CAN "TRUTH" CHANGE OVER TIME? Below is a piece I wrote In 2001. Since then, a lot has changed for me & the world. Including my belief on what is TRUE.

Peter Pietryka

Outside Sales Representative at Horizon Beverage Company

Published Jan 24, 2017

What was written over 15 years ago was my perception of "TRUTH" as a younger adult. Just scanning through it, I can already see where I disagree with my old self. My hope is that if this arcticle inspires you to look how you yourself as well as others have changed their perspective on truth. If you choose to respond, my hopes are that the response be constructive. There is a lot going on in this article which is relevant to todays divisive atmosphere. Thank you and enjoy.

TRUTH

I AM NOTHING MORE THAN I AM

PETER J. PIETRYKA V

2001

INDEX

PRELUDE
DUALITY – THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING
TIME AND ENERGY = “GOD”
WHY RELIGION EXISTS
ARE HUMANS BORN GOOD OR EVIL?
WE ARE NOT AS EVOLVED AS WE THINK
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN
WOMEN AND MEN ARE DIFFERENT
OUR ARCHAIC GOVERNMENT
CORPORATE DIVERSITY AND HOW IT MAY BE BRINGING DOWN OUR NATION
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT
REVELATIONS / FINAL COMMENTS
ABOUT MYSELF

PRELUDE

Truth is knowledge and knowledge is power, only if that knowledge is true. My hope is that this book may give you insight into a new or different way of thinking. A way of thinking that can help you find truth, and that can free your eyes from the blindfolds that you’ve allowed society to place on you.

“A man of knowledge is free…He has no honor, no dignity, no home, no country, but only life to be lived.” (1)

This book, if read with an open mind will help you to look at your surroundings differently. If read with the willingness to accept that you may be wrong about the way you perceive things you might just be lucky enough to become a more productive person. “Things don’t change. You change the way you look at them, that’s all.” (1) I warn you though. My sunshine blowing machine has been turned off for this book. I can guarantee that there will be no sunshine blown up your ass. At first I may sound very pessimistic throughout this book. As you read the rest of this book you will come to learn that I am just stating reality. Once you grasp the mindset that this book should give you will come to find that optimism with an idealistic base is counterproductive and could be dangerous. Optimism with a realistic base is where productivity can flourish. A pessimistic attitude with a realistic or idealistic base is not healthy. If too idealistic, pessimism is bound to occur. What it basically comes down to is that people cannot deal with the truth. It scares the shit out of them. This book is going to focus on my view on the truth. Time is precious. It pays to be honest. Being honest saves the most of what is precious.

I believe that a person can learn something from everybody they come in contact with. Even if the person you are observing or interacting with is a person that is obviously not as experienced as your self, you at least can learn how not to be. In my life I have made many mistakes. I would like to believe that I have learned from them all. Even better, I would like to believe that I have learned from others mistakes. I learned how to swim by watching others drown. Life is a series of endless lessons. As soon as you think you have life by the reins, you slowly realize that they are tied around your neck.

Ever since I was a child I have thought at a different level than most people. I was at a level not necessarily better or higher than anyone else, just different. When I was around 10 years old I realized that I was unique in thought. My perception of reality became very cut and dry. I heard statements from my elders stating that perception is reality. At first, I took that statement as true because it sounded intelligent and well thought out. Not to mention that is came from people who were older than me, so I assumed that the statement was well thought out. The more I thought about that statement, the more I disagreed with it. I believe that perception is perception and reality is reality. Perception is only reality for the ignorant. When you look down a hallway the end perceives to be smaller than where you are standing. The reality is that they are both the same size. With that base of thought I began to question everything. I believe that people are told what to think at a very young age and for the most part do not question why things are the way they are. It may be for a fear of change, the lack of the ability to comprehend complex thought or that they just are so settled in to their way of life that one becomes comfortable and indifferent. The sad truth is that most people base decisions on perception. I guarantee that if people based their decisions on reality there would not be as many problems as there are today. We deal with situations that could be avoided every day. The root of the bulk of our problems is our own self. It is an unfortunate waste of time. It is amazing what humans can do if they properly utilize their brains. The phrase “Ignorance is bliss” also applies only to the ignorant. “I see both ways. When I want to look at the world I see it the way you do. Then when I want to see it. I look at it in the way I know how and I perceive it in a different way.” (1)

Every time I enter a conversation I start by letting the person know that I admit that I may be wrong. I refuse to enter a conversation with anyone that cannot admit that they may be wrong. I advise you to do the same. While reading this book I hope that you question all of my comments and research the things you may not fully understand. And again, I want to reiterate that this is only one humans view on the truth. I am hoping that I can introduce some new perspectives into your thought process.

