Amazing Comment

It's not just the Great Recession. It's decades of politics and policy that have led to this result. We've been building this state of affairs since the Reagan years when the focus of our national politics, and tax and spending policy, became protecting and expanding the established wealth (of older earners) rather than expanding opportunity for and creating resources to help younger generations create new wealth. When we traded in an understanding of taxation as a necessary transfer of wealth and resources between generations for nursing resentful, misguided notions of taxes as a transfer of wealth between individuals -- from the "deserving" rich to the "undeserving" poor.

The facts are this; in a broadly middle class society (as we once were, but are no longer) the greatest differences in income are determined by age. The "undeserving poor" we've been punishing are the young.

"For young people of the Silent and Boomer generations, progressive taxation and public investment provided the benefits of low cost public resources and low taxes in their low earning/high personal investment years. Higher taxation in their higher earning years wasn't a punishment for success, it was a deferred payment of a public obligation. But those generations, who, thanks to their elders, enjoyed both low taxation and the greatest investment in their economic future (in educational, cultural, physical and economic infrastructure) that any generations of man have ever known in their own youth, voted themselves, in their high earning years, tax breaks instead -- while still expecting to receive gold plated benefits as they aged."

Found this on a comment board. Amazing analysis and spot on to why people hate the rich and republican now, namely because they want to decrease investment for a successful American future.

In Time

In Time: a cool concept movie, converting the concept of time into a currency. It simply reflects the truth. Time does equal money, and to waste your time is to waste your money. People are working longer hours, for less pay, paying more in bills for less in product, paying higher taxes for less in benefits, for what? for the chance to live another day. What a system we came up with, where the wealthy have no idea what to do with their money and time, and the poor suckers on the street are living for their final minutes, and the people in the middle breaking their backs to support a nation that no longer supports them.

Greatness

12/18/11

Just finished watching the Social Network movie. Crazy stuff, to see (even dramatized) the creation of a platform that is now an integral part of my and the rest of the world age 30 and under's lifestyle. An integral part of how I organize and represent myself as a person along with my ideas.

Unbelievable the amount of money they made as well. Just viewed the businessinsider.com and found a section on the worth of the shares for those people who were part of its inception and creation.
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-facebooks-soon-to-be-billionaire-shareholders-2010-5#facebook-cofounder-dustin-moskovitz-no-longer-with-the-company-owns-6-worth-13-billion-4

I want to leave my mark in the world, and I want to have fun and be passionate as I do it as well. I keep getting the line, this is not realistic. I want to make it so, and if I fail, well that unhappy life is not one I wish to live anyway.

Its time to decide.... ha, its always time to decide, and for some reason I have held myself back from making a decision.

SO what does this mean? I think I need to go out and do whatever it takes to make my dreams come true.

What are my dreams? Why did I rename this blog to dreams? Because complaining and whining don't ever get you closer to your dreams. Action and good planning do. What are the steps that I must go through to best set me on my way?


Next section taken from: http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

"Step 1: Setting Lifetime Goals

The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime (or at least, by a significant and distant age in the future). Setting lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making.

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories (or in other categories of your own, where these are important to you):
• Career - What level do you want to reach in your career, or what do you want to achieve?
• Financial - How much do you want to earn, by what stage? How is this related to your career goals?
• Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to have in order to achieve other goals?
• Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are you going to be a good parent? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family?
• Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
• Attitude - Is any part of your mindset holding you back? Is there any part of the way that you behave that upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve your behavior or find a solution to the problem.)
• Physical - Are there any athletic goals that you want to achieve, or do you want good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?
• Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (You should ensure that some of your life is for you!)
• Public Service - Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?

Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. Then consider trimming again so that you have a small number of really significant goals that you can focus on.

As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. (If you have a partner, you probably want to consider what he or she wants - however, make sure that you also remain true to yourself!)


Step 2: Setting Smaller Goals

Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a five-year plan of smaller goals that you need to complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan.

Then create a one-year plan, six-month plan, and a one-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.

Then create a daily To-Do List of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals.

At an early stage, your smaller goals might be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your higher level goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.

Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life."

Guess I should begin here.
Peace,
Alex

Revolver

Just watched Revolver. Wow, for a confusing movie, it has a good moral. This was all from another blog, as I might watch the movie one more time to see if I get the moral of the story completely.

