There is a tribe I heard about that is among the happiest of all beings on the planet. And since happiness may be the ultimate goal for all of us, I thought it worthwhile to study how this tribe lives, their customs and mores, and what they are doing that makes them laugh and seem to enjoy life so much. Here is what I learned:
They tend to weigh under 150 pounds, which suggests they avoid many fat-related diseases. Also, their lighter weight no doubt puts less stress on their hearts and other organs. Is health a factor in happiness?
Their brain size is about half the size of that of most people. Perhaps that suggests that overthinking a problem is not psychologically healthy since it may produce feelings of doubt and uncertainty, all of which attack and lessen the level of self esteem thought by most psychologists as the prerequisite to attaining happiness.
Their average life expectancy is 15 years below the worldwide human average, suggesting they avoid the debilitating illnesses and limitations of older age, and the knowledge of even middle aged people of what is likely in store for them. So while they may live shorter lives, they may be in fact more fearless, less incapacitated, ones. Happier ones.
They are polygamous, most often bisexual, and crave and engage in frequent sex...which no doubt explains a lot. Their main work is hunting, suggesting perhaps that civilization hasn't worked out as well as expected. They are altruistic and show great empathy toward other life forms. They are extremely curious, have exceptional memories, and appreciate natural beauty.
Can we learn from them? That is for each of us to answer for ourself. With so many of us finding happiness so elusive, I would think it best to leave no stone unturned.
For more information on the tribe, check out Pan Troglodyte or Pan Paniscus on your computer.
You know them as chimpanzees.
Our ancestors.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
THE PRICE TAG
We know the upside of marriage. What we do not often hear is the price we pay for that upside, so here is some straight talk on that price:
LOSS OF VARIETY...the spice of life...sexually, and to some extent, intellctually, psychologically, emotionally
LOSS OF SPONTANEITY...off the cuff spontaneous activities are harder to pull off when there are two involved, not one...rare that two will feel spontaneous about the same thing at the same time
LOSS OF SURPRISE...an offshoot of less variety...greater familiarity, more known, "knew you'd say that"
LOSS OF CHANGING COURSE...harder to change your mind when another is dependent on your living up to your word
CONFLICTING PRIORITIES..."I think this is more important," "We can't do this without first doing that"
NEED FOR MORE SCHEDULING...free wheeling upsetting to planner type
LOSS OF UNQUESTIONED BEHAVIOR... "Why'd you say that, you should've said this," "Can't understand why you would do that"
DOUBLE THE BURDENS...of psychological pressures, worries, fears
UNDESIRED RELATIVES...'nuff said
Small price to pay for that upside, yes?
LOSS OF VARIETY...the spice of life...sexually, and to some extent, intellctually, psychologically, emotionally
LOSS OF SPONTANEITY...off the cuff spontaneous activities are harder to pull off when there are two involved, not one...rare that two will feel spontaneous about the same thing at the same time
LOSS OF SURPRISE...an offshoot of less variety...greater familiarity, more known, "knew you'd say that"
LOSS OF CHANGING COURSE...harder to change your mind when another is dependent on your living up to your word
CONFLICTING PRIORITIES..."I think this is more important," "We can't do this without first doing that"
NEED FOR MORE SCHEDULING...free wheeling upsetting to planner type
LOSS OF UNQUESTIONED BEHAVIOR... "Why'd you say that, you should've said this," "Can't understand why you would do that"
DOUBLE THE BURDENS...of psychological pressures, worries, fears
UNDESIRED RELATIVES...'nuff said
Small price to pay for that upside, yes?
Thursday, August 4, 2011
WHERE THE FABULOUS FOUNDING FATHERS WENT WRONG
The title should reveal to you how I feel about our Founding Fathers, who conceived the most wonderful of societies based on the most enlightened of ideas. History testifies to how right they were.
But, alas, alack, they were not infallible nor omniscient nor free of error. They were human, and in the writing of our glorious Constitution, they made errors.
Herein is my list of those errors…ideas incorporated in the Constitution that are flat out wrong, some that are arguably wrong, and those that are wrong because they are lacking in clarity:
Article I, Sec. 2
“Representatives…shall be apportioned among the several states…according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons…three-fifths of all other persons.”
