Everything You Know is Wrong

You only need to know what you don't know -- and not just continue to confirm all you know that is wrong (not working).  People seem mystified that the results from what they do, does not produce the outcomes they had hoped for -- but often, quite the opposite -- which is proof of course, that everything they know to be true, is wrong -- and that is what the results are shouting out to them. 

More of the same, is not going to change that -- and will probably make things predictably worse.  Yet many have been conditioned by their "teachers" to just try a little harder -- and not that their students need to look elsewhere for the truth.  That truth is borne out daily in everything we do -- and not just under laboratory conditions and protocols.

As all the information becomes more available, what becomes increasingly clear, is that formerly, we were not told all the information, by those who claimed to have the exclusive authority to do so -- including those formerly employed in the "mainstream" media -- who claimed they were the "Fourth Estate" arbiters of all that could be known -- by virtue of that exclusive right designated to them in the First Amendment. But a careful reading of the First Amendment, authorizes no such thing -- and a few self-designated people just took it upon themselves to claim such rights -- and privileges.

So at least fifty years from that heyday -- they are shellshocked to learn that everything they thought they knew that everybody else did not, turns out to be mostly wrong -- and is in fact the reason that things do not get better, but actually explode disastrously out of control.  Those outcomes are so widespread that most have come to regard them as simply what happens when one lives long enough -- and that is the fate of mankind, to just get worse with time -- as though there is nothing they can do about it in their own lives, while hoping for miracle cures from people operating on mice -- thinking they can rewrite the evolution of the world.

The meaningful story of civilization, is how one lives their own lives -- and not changing everybody else first -- while one goes on to live catastrophically.  That is meaningless, and delusionary, and often deranged.  What are they doing that is more important?

So fifty years ago, the world shifted into the mass media model -- in which everyone was expected to conform to the truth that a self-selected few wanted them to believe -- and leading the pack, were the "reporters," given a special place in the pantheon of celebrity -- because they "owned" the media.  They didn't have to prove anything else.

Predictably, often the messages were greatly distorted by their own agendas -- so that it became very difficult, to determine what the original author (interviewee) said, and what the intermediary translated that into.  Sometimes that profound understanding, had to be condensed into a 60 second bite, or give way to a more important "commercial message" -- but that was the world we lived in, and the rules we followed.

All that changed roughly with the beginning of the 21st century -- that had been rightly anticipated as the end of the world as we knew it.  All those old hierarchies would give way to information as a right to know in itself -- and the new masters, were those who were excited to share it -- because they could.  That certainly changed everything.

The venerable "institutions" were revealed for what they actually were -- fronts for the status quo -- maintaining the monopolies who could afford to pay their advertising rates.  But that it was all the information "fit to print" -- or could be known, was now open to question.  Probably the final straw that broke the camel's back, was nobody listened to their advice on how to vote anymore.  People would just simply make up their own minds -- which of course, infuriated those who thought it was their singular right to do the thinking for everybody else.

Of course that is just symbolic of the greater fundamental changes taking place -- without sanctioned authority to do so.  And that was researchers taking their findings, directly to people who want to know -- because nobody now controlled the leading edge of discovery and innovation.  It was now up for grabs -- to anybody who had the competence to make those judgments for themselves.  These were those living on the "leading edge" -- and feeling competent to determine these things for themselves.

This was especially so in their own lives -- and realities -- which could now be even better than the "consensus" could determine before.  It was where only the few and the brave could feel comfortable living at.  But rather than being foolhardy at doing so, these were those who became expert at understanding the risks in doing so -- realizing that mere safety, was often not the best of all worlds.  Not today, and not tomorrow.  A better understanding, would always come along -- but one had to discover that for themselves.

Not everyone is prepared to live that way -- but those who do, discover worlds that were unimaginable before.  When everything seems to be going wrong and is hopeless, one has very little (nothing) to lose, trying a different course.  In that way, the last can be first -- and not last in a race that is already over before they even begin.  That is not a prognosis for success -- in any aspect of life.

In a world of games, one is allowed to devise one in which they can win -- and not be simply one of the many hopeless losers.  That is the only thing worth knowing -- and not all the trivial pursuits.

