Redesign Coming

While even my most avid readers, all 6 of them, must have thought I had given up, I come back like the Chicken in Family guy.

I decided to take this blog in a slightly different direction and I will be redesigning the page altogether. Over the course of the last three months, I decided to put my writing temporarily on hold while I familiarize myself with my new environment. Well I adapted like predator, and it seems like Arnold has an ugly divorce to go through so you all know what that means.

And if you don't, you're about to find out.

Stop complaining, I'm tired of hearing it!

There is a debate going on. People are arguing whether CEO's pay should be legally limited. What? Excuse me? Are you seriously on crack?

Why there is even a debate around this issue I do not understand. Equal wages for every profession is a concept which appeared during communism. The sheer idiocy of it clearly demonstrates why communism doesn't work. The world might be a small place and we might be more alike than we think, but we are also very different. We are born with different skill-sets, interests, dreams, aspirations, physical, analytical abilities, etc.. 

Some of those abilities are harder to find than others. Since running a country is a bit more complex than making my Big Mac, I don't want both of the people occupying those positions to be paid the same. Attracting qualified people requires sufficient incentive and there is no incentive better than pay.

Passing legislation to limit CEO salaries has to be one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard. It's right up there with buying parts of land on the Moon. If a salary in unattractive to a qualified candidate, nothing stops him from finding another company to run, perhaps in another country, devoid of such a legislation. This will in turn result in a massive exodus of the best and brightest of the rarest professionals. The country will be facing a severe shortage of qualified labor, thousands if not millions of jobs will be lost. Those middle class people who were bitching about a CEO's salary are now in the street begging to have the tenth of what they had before they complained everything away.

If 80% of the 1,412 employees surveyed for the MetLife report rank salary and wages as "extremely important" to their loyalty to the company, why would it be any less important for a CEO? They provide a much rarer service with significant pressure and responsibility. Can we all handle it? Possibly, but becoming a CEO in a multi billion dollar corporation, or PM or President of a country does not happen from one day to another. It requires 20-30 years of experience in the field, a proven track record that yielded positive results and a whole bunch of other bullshit none of us will ever bother to learn.

I realize you might disagree with me and will tell me we are all equal. That's true, in a way. We are all equally human but it does not mean we are equally qualified. So if you're not happy about your situation, take a look at what valuable skills you can acquire or products you can sell, for people to pay you millions of dollars. Make it so that you provide such a valuable service that those people are not only happy to pay you millions every year, but ask you to come back again and again and you'll make it. 

Too hard? Well that's what those people did. That's why they get paid what they get paid. If you are one of the people complaining, why don't you do something about your situation instead of complaining about theirs?

Just a reminder

I consider myself very lucky. For starters, I was born in a developed country with access to water, food and a free education. I was also born healthy and was blessed with a good head on my shoulders. Granted, sometimes my head was too far up my ass to realize that I was about to do something stupid but this is where learning from my mistakes came in.

In fact, so far, this is the first and only time, I have actually won the lottery. I could have been born in a third world country, with very limited access to food and water, where not having a job when you are 6 years old is considered unacceptable and where things such as welfare are not only unheard of but unbelievable. I grew up in Canada, one of the most developed countries in the world, with a virtually unlimited access to things I will never need and where having a job is not required to survive regardless of your age.

Welcome to the land of the Freedom of Choice. The land where we have the freedom to truly do whatever we want, within the extent of the law of course (although some definitely push that boundary). The land where we have the power to make whatever we want of ourselves. Where what we do will determine what we achieve.  Where we have the right to know although it is a right with limitations and just as well the right to raise, or lower, our voice.  We have too many rights to name yet not enough to have. Since a lot of us are forgetful and might not remember what we have.

This, is a reminder.

Are We Being Controlled or Do We Control Ourselves?

