm, an economist, an accountant, a med student, a pre-med student, a tech on a warship, a law student, a civil engineer running major projects at 23, a major movie theater complex manager, an IT pro, and assorted business and science students.
While I do not support all of their career decisions, I do support their drive, determination and work ethic.
And only wish that they were the norm, and not the exception.
It gives me some hope, however.
Llpoh- Here is a motivational theme song for your triumphant article!
Llpoh- Please do me a favor. Stop using your kids and their friends, who are not even out of high school, as examples of the youth. It shows how out of touch you are with young people. They have not even hit the real world yet. They are suppose to be hopeful. The kid in this story did accomplish a goal. He should be proud. But it is not an example of success, it is only a good start. He hasn’t even been tested in live yet. I knew plenty of high achievers, scholarship winners, and “hard workers”. Many got bitch slapped upon graduating college. Having a good start doesn’t mean you will can escape the realities of unemployment or inflation plaguing the youth.
“But it is not an example of success”
Bullshit, it is the type of success that future employers will look at and think “damn, I should give this kid a shot.”
I got an interview thanks to my degree. I got the job because the man was holding said degree was well-spoken, clean cut, respectful and hard working.
This fatalistic “nobody understands me” bullshit is sickening. This is mother fucking America. Yes, its harder to succeed for us than it was the Boomers. So fucking what? Its not the end of days.
Your life is what you make of it. Sometimes its hard, and its never fair, but in this country its still very possible to have a good solid life.
The role of the millenials is to make sure our children and their children will have similar chances. Pissing and moaning sure as fuck won’t make that happen.
TPC- I am so glad you cherry picked one sentence and ran with it out of context. Good job!
Clam – they are all out of high school. I have known many of these kids since they were in first grade or before. The bad apples were tossed from the group over the years, new, shiny apples were added every now and then.
There are really two groups a few years apart, but they intermingle. And they do not tolerate poor performers in their groups. I do not know how that happened, but it did. No drunkards, no druggies, no lazy asses.
I have had them en mass at my home many times. On one occasion a relative newcomer to the group mis-behaved a bit. That fellow was ejected from the group post haste. Not because of anything I said or did, but because the kids do not tolerate disrespectful assholes.
Their parents have done a great job, and the kids have developed to be an outstanding group of young folks. No whiners, no one believing the world owes them anything.
Nice try disparaging such a fine group.
Pitiful, really. Just because you failed, no need to wish that on others. I assure you, those kids will be fine. Some of them are already doing extremely well financially.
I never wish failure on anybody. But you have your eye glazed over with their current successes. Unless they are out of college and into the job market, they are not a gauge to what is happening to young people. You are delusional.
I liked your story, LLPOH. Though I can’t really identify with it.
Kind of like a book that I got for Christmas and never finished reading, “the Astronaut’s guide to life on Earth” or something like that. The author talks about being 9 years old and deciding he wanted to be an astronaut, then making choices that he thought an astronaut would have made at age 9. eating vegies, brushing his teeth, forming good habits like that. Throughout his whole adolescence he acted that way, doing and learning things that would put him on the path to being an astronaut someday. Honestly, I am just not that focused.
When i was a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist. I looked for and dug up animal bones in the woods. Learned, for a young age, a lot of geology. I really loved it, and my parents encouraged me. But I never devoted my life to the pursuit of it, never thought about my career at age ten.
So I admire this young man you know, for having something that I do not. For setting a lofty goal and never turning away from it. He should be proud.
Clam – as I said, I know these kids/ young adults.
Many have graduated college, others are pursuing advanced degrees.
Those out of college are all working great jobs.
Accountant. Tech officer on warship. Seriously young building construction manager. Manager of large cinema complex. Economist for major organization. Software developer. Etc. etc.
None are unemployed. They are either working, or pursuing master’s and above. So I am on pretty sound ground with what I am saying. The sample size is big enough to draw conclusion from.
Sorry it does not fit your view of the world.
Fact is, those folks that follow tried and tested formulas for success manage, as a general rule, to succeed.
Claiming that is not true is bullshit.
TPC gets it. No surprise there. Punk gets it. Ditto.
Clam prefers to deny the truth.
