An Epidemic of Selfishness

I stand in my browning, weed-infested yard and glare across the street at my neighbor’s vibrant green, perfectly manicured lawn. That’s not fair! Why is the grass always greener on the other side?

For those of you who didn’t realize it, this is not the reality of the situation – this is an expression about our attitudes and perceptions. It’s not that things are always better for others – it’s about the unhappiness (and other dangers) that come from wanting what others have instead of focusing on your own blessings (your stuff, for those of you offended by theistic references.)

Was the Lufthansa copilot another one who just thought he wasn’t happy, so he was going to take everyone down with him? Bringing everyone else down doesn’t raise you. It also shows a selfish disregard for others.

Aurora. Newtown. Boston. Columbine.

It’s not guns, or knives, or airplanes that kill – it’s people. Selfish, self-centered, inconsiderate, empathically challenged sociopaths, who really just need the slightest excuse to rain their own special brand of hell on everyone else.

I didn’t get the toy I wanted. I don’t like what you said. I don’t have enough money. I’m not famous. I didn’t win. I don’t like the way you looked at me. Why do you have more friends than I do? The world’s not fair!

No, the world isn’t “fair”, if what we mean is everyone gets the same equality of outcome. It was never meant to be that way.

People will argue that this is mental illness we’re dealing with. Maybe, but I believe that even the majority of mentally ill people still operate within certain societal parameters. You might be suicidal, but that suicide doesn’t have to morph into the inconsiderate homicide of others. Unless the underpinning morals and the ability to feel the pain of others have been removed – then, all the perpetrators see and care about is what it does to themselves when they crash.

I think we’re dealing with an epidemic of selfishness. Aside from the more shocking examples of mass killings that grip the headlines, we have the more mundane. People use the government to get themselves “free stuff” by stealing it from their neighbors in the present, and their own children and grandchildren in the future.

How has this happened? We may never know, but as a society we have worked hard to reduce the impact of religion and faith from the public square (which is where most of our morals come from – you don’t have to be a believer to reap the benefits of a moral society.) We have focused on the individual as the center of his own universe and thus the keeper of his own rules for right and wrong. We’ve proclaimed that it’s okay to kill our babies if they are deemed an inconvenience. We place such a value on the almighty EGO and its “right” to not be offended that we can’t have standards, or open competition, or an honest conversation.

Don’t get me wrong – a certain amount of selfishness is necessary for everyone – otherwise an individual would starve (literally and figuratively.) But as with everything else, the danger is in taking things to extremes – we each need to give at least some portion of our thoughts to others, instead of making it ALL ABOUT ME.

Just saying…

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This is week two of “Riding the Devil” as our couponed feature - here’s the smashwords.com link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/273869?ref=notimetothink   

Use coupon code KD74Q to save 50% off the list price at check out at smashwords. The coupon will be good through Monday, April 6^th. Enjoy!

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s writing can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri

Tying Both of Our Hands Behind Our Backs (how did we do that?) and This Week’s Coupon

In 1978, I played the above average intelligence George Bergeron in a play based on Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron.” George only started out above average – anyone who was found to be above average was brought back down to average with the aid of a handicap bag. In this way, EVERYONE was finally made EQUAL.

This seems to be the dream of some people among us - that everyone be equal (of course, as noted in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, some are MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS, and they’d be happy to be the more equal ones.) Anyone who is successful must be brought down. Anyone who tries to excel must be shackled and regulated until he gives up.

When did it become a bad thing to be exceptional? I always thought that was something to strive for, not something to fear - to even shun?

When superiority does rear its ugly head, we find ways to even things out.

We have (or had, until the recent efforts to tear it apart) a top-notch healthcare system. We have so few real problems, we invented HIPA, and now you can’t reveal who has a contagious disease because of privacy concerns. We don’t understand what it’s like in countries where deadly, communicable disease is rampant and conditions and services  underdeveloped. So we handicap ourselves with rules that reduce our ability to deal with it. Some extra people get sick or die that didn’t have to? So what?

Our armed forces are SO MUCH BETTER than those of most of the rest of the world, we saddle them with rules of engagement that our disadvantaged enemies would never abide by. It’s the equivalent of always giving them the first move (and we foolishly insist that the Israelis do the same thing.) We have to let people who want us dead have their way before we can do anything about it. Does that make sense?