“All other persons”, I guess, was a euphemism for “slaves”. The FF could not say “all other men” because then it would clash head-on with the principle tenet of the Constitution they spelled out in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are…Liberty.”
The FF should have rejected slavery as an abhorrent denigration of the luminous concept of liberty, which they extolled. Instead, they confirmed it. ERROR
Article I, Sec. 8
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises”
All taxes of any kind, shape or manner, are violations of a taxpayer’s freedom. They are the forceful taking of my property
without my consent…property to which I have an unalienable right, as a product of my life, to retain and/or dispose of as I, and I alone, see fit. No matter the uses, benevolent or otherwise, to which taxes may be put, each and every tax is contradictory to, and a repudiation of, the concept of freedom. If the government needs funds, in a freedom-based country like America, it must do so without denying that base on which it rests. ERROR
“The Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce …among the several states”
This so-called interstate commerce clause is one of the most egregious errors made by the FF. Virtually every good and service has been deemed to be in interstate commerce. If a single nail used in the construction of a building located in State A was made in State B, the building and all activities therein are considered to be in and affecting interstate commerce and subject to government regulation. Under this interpretation, the federal government has the power to regulate just about whatever it wishes…and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court in doing so.
The government’s intrusion into, and its issuance of regulations, in one of the most significant of human activities…commerce, the making of money…is antithetical to the fundamental concept of the sovereignty of the individual, not the state, America’s unique foundation. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to establish…an uniform rule on the subject of bankruptcies”
See prior analysis on the government’s intrusion into commerce. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to establish post offices”
The sole proper responsibility of government is to maintain an environment in which we are free to live our lives as we choose, provided we do not initiate force against others and thereby deny them their comparable freedom. Ayn Rand has pointed out the three ways in which the government fulfills that responsibility, to wit, maintaining police forces, military forces, and law courts to peacefully resolve disputes. It is certainly not a proper government function to be in the mail delivery business. The fact that a national postal service was “needed” in the time of the FF is not a valid reason for the government to unilaterally extend its Constitutionally enumerated powers. The fact that, today, the government is in the postal business in competition with private firms, and is financed in part by taxes collected from those private firms, is doubly onerous. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to raise and support armies”
Certainly, a function of the government is to maintain a military force (see above). The question is: Did the FF envision the manning of that force solely by voluntary enlistments, or by a military draft, or both? If a military draft was meant to be permitted, then the FF failed to see the contradiction of forcing someone to fight for his freedom. If a military draft was not intended, then the FF failed to make that clear.
Article 2, Sec. 2
“The president…shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States”
The granting of reprieves and pardons for criminal offenses is properly done by an independent judiciary. Giving the power to grant them to the Chief Executive made them political in nature, and we have historically seen the not unexpected abuse of that power. ERROR
Article 4, Sec. 2
“No person held to service or labour in one states…escaping into another, shall…be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due”
Reinforces the legitimacy of slavery and the immoral premise on which it rests: the treatment of humans as chattel. ERROR
Amendment I
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble”
The listing of specific rights suggests they are the only rights, or the only ones protected from government interference. In fact, freedom is an individual’s right to do an endless array of peaceful choices , all unalienable at all times. ERROR
Amendment II
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear and keep arms, shall not be infringed”
The awkward wording of that Amendment does not make clear whether the FF intended to recognize the right to private gun ownership. ERROR
Amendment V
“Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”
This, the eminent domain clause, gives the government the right to seize privately owned property, if paid for. It is a clear violation of the unalienable right to one’s property and implicitly sanctions the use of force against innocent property owners. If the government needs a particular piece of property for government, it must seek to acquire it within the framework of individual property rights and freedom. ERROR
In addition to the above overt errors, the FF made a significant error of omission. They failed to acknowledge that women had co-equal rights with men, including the right to vote, and that when they had referred to “all men are created equal” in the Declaration, they meant both men and women. By such failure, they supported and continued an irrational and discriminatory practice toward half the population.