'Explanation of the movie 'Revolver'
I saw the movie for the umpteenth time last night and I finally got it.

This is what the movie says:

1) In every game and con there is always a victim and there is always an opponent. It's good to know when you are the former so you can become the latter.

2) But the question is how do you prepare yourself for this game?

3) You only get smater by playing a smarter opponent.

4) The smarter the game the smarter the opponent

5) Checkers is an example of such a game. Chess is a better game. Debate is an even better opportunity to learn and so on.

6) But the question is where does the game stop? or one can ask what is the smartest game one can play?

7) The answer according to the movie is: "The game of con you play with yourself".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The text below has been added on 3 Dec 2008 and is based on a comment posted on October 30, 2008, at time 4:12 PM. I have only recently understood what this person meant and it is one of the most powerful things i have come across (Do read the comment to see what the person himself wrote)

The mind according to the movie is only a "tool" that we use to help us deal with the world around us. It is a tool like our hands and feet are our tools. The problem arises when we think of the "mind as more than a tool"; and in fact identify with it! This identity which is just an illusion is what is called the "ego" [and which according to the movie is: "Mr. Gold"].

The main character of the movie faced his ego in the elevator where the realization of the fact that his "own identity" was different from his "ego" hit a threshold and thus he became "free" or "enlightened".

When we realize and can identify our "ego" is when we begin to take the role of the opponent in the "game of con" [vs. the role of the victim] .

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Re-edited: 27th September 2009

The mind should not define us; [it should be used as] a tool that it is. Not doing so creates an unhealthy ego that has [malevolent] control over us. If we take charge of our mind or ego we take charge of our reward system.

Our current reward system may in some ways be harmful to us [thus creating the pain and misery in our lives resulting from our own actions]. Machiavelli - “There is no avoiding war it can only be postponed to the advantage of the enemy”.


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Added on 01 April 2009
It might be useful to study the following material with a paper and pencil in hand. Take notes and see if you come across any useful lessons at the end. In any case this will be an interesting exercise to do :)
--
The movie talks about ego and by doing so gives us cognition that we are approval junkies i.e we are addicted to seeking the approval of others. It says we are approval junkies primarily because we feel good when we are recognized as special. We think it is good to be recognized as special because it means we have achieved something. It is of course good to achieve things because as long as we keep achieving things we keep moving towards a better life.

This is not a very bad thing at a certain stage of one’s life because it is related to the rule of “self-preservation”. The rule of self-preservation as I understand it tells us to be selfish and protect our own interests in order to protect ourselves. As long as we do this however we keep seeking for other people’s approval. As we become more cognizant of the reality around us we notice that different people approve of different things and so we have to choose what it is that is worth getting approval for.

While becoming aware of the way the world works, we realize that our selfishness should mature into not only protecting our own interests but also the interests of other agents [people, skills, knowledge, etc] in our environment. This is because our lives are intertwined with other things/agents around us and so the more we strive for others the more we are in fact striving for ourselves. [And in this effort we also begin to learn “what it is” that we should ask approval for]

Many times however people “do not” realize that helping other agents is actually in their benefit [so they never wake up!].

For example if somebody hates me and I was to be rude to him or even to ignore him, I would generally think that I am doing the right thing by protecting myself against him! On the contrary if I were to really protect myself against him, then I would have to ensure that his actions do not influence me, in fact I would have to ensure that my enemy has no influence over me of any kind. If my enemy were to really not influence me then I should actually be able to be good to him [because this is an opportunity for me to grow, an opportunity for me to learn how to handle such a person, an opportunity to create happiness around me]. I should [have reached a point] be good to him so much so that I do not feel the need to point out his fault [since he probably will not listen] instead manipulate him so that he is able to figure out where he is going wrong. To be able to manipulate him I would first have to earn his trust, for which I will have to [make him invest in me] react to him in a way that I gain his trust. Once I have gained his trust I can continue to manipulate him to show him what I know.

I would like to pause here to mention what I think is the quickest route to moving from being an approval junkie to being somebody who is “preserving himself” while becoming free from the need for “approval” and so reaches a state where he is “sustainably happy” i.e. is happy within his environment [by having the power to make other people around him happy for example].

