A day for the Devil

The Devil sat in a great throne room staring at the ceiling of his castle one day. He was not sitting on the giant black throne that was the rooms only apparent feature other than the main entrance. No, in fact he was sitting beside it on the floor. For today the devil was very bored. No great men had died for a very long time. It seemed to the Devil that the longer time went on the less great men seemed to find their way down into the depths of hell. The Devil, after a long period of time, finally shifted his weight and stood up upon his dark thin legs and strood torwards the entrence to his throne room.

If one was standing outside the great castle Liberum, that sits at the center of hells greatest city, as the Devil made his exit. I don’t doubt one would of seen a tall dark figure. This beast would of had long and powerful arms and legs with almost a sickening thin appearence. On top of this he would of had long unkempt raven black hair and eyes to match. He would of been garbed in a thin almost clear dark cloak that would of started at his neck and ended slightly before his ankels. However above all else. Above his thin skin and his long finger nails, you would of noticed the greatest look of furstrated boredome on this fallen princes face. For this wretched creature had gone from standing before infinite intelligence and entertainment to spending his eternal life with lesser creatures. However very few people ever dared to approach the gates of the castle of Liberum, so not a soul could of seen this figure exiting the fortress.

As the Devil strode through the city that surrounded his great fortress he saw many of the other creatures that had been damned to live in his world. Although the numbers were vast not a single one of them could offer him a moment of reprieve from his prison of boredom. After a short distance had been reached the Devil came to the entrence to a a building where just outside the door frame there was a table with three seats. In two of these three seats two creatures sat vividly staring at one another. They seemed completely lost in their gazes and something in their eyes attracted the Devil to them. As the Devil walked torwards them they stopped their conversation and gave their attention to him once he was upon them. ‘May I join you?’ requested the Devil to these two creatures. Thre creatures looked at one another, looked back to the Devil and the short and hairless one offered his hand in the direction of the third chair at the table.

As the Devil collected himself into the seat he was offered he re-evaluated the two creatures in his company. ‘I know that neither of you may speak, for that is the price of my home’ said the Devil. ‘In this place no communication through letters or sounds may be made’, ‘This being said’, Spoke the Devil. ‘Why do you two stare at one another with such great intensity?’ ‘Could it be I missed a single way to communicate with another creature in this wretched place?’. The two creatures simply looked at one another with the same vivid gaze and looked back to the Devil. The Devil sighed and slumped in his chair, for the Devil knew that they had not. However the reasoning behind their interest in one another puzzled him very much. To this extent the Devil tried to remember what these creatures were. The Devil lifted his gaze and stared at the two creatures. ‘You are both men?’ the Devil said. The lively movements and expressions of the two men proved the Devil’s statement correct. ‘Yes, yes’ said the devil, ‘I remember you both now’. ‘You’ the Devil spoke, ‘You are Mahatma Gandhi’. ‘Yes!’ roared the Devil, almost to a point of interest. ‘You are one of the most interesting people here’. The Devil quickly turned to the other and almost screamed. ‘And you! You are Albert Einstein!’. The Devil sat up perfectly upright in his chair and gazed at the two beaming faces of two of mans greatest specimens. ‘Both of you where leaders and pioneers to your race, I can not help but imagine being in one another’s presence here must be invigoration for you both’. ‘Yes! I know’ said the Devil. ‘We shale talk of the great deeds both of you have done in your plane!’ ‘I remember admiring both of you before your plane ever came into existence!’ ‘Yes, yes, speak up now’ cried the Devil. ‘Speak of the deeds you both have done and tell me stories of your lives in your plane before you came here!’ The Devil gazed at these men with intensity doubtless born of infinite boredom and dull eons. However neither of these men spoke. The Devil then remembered the cost of the place he stood. The Devils eyes then regained their look of boredom. The Devil stood from his chair at the table, and started to stride off back towards his fortress, without saying a word.

When the Devil finally sat back upon his throne he sat in deep reflection. He could not understand why the two men he had just seen existed in his plane, after all, they were great men. Although he had once seen the types of creatures that existed in the plane of infinite intelligence and entertainment. They were not of the same quality as the two men he had seen at the table. ‘Perhaps, just perhaps’ thought the Devil, ‘I would be more bored there than I am here’. ‘After all!’ said the Devil, ‘A meal is only as great as the company it is eaten with!’

And so the Devil sat upon his throne, in face of yet another eternity with a slightly more entertained glint in his eye.