I spent an unbelievable amount of time, educating myself. I chose not to attend University, a step I do not necessarily consider a bad one as I never let my schooling get in the way of my education (I believe Mark Twain and Albert Einstein are both listed as sources of the expression). Whether it was through books,   internet, television, other people or YouTube videos I took every single opportunity I had to learn. Except maybe official education.

On a trip back in time our current education system, was strongly based off the Prussian system which traces it's origins back to the 18th century. Seeking to replace the controlling functions of the local aristocracy the King came up with an ingenious plan. Collect taxes to fund schools. The goal was most definitely not altruistic although the collateral fallout came with some positive results. The goal of the school system was an indoctrination of three priorities: Obedience to the monarch as well as military and bureaucratic training. Kids were obligated to complete the full 8 years of compulsory education. The richest children had access to an additional 4 years and were taught slightly different skills. This effectively shaped the society into the working, the rich and the ruling classes.  Sounds familiar? If it does, it's because that's the system that was adopted in North America.

The poorest kids go to public schools and cheap universities. Cheap universities, offer cheap salaries and get bad or inexperienced teachers. In turn most financially troubled children get the worst educations. Effectively creating the working class. Children whose parents have money get to go to private schools and attend expensive universities with the best resources, effectively creating the upper class. The ruling class is already ruling and they get to call which of the richest children are going to be effective at ruling when they grow up into adults.  In the meantime the things we see daily on television from a very young age, teach us that people who have money or that appear there are important effectively teaching us compliance.

I am never amazed at how a politician can talk for half an hour, never admitting a mess up and actually making it sound wonderful.  This is his job and he's been trained for it. In fact his entire staff is trained to help him spoon feed bull shit to the general public. What I am amazed with, is our relentlessness to come back for a second spoon.

Do I think we are being controlled? Absolutely. Our entire system is designed to put us in check and accomplish the roles we were assigned. Yet the problem is not the system, as we also have a choice, the choice to think for ourselves, regardless of our class. So choice is also not a problem. Thinking for ourselves is much harder than letting others do the thinking for us as the latter effectively allows us to always have somebody to blame. The problem is, as a society we desire accountability from everybody except ourselves.

Why Should We Care?

Charlie Sheen is a Winner, Lindsay Lohan isn't, Chris Brown is about to present a new saga in his novel and for some reason millions of people give a shit! It would be hypocritical to say I don't care at all, I do as I consider this a form of entertainment in itself. Not what those artists do on a daily basis but rather how people actually care.

Why do people feel the need to connect with celebrities? Just because I always buy beer at the corner store, doesn't mean I want to be friends with the cashier. Just because I listened to three of your albums, doesn't mean we are friends. I like Two and A Half Men, I think it's a great show and Charlie Sheen 's character is amazing. I think Lindsay Lohan, actually I don't think about Lindsay Lohan and Chris Brown, let's just say I am not his target audience and they're pretty on target. This is what I know and with at least Charlie Sheen, this is where I stop giving a shit.

I don't care to know in which village Jet Li was born, how many times Jude Law was married, how many kids Angelina Jolie had, what kind of drugs Steven Tyler took and really, what gives me the right to find out? I definitely wouldn't want someone to scrutinize my past with a fine comb, trying to interview people I grew up with, following me and my kids in the car and sending pictures of my children worldwide. Judging by the amount of "US Weekly" and "National Enquirers" circulating, I know millions of people will disagree. As per http://www.nationwideadvertising.com/naten.html the Enquirer has a a readership of roughly three million people a week. That's just the people who still buy a copy instead of exploiting the FREE, online news sources. I will let you do your own math.

So why do people want to know? To feel closer and relate or maybe even feel superior? To act as a judge? To have something to discuss during coffee break? To simply gossip? 

Actors, Musicians and Politicians should be allowed their own privacy. And if they happen to get fired from a popular show, nobody has the given right to find out why. First of because it's nobody's business except the concerned. If we have to, there are other shows we can start to like but mostly because we all got our own responsibilities to attend to, and as long as anybody has ever lived, I don't think there ever was anyone who successfully attended to them all.

