American Ideals are “Unconventional”?

Lots of great stuff packed into a 14 minute interview:

via youtube

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If you are benefiting from ethics, you are doing it wrong!

I enjoyed this conversation between Paul Wheaton and Toby Hemenway (author of Gaia’s Garden).  They explore human behavior of wanting to take something that does not belong to you.

  • Toby explains that he is annoyed when an “able bodied, intelligent person with a good skill set wants a discount simply because they have chosen to live simply”
  • He says “we need a sustainable future, not a subsidized future“.
  • When people talk about ‘the gift economy’ they are often actually talking about ‘the theft economy’
  • “A ethic is not something that benefits you, that’s not how ethics work, ethics are really to benefit the larger community”
  • How companies like Monsanto could be operating under the understanding that they are ‘doing good’.  The problem is that because they refuse to accept the feedback of their actions, they are failing.   Accepting feedback and observing consequences is essential to permaculture design.
  • People use ethics as weapons to do unethical things!

OK.  This hit on something big.  To me these two guys are saying to comply with the third ethic of permaculture, you need to respect liberty, especially the personal property of individuals.  …AND, socialistic/statist actions like redistribution of wealth and state control of production are in direct conflict with the ethics of permaculture.

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Identity vs. Philosophy

I thought this was an interesting explication of the attitudes of the public toward political candidates.

via youtube

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Status Quo Bias: The American Front Lawn

Funny short video about our turf grass:

via youtube

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Top 3 Common Myths of Capitalism

I’d prefer the term free-market be used, but the points are still valid:

via youtube

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What Would Jesus Buy?

I just watched a “seriously funny” video about the disaster we Americans have turned Christmas into called “What Would Jesus Buy?

Here are a few excepts from the “do it yourself” section on their website:
Let’s Start With The Basics:
Examine why you buy the things you do – and ask yourself:

  • Do I really need this?
  • Do I have something like
  • it?
  • Where am I going to store it?

1. Buying local means you’re supporting your local economy.
2. Look for products that are “Fair Trade Certified.” The label means they pay their workers a
reasonable wage and don’t participate in child labor.
3. The corporations want us to have experiences only through their products. Our
neighborhoods, “commons” places like stoops and parks and streets and libraries, are
disappearing into the world of big boxes and chain stores.

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Ron Paul 2012 Video

‎”Once you become knowledgable, you have an OBLIGATION to DO something about it.”

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Pictures from Braxton and Stacey

Here are some pictures from Braxton and Stacey:

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Family of Four

All of us in a snapshot:

Amber, Aiden, and Bryson:

Amber and Aiden:

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Bryson and Aiden Pictures

Bryson met his little brother today.

Bryson has been lucky enough to spend lots of time with cousin Shaun.

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