Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post

BrendanArthurRing · 10-08-2009, 06:18 PM

I've posted this already in my blog:

How to Survive in America

This came out of me a few days after reading Steve's "How to make money in a recession" post. His idea about creating and delivering value is extremely insightful.

How Can We Survive in America?

I don't know what it is about America today. I graduated in 2003 and have slowly gotten myself into the workforce. It seems to me that this system is seriously messed up.

I have been searching for jobs for 3 months now after not being paid for 3 months work from my previous employer (but that's another story). I have called stores and businesses in my area ... none of them are hiring or if they are, they do group interviews. Group interviews are like playing the lottery with your future. The store probably only needs one person but they interview 10 to 35 people all at once to save time. Meanwhile those 8 to 34 people that didn't get hired just wasted their time and gas money to go to the interview.

People are always saying to me "we're accepting applications" ... right well all those applications probably go into a big pile in the back room somewhere and are never read.

In America it seems that it's now common to have to pay to get a job. You have to pay an entrance fee or license fee. Maybe you have to pay for products that you will be selling. You have to pay to have your photo taken in order to be a background extra for a movie - and you only make $65 for 8 - 12 hours work. The ends don't justify the means.

When I worked at Steve Madden at the Beverly Center I had to pay $10 a day to park in the garage. Steve didn't compensate employees for parking. There was no street parking available because the surrounding area had zoned permit parking only. Needles to say I didn't get paid very much from that job. Defiantly not enough to support myself. Also a sales associate gets 1% commission, how stingy is that. Then you get reprimanded for not meeting your sales quota and are constantly told to bring the customer more things that they didn't ask for, just to get more sales.

More Sales! More Sales! How about focusing first on the quality of your product and then it will sell itself. Employees would then only have to worry about service. Being an employee really sucks. It's kind of like a modern form of slavery. You do all the work and get paid less than what that work is worth. All your time and effort goes directly into someone else's pocket and earns them money for years after you do it. All you have to show for it are bags under your eyes and a feeling of emptiness in your life.

If you don't work your ass off then you are fired, or considered a bad employee. Well, all this isn't very motivating anyway. If you were working on something you loved and the outcome directly added to your quality of life - you'd be pretty damn motivated. You could probably get 10x the amount of work done in the same time, feel invigorated and it wouldn't feel like work. Everybody has that thing that they love to do. More often that not it really does provide value to other people.

The bottom line is, if you create and deliver value to other people .. you will receive value in return. The problem with America is that we have been too concerned with receiving value, i.e. making money. Everyone is afraid of not making enough money. "I gotta make more money!" Do you hear this? Make more money. Unfortunately, it is illegal to make money ... otherwise we could all just print some out whenever wee needed it.

Nobody really benefits from making money anyway. Now there are more pieces of paper with some guys face on it. Sure they look pretty but do they have real value? Could you put a dollar in the microwave and eat what came out? Does looking at money inspire your creativity and make you wonder, the way a great work of art does? Can the sound of jingling coins put you in an ecstatic mood, the way your favorite song can?

The answer to all these questions is hell NO. Money is just the middle man between the value you create and deliver to others and the value you receive in return. People have been concerning themselves with making money and not making value for so long now that this system is finally proving that it doesn't work.

People have been enslaved in the workforce, making money for other people who in turn don't return the value. It is all just one giant pyramid scheme. The people on the bottom carry the toughest loads and the people at the top enjoy the view. Why do you think there's a pyramid on the dollar? The problem with this is; the growth potential for a pyramid structure is limited by the weight the bottom can withstand - a pyramid grows in one direction, upward and against gravity.

The American Dream has been to work your way up this pyramid to success. That's a great dream but the system itself is flawed. There are so many gates and blockages to get to the top now. With the advent of technology these firewalls have only become stronger and more efficiently automated.

How are you supposed to work your way up from the bottom in this economy? Most people can barely afford rent, food, gas .... all these things are those firewalls I was talking about. How can you save money if you're in debt? There's a big topic right there ... and it is probably the strongest firewall installed by the people at the top of the pyramid. It has been socially conditioned through brainwashing commercials that:

A. You need all the crap you see on TV
B. Buying stuff makes you happier and a better person. (or better than other people)
C. If you can't afford something just use your credit card, no worries.