The Future is Here Now

The future is being created in the present moment -- in everything we do.  Yet there are many still living in the past -- as the only way they know how.  Their knowledge is entirely, of a world that no longer exists -- as the popular wisdom that was never true at any time.  That is being revealed at the present moment.

The world was a very different place before the turn of the century, at which time the world as we know it now, became manifest.  Prior to that time, it was common to divide reality into the past, present and future -- and not as an integrated understanding that is the totality of reality.  The world was clearly divided into the haves and the have nots -- and very difficult to become the former from the latter.  That was the world of hard tangible assets -- and not the easy flow of finding out and creating the truth of that matter for oneself.

It is an entirely different way of living -- that finding out the truth of any matter, places one at the head of the class -- and not just repeating the popular notions, without ever finding out the truth of any matter for oneself, and relying on the "experts" to do all one's thinking for them.  That manner of inquiry -- and living one's life, leaves one far behind -- where the action is, in discovering what has never been known before.

Obviously, it has not always been that way -- even as recently as the last century -- when the "future" was much anticipated as the ending of life as we knew it.  According to the hype, all the machines would stop upon hitting the Year 2000, and there would be total chaos -- just as Year 1984 marked the previous nightmare benchmark of life as we had known it.  That was the ultimate control of thought and action by powers that be that did that for everyone else.

Meanwhile, Year 2000 ushered in a very different world -- in which every individual became empowered to find out the truth of any matter for themselves -- and even blazing the trail for others to follow and surpass.  In that quest, the Nobel Prize winner and any individual trying to better their understanding and control of their own lives, were on the same footing, and often, funding.

Once one developed the successful prototype, the replication and propagation was easy -- because that is what the culture and technology now did -- for everybody, equally well.  The old monopolies who thought it their exclusive monopolies in the recent past, were now simply fighting the rearguard battles to survive as long as they could on a level playing field -- where everybody could now play.  Those were the institutions, and the media that formerly claimed that monopolistic control.

They were the media because they were the middle men -- recognizing and validating the work and ideas of the inventors and innovators who ordinarily had no way of getting their ideas out to a greater audience.  Often, they lacked the interpersonal and communication skills to do so -- in that previous time of compartmentalization and specialization.  And so they hired "Madison Avenue" to promote it for them -- if they had the resources to pay for it -- or tried to convince us it was a public service -- for the great profit of all, if not the savior of the world.

No longer would one have to stand forlornly on a busy street corner -- holding their sign promising "salvation" for any who would listen.  That was no longer the only way. 

Overcoming Fear

Usually one finds something when one is not looking for it.  That's why research grants don't usually work.  They merely confirm what one already wants to believe -- and every other finding is discounted and dismissed -- because that is not what is being observed and measured -- and that is not what they are funded for.  So even if the results are even more astounding than what they are being paid to confirm, they cannot be distracted -- even if it is far more valuable and significant.  That is not how the system works -- and many will smugly point this out -- as though they know better, and pride themselves in their sophistication.

Meanwhile, great truths elude them -- because they know only the the minutia.  And so they live in constant fear of ever finding out the truth of any matter -- because that would distract them from their job -- which is to be paid not to think for themselves, but only to think what somebody else would like them to think.  That is what they are getting paid for.

So arriving at that point in life in which they actually think for themselves -- and find out the truth of anything, is their greatest fear -- for which they never dare to go beyond.  That is the frontier and limits of their thinking -- especially in the old world view, that prevents them from ever discovering the new -- which is the "unthinkable."  They never think to go "there."  That is off-limits -- until first one, and then another, proves that it is not the fear it was thought to be -- and a whole new world is discovered, and created.

Of course there are many things we need to avoid -- but fear is this conditioned response to anything, and not just those things that are truly bad for us.  It can also be a fear of that which is actually good for us -- such as thinking for ourselves, when a self-selected few think they should do the thinking for everybody else.  That disempowers everybody else -- and eventually disables them. 