Is wanting wrong?

I have heard it is wrong to want a lot in my life. I have been told wanting to much is a mistake. I have been told we can not have everything we want. Is this true though?

From my early childhood to now I have yet to understand many things, the foremost on this list is the idea that we can not have anything we want. To my knowledge, I have never had anything I did not want and I have had everything I have ever wanted.

Everything I ever wanted as a child I worked for and had. Everything I ever had as a teenager I worked for and had. With those two facts in mind I can’t help but imagine the things I will want as a young adult I will work for and I will have. So the idea I would like to pose to you is this. Will you get everything you ever want? I believe you will.

If I go to school and I do not focus myself on my work and I do not educate myself to any great standards I will gain exactly what I want. I will of worked for little and I no doubt will of had an easy time of it. I will of sacrificed nothing for everything I wanted at the moment. When my future comes and I am not happy with it, the truth is I am may not be happy with it but I wanted it much more than the alternative future of hard work and intellect.

When we make a choice we only ever base it off of what we want. If I choose to give money to a family member out of the kindness of my heart it is “My” choice and I am only doing it because I “want” to do it. You could say I am being pressured into it by society but if that is the truth, I am making a choice. My choice is that I would rather conform to society than fight it and I want to take the action I am taking because the alternative is worse.

With that in mind it seems that every single action we take in life, the good and the bad, is all exactly what we want.

So is it wrong to want everything? I would say of course not. Everyone who has ever lived has wanted everything they have strived for, down to the smallest achievements and curses in their life. We want everything and often we get everything we want.

To end this blog I’ll leave you with a quote from Andrew Carnegie.

“Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something” ~ Andrew Carnegie.

Aristocracy of self

I find that some of my favorite time periods are the industrial age, the renaissance and the current day. One of the things these three time periods have in common is an aristocracy.

Aristocracy: A class of persons holding exceptional rank and privileges, esp. the hereditary nobility.

The aristocracy we find in the renaissance was one of kings and princes, lords and ladies and monarchs and conquerors. I loved strongly the art, philosophy and science that had come from this time period. However I also disagreed with the particular style of aristocracy in this age. I have found through my books that many of the aristocrats, not all, during the renaissance of the 14th through 17th century were foolish and self-destructive in their ways. I believe I discover from this time that inheriting nobility, being given much well working for little can be a dangerous yet sometimes successful system. These are the aristocrats of crown.

The aristocracy we find in the industrial age is very different from what we find in the renaissance. The industrial age or industrial revolution was started during the later part of the 18th century and continued into the 19th. The aristocracy we find here is of the mind and of money. During the industrial revolution, intelligence, innovation, ingenuity and labor were combined to create a new monarchy of sorts. Replaced were the days of lords and ladies with company owners and innovators. Gaining royal blood was impossible for a common man. Gaining a fortune was very possible for a common man in the industrial age, although difficult like any other. The color of power changed from the red of blood to the gold of coin and gray of iron. I have found through my books that many of the business men of this age, not all, gained their crowns and thrones through invention and mind instead of blood and war. Earning nobility I believe is a selfish and completely creative system. These are the aristocrats of wealth

The aristocracy we find in today’s age is once again different from the renaissance or the industrial revolution. Our kings and queens, lords and ladies, monarchs and conquerors, are celebrities. We are not allowing the most intelligent or the most ambitious people to hold slight power over our lives, we are allowing the most popular. Those who have the most famous names and make the most powerful friends are the aristocrats of the day. We have replaced cold blooded kings and ruthless business men with speech writers and TV news anchors. Who has the strongest army or who has the most brilliant invention are not important, it is who has the most recognition or who has the most colorful campaign. If I am to be stolen from or imprisoned, let a royal king be the theif or jailer. If I am to be manipulated or intimidated, let it be by a business man who openly follows the code of greed. Being given nobility through the collective I believe is a disgusting yet safe system. These are the aristocrats of state.

In this country, long ago many great and possibly terrible people took action on an idea. This idea was that we are all aristocrats of our own lives. Regardless of the motives, reasoning or design, this idea is that we are the aristocrats of self. As aristocrats of self we can follow any designs of the past to perfect what we believe are perverted aristocratic systems or we can strive for the future for what we believe are better aristocratic systems or we can continue believing in and being a part of the current system. The question is what choice will we make?