Political correctness won’t allow us to talk about problems honestly, because we have SO FEW TRULY BIG PROBLEMS (until we cripple ourselves into some REAL ONES) that we have to have neuroses and syndromes for how guilty of privilege we are. You can’t solve a problem if you’re not even allowed to say what it is.

We refuse to allow profiling when it makes the most sense for given situations (do we really need to search Swedish grandmothers?) – we pretend those profiles don’t have logical reasons for existing because it isn’t fair that they do make sense, and as a result we reduce our effectiveness in anticipating threats and dealing with them BEFORE they’ve caused damage.

All is fair in love and war. At least that’s what they used to say… Now we’re preoccupied with the UNFAIRNESS of the INEQUALITY of OUTCOMES. We don’t think it’s fair that there are winners and losers, and we have let this impact the way our children are being taught.  Now we encourage and reward showing up to get your ribbon instead of giving your best effort.

What is wrong with being the best? Why lower our game? Imagine, your parents telling you “Don’t do your best – you’ll embarrass the other kids. Try to be average.”

I don’t remember any employment ads looking for average people. Is that why employers keep looking for immigrants to do our jobs instead? Is it that some countries out there don’t beat the desire to be mediocre into people’s heads (okay, I know it’s really about getting people to do jobs that American’s won’t do unless you pay them a reasonable wage, but I’m making an analogy here.)

Give everything you have to whatever you’re doing – don’t hold back. Strive for perfection - you won’t achieve it, but you’ll get a lot closer when you try your best. Up your game, and everyone else has to up theirs – another situation where a rising tide raises all boats, and makes the world a better place for everyone.

Or you can do a Harrison Bergeron sort of thing and drain the water so all the boats are laying at the bottom, and we can all experience the wonderful EQUALITY of MISERY.

Just saying…

<<<>>> 

This week’s featured eBook is “Riding the Devil” - here’s the smashwords.com link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/273869?ref=notimetothink   

Use coupon code KD74Q to save 50% off the list price at check out at smashwords. The coupon will be good through Monday, April 6^th(Wow! Two whole weeks!) Enjoy!

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s writing can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri

Getting To the Uncommon Truth

“What is truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths, are mine the same as yours?” – Pontius Pilate in “Jesus Christ, Superstar”

Sorry Pontius – you can have your own opinions, but NO ONE gets to have their own FACTS.

I took a couple of social studies classes back in my teens that I really enjoyed – “Western Civilization” and “Comparative Political and Economic Systems.” The real purpose of the course wasn’t to teach a list of historical facts – it was to teach the skill of reasoning and discernment (THINKING), sifting through disparate accounts of an event and judging what really happened. A good skill for someone looking into the distant past and reading between the lines of what little was written to find the truth.

You would think that this skill wouldn’t be needed nowadays, with all the information that’s now available to us, but instead it’s the opposite. Not only do you have to weed through mountains of un-vetted material on the internet, but journalism has been dead for quite some time, so you have to observe your news sources carefully to see past their agenda to what the real story is.

How did we lose the truth? It was twisted when the mainstream media was taken over by people who engaged in group-think and agenda-based reporting. They only report what serves their narrative, and sweep what disproves it under the rug.

That is not NEWS REPORTING – that is PROSTLETIZING. Or is it PROSTITUTION? (Actually, it’s both.)

It’s like Orwell’s “1984” – if the source of information is under control, and a false narrative is spun as fact, how could the rare person who remembered the truth remain sane? In our politically correct world, anyone who goes against the narrative is persecuted until they either recant or are driven into the gutter.

Where do we find THE TRUTH these days? Under the surface, behind the words, hidden where you have to search for it. Be distrustful of any narrative that is bent on suppressing opinions or facts that disprove their claims. FREE SPEECH means OPEN DEBATE; don’t rely on just one source or one view, no matter how much they denigrate or bury their opposition.

Some common sense observations:

·         Science is almost never settled, and certainly not by suppressing contradictory test results; science attempts to reconcile ALL the facts, not just the ones that support the theory.