It begins with the most basic fear of life -- that of starving to death, which many learn to avoid every moment of their lives -- that then becomes their great undoing, particularly in the new world of abundance and virtually unlimited plenty.  The worst off, are convinced that the objective and purpose of life, is to overconsume as much as humanly possible -- unaware that humanity did not evolve under those conditions, that now become extremely problematical -- taken to extremes and excess.  It is rightfully observed to be "mindless" consumption -- for the conditioned fear of never having enough -- when that has ceased to be the reality.

Then the most extreme overuses (abuses), are what we recognize as compulsive disorders, or addictions.  One simply can't help themselves -- whether that is eating, drinking, exploiting, competing, cheating -- when it is not necessary, and have become counterproductive and damaging.  So the first thing, is to become "mindful" of what one is doing -- and what one is not doing -- in its most basic simplicity.

That is the power of fasting -- or not eating anything, for as long as possible.  Nothing is as effective at focusing one's attention than simply not eating for as long as possible -- totally voluntarily.  That is the wisdom of the ages.  Then the mind is fully focused and in tune with the body -- and from that integration, one can act with effectiveness.  Of course, forcing it on another, is always a violence -- but the self-enforcement of such a practice, is the cultivation of the discipline to accomplish anything else.  That is the very embodiment of the delayed gratification necessary to achieve great things.

Those unconditioned in this way, are the failures of every culture and societies -- demanding immediate gratification no matter what the circumstances and consequences.  In this manner, they must consume all they can, at every moment possible, and know nothing else, no other possibilities -- because it is not of their will, and voluntary exercise.  Those are the troubling crimes of these times -- when people felt they had no choice, no other way they could have been.

Something very fundamental and basic was missing from their earliest years.  That critical lesson was not always getting what they wanted, every time they wanted it -- without fail.  Such conditioning is the ultimate failure -- and that's why the self-imposed practice and exercise of not consuming all one can, is a basic lesson one must practice and exercise all one's life.  Often, one must do what is right, even when there is no immediate pay-off -- because the real pay-off, is in knowing that one still can exercise mindful and willful action -- especially when nobody else is around to validate it.  It is just who you are -- and the person one is.  That's all that matters.

When the Ordinary Becomes the Extraordinary

Far more people are disabled by their own lack of exercise -- than are disabled by illnesses and injuries.  That is as crippling as actual inabilities.  And even among the ill and injured, some recover while many never do -- and remain disabled for life.  The few who do recover completely and even go on to develop even greater capacities by their resolve, are the renown heroes of athletics, but just as extraordinary, are those who recover merely to walk again, and do all the things required to maintain themselves at their everyday functionality.  It may not seem like much, but it is the fundamental basis that empowers everything else.

Most of us take these things for granted until we are older -- when they become increasingly problematical as their new reality.  It is at such time and epiphanies, that everyone decides that life can still get better for them, or just continue to decline and deteriorate -- from here on out.  What that point in life is, varies greatly from individual to individual.  Some begin to decline as soon as they can -- while a remarkable few, never come to that crisis.

Instead, they continue to get better with age.  Of course, that is not the general rule, but the exceptional -- which is still possible at any age.  Those are the people expecting change, and planning and preparing to rise even further to the challenge.  That is the winning attitude -- but what else is more important to do?  But it is entirely personal -- what one chooses to become good at.  If they are wise, they will continue to do the ordinary things in their life - for the rest of their lives.  They don't need to run a marathon or swim a mile.  They have to do the ordinary things -- as well and better than they ever have.  That is the extraordinary.

Life increasingly becomes personal -- at which point a lot of people, call it quits.  Lots of support in one's younger years, but at some point, one realizes they are all on their own -- and nobody else cares as much about the outcome.  That's a shocking realization for those who have been driven thus far, by the thoughts and opinions of others to determine what their lives will be.  Nobody else really cares -- as much as you do.  If you don't care, nobody else will.  That is the truth of the matter.

That's not what the institutions and media would have us believe -- that anything could be other than what they are promoting, and selling -- as the truth we all know, presumably.  However, what we all "know." may vary greatly.  Hopefully, we are discovering new truths all the time.  But that is not just the work of a few self-designated, but everyone, in every aspect of their lives.  That is the significance and work of every life.  The rest is distraction and entertainment.

That too, may be increasingly many people's realities -- as the virtual becomes the actual. 