Goals

Goals I believe are an important part of our lives. What we want to do, how we want to live and if we want to achieve things are all in their own way goals. Even simply wanting to own a nice car is a goal. However the amount of energy, hard work or passion we aim towards these goals dictates if we will ever see them completed or if we will only want until our last days.

Many people possess ambition and passion. The only thing that stands in their way is their own resolve. To devote yourself towards a goal completely requires sacrifice that many people are unwilling to commit to. If my goal is to own a company and that is my primary goal I would need to sacrifice the time I spend with friends, family and pleasures, to hard work and intense labor. If my goal is to invent a new way for energy to be collected or a unending way to supply food I will need to sharpen my mind in the fields that these would require and sacrifice many other pleasures for this.

I believe the only limit to a persons potential is the limit they impose on themselves. If you truly want power than devote your life to it. If you truly want love than devote your life to it. If you truly want wealth than devote your life to it. I believe anyone can obtain these things. However very few are willing to sacrifice pleasures of the moment for pleasures of tomorrow.

I think I will end this blog with a quote from one of my most favorite authors.

Are you Ambitious? Every career is open to you. Overturn the world, change its character. yield it to mad ideas, be even criminal – but live. – Alexandre dumas.

The capriciousness of loyalty

Loyalty; Definition.

Faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc.

Living in the United States of America I have noticed that loyalty is a very prominent factor in any politics or recent event. It tends to come up in simple decisions every day.

The Government and Leader.

The government in any country in the world is a collection of individuals who do not share the same views, political styles or religion. The individuals that run my country disagree with one another to every extent on every topic. One of the few things that these people do have in common, however,  is that every time they vote, enforce a law or make a statement, how Gabriel Whittemore feels about that subject is not on their mind. In fact they are not thinking of you either. The individuals that run this country are selfish and greedy, just like me. They have no choice, do to the nature of their job, but to stick to their opinions and feelings. Their opinions and feelings about issues can change at any point. They do not deserve a faithful adherence because they are only doing what “they” think is best. It does not matter to them if you or I agree with them. Their opinion comes first, and honestly, it should. Like I said that is the nature of the job.

The Cause

There are no causes that I can follow 100% because I happen to know I don’t agree with another person on the face of the earth 100%. I will always stay on guard with any cause I agree with simply because a cause can quickly become a holy crusade or a war of freedom.

Ect.

I personally do not believe I should show loyalty to any government. Governments are groups of individuals and impossible to fully understand, they have no unified face and even if they did I would not agree with it. Showing loyalty to a group that can change in the blink of an eye is pointless.

I personally do not believe I should show loyalty to any leader. I have yet to meet one I agree with completely and I am fairly sure that he could change his mind before or after I did. No person on earth deserves loyalty because no person on earth with stay the same as when you choose to give them loyalty. A spouse can turn out to be a murderer, a friend can be a theif, ect. People are far to beautiful and unpredictable to chain with such a simple thing as faithful adherence. You never know who they really are.

I personally will follow no cause but my own. If my cause exists in parallel with another I will of course aid their cause, however it will be a rather self serving action because I am doing it because I agree with the end result.

I believe to finish this blog. I would say that if one has true love for them self, their is only room to love others, never to be loyal to others.

Unquenchable fire.

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
Mohandas Gandhi

I often find myself watching many people walk by me. In my town, at my job and on my street. Every one of those people have unlimited potential I believe. What they spend it on is absolutely up to them.

“With the bombs used in World War II, they had an explosive yield equivalent to 21 kt of TNT. About 1 kg of the approximately 6.15 kg of plutonium in each of these bombs fissioned into lighter elements totaling almost exactly one gram less, after cooling [The heat, light, and electromagnetic radiation released in this explosion carried the missing one gram of mass.][6] This occurs because nuclear binding energy is released whenever elements with more than 62 nucleons fission. one gram of matter converted to energy produces an explosion the size of the one that destroyed Nagasaki. A 150-pound person has 68,000 grams. One person contains enough energy to destroy every city of any size on Earth.”

If the above statement is true, human beings contain power beyond what most can imagine. All of the above math does not even use the most powerful tool a human has to offer, his mind.

If all of this is true, I believe that people are the most unstoppable force that I have ever been blessed to see. We were not given wings, yet we fly. We were not given gills, yet we swim. We were born on earth, yet we have gone where no other things on earth will ever go. We were not given claws or sharp teeth, yet we kill and devour. We were not given body made glues or the strength to move boulders, yet we build towers and turn mountains into dust.