BTW – pretty sure Admin’s kids get it, too. Doubt they will have many problems after they graduate.
Llpoh
I hope my kids get it. There are no guarantees and I think the shit is going to hit the fan just as they enter the job market. Two are still in high school.
There are about 87 million millennials. We all know that only 5% to 10% of the overall population can count above ten without using their toes. That means that 80 million or so of the 87 million are likely to be functionally illiterate followers of propaganda.
It’s the 7 million or so who will need to do the heavy lifting during this Fourth Turning. We need some leaders and the drones will follow.
Some kids are smart, determined, work hard, and don’t have their hands out. That number is dwindling, and they will succeed, despite their liberal progressive programming and feel good bullshit in school.
“Our schools used to produce tigers. Now they produce peacocks”
PEW research has confirmed a disturbing trend among millennials who marched lockstep
with Obama in 2008 and again in 2012: They’re graduating from their LIV status carefully
cultivated by Our Media but without maintaining their LIV immunity to other sources of news
and history regarding the inherent danger that liberty poses to Progressive Governance and vice-versa.
Increasing numbers of them are experiencing the epiphany of recognizing that unlimited
government is fundamentally inimical to liberty. Thus, in alarmingly increasing numbers, they
are succumbing to METUGRICUNA, which stands for “Millennials Ephiphanizing That
Unlimited Government Renders Its Citizens Utterly Naked & Afraid.”
Soon there will be eye-catching posters to spread the word among millennials that the
goal of unlimited government is to keep its citizens politcally naked and afraid.
What can we, as loyal members of the Collective, do to halt and reverse this alarming trend?
If we don’t do something soon (like ramping-up our claims that Republicans wage War on
Womyn and that all Tea-Partiers are bigots), the METUGRICUNA-infected millennials might even vote Republican rather than throwing away their votes for Libertarians (and thereby assuring victory for our Progressive/Democrat candidates).
Llpoh- Me thinks you protest too much. Snicker, your job descriptions are cute. Once you cut out the bullshit hype you just wrote, the reality is much grimmer.
entry level accountant- roughly 30,000-40,000 starting pay if your lucky. Unfortunately, since the 2008 crash colleges have been pumping up STEM degrees, especially in finance, but they pay squat. Little promotion, and the market is getting flooded. Entry level pay has decreased in accounting fields for entry level. Those who made off better, aren’t seeing promotions or salary increases.
Tech Officer on warship- Still, doesn’t pay squat. This one is 30,000-40,000 at best. Sounds fancier than what it is. And if you are going to talk about the military, I scored so high on my ASVAB I was qualified to work with nuclear warheads.
Building construction manger- 40,000 at best, you don’t make squat unless you own the company.
“Manager of large cinema complex”- Haha, that is movie theater manager position. Piss off with that one.
” Economist for major organization”- Intentionally vague, but not because of the “major organization” part, because they are likely to be given busy work than the economists work that nets 80,000-100,000 that is built up after a couple of decades. Changes are he isn’t getting paid better than an entry level bean counter (no offense, admin)
Software developer- At most, at very most entry level is 50,000. Most software developers are paid 30,000 or less. Once again another flooded market.
Getting their Masters- Code for hiding out. Most students go get their Masters when they can’t find a high enough paying job to beat their student loan repayments. So they duck back into grad school, hoping for better prospects upon graduation, but really they are just hiding out.
Combine all these “great” jobs with less than 50, 000 in salary, and average of 500 or more per month student loan payments, average rents between 800-1200 a month (depending being a city dweller), typical utilities of 300 a month, grocery prices of 300 a month, not to mention a car payment, and you got a whole lotta broke going on.
But good try, I almost believed you.
“TPC- I am so glad you cherry picked one sentence and ran with it out of context. Good job!”
No, I correctly assessed the intent of your post, and responded accordingly. You sought to denigrate the young man’s accomplishments on the basis that “once he’s in the real world things will be different!”
Wrong. I hear the same thing frequently from disenfranchised Xers/Boomers/Millenials who made stupid decisions and now get the joy of watching me and my lovely wife ride off into the sunset.
“You just wait until you graduate…..get a real job…..get a house….get married” Blah blah blah.