·         If an agreement that allows a sponsor of terrorism to get nukes is good for America, then it should be able to withstand bipartisan debate in the Senate.

·         If the answer to every policy disagreement is to shout RACISM at opponents, or to assassinate their character rather than defending the policy, maybe the policy isn’t defensible on its own.

·         People with a vested interest in a narrative should not be trusted as the only source, no matter how much you like them or align with them politically.

The most important tool you have is your mind, and you have to keep it sharp to make the most of it. It’s fine for others give you facts and express their opinions, but don’t let them tell you what to THINK. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Don’t let others abuse yours; use it or lose it.

Just saying…

<<<>>> 

This week’s featured eBook is “Inheritance” - here’s the smashwords.com link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256300?ref=notimetothink  

Use coupon code ZW92V  to save 50% off the list price at check out at smashwords. The coupon will be good through Monday, March 23rd. Enjoy!

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s  writing, including his latest (“Cat and Mouse” with coupon SU47H on smashwords through March  20^th) can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri

Caving To DHS Brouhaha (and This Week’s Smashwords Coupon)

Caving To DHS Brouhaha; and This Week’s Smashwords Coupon

I’ve been trying to stay off of politics on this blog for a little bit, but the OCCUPIER OF THE WHITE HOUSE and the rest of THE POWERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO BE in Washington are making it awfully difficult.

The media and the Democrats were in a tizzy for a couple of weeks, shouting at every opportunity that those mean obstructionist Republicans weren’t funding the Department of Homeland Security. Because of this, our country was doomed to be attacked any minute by… someone (they didn’t dare name who, or their religion, but rest assured they’re out there.)

The Republicans we have been sending to Washington IN GREATER AND GREATER NUMBERS TO BE THE OPPOSITION are still too weak-kneed to oppose the BAD PRESS, which media kept a countdown clock to see how long it would take the EVIL Republicans to see the writing on the wall and CAVE.

It didn’t take long at all. Speaker John Beohner ( r – he doesn’t deserve an upper-case R anymore) and 74 other ( r)epublicans SHIRKED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION and voted to give the Occupier everything he wanted. 5-10 million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS will be rewarded for breaking our laws by an unconstitutional action by the Occupier.

Why is it that the need for the DEMOCRATS to CAVE was never a topic of conversation? For those of you who weren’t really paying attention, and those Republicans who just don’t seem to get it, here are some observations:

1.     Why was everyone so afraid of the DHS being “shut-down” while we stood strong and refused to fund UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS? There would have been no real shut-down: the vast majority of DHS employees (the essential ones) would still have come to work.

2.    In case people have forgotten, the ENTIRE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT was “shut down” for 16 days in 2013, yet no one seemed to be worried about DHS back then. The Occupier put all his efforts into unnecessarily closing down outdoor monuments and such, including ones he had no authority over (scenic turnouts from the highway to view Mt Rushmore?) You would think with all the manpower he was able to put into this effort, he could probably have kept the DHS running just fine (IF HE REALLY CARED ABOUT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY HE COULD HAVE ROPED OFF OUR BORDERS.)

3.    Just as in the 2013 “shut-down”, the Republicans were willing to pay for vital activities, and passed bills to this effect. IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, they were refusing to fund the ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AMNESTY POLICIES that the Occupier has chosen to UNCONSTITUTIONALLY pursue. It was the Democrats (and the Occupier threatening his almighty veto) who were refusing to allow this funding.

4.    The fact is, to paraphrase Hillary, with the Occupier’s track record for refusing both to enforce our laws and to project strength overseas, WHAT DIFFERENCE AT THIS POINT DOES IT MAKE whether we funded DHS or not? National Security is NOT at the top of The Occupier’s list – EVEN THOUGH IT IS HIS REAL JOB, HE WILL REFUSE TO DO IT, ANYWAY.

5.    Why does no one ask: “IF IT IS SO VITAL TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY TO FUND THE DHS, WHY WERE THE DEMOCRATS WILLING TO HOLD OUR SECURITY HOSTAGE IN ORDER TO ISSUE THE RIGHT TO WORK AND BENEFITS TO MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS?”

Whose country (and GOVERNMENT) is this, anyway?