The Founding Fathers were indeed men of outstanding virtue and vision. Their invention of a society rooted in the sovereignty of each individual ranks as the greatest of human achievements, despite the errors I have noted. I applaud and revere them for the grandeur of the country they fashioned for us all.
But, alas, alack, they were not infallible nor omniscient nor free of error. They were human, and in the writing of our glorious Constitution, they made errors.
Herein is my list of those errors…ideas incorporated in the Constitution that are flat out wrong, some that are arguably wrong, and those that are wrong because they are lacking in clarity:
Article I, Sec. 2
“Representatives…shall be apportioned among the several states…according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons…three-fifths of all other persons.”
“All other persons”, I guess, was a euphemism for “slaves”. The FF could not say “all other men” because then it would clash head-on with the principle tenet of the Constitution they spelled out in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are…Liberty.”
The FF should have rejected slavery as an abhorrent denigration of the luminous concept of liberty, which they extolled. Instead, they confirmed it. ERROR
Article I, Sec. 8
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises”
All taxes of any kind, shape or manner, are violations of a taxpayer’s freedom. They are the forceful taking of my property
without my consent…property to which I have an unalienable right, as a product of my life, to retain and/or dispose of as I, and I alone, see fit. No matter the uses, benevolent or otherwise, to which taxes may be put, each and every tax is contradictory to, and a repudiation of, the concept of freedom. If the government needs funds, in a freedom-based country like America, it must do so without denying that base on which it rests. ERROR
“The Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce …among the several states”
This so-called interstate commerce clause is one of the most egregious errors made by the FF. Virtually every good and service has been deemed to be in interstate commerce. If a single nail used in the construction of a building located in State A was made in State B, the building and all activities therein are considered to be in and affecting interstate commerce and subject to government regulation. Under this interpretation, the federal government has the power to regulate just about whatever it wishes…and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court in doing so.
The government’s intrusion into, and its issuance of regulations, in one of the most significant of human activities…commerce, the making of money…is antithetical to the fundamental concept of the sovereignty of the individual, not the state, America’s unique foundation. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to establish…an uniform rule on the subject of bankruptcies”
See prior analysis on the government’s intrusion into commerce. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to establish post offices”
The sole proper responsibility of government is to maintain an environment in which we are free to live our lives as we choose, provided we do not initiate force against others and thereby deny them their comparable freedom. Ayn Rand has pointed out the three ways in which the government fulfills that responsibility, to wit, maintaining police forces, military forces, and law courts to peacefully resolve disputes. It is certainly not a proper government function to be in the mail delivery business. The fact that a national postal service was “needed” in the time of the FF is not a valid reason for the government to unilaterally extend its Constitutionally enumerated powers. The fact that, today, the government is in the postal business in competition with private firms, and is financed in part by taxes collected from those private firms, is doubly onerous. ERROR
“The Congress shall have power to raise and support armies”
Certainly, a function of the government is to maintain a military force (see above). The question is: Did the FF envision the manning of that force solely by voluntary enlistments, or by a military draft, or both? If a military draft was meant to be permitted, then the FF failed to see the contradiction of forcing someone to fight for his freedom. If a military draft was not intended, then the FF failed to make that clear.
Article 2, Sec. 2
“The president…shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States”
The granting of reprieves and pardons for criminal offenses is properly done by an independent judiciary. Giving the power to grant them to the Chief Executive made them political in nature, and we have historically seen the not unexpected abuse of that power. ERROR
Article 4, Sec. 2
“No person held to service or labour in one states…escaping into another, shall…be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due”
Reinforces the legitimacy of slavery and the immoral premise on which it rests: the treatment of humans as chattel. ERROR
Amendment I
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble”
The listing of specific rights suggests they are the only rights, or the only ones protected from government interference. In fact, freedom is an individual’s right to do an endless array of peaceful choices , all unalienable at all times. ERROR
Amendment II
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear and keep arms, shall not be infringed”
The awkward wording of that Amendment does not make clear whether the FF intended to recognize the right to private gun ownership. ERROR
Amendment V
“Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”
This, the eminent domain clause, gives the government the right to seize privately owned property, if paid for. It is a clear violation of the unalienable right to one’s property and implicitly sanctions the use of force against innocent property owners. If the government needs a particular piece of property for government, it must seek to acquire it within the framework of individual property rights and freedom. ERROR
In addition to the above overt errors, the FF made a significant error of omission. They failed to acknowledge that women had co-equal rights with men, including the right to vote, and that when they had referred to “all men are created equal” in the Declaration, they meant both men and women. By such failure, they supported and continued an irrational and discriminatory practice toward half the population.