Exceptional people will be exceptional. Sometimes posers fail upwards, but not very fucking often.
In short….
The construction manager is on 80k. He is 23. He is a star.
The acct makes mid fifties.
The tech guy mid fifties.
The navy guy does very well indeed all up – housing, medical, sea time money, ec. He has offers in the six figures for when his tour is u.
Do not know about the cinema manager – fully in charge of a large complex, where he has worked for years. Very nice job, in fact.
Clam knows shit. She thinks that because she sucks at what she does, everyone sucks and gets poorly paud.
The warship guy is in it for the money available when his tour is up. He is in electrnics or some shit I do jot understand. But he has a plan.
Admin – you are what you eat. And your kids get a steady diet of Jim Quinn and Avalon. Those kids are going to be first rate, do not doubt it for an instant.
I agree with your numbers – it is the kids I know well, and those such as yours, that will lead.
The clams of the world – the unbelievers – will be millstones.
TPC – clam believes hard work, planning, good education, delayed gratification do not pay off, and all evidence to the contrary will be ignored or ridiculed.
Watch out, llpoh is on a tangent now. Easily aggravated, now going berzerk!
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 4-6. – Secondly, success meets with envy, and produces no lasting good to the worker; yet, however unsatisfactory the result, man must continue to labor, as idleness is ruin. Verse 4. – Again, I considered all travail, and every right work. The word rendered “right” is kishron (see on Ecclesiastes 2:21), and means rather “dexterity,” “success.” Kohe-leth says that he reflected upon the industry that men exhibit, and the skill and dexterity with which they ply their incessant toil. There is no reference to moral rectitude in the reflection, and the allusion to the ostracism of Aristides for being called “Just” overshoots the mark (see Wordsworth, in loc.). Septuagint, σύμπασαν ἀνρίαν τοῦ ποιήματος, “all manliness of his work.” That for this a man is envied of his neighbor. Kinah may mean either “object of envy” or “envious rivalry;” i.e. the clause may be translated as above, or, as in the Revised Version margin, “it cometh of a man’s rivalry with his neighbor.” The Septuagint is ambiguous, Ὅτι αὐτὸ ζῆλος ἀνδρὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑταίρου αὐτοῦ, “That this is a man’s envy from his comrade;” Vulgate, Industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi, “Lay open to a neighbor’s envy.” In the first case the thought is that unusual skill and success expose a man to envy and ill will, which rob labor of all enjoyment. In the second case the writer says that this superiority and dexterity arise from a mean motive, an envious desire to outstrip a neighbor, and, based on such low ground, can lead to nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, a striving after wind. The former explanation seems more in accordance with Koheleth’s gloomy view. Success itself is no guarantee of happiness; the malice and ill feeling which it invariably occasions are necessarily a source of pain and distress.
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Again I considered all travail, and every right work,…. The pains that men take to do right works. Some apply themselves, with great diligence and industry, to the study of the liberal arts and sciences; and to attain the knowledge of languages; and to writing books, for the improvement of those things, and the good of mankind: and others employ themselves in mechanic arts, and excel in them, and bring their works to great perfection and accuracy; when they might expect to be praised and commended, and have thanks given them by men. But instead thereof, so it is,
that for this a man is envied of his neighbour; who will be sure to find fault with what he has done, speak contemptibly of him and his work, and traduce him among men. This is also true of moral works; which are right, when done from a right principle, from love to God, in faith, and with a view to the glory of God; and which when done, and ever so well done, draw upon a man the envy of the wicked, as may be observed in the case of Cain and Abel, 1 John 3:12; though some understand this, not passively, of the envy which is brought upon a man, and he endures, for the sake of the good he excels in; but actively, of the spirit of emulation with which he does it; though the work he does, as to the matter of it, is right; yet the manner of doing it, and the spirit with which he does it, are wrong; he does not do it with any good affection to the thing itself, nor with any good design, only from a spirit of emulation to outdo his neighbour: so the Targum paraphrases it,
“this is the emulation that a man emulates his neighbour, to do as he; if he emulates him to do good, the heavenly Word does good to him; but if he emulates him to do evil, the heavenly Word does evil to him;”
and to this sense Jarchi; compare with this, Philippians 1:15.