You have the power of enough energy to turn a continent into glass, you have a mind capable absorbing more information than any computer in existence, however what of your will?

With all of this, with these gifts, with these abilities. The only thing stopping us, from earning every single thing we want, every single thing we want to change, stopping everything we hate, is our will, is our focus.

We are an unquenchable fire. I suppose the only question is what will we ignite?

 

P.S. Granted the last line of this blog is kinda lame. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and by that I mean sometimes you have to say a lame line in order to make the name (that you thought of before the blog) fit.

The magnificence of money?

Money:Something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment:

Often when I speak with people about money their feelings towards it often feel hostile. It is often not something that I feel they want to earn or respect, but something they want and hate. I’ve noticed many people feel guilty for wanting more and hate the stuff because they don’t already have it. Essentially I see from their eyes an old, nasty, green dollar bill.

Now let me tell you what I think money is. I agree with it’s definition, however I believe the definition actually tells us what money can be or is used for, not what it is on a more artistic level. Sort of like you can call a painting a piece of paper with paint on it, yet when you actually look at a painting it is much different.

My personal definition of money is something along the lines of this.

:A materialization of a human beings will, work, or love.

My goals in life will be expensive, I want very expensive things. My dreams will cost fortunes upon fortunes. And I can guarantee I will die long before I give up on a single dream I have. In exchange for other individuals help in turning my dreams into material creations, I will trade people the fruits of my labor. I will trade the materialization of my work for the materialization of theirs in creating my dreams.

In my opinion money is the shining example of peoples wills. It does not have to be in cash, a person could turn their will into relationships with others, gardening, sculpting or the accumulation of money. A person can materialize their will to be a statue of David or they can do the same with a pile of money. I see both as beautiful things. Both require skill, both can be faked and both when done with skill, honor and a masterful hand are wonderful sights to see. Those who have great paintings that they have painted, great sculptures they have sculpted or great amounts of money they have earned. These are people I respect and I personally believe, honest money, just like honest art, should not be hidden but displayed.

So to end this, money can of course be a disgusting thing, however I find it can of course also be one of the most beautiful things. A disgusting green over-used bill or the brilliant flash of a silver coin. A pile of compost or a statue of David. Will, money and art will always reflect the holder. It may be true that some money is rotten and green, However,  mine will be silver.

People I hate

Do you know what people I hate? I hate the people who leave a bad tip at a restaurant. I hate the people who don’t know when a store is closing and shop long after the store closes its doors. I hate the people who make loud sounds in movies and who ruin the time for everyone else. I hate people who cut in front of you when you are driving in a car. I hate people who blindly follow their religion. I hate people who murder others. I hate people who steal from the poor. I hate people who insult others on the internet. I hate people who cut in line. I hate people who don’t have faith. I hate people who can not see the truth. I hate people who don’t agree. I hate people who don’t understand when it is so clear. I hate people who can not live in peace. I hate people who do not understand justice. I hate people who judge me. I hate people.

However, what I hate most of all, what I find most contemptible, what I despise, hold in contempt, scorn, disdain, abhor, detest and loath, more than anything else, is when I take two completely individual people. Two separate beings and lump them together. Two beings who I cannot even begin to fully understand separately and judge them together.  To judge them as “People”.

To be honest I don’t hate any of the people I just listed. I don’t know any of the people I just listed either. To be able to lump people together, to create crowds, society, my country and the world, is what makes me human in my eyes. To refuse to do so is what makes me who I am.

Navigating Natural law

Natural law:

I have recently been reading the writings of a Mr. Hobbes. I have enjoyed his writings greatly mainly for his writings on natural law. I’ll give the following definition of natural law.

A “Law of Nature” is a general rule that is discovered through reason. Such a law affirms human self-preservation and condemns acts destructive to human life. Unlike a civil law, which must be written down and publicized in order to be known, a law of nature is natural and inherently known by all because it can be deduced by innate mental faculties (reason, philosophy).

After this Mr. Hobbes goes on to list nineteen natural laws. the first being as follows.

The First Law: “That every man, ought to endeavour Peace, as farre as he can hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps and advantages of Warre. The first branch of which Rule, containeth the first, and Fundamental Law of Nature; which is, to seek Peace, and follow it. The Second, the summe of the Right of Nature of Nature; which is, By all means we can, to defend our selves.”

Essentially what the first natural law states is that we should seek peace because to seek peace will continue our survival, a goal I strive for every day, I like being alive. He goes on to explain how we will obtain peace.