Creating One's Own "Paradise"

No man is an island unto themselves; they are part of a larger environment (context) -- that either fosters health, or is toxic to well-being.  But what those conditions are to different people -- varies somewhat, and sometimes significantly.  Some prefer it colder, while others like it hot.  Some can thrive at high altitudes, while others might perish -- even at the thought.  So those latter people identify, what they feel are those conditions that make them thrive.  Some like the uncertainty of the weather, while others prefer the same -- not only in the weather, but in all things.  If each could identify and choose their own perfect environment, there would be no problem, but invariably, there are those who would wish to impose their preferences, on everybody else -- no exceptions! -- and that is the root of most conflicts.

However in this day and age, we have the capabilities for each to personalize their own environment -- given the general one we all start off with.  It may be as fundamental as the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume -- and the freedom and choices in each of those considerations.  Further along, we could maintain that environment in fully functioning order and cleanliness -- or think those things never need to be considered, and the condition of their deterioration and degradation, is beyond human intervention -- and what the gods alone determine.

So fundamentally, this is a problem of understanding -- and from that, the proper actions naturally flow out of them.  But with the wrong understanding, or lack of understanding and the need for it, problems arise and worsen -- and one feels powerless to do anything about them.  Those are invariably the challenges of each time and place -- before progress can resume, and eventually leap forward.  If only the familiar problems keep getting worse, it is seldom that more of the familiar and well-accepted solution is the answer -- and most likely, that understanding is the problem -- that has to be re-examined, because merely continuing in that manner, is disastrous -- while another way might not be. 

Logically, we must find another way -- that doesn't perpetuate and worsen the problem -- as the only effective and reasonable answer.  That is particularly the crisis of the homeless in the major cities -- where it is still thought, that simply failing to recognize the problem and the needs, will make it go away -- rather than providing and ensuring the basic necessities for everyone as much as possible.  That would be ensuring the necessary hygiene for all those sharing that environment -- even before they have a secure place to sleep and store their possessions.  That is the quality of life (and environment) that must be maintained -- before all other considerations.

That is even the primary reason for securing shelter -- for all the other reasons.  A person ensuring that quality of personal hygiene and health, is doing their part to create a better environment for all.  Beyond that, a person can sleep anywhere, or eat their meals under most conditions -- but a person with poor hygiene, degrades that environment for all -- and will not allow normal proceedings to continue, until they are addressed, and dealt with definitively.    But we don't have to rediscover and recreate the wheel for every such instance.

In most cases, those facilities already exist -- but are not given access to because there is no manpower to oversee them -- in the erroneous belief that if public hygiene stations are not provided -- or are inaccessible (locked), the people who need them, won't "go" -- or simply go away.  As attractive as the thought, it won't happen that way.  People who need to "go," will go regardless of whether they are provided the facilities for doing so -- or not, and so for the benefit of the environment (society), it's in their own best interest, to see that it is disposed of properly -- and in safety.

It's a public health problem and not a public housing problem -- foremost.  It's a universal problem -- but those who have a place to go, usually don't go out for that reason -- which inhibits their mobility.  That skews the populace and public places in favor of the dispossessed -- who now take them over entirely -- promoting the notion that it is less safe to be out in public spaces.  That is now the plight of most urban environments.

But those who remain home, are not home-free by any means.  Often, those personal environments may be as polluted as the outdoor environment they have less control over.  Many do not think they need nor have the control over their own personal environments -- thinking doors and windows are enough to keep toxins and pollutants out.  Therein lies the greater problem -- in not realizing that they can take extra-ordinary measures to ensure their personal paradise -- to a much greater extent than the average person thinks possible, or nearly thinks about at all.  That personal space, can also be degraded even with the best of intentions and care.

The problem is that mold and mildew grows in virtually every home -- to which are added, pet dander, cigarette smoking, water leaks and flooding, no ventilation and heating sufficient to maintain a healthy environment.  Most places don't have air purification systems -- beginning with the microbial masks warn in many contemporary environments to assure quality products and services.  Does that mean one should be paranoid about these things?  I feel more confident and assured when my surgeon or dentist wears a microbial mask -- as well as when I see a chef wearing one.  And then in today's precision manufacturing business (processes), it is rare to see one without such a barrier to contamination.