What do you think? Do you think it's important for us to know about celebrities private lives and why?

So what now?

For some reason, the moment I asked myself this question, I immediately thought of my mom.

Among many other things, this remarkable woman was full of wisdom and great advice. Both of which I took for a long time for granted, until I understood many years later what she had meant. 

My favorite of mom's quotes roughly translated from Russian was : "What would you rather Be? The smartest among the average, or the average among the smartest?". Once in a blue moon, I remember this sentence just as well as my answer. And I am happy to say; I know I answered correctly.

Surrounding and competing with people better than you, might not make you feel accomplished as often. But it will make you feel more accomplished. Not to mention everything you will learn. In business as well as in friendship, people who are better than you at certain things, will give you a different perspective. A crucial piece of information, especially when you have your head so far up your ass that it's coming out of your neck full of shit. I know, I know, I definitely wouldn't have said this in front of my mother. Although maybe a bit raw, it definitely helped me make my point. But she definitely would have liked the first part.

I'm at a period when i realized that if you spend your time with people who are wasting it, you will be wasting it as well.I will finish with a Warren Buffet quote. I remember him answering a question on how he is able to dedicate his time to his family with the job that he has and I remember him saying something along the lines of : "I hire people who are better than me so they can be there while I don't have to."

I think both my mom and Warren Buffet were onto something.

The Path of Self-Realization

So what now? Writing a blog is not my dream. If that was the case, I'm very far from how I would want it to be. I have no preconceived illusions about my writing ability as I can tell I have quite a few ways to go before I can effectively paint pictures with my words. It is rather a way for me to keep track of my progress and an insurance of sorts, to stay on the right path.

In my opinion, the easiest promises to break, are to one's own self. So I broke tons of them one after the other with less and less disappointment. And although at first, my self expectations were extremely high, with time I gradually lowered the bar. I failed upwards. I progressed and climbed the social ladder to an acceptable level and stopped there. With odd moments of glory during boardroom meetings or any other opportunities I had to compare myself to others. Meetings I saw, as occasions to showcase my oratory skills. As one thing I could very well start, and finish unequivocally, is an argument. With time, I realized just how unimportant those meetings were and by definition so were the arguments I started. They did not bring me anywhere, did not add extra 0's at the end of my paychecks and most importantly my contribution was disruptive to other people's well being.

In the meantime, I woke up every morning, knowing I was meant to accomplish something great. Not just succeed on a professional level but actually leave my mark on the world. And so I searched for the magic formula, the pandora box filled with mythical knowledge required to accomplish what I desired. I read tons of self help material, watched motivational videos, did one personality test after the other and studied behavioural psychology. Every single one of those activities, brought me a step closer to greatness, although something was missing. That elusive something was the biggest piece of the puzzle and despite my best efforts I just could not find it. And so I did what most people do when they are not able to find what they are looking for. I gave up.

A few years passed me by, I toyed with the same ideas over and over again and on occasion put my working hat on but dealt with the same results as before. Until one day I woke up and realized exactly what was missing. It was not knowledge, ambition, preparation, courage or common sense. The missing piece which eluded me for years was nowhere near as complex as I had thought. In fact it was eloquent in its simplicity yet evasive enough to disappear EVERY time I came close to it. The only thing I was missing was to "just do it".

This is what prompted me to write this, what brought me to develop an action plan and finally start working on my plan rather than someone else's. It is time to put that plan in motion and jump off a cliff not knowing how deep the water is. It also brought me to want to share my experience in the realm of failure with anyone who might be going through the same thing. At the time of the post I am still exactly at the same level of accomplishment as before. I am yet to take the final step towards my new journey. But what I am missing in my not so complex recipe for success, is just a little bit of money and money, is a lot easier to come by than the will, courage and knowledge, to do what needs to be done.