Since the ( r)’s sold us down the river, I’ve heard several commentator’s say this just wasn’t the right way to do it. I don’t agree – we have close to two years left before the Occupier’s term is up, and he is determined to continue violating the Constitution and his oaths until someone finally gets a spine and does something that REALLY STOPS HIM. The courts by and large cannot be relied on to adhere to the Constitution themselves, and the Occupier has shown that he will ignore them, anyway. The Congress has surrendered the power of the purse. Why? Do they really want their only option to be IMPEACHMENT? Mind you, there are already plenty of Constitutional violations to bring him up on (and will be many more before it’s over, I’m sure), but who thinks they would have the spine to do it? Or enough ( D)’s willing to put COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY?

We are most likely stuck with this Occupier until January, 2017. Let’s start working toward replacing the Senate and House ( r)’s and (D)’s with more ( R)’s, because there’s going to be a lot of work to do in undoing all the damage the Occupier has done, and we need people in there who are actually willing to do the jobs that ( r)’s and ( D)’s just aren’t willing to do.

Just saying…

<<<>>> 

This week’s featured eBook is “Mixed Signals” (Detective Jimmy Delaney #2); here’s the smashwords.com link:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/238961?ref=notimetothink  

Use coupon code RT68V  to save 50% off the list price at check out at smashwords. The coupon will be good through Monday, March 16th.)  Enjoy!

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s  writing can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri

Peripheral Messages; Yet More Silliness and This Week’s Smashwords Coupon

I have a very singular focus to the exclusion of all else – a sort of tunnel vision. I can only pay attention to one thing at a time. I once fantasized that it would be nice to be able to pilot aircraft, but it would be suicide for me to try to fly a plane. Think of all those instruments...

I sometimes wonder if this is an age related phenomena, but I’ve been like this forever. Back when my wife and I were dating, we went to a movie, and a very rude couple and their poorly parented children and were occupying the row being us. They talked and shouted and played around while the movie was in progress (this was before cell phones, so the group needed other things to do), stuck their feet on the seats in front of them, and my wife found herself being practically dragged over the back of her seat to join them when one of the little angels got a hold of her hair and started pulling. The only thing that kept her in her seat was grabbing onto my arm and using me as an anchor.

I was focused on the movie and heard and saw NONE OF THIS; I only know these things happened because my wife told me.

I never see what’s on the periphery on my computer screen – only what I’m looking for. If someone tries to Instant Message me, I may not see it until they come by my desk and point it out to me. Someone could put a message flashing there that says: “A meteor is on target to hit your desk” with a 24 hour countdown clock and I wouldn’t notice it until after… well, I guess I wouldn’t notice it then would I?

This isn’t the same thing as my admonition that there really is no such thing as multi-tasking; when you try to multi-task, you are really doing one thing at a time, but you’re aware of other workflows, know what the next step is in each, and switch your attention between them as needed.

I am focused on one thing, no matter what it is, and don’t see anything else.

I am oblivious.

And yet, I have the sense that someone or something has been trying to connect with me. I see motion off to the side, just beyond my peripheral vision, but when I turn my head toward it there’s nothing there. For all I know, I’m registering this minutes or days after the signal. The attempts seem to be becoming more frequent and frantic of late - it must be terribly important, whatever it is.

So, whoever or whatever you are, know this: your attempts to communicate in this manner are doomed to failure. If you have something you need to tell me, you must stand right in front of me when you make your delivery. Otherwise, I will not get the message.

And that goes for the rest of you, too.

Just saying…

<<<>>> 

This week’s featured eBook is “Purr Mission” – the first story in the Herc Tom, Champion of the Empire stories; here’s the smashwords.com link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/211302?ref=notimetothink  

Use coupon code UJ36J to get 50% off the list price at check out at smashwords. The coupon will be good through Monday, March 9th.)  Enjoy!

<<<>>> 

“Good Luck!” is William’s latest ePublication, and is only available on Amazon, as part of his continuing Kindle Select experiment (it joins “Anti-Social”, “Dead End Jobs”, and “Reconcilable Differences” as available FREE to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners' Lending Library); here’s the link:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U46QSPQ

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s  writing can be found in many places, such as:

• His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY
• Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri
• Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink
• Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink

Or on his goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6893616.William_Mangieri