I've found that when I feel a cold or other respiratory symptom coming on, wearing an antimicrobial mask, seems to be a nearly instant, reliable cure -- as long as I take that precaution, and maintain that practice for as long as I think necessary.  There doesn't seem to be a downside for doing so.  Even the cheapest of these masks, claim a 99% effective rate at eliminating bacteria, fungi and allergens -- while those with an added layer of activated carbon, eliminate most of the bothersome odors -- including second-hand smoke. 

This effectiveness of purification -- gives a whole new meaning to the concept of clean, fresh, pure air -- and is already being widely adopted in areas notorious for the most polluted air in the world.  Think what it can do for a relatively clean environment.  It's a huge difference between eliminating 99% of the pollutants -- and not -- in the very air that one breathes, that it would seem to be the most effective strategy one could adopt to bulletproof oneself from most common irritants -- including just bad odors.

The question for most is whether it is worth the extra nominal expense and inconvenience of wearing such an enhancement.  But it is nothing really new -- in that some of the most traditional societies have long standing adoption of such methods to protect against harsh climatic conditions -- ie. dusty, arid environments.  Or the extremely cold.  We largely don't think we need such devices anymore because of modern heating and cooling systems -- but if that were enough, we wouldn't see them in operating or manufacturing rooms either.  They are effective up to a point -- but nowhere near what can be easily achieved with this addition -- obviously.

Some things are as simple and obvious as that.  What would you do to live to 100 -- without all the usual afflictions one has come to accept as inevitable and inescapable?  It's in the air -- in the environment we live in, which is integrally, ourselves. 

Different Manifestations of the Same Problem (Cause)

Occasionally we are overwhelmed by seemingly many problems -- when often, it is just one, with many different faces (manifestations) -- so if we get to the root of the problem, the many seemingly different problems, go away, without addressing each specific issue, as a problem all its own.  Of course that is not the most lucrative way to think of these problems -- for a person selling "solutions."  

They would prefer to have as many different problems -- as well as their respective cures (solutions) as possible -- to maximize sales, and following that logic, prefer solutions that create even more problems.  And that, often, is the conundrum of offering real solutions -- rather than simply multiplying the economic opportunities and activities.  It virtually eliminates the steady stream of income from repeat customers, who've come to believe that these chronic, lingering problems -- must be lifelong and inescapable, rather than the thought that life could be very different -- once they've gotten to the root of their problems.

The most common of course, is the belief that their lives would be better, if they only had more money -- when a review of lottery winners and others receiving windfalls, merely speeds their self-destruction -- because they now have more money to lose, and they never bothered to learn to manage whatever resources they have, as wisely as possible.  And that more than how much anyone has, is what distinguishes the rich from the poor.  

The poor think they simply have more money to waste -- to spend frivolously and thoughtlessly, on every sort of entertainment and dissipation -- because that is what they think rich people do.  Among such people, such self-destructive activities is their objective -- until it is no longer possible -- because they have spent all their money, or their health gives out first.  Some even pride themselves on the cars they have wrecked -- driving fast and "under the influence" -- of the alcohol and drugs they have gleefully consumed -- even posting it daily on their social media pages for all to witness.

It never occurs to them, that it gives a negative impression of who they are -- and think is so important in life.  And then in reviewing all their posts, one realizes their entire lives is nothing but this celebration of the trivial and self-destructive, and everybody else should hop aboard this bandwagon of headlong self-destruction.  Such ends are always predictable -- and usually tragic, but it's not like there were no warning signs and red flags flying furiously -- with no desire to alter their course.

Invariably, these people also desire to become rich and famous -- while never sustaining an interest in improving their skill at anything that would merit renown.  They think that the spotlight merely must shine on them, and then it will reveal the talents and abilities, they've never thought to develop -- and if they did, becoming rich and famous would be left to those who think erroneously to get anywhere by placing the cart before the horse -- as they think that nothing is related to anything else, and there is no cause and effect, but everyone without exception, lives in a world of random outcomes -- and that good and bad, just happens, no matter what one does.

