Month: June 2023

June 2, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 3

June 2, 2023 /

I am starting to get my legs under me now. I am reading a couple books concurrently and trying to keep up with everything. It’s hard to do when the sun doesn’t set until 9:30 as I can find all kinds of things to stay occupied every day. Luckily, this is a pretty short book with lots of short chapters.

Most of this chapter is about Ralph and Jack at odds between hunting and shelter building. Ralph laments that people commit to something and put in 30 minutes of labor before running off to do something that they prefer i.e hunting. And, this is the gold in the book that Golding never intended.

So many of the synopsis of the book talk about this being a mirror to mankind. The mention the savagery that is within ourselves and then something comes up about civilization. The reason that I say Golding never intended to write this is because I think it is a true observation of humanity but with a different intent to contrast civility and savageness.

The reason all the kids only work 30 minutes is because they don’t want to. And, they don’t really need to. We invent all kinds of things that we think that we need to do and all the reasons everyone else should do them too. Who built the Egyptian Pyramids or the Roman roads that are still in service? Why slaves of course. No one would do it for the good of mankind. And these are perfect examples of ‘I think that you need to build a road/pyramid’.

Let’s get real here, this is the reason we have 12 grades of compulsory education. There is no doubt that an educated population yields a happier and more successful society. By the same token, there is very little reason why we need to force kids to stay in school until they are 18. To be honest, I think that it is more of a babysitting service since you are not a legal adult until 18. I think that your kids need to be in school so that they are not out messing up my yard.

There are all kinds of stories on YouTube where people quit there jobs and go live in a van. So, do we really need to work until we die or do we live to work? What I am saying is how much of our income goes to things we want, like a house payment versus the things we need like shelter?

People are starting to figure this out. How many help wanted signs are you seeing? I was calling a locksmith the other day and I got the machine. In the message it said that they don’t have enough help to do their work and that if you were a locksmith looking for a job to leave your information. We didn’t just start losing population with the pandemic, we gave people the opportunity to figure out how survive without a job.

When I listen to the Fine Homebuilding podcast, it is mentioned nearly every episode that the trades are finding it impossible to hire help. The impassioned plea is that a good living can be made at $75,000/year. I am not scoffing at that, but I would also say that my industry is hiring as well. That is a starting salary. I have the ability to do both, which one am I going to choose? The one that is physically easier, working in conditioned space and can perform a lifetime. The salary upside is much greater too.

We are becoming a society of those that work and those that do not. As you know, I am all about freedom and so I am not judging people that can figure out how they want to live without punching a time clock. It should be all of our goals to accumulate enough wealth to unplug from the system as early as possible. That being said, there are an awful lot of people that are getting an income without providing any kind of value or service.

This help wanted situation is the new status quo. These jobs are not going to get filled nominally. There is just not enough people to work all the jobs that are looking to be filled. People are no longer going to accept a marginal wage when the alternative is do nothing and live just as well. The system ranks continue to grow and as it does, it continues to support and grow its existence.

The incentive is too high for people not to continue to seek their fortune. That being said, there is not enough incentive for low wage workers to keep working. It will continue this way until the absolute balance is met. In the meantime, we will see all these low wage positions eventually consolidate or become supplanted by automation of some sort.

I don’t ever see a day where there is no locksmith because the wage situation will self resolve with supply/demand economics. That being said, we are at the day where he has his business as a sole proprietor and storefronts are done. You will be connected by relationship or some sort or an internet aggregator like Home Depot or Angi’s List. The days of a career lackey working in the store while the experienced tradesman is out in the field are done.

End Your Programming Routine: This type of problem is endemic in all sorts of blue collar fields, not just retail. I am hearing this from my current employer as well that they cannot find enough staff to fill a 24/7 schedule. And hence they are running a prioritized schedule of products based on the staff that is available. Inflation and shortages are the result of this trend. This is the new future and it is human nature that has created it because why work if you have something you would rather do?

June 1, 2023 – It Happened to Me… My Mind is Blown

June 1, 2023 /

You hear about these things and I guess you never fully understand it until it happens to you. Recently, I was half listening to a podcast and the term ‘philomath’ came up. They pronounced it like ‘phyllo math’ and they proclaimed that it was a combination of two Greek words that mean love of learning.

I was born in Corvallis Oregon. About five miles to the west is the town of Philomath Oregon (we pronounce it as fil-lo-math). It was the town that you drove through on the way to the coast. It was known as a timber town that the police liked to issue speeding tickets (because there was no reason to stop). It was also known as a town that has an endowment for any graduating senior to get a full scholarship to Oregon Statue University. It has since been modified to any student that want’s to study Forestry at OSU.

In the last twenty years, the town’s growth has been significant. Despite the fact that most of the mills were shuttered in the 1990s, population is rapidly growing. The reason is that the land cost and tax structure are significantly advantageous to living in nearby Corvallis.

Back in my day… my impression of Philomath was a redneck town. There were logger taverns and run down buildings. This was the definition of working class, mill town that you wouldn’t want to be after dark, if you weren’t from there. Of course that was my ignorance, I have no idea if that is actually true but I am painting an impression of my feelings.

There was a tavern called The Woodsman which used to be the first thing you see as you enter town from the west. I have never been there but I am pretty sure this was one of those places that was open as long as it was legal (7a-2a in Oregon) and served my regional favorite beers like Rainier, Olympia, Blitz-Wienhard and Hamm’s. A little over twenty years ago it became a locally regarded Thai restaurant.

I had always assumed that the name was native American. There are so many names that are like Tillamook, Alsea, Siletz, Neskowin, Calapooia or Willamette to name a few. I just told you that we never stopped (so I never read the sign in the picture). When they were talking about it on the podcast I realized what I thought I knew was nothing of the sorts. It is actually of Greek origin, not native.

I consider myself a critical thinker. I make efforts to analyze information and make a rational decision from my analysis. I suppose that doesn’t apply to things that you always knew as true. What’s even worse is that there is a sign describing the name in the middle of town. The information is publicly visible and has been my whole life, I have never looked at it.

This happens to be a simple issue that really doesn’t matter. This could be why I was open to evaluating it and realizing my error. I think the danger is for items that are highly charged and the actual data is suspect. Those things that we always knew, supported by lies lead us to false realities.

The human mind is a funny thing. When I was taking criminology class I learned that one of the reasons suspects/witnesses are separated is because one individual can influence another and people can ‘remember’ things that they did not see. We want the story as unbiased as possible looking for inconsistencies between the individual stories. Someone will compile all the different stories into a theory and then potentially test that theory in court.

End Your Programming Routine: I am not saying that I am a great man or a great mind. People have fallibilities and that is a fact. Of course some are more flawed than others and it is a matter of perspective on what is worse or not. This is our inherent human bias. My whole point is be careful of what you know to be true because you might just find out you were wrong all along.