The Second Law: “That a man be willing, when others are so too as farre-forth, as for Peace, and defense of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself.”

What he says in his second law is that if people would like to survive living with one another all people must be willing to lay aside some of their rights. In nature we contain every right to do whatever we want whenever we please. Killing, robbing and destroying. All in all we have the natural “right” to steal. It is a natural law that we give up our right to steal so we may live a long and happy life. This law can be read into in varying ways, however I find the most simple and strait forward way is to consider the second natural law essentially “don’t steal from others and don’t let them steal from you”. This law creates trade in a sense. We form a contract that we wont steal and they wont steal(kill, rob, destroy, Ect), once we can not steal it only makes sense to start to trade with one another, I believe in the second law we find the largest reason to trade and in that sense the Free Market is born. The third law is as follows

The Third Law: Men perform their covenants made.

This law states that we should keep our contracts, both the contracts we agree to in natural law and private contracts, this law is essentially where justice comes into play. I honestly dislike the term justice. It is thrown around by every dictator who has ever taken power and every political campaign, however if real justice exists it exists within the third law and I respect people who honestly strive for it greatly.

The Fourth law: A man which receiveth benefit from another of mere grace, endeavor that he which giveth it, have no reasonable cause to repent him of his good will.

This law, like all of the others is a wonderful work of common sense. It virtually says you should show gratitude to those who keep the contracts of the the laws of nature. Sense the natural laws are simply common sense for survival that promote each individual to co-exist with others in the most acceptable fashion with the least resistance to one another, it only makes sense that we should show gratitude to those who also keep the natural laws so they have no reason to forsake the natural laws.

The Filth Law: Every man strive to accommodate himself to the rest.

One of my favorite of the laws. Other people are great beings, each and every person has the potential of creating the greatest works of architecture, writings, art and science. This law like all the others has a very simple meaning. It demands we respect other people for the sake of the contract. There serves no purpose in insulting, slandering, being rude, disrespectful or hateful to other people, understanding their unlimited potential gives us a firm grasp of what they are and gives us a healthy respect of them. In essence we should selfishly respect other people in order to keep the contract solidified.

The Sixth Law: Upon caution of the future time, a man ought to pardon the offenses past of them that repenting, desire it.

Essentially forgive those who would request forgiveness. You gain nothing by revoking forgiveness so common sense dictates you take the course that loses you a potential enemy. Forgive. This also helps keep the contracts of natural law by supporting peace.

The Seventh law: In revenges, men look not at the greatness of the evil past, but the greatness of the good to follow.

This law requests that in punishment of those who have wronged others, only protecting the contract should be focused on. Justice does not happen through punishment, once something is lost no amount of pain can rebuild it. This law simply states that when someone is wronged by someone else the punishment for the second party be only enough to protect the contract and not destructive for no purpose. Correct the criminal and protect the contract.

After this there are twelve more natural laws that gradually grow to creating a type of government and defining the exact powers therein, however I believe the first seven are enough to give the general idea of natural laws. I would of course recommend reading all nineteen of the laws.

I’ll continue my thoughts on natural law in a following post.

The Good of Greed.

There was one thing I have heard mentioned sometime in my past. Although I honestly can’t place when or if I was ever told, I can’t help but imagine the words “Don’t be greedy” must have been spoken to me at one point in time or another. I believe I am greedy. and these are the following reasons why.

I am greedy every time I eat out at a restaurant or when I am grocery shopping when I reach for the product at arm height when there could be someone later on who can not reach for that same product and will need to reach for the one on the top shelf. We are greedy and selfish when we marry someone we want to marry, we are greedy and selfish when we take a good job knowing someone else will not get a chance to take that job even though they could need it more. We are greedy and selfish when we spend our time reading a book we enjoy when we could be out feeding the poor.

Greed, or self interest, is often the guiding decision maker that I use. I spend time with the friends I love, I give gifts to the family I enjoy giving gifts to, I work for who I want to work for under the condition I feel are acceptable to me. When I give money to a charity that helps children, I give money because I am interested in giving money, not because it is what others think is right, or because it is what they deserve, I give it because it is my money I worked for and I would like to share it. I believe to say that Greed is not good, is to say that selflessness is good. If selflessness is good then I have never done a good thing in my life. I have never given money to a charity that does not have a goal that I agree with at the same time as not wanting to give money to the charity, that is selflessness. And that is why I believe that greed is good.