The quickest route I think is “to do good for goodness sake”, i.e. to do good because “good is beautiful”. So for example if I were to want to help my enemy [not in order to negate my own ego but] because of the realization that he and I make up a very small microcosm and that there is a much greater macrocosm to which I “feel” connected. And so in helping him, all I would be doing is participating in this “macrocosm” to my heart’s content [My heart beats with this macrocosm and not with the small petty things. These small petty things are significant only as far as they are themselves a part of this macrocosm. We are all thus equally a part of this macrocosm, each one of us just like any one red blood cell in our body!]. If we go about connecting with the macrocosm in this way we would in fact be negating our ego or what little remains of it after continuous practice of this exercise.

However there is one very big trap that we must avoid here!

If one’s perception of good is “unrealistic” then they will only harm themselves and others around them, till they wake up to the reality that will inevitably give them the knowledge they didn’t have."

Holy F***! Still confused a little.

The Five Paragraph Memo

SMESC: Sergeant Major Eats Sugar Cookies.
Situation: What's the problem?
Mission: What's our strategy for solving it?
Execution: What tactics are we going to use?
Support: What are the logistics? How many troops and what sort of equipment do we need?
Command: What other organizations (air strikes, aerial recon, Afghan sec forces) will have to be involved?

"The Tyrant" and his lesson to me

by Alex Nguyen on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 1:48am

As I stated in my status, I loved this performance by James Earl Jones in The Tyrant, episode 3 of the 6th House season.

Some plot: James Earl Jones guest stars as Dibala, the dictator of an African country that everyone believes is committing genocide against a tribe back home. There is one dialogue between Chase and Dibala. I cannot fit the whole of it here; but I feel, even as it shows the ignorance and stubborness that can bring a man to kill a whole race of people, there is an innate truth that I have been searching for for a long time.

There is a truth to the comment that "Men Make Choices" and they must act on their decision with conviction. I think his speech spoke much more to me than most. Maybe I have been far too much an appeaser and I need to begin making my stand on behalf of my decisions. Not that I haven't, but I have been far too open to dialogue and compromise with regards to my dreams and goals. Too much thinking a friend of mine would say.
Alot of people tell me that my tendency to be conciliatory is a great thing, and it is in regards to the connections and relationships between my friends and myself, as well as helping resolve various conflicts between friends. However, it has weakened me in some respects, placing me at a disadvatage when it comes to choosing between my goals and the objectives or wants of others. For when placed in a position of having to choose between theirs' and mine, unlike many, I would in many cases, compromise, seek to benefit both myself and the other, rather than take what should be rightfully and wholly mine.

I will explain more after placing some of the script here...

The script: *After altercation with Cameron...*
Chase: You touch my wife again. I will kick your ass out into the street. I don't care who you are.
Dibala (James Earl Jones):"I did her a favor. I showed her her true character...
Chase: She is a better person than you are.
Dibala: She is too weak to act on her beliefs. That is not her fault. Most everyone is...even my own advisors... my own colonel! All they do is negotiate and debate... and sign treaties! They are appeasers. All the while we are beset by assassins, traitors, the scum...
Chase: ...Cockroaches? What are you going to do about them?
Dibala: What is an enemy to you? Some younger physician who covets your office?
In my world there are dangers and bloodshed and death...and that makes you a man; and Men Make Choices.
Chase: Your choice? To send bands of drunk, crazed children to massacre an entire people?
Dibala: Don't ask me questions you don't want to know the answer to.
Chase: I saved your life. I deserve to know what you're planning to do...
Dibala (with emphasis): Whatever it takes to protect my country!"

Now that is a man with strong convictions. Might be to the wrong ideals, but he stands fully by what he says. I respect that. He does not pander to the goals of the people around him. They seek to please him. Now I say this again wth regards to myself and my perceptions of how I act in the world. I have seen many of my friends suffer from maintaining their convictions, when a simple bit of understanding and concession would have helped them attain the final outcome they desired.
I have suffered the antithesis. I feel my own actions of late have lacked that conviction, at least so far in regard to choosing where and how I wish to get to my final destination in life. I will probably always be an appeaser of sorts. I seek reconcilation rather than conflict, however, there are things I will not stand for, my friends have helped me see these lines as well as learn what not to do when I reach them. I will forever seek to make clear what I will and will not stand for. This is a promise to myself, a promise to begin establishing my wants and goals with far more conviction. The missing requirement is action. I must attribute to each of my goals an action that must be followed day by day. A lesson I wish to learn and maybe one for you, if you are a person who needs it too.