This is also vanity, and vexation of spirit; whether it be understood in the one sense or the other; how dissatisfying and vexatious is it, when a man has taken a great deal of pains to do right works for public good, instead of having thanks and praise, is reproached and calumniated for it? and if he does a right thing, and yet has not right ends and views in it, it stands for nothing; it has only the appearance of good, but is not truly so, and yields no solid peace and comfort.
to summarize the above: evil men speak evil, born of envy.
Stephanie says:
“Watch out, llpoh is on a tangent now. Easily aggravated, now going berzerk!”
Wrong in both sentences. He is still on point and amazingly generous in his replies, but then again, he is a kinder, gentler soul on his own posts.
El Coyote- Did you read SSS article on the negative effects of marijuana on the brain?
His story sucked. It reminded me of those feel good network movie of the week. Lame…
Coyote – I do not generally go apeshit on my own threads. I appreciate those that take the time and effort to comment, clam included.
She is simply embittered by her own experiences. It is understandable, but the harm it is causing her is substantial.
Some people make good choices. Some do not. Good choices generally lead to good outcomes. Not 100 % of the time, but generally. Bad choices lead to bad outcomes just about every time.
Clam, in my opinion, is filling her life with bad choices. She does not understand that the choices she made were bad – she thinks they were good, and that believing she made good choices she should be reaping reward.
For instance, she thinks getting her degree should have been a good choice and should have paid off. What she fails to understand is that she got a degree, but did not get an education. So in fact it was not a good choice but a bad one, and she is paying a price for making a bad choice. Had she chosen to educate herself rather than just getting a degree, things would be different.
It is not too late for her if she changes her attitude. However, that is unlikely.
“For instance, she thinks getting her degree should have been a good choice and should have paid off.”
Oh dear, a Millennial got a degree you say? It didn’t pay off you say? Stunner…
LLPOH made this mistake before, what is it?
@the Clamster, if that is you, LLPOH’s story is not sappy and you can tell it is very inspirational as the village hater blew it off. You seem to have a modicum of humanity since you reject it but not entirely. Evil people do not know their own heart but react with envy, the same reaction of Cain.
Clam – I value education. Used to be a degree was a good sign of an education, back when the workload to get one was fifty hours or more per week for four years. The current work week of ten hours per week does not get you an education, it just gets you a degree. You are prime example of that.
So if you thought a degree was the same as an education, you made a bad choice. And it is clear that is what you thought. Oops.
Still there is time to fix it.
It is not envy. His story is cheesy. And while he totes out a few (seemingly) success stories, he has always outright ignored what is effecting an 80 million demographic.
Llpoh- Why do you always think when I state something about my generation, you automatically assume I am talking about myself? I don’t talk about a few individuals who found success (I know some), but I am talking about what the majority are experiencing. Which is high student loan debt, low pay, no pay internships, high unemployment, low marriage rates, low birth rates, low mortgage applications, and ridiculous food inflation. Get a clue.
Stephanie says:
“And while he totes out a few (seemingly) success stories, he has always outright ignored what is effecting an 80 million demographic.”
And while he [trots] out a few [apparently] successful stories, he has outright ignored what is [affecting] a demographic of 80 million.
El coyote- Nope. I got it right the first time. I wrote it exactly as I intended. Stop censoring me.
Clam – I do not ignore the plight of the young – in fact, I lament it very often around here.
But the fact remains, those young that will devote themselves to education, to delayed gratification, to being honest, and who have integrity will prosper in the coming crisis. Those that do not will not.
Those that do the right things will do very well indeed, as there will be so few of them and so many of those that do the wrong things.
My advice might not work for everybody (ie if all 80 million took it up), but it will work for anybody, as only a few will take it up.
All mils are not doomed. Only the ones that refuse to do what is necessary, stubbornly hanging on to their sense of entitlement while the world falls to shit.
Ans therein lies Clam’s major problem – she writes gibberish intentionally, somehow thinking it is other than gibberish. Her BA would make good TP.
TFC,
Gianlorenzo Bernini. The Rape of Proserpina.
What do I win?
bernini