That is still a worldview -- largely promoted by those to whom the objective of economic activities, is to find the greater fool they can exploit -- as the supreme achievement of every existence, and that there is nothing beyond.  Such thought processes are especially prevalent among the criminal and forlorn -- swinging wildly from fits of mania to depression -- while never thinking that control, is what they must master -- as the meaning and purpose of their own lives.

Yet well-intentioned and well-meaning people, will encourage and enable such self-destructive behaviors in others -- as what gives them meaning in their own lives, in the solace that there are others more lost than they are, and even dependent on their approbation.  That's how the world, quickly spirals out of control -- as all its energies and resources, are diverted to enabling all the problems of the world, and never its solutions.

They're even self-designated as the defenders of the status quo -- by which they place themselves at the top of the social hierarchy, while the rest of life passes them by -- grateful there is something to occupy them to keep out of the way.  That is -- until they become too numerous to ignore, and it is time to repurpose such lives or they become too great a drag on societies -- to merely undo all those activities that are undermining human civilization and progress.

Otherwise, the problem of the homeless and hopeless, eventually overwhelm communities -- because they lack the basic skills to live their lives better -- which should be the objective of primary education, even more than academic proficiencies that merely differentiates and eliminates the less able from the most.  Because that is what it comes down to as the great challenge of these times -- how each manages their daily lives, and not that we all have to be Einsteins.  Those people just naturally distinguish themselves -- because they can't be anything else but who they are.  That's why there are these stunning child prodigies -- who are just gifted from birth, and not the result of years of training and practice.

We don't need to identify those people.  We need to identify the basic skills in life that give everybody an equal chance at success -- in managing their own lives, and taking care of themselves -- so that society doesn't have to divert increasing resources, to take care of them.  That's not an efficient way of providing for most -- that a few, and eventually most, have to take care of a few -- who are hellbent on their own destruction, for lack of a better thing to do -- because they never receive those basics.  Then once each is capable of providing for themselves in that essential way -- they can pursue their own unique talents and abilities, and not that we need more funding and caregivers -- for taking care of an increasing population of people incapable of doing so for themselves.

The presumption is that most will make those choices intelligently -- when they don't know how, and never saw it done by those around them -- growing up.  They were confused by the meaninglessness of all the activities with seemingly no good purpose -- even promoted by well-intentioned and well-meaning people who had no idea of what they were doing except to pass on their own training (understanding) -- without thinking, does it make sense?  That never enters their mind -- that is simply the tradition they were taught, and continue, and the busier they are at doing so, the less thought they give it -- even if it is not working!

It may never occur to them that it could have a greater meaning and purpose -- than simply to do what they have to do earn a paycheck, and rise higher to earn a bigger paycheck.  Or buy a bigger house -- whether they actually require one or not.  And so the first thing most do on receiving a raise, is to go out and buy a new car -- for lack of anything better to do with the money, or, that is what everybody else is doing.

Only a rare few think to defer their spending and accumulate wealth -- for a really compelling reason -- rather than blow it as soon as they get it, in the many thoughtless ways now possible -- and then return to await for "more."  Of course people operating in this manner will never have enough -- but that is not the root of their problem.  They were taught that one could always get more -- and not that one becomes rich by making the best of whatever they have -- the multiplier effect.  It is not merely enough to think that "one gets what they pay for" -- but that the difference can be substantial -- for the same money.  The challenge is to obtain maximum value -- while also providing maximum value so that one can continue to trade on those terms.

That is quite different from just trying to get over the other so that the other will have nothing to do with them henceforth, and burns all the bridges as one goes through life -- thinking that is the wisdom of the world -- that only they are privy to, as self-appointed guardians of the collective intelligence.  That is the root of most human ills.

Preparation and Practice

Everything one does, is preparation and practice for everything one will subsequently do -- and so no matter how badly and tentatively one begins, they get better with persistence.  They don't get better just wishing to do so -- or thinking how to do it perfectly the first time.  It may be that they have no idea of what is really and actually involved -- until they actually manifest that knowledge in action (movement).  Of course it is always easier just to say and think one can -- because it looks so easy when other people do it -- usually because they've prepared and practiced it for many years, that it looks easy and effortless.