This post is not about becoming unyielding or demanding, rather a plege to myself, a reminder that there is a necessary amount of rigor that one must show to be successful in life. To appease forever is to wither in the shadow of another plant, to die by not seeking out that which is necessary for life. Action is required to capture the sunlight I need to grow (yay, plant metaphor). An interesting lesson learned from a 30 second conversation in a TV show.

A Philisophical Conversation - Griffith (G) and Princess (P)

by Alex Nguyen on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 8:53am

This is an exchange from two characters in an anime, but I believe it provides deep insight into why people do things and what I seek to have in my life.

Griffith (G) and Princess (P) -

on war, dreams, and death...
(G): Why do most men commit to affairs that end in bloodshed? Isn’t that what you asked me during the hunt? It is true. Men possess a side that is barbarous as you have observed; but it is a double-edged sword. It can be a tool used for winning precious things, as well as protecting them.
(P): Precious things, like friendship and love?
(G): For some men, these are the most precious, but I believe that beneath them there is something even more precious than these. They are driven to pursue it and they pursue it solely for their own sake… no other.
(P): Their dream?
(G): One man’s dream can hold dominion over the entire world. For one who dedicates his life to the forging of a single sword. While many can pursue their dreams in solitude, other dreams are like great storms... blowing hundreds even thousands of dreams apart in their wake. Dreams breathe life into men and can cage them in suffering. Men live and die by their dreams, but long after they have been abandoned... they still smolder deep in men’s hearts. Some see nothing more than life and death, they are dead for they have no dreams.

On friendship...
(P): I’m sure your friends are equally as fascinated by you, and that attracts them to you.
(G): They are my able soldiers, its true. They are dedicated comrades who sacrifice themselves for my dream so that it might be real, but that does not make them friends. In my mind, a true friend never relies on another’s dream. The man who would be my friend must have his own reason for living, beyond me, and he should put his heart and soul into protecting his dream. He should never hesitate to defend it… even against me. For me to call a man my friend, he must be equal to me in all respects.

My take...
These exchanges each have a hint of truth in them. Upon hearing the first, I realized that it is selfishness that creates much suffering in the world. It is the idea that, "what I choose to do is far more important than the beliefs of others" that causes many dreams to be destroyed.

Yet, I also realize this belief is a basic part of human nature. It is also stronger in some than others. If you really wish to make your dreams come to pass, taking this into consideration must be an important part of your reality. I believe I am finally ready to accept that thought, as disgusting as it sounds. I have lived in a very accomodating manner to my friends since high school, no...even further before that. People's beliefs and images, especially about me, were far more important to me than they should have been. (I feel very strongly about this part right now, if I feel I am wronged I will now make sure people know, damn f* room*, btw I find this does not apply to close friends as much as random people I must associate with).

I realize that my attitude revolved around making friends and on being accepted. I made it my "most important" thing. It became my dream to be accepted, well-liked. Yet even though this dream came to pass, I now feel hollow, deprived of satisfaction. This has brought me to another crossroads in my life. I must figure out how to satisfy this growing emptiness inside me.

One of the first things I saw from the second exchange is that I should not have compromised myself and/or my beliefs to make friends. A friend is a person who is equal to me in belief and purpose. I have lowered my purpose in order to find anyone willing to accept me. That is what I have done, yes?

Or maybe, I have finally realized my dream of companionship and find myself seeking something else? The important fact here is that I feel empty, and have for much of the past three years. Must it be our lot in life to keep searching for more? Never to be content with the things we already have?

I think I am now that man, the one who can only see life and death, dead because I have no dream. I have many small dreams don't get me wrong, but these barely get me by. I seek something bigger than me. Something that will give all my actions meaning and all my thoughts a purpose.

I have been far too afraid to accept a larger dream until now for fear of failure. And yet, that is what I have now, failure. Failure to accept my fate and continue on with my life. Failure to face my fears and take over control of my destiny. I want to change this, quite strongly, but years of excuses and detachment have impaired my ability to do so.

I resolve to change this, to find that greater purpose that I will follow until I achieve it.