The Founding Fathers were indeed men of outstanding virtue and vision. Their invention of a society rooted in the sovereignty of each individual ranks as the greatest of human achievements, despite the errors I have noted. I applaud and revere them for the grandeur of the country they fashioned for us all.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
MANAGEMENT GONE AMOK
by ray newman
The dominant topics of most people's conversation these days circulates around what I refer to as 'management of life" issues...earning or not earning enough money, paying bills, finding cheaper sources for a host of perceived necessary insurances (including auto, health, life, disability, travel, funeral and more), scheduling, confirming, changing, medical, dental and vision appointments, how friends, family, the famous, are mis/handling their personal disasters and setbacks, and on and on.
And not one of them interests me a whit...because they don't qualify as life living because:
* they are all concretes which do not touch our spirits, our souls
* they all lack the sweet and spicy aspects of life living...to wit, passion, excitement, thrills
* they lead not to an enhanced sense of well-being but to stress, despair, depression
* they are never endingly, monotonously, boringly, repetitious
* they utilize not one iota of our gifted capacity to explore, to contemplate, to create.
And therein is the major reason why cavemen, aborigines and primitives were more advanced than we are and lived fuller lives than we do. Yes they were and Yes they did. They did not mismanage their lives. Think of all the things they didn't spend time with: keeping up to date on cell phones, ipods, blackberries, computers, storing records for tax returns, listing access passwords, remembering zip codes, area codes, pin numbers, garbage pickup days, credit card numbers, etc., etc., etc.
Oh what a tangled web and mess
When first we practice to progress
The dominant topics of most people's conversation these days circulates around what I refer to as 'management of life" issues...earning or not earning enough money, paying bills, finding cheaper sources for a host of perceived necessary insurances (including auto, health, life, disability, travel, funeral and more), scheduling, confirming, changing, medical, dental and vision appointments, how friends, family, the famous, are mis/handling their personal disasters and setbacks, and on and on.
And not one of them interests me a whit...because they don't qualify as life living because:
* they are all concretes which do not touch our spirits, our souls
* they all lack the sweet and spicy aspects of life living...to wit, passion, excitement, thrills
* they lead not to an enhanced sense of well-being but to stress, despair, depression
* they are never endingly, monotonously, boringly, repetitious
* they utilize not one iota of our gifted capacity to explore, to contemplate, to create.
And therein is the major reason why cavemen, aborigines and primitives were more advanced than we are and lived fuller lives than we do. Yes they were and Yes they did. They did not mismanage their lives. Think of all the things they didn't spend time with: keeping up to date on cell phones, ipods, blackberries, computers, storing records for tax returns, listing access passwords, remembering zip codes, area codes, pin numbers, garbage pickup days, credit card numbers, etc., etc., etc.
Oh what a tangled web and mess
When first we practice to progress
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I AM
I think it ironic...and sad...that when we count our blessings and think of all the things we have, we most often do not think of the prime blessing, the one without which the others would have no meaning. It is the blessing of being alive. First and foremost what we have is life.
The expected not coming to pass, a relationship gone awry, some rain on our parade, all pale when sidled up to the sublime joy and blessing of being alive. And I think the prime reason for that awareness generally not being at or near the forefront of our minds is that we were not taught that when we were younger. And the reason for that is likely because to think about life is to think of the alternative--death--and that is a subject most prefer to put out of their minds, and the minds of the young.
Yet it seems clear that those who have that awareness sparkling in their minds are much more likely to attain the treasure of happiness.
So, suggestion: Each morning when rising, each evening when lying down to sleep, each time one of life's hurdles pops up in your way, first think but two words (with a smile on your face): I Am!...alive, blessed, among the chosen, lucky.
Not bad to think it when things are going well, too.