Well there are worries. We've been conditioned to except that this is just the way things are and there's nothing we can do about it. In order to get what you deserve or what is fair you have to fight and fight - spending your time and money.

Here's an example. My wife has an iPhone with AT&T. She had to pay a $500 deposit because she didn't have a social security number at the time. Now she does and she wants her deposit back. Apparently it is against AT&Ts policy to return it to her until she has been under contract for a year. A year goes by and she wants her money ... well there was a hiccup in her payments due to an error caused by their system and she is going to have to wait another 6 months.

Any time she calls customer service they tell her to go to a store ... when she goes to a store they say to go online ... when she goes online they say to call customer service.

This run-around system is no accident. It is all designed to put you through so much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ so that you finally give up and say screw it. Cha-ching! $500. How many times have you just rolled over and said "whatever" to some fee or charge or ticket? "Well if I fight it I'll just lose anyway" ... wow - or you'd have to pay lawyer bills, or it's against their policy.

We pay money to all these services and all they do is rip us off by providing a crappy service, charging us for every little thing, making mistakes and over charging etc. I hope none of you have your bills set up to be paid automatically ... then if the company makes a mistake and over charges you, you'll never notice.

All this is a result of the general consensus in America being "Make More Money". It's not "make more value" or "help more people". It is all centered around getting something for nothing. Making money is really making something out of nothing. The government prints out some cool pieces of paper, making sure that they are difficult and illegal to duplicate by anyone other then themselves ... and BAM! something for nothing. It's all engineered on a system that delivers nothing and extracts value from others. Money is only worth what we perceive it to be anyway. And if everyone is made to perceive the same thing ... well then it's reality. Just like when everyone thought the world is flat.

So how can you change it? We are all in this together. If we all focus on creating and delivering value to one another then our quality of life will go up exponentially - with out the help of this old pyramid scheme. If all the people on the bottom of the crushing pyramid let go of the burden - the whole thing will collapse.

This new way could work. Think about it. If everyone focused on creating and delivering real value to each other and abandoned the idea of just making money ... the money would take care of itself. The pyramid scheme would be long dead and replaced by a new shape. It would be a circle where everyone is helping expand it out into infinity.