To the observer, they may not realize the full extent of what is actually being done -- but looks at the least significant aspect of it, and thinks that is all there is.  This is most obviously true in athletic performances and exercise -- yet all the participants think they are doing the same thing, with obviously different results and competence.  And even the self-proclaimed experts are confounded when reality does not conform to their theories and explanations -- and think they simply need a better theory and explanation, instead of realizing the truth of what is actually happening.

That is true for all arenas and actions -- from personal hygiene to personal finance -- and everything else in between.  For that reason, everybody does not end up with the same results -- and it is no mystery why that is.  A few become masters of what they do -- while many others have no clue as to what is actually being done.  Usually that is because they are not paying attention, being thoughtful and (self-) aware.  They may even think that such things are not possible -- or the primary task of every individual -- but just mindlessly follow the instructions from whomever they think is the "boss," and struggle mightily against such authority at every opportunity they can -- whether for their own good or not.

Often, everything they do, undermines everything they hope to do and accomplish in their lives, and they can never figure it out -- so distracted and mesmerized are they by all the wrong things.  They may be obsessed with the desire to be "rich and famous," but have no idea why that might be so, or what they should do to achieve that fame and fortune.  To them, it is only sufficient to desire to be rich and famous, so when their 15 seconds of fame manifest, they have no idea what to do.  Their opportunity has come and gone -- and they have no idea what happened.

But those who are prepared and have practiced, rise to such occasions -- because that is what their lives have been all about -- not just wishing and hoping that things were other than they actually are.  Whatever they are, and whatever beginning point, one actually has to do something -- no matter how humble that beginning seems.  The lack is always this fundamental lack of understanding and executing the basics -- and not what to do when they are rich and famous. That is not the problem.

So when they are not rich and famous, they still have whatever skills they've practiced and perfected -- and not simply the incessant demand for more -- of what they feel everybody has -- that should be their entitlement, because they "want" it more than everybody else.  That's no way to run a society, or even one's own life.  What each has, is mostly their own doing -- even while resorting to the marketplace to find out who is offering the best exchanges of value for value.  Before money is actually exchanged, the best off, will find out all the information available, and what is available -- rather than simply whatever anyone has to sell -- whether it sufficient, or perfectly fits their needs.  That takes practice in becoming one's own best expert.

That doesn't guarantee a satisfactory outcome, but necessarily gets one closer -- until one gets to that perfect solution, and not simply creating endlessly more problems.  That should be a clue that their solution is not the answer to their troubles, but merely perpetuates the problems, as well as that solution -- someone is invariably selling, as long as they can get away with it.  Once it no longer sells, then they have to come up with another gimmick -- hoping to attract another group of buyers -- who never solve their problem.  And so they learn to live with it, and live that way -- as their answer to all of life's problems.

They never expect to solve any problems of their own living -- and that is the whole point of it all.  Naturally and predictably, everything just gets worse -- and they believe that is the natural consequence of living a long life -- rather than the opportunity of it to make the most of all that time available.  Instead, they find ways to waste their time with endless distractions and diversions -- until they have no idea of whether they are coming or going, and are merely confused at every turn and development.

With what little they have, they don't make the best of it -- but make it even less, or waste it entirely. Nobody helps such people because there's no money to be had from doing so -- and so they have to figure these things out for themselves, which is the only way it can happen.  Those who are dependent on others for these answers, will invariably find that those solutions, benefit the sellers, and not themselves -- unless it can be of mutual benefit.  To eliminate that expensive middle man and derive all the benefits for themselves -- they have to do their own thinking.

And that is the whole point -- they are immeasurably better off for doing so.  That is where we all hope to be -- as much as possible for oneselves.  That is not optional or a luxury only the rich and privileged have -- but is the very foundation of wealth and well-being.  Otherwise, one is constantly at the mercy of others -- despite how much they insist they are doing it for our own good, and nothing is in it for them.

So ultimately, the practice is this awareness -- and not simply what they insist we believe. That is what killed the mainstream media, and all the other intermediaries.  We can go directly to the source.  It is a wonderful new world -- favoring the fearless in finding out what they need to know.  That is a world quite different from those insisting they know all that can be known -- and fit to publish.  Those were the days -- that aren't coming back.