The expected not coming to pass, a relationship gone awry, some rain on our parade, all pale when sidled up to the sublime joy and blessing of being alive. And I think the prime reason for that awareness generally not being at or near the forefront of our minds is that we were not taught that when we were younger. And the reason for that is likely because to think about life is to think of the alternative--death--and that is a subject most prefer to put out of their minds, and the minds of the young.
Yet it seems clear that those who have that awareness sparkling in their minds are much more likely to attain the treasure of happiness.
So, suggestion: Each morning when rising, each evening when lying down to sleep, each time one of life's hurdles pops up in your way, first think but two words (with a smile on your face): I Am!...alive, blessed, among the chosen, lucky.
Not bad to think it when things are going well, too.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
AND THE WINNER IS...
An aide to another Presidential contender said "Michelle Bachmann will be tough to beat in the Iowa caucus because she has hometown appeal, ideological appeal and sex appeal." The sex thing set off a bit off a furor. Bachmann was insulted for someone to say her appeal was sexual (sorry, Sigmund, we are a sexless people after all). The aide hadn't said that exactly, he sais one of her appeals was...oh, well, here's a scenario:
The Presidential election has been held and the votes are being counted. It is a dead heat between Bachmann and Obama. One guy's vote is all that remains to be counted and whoever he voted for will be President.
He voted for Bachmann...and announces he did so solely because he lusts after her, he thinks she is blazing hot and he would love to ravage her.
Bachmann is insulted, I assume, rejects the vote, and Obama remains President for another four years. Right?
Of course.
The Presidential election has been held and the votes are being counted. It is a dead heat between Bachmann and Obama. One guy's vote is all that remains to be counted and whoever he voted for will be President.
He voted for Bachmann...and announces he did so solely because he lusts after her, he thinks she is blazing hot and he would love to ravage her.
Bachmann is insulted, I assume, rejects the vote, and Obama remains President for another four years. Right?
Of course.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
WHAT WERE THOSE FIREWORKS CELEBRATING?
I like to walk. In the park. Quiet, empty, serene, beautiful.
Yesterday, one of the other few walkers had gathered a group of 5 other walkers and told me he had something to discuss. He wanted to form a walking club.
"It will be nicer walking as part of a group"
(Walking is walking, it'll be the same, but less private)
"We can call it 'The Sparta Walkers' or 'Drifters' or 'Nomads' and we can have t-shirts made up with our name on the front or the back, we can vote on that...and we can meet here every other day at 9 am...and of course invite other walking groups to join us"
(I don't always feel like walking at 9 and I wish I were a real nomad)
"I think dues of $15 a month will cover a group party on the last walking day of each month, unless it is already a holiday, in which case it will be the first walking day of the following month. As President for the first 6 months, I'll collect the money , cash or bank check only. Presidents can only serve for 4 consecutive terms unless by unanimous vote that rule is waived"
(I don't pay 15 cents to do what I do for free...and one President in my life is more than enough)
"Dogs can be brought along if on a string not longer than 50 feet"
(Goodbye serenity)
"It'll be great"
(Yesterday was Independence Day...but you'd never know it)
Yesterday, one of the other few walkers had gathered a group of 5 other walkers and told me he had something to discuss. He wanted to form a walking club.
"It will be nicer walking as part of a group"
(Walking is walking, it'll be the same, but less private)
"We can call it 'The Sparta Walkers' or 'Drifters' or 'Nomads' and we can have t-shirts made up with our name on the front or the back, we can vote on that...and we can meet here every other day at 9 am...and of course invite other walking groups to join us"
(I don't always feel like walking at 9 and I wish I were a real nomad)
"I think dues of $15 a month will cover a group party on the last walking day of each month, unless it is already a holiday, in which case it will be the first walking day of the following month. As President for the first 6 months, I'll collect the money , cash or bank check only. Presidents can only serve for 4 consecutive terms unless by unanimous vote that rule is waived"
(I don't pay 15 cents to do what I do for free...and one President in my life is more than enough)
"Dogs can be brought along if on a string not longer than 50 feet"
(Goodbye serenity)
"It'll be great"
(Yesterday was Independence Day...but you'd never know it)
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