10-08-2009, 06:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
BrendanArthurRing Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2	The Pyramid Scheme Known as America I've posted this already in my blog: How to Survive in America This came out of me a few days after reading Steve's "How to make money in a recession" post. His idea about creating and delivering value is extremely insightful. How Can We Survive in America? I don't know what it is about America today. I graduated in 2003 and have slowly gotten myself into the workforce. It seems to me that this system is seriously messed up. I have been searching for jobs for 3 months now after not being paid for 3 months work from my previous employer (but that's another story). I have called stores and businesses in my area ... none of them are hiring or if they are, they do group interviews. Group interviews are like playing the lottery with your future. The store probably only needs one person but they interview 10 to 35 people all at once to save time. Meanwhile those 8 to 34 people that didn't get hired just wasted their time and gas money to go to the interview. People are always saying to me "we're accepting applications" ... right well all those applications probably go into a big pile in the back room somewhere and are never read. In America it seems that it's now common to have to pay to get a job. You have to pay an entrance fee or license fee. Maybe you have to pay for products that you will be selling. You have to pay to have your photo taken in order to be a background extra for a movie - and you only make $65 for 8 - 12 hours work. The ends don't justify the means. When I worked at Steve Madden at the Beverly Center I had to pay $10 a day to park in the garage. Steve didn't compensate employees for parking. There was no street parking available because the surrounding area had zoned permit parking only. Needles to say I didn't get paid very much from that job. Defiantly not enough to support myself. Also a sales associate gets 1% commission, how stingy is that. Then you get reprimanded for not meeting your sales quota and are constantly told to bring the customer more things that they didn't ask for, just to get more sales. More Sales! More Sales! How about focusing first on the quality of your product and then it will sell itself. Employees would then only have to worry about service. Being an employee really sucks. It's kind of like a modern form of slavery. You do all the work and get paid less than what that work is worth. All your time and effort goes directly into someone else's pocket and earns them money for years after you do it. All you have to show for it are bags under your eyes and a feeling of emptiness in your life. If you don't work your ass off then you are fired, or considered a bad employee. Well, all this isn't very motivating anyway. If you were working on something you loved and the outcome directly added to your quality of life - you'd be pretty damn motivated. You could probably get 10x the amount of work done in the same time, feel invigorated and it wouldn't feel like work. Everybody has that thing that they love to do. More often that not it really does provide value to other people. The bottom line is, if you create and deliver value to other people .. you will receive value in return. The problem with America is that we have been too concerned with receiving value, i.e. making money. Everyone is afraid of not making enough money. "I gotta make more money!" Do you hear this? Make more money. Unfortunately, it is illegal to make money ... otherwise we could all just print some out whenever wee needed it. Nobody really benefits from making money anyway. Now there are more pieces of paper with some guys face on it. Sure they look pretty but do they have real value? Could you put a dollar in the microwave and eat what came out? Does looking at money inspire your creativity and make you wonder, the way a great work of art does? Can the sound of jingling coins put you in an ecstatic mood, the way your favorite song can? The answer to all these questions is hell NO. Money is just the middle man between the value you create and deliver to others and the value you receive in return. People have been concerning themselves with making money and not making value for so long now that this system is finally proving that it doesn't work. People have been enslaved in the workforce, making money for other people who in turn don't return the value. It is all just one giant pyramid scheme. The people on the bottom carry the toughest loads and the people at the top enjoy the view. Why do you think there's a pyramid on the dollar? The problem with this is; the growth potential for a pyramid structure is limited by the weight the bottom can withstand - a pyramid grows in one direction, upward and against gravity. The American Dream has been to work your way up this pyramid to success. That's a great dream but the system itself is flawed. There are so many gates and blockages to get to the top now. With the advent of technology these firewalls have only become stronger and more efficiently automated. How are you supposed to work your way up from the bottom in this economy? Most people can barely afford rent, food, gas .... all these things are those firewalls I was talking about. How can you save money if you're in debt? There's a big topic right there ... and it is probably the strongest firewall installed by the people at the top of the pyramid. It has been socially conditioned through brainwashing commercials that: A. You need all the crap you see on TV B. Buying stuff makes you happier and a better person. (or better than other people) C. If you can't afford something just use your credit card, no worries. Well there are worries. We've been conditioned to except that this is just the way things are and there's nothing we can do about it. In order to get what you deserve or what is fair you have to fight and fight - spending your time and money. Here's an example. My wife has an iPhone with AT&T. She had to pay a $500 deposit because she didn't have a social security number at the time. Now she does and she wants her deposit back. Apparently it is against AT&Ts policy to return it to her until she has been under contract for a year. A year goes by and she wants her money ... well there was a hiccup in her payments due to an error caused by their system and she is going to have to wait another 6 months. Any time she calls customer service they tell her to go to a store ... when she goes to a store they say to go online ... when she goes online they say to call customer service. This run-around system is no accident. It is all designed to put you through so much ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ so that you finally give up and say screw it. Cha-ching! $500. How many times have you just rolled over and said "whatever" to some fee or charge or ticket? "Well if I fight it I'll just lose anyway" ... wow - or you'd have to pay lawyer bills, or it's against their policy. We pay money to all these services and all they do is rip us off by providing a crappy service, charging us for every little thing, making mistakes and over charging etc. I hope none of you have your bills set up to be paid automatically ... then if the company makes a mistake and over charges you, you'll never notice. All this is a result of the general consensus in America being "Make More Money". It's not "make more value" or "help more people". It is all centered around getting something for nothing. Making money is really making something out of nothing. The government prints out some cool pieces of paper, making sure that they are difficult and illegal to duplicate by anyone other then themselves ... and BAM! something for nothing. It's all engineered on a system that delivers nothing and extracts value from others. Money is only worth what we perceive it to be anyway. And if everyone is made to perceive the same thing ... well then it's reality. Just like when everyone thought the world is flat. So how can you change it? We are all in this together. If we all focus on creating and delivering value to one another then our quality of life will go up exponentially - with out the help of this old pyramid scheme. If all the people on the bottom of the crushing pyramid let go of the burden - the whole thing will collapse. This new way could work. Think about it. If everyone focused on creating and delivering real value to each other and abandoned the idea of just making money ... the money would take care of itself. The pyramid scheme would be long dead and replaced by a new shape. It would be a circle where everyone is helping expand it out into infinity.