DUALITY

THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING

Duality explains everything. Put simply, duality is the belief that there needs to be two things in order for any one to exist. The existence of opposites is all around us everyday. The Yin-Yang is easily the most recognizable symbol of this belief. There needs to be light in order to have dark, right in order to have wrong, big in order to have small. I could go on forever. One cannot exist without the other. A great example of this is the story I tell about the man born blind.

There is this man who has never seen before. People sometimes ask him what it is like to be in the dark. This man has no clue what dark is. His whole concept of anything to do with sight is a mystery, other than the fact that he knows his eyeballs have some part in it. Through a “miracle” of science, this man gains the ability to see. When this mans eyes started working they were still bound with thick bandages. At this moment he still had no idea what is going to happen to him. Until he opens his eyes and the bandages are removed, the concepts of light and dark still do not exist to him. In due time the bandages came off and he saw his first glimpse of light. At that moment he understood darkness. He had no idea that he has spent a good part of his life in darkness because it truly did not exist for him. It only existed when the opposite was introduced.

If you notice that within the symbol of the Yin-Yang there are the little circles of opposite color within the teardrop. What that means is within every opposite there is an infinite number of opposites. These never ending opposites are what create all the idiosyncrasies in everything. For example, within the opposites of big and small there are opposites. Some small people are very small. Some aren’t as small as others. And oddly enough in some situations a small person is big. I am 5’9’’. Around someone 7’, I am small. Around someone 4’, I am big.

The Yin-Yang is a very simple concept. Yet, it answers the worlds’ oldest and hardest questions. Humans try to make things harder than they should. Things don’t have to be so complex. Most, if not all, things are very simple.

I would like to touch on four beliefs that western cultures are not very familiar with. These insights into these beliefs may help you better understand the rest of this book and better yet your own self. The four beliefs I will touch on are Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These beliefs helped guide me into a direction of my understanding of the truth about everything.

One of the oldest writings by mankind is Toa de Ching. This writing by Lao Tzu, which means old man in Chinese, it is the base of Taoism. Taoism is the root of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. Duality is best explained through these religions. Though, if you study all of the world’s religions you will find that their foundations are all extremely similar. Taoists believe that there is no wrong way of thinking or acting, just the way, the natural way. Taoists believe that one should be like an un carved block, not chiseled away by labels. The objective is to become multi-talented, so that if someone asked you who you are you wouldn’t answer doctor, you would answer I am what I am. Taoism at its roots can answer all of the questions that human beings have been looking for since the beginning of time. Questions like, “Why are we here?” Here are a couple of passages from Tao Te Ching that can shed some light on this topic.

Book I Chapter II Paragraphs 4 and 5

The whole world recognizes the beautiful as the beautiful, this is only the ugly; The whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad. Thus something and nothing produce each other; The difficult and the easy compliment each other; The long and the short offset each other; The high and the low incline towards each other; Note and sound harmonize with each other; Before and after follow each other.

Book II Chapter XLI Paragraph 91

The way that is bright seems dull; The way that leads forward seems to lead backward; The way that is even seems rough; The highest virtue is like the valley; The sheerest whiteness seems sullied; Ample virtue seems indolent; Plain virtue seems soiled; The great square has no concerns; The great vessel takes long to complete; The great note is rarefied in sound; The great image has no shape. The way conceals itself in being nameless. It is the way alone that excels in bestowing and accomplishing.

The last two chapters deal with opposites and how they compliment each other. The Yin-Yang, a symbol that came about years after this text, has been connected with the idea of Taoism. The Yin-Yang is like a code breaker for all of the questions that you’ve ever wanted answered.

The first concept that needs to be addressed is that everything needs an opposite force in order to exist. As stated before, good cannot exist without evil and so on.

Let’s talk hypothetically. What if there were only good people and no evil people? What makes someone good? What makes one good is that there is someone evil to compare oneself to. If there were no such thing as evil, then good wouldn’t exist either. Just like anything else you can think of, there is always an opposite.

There are several questions that have overwhelmed the human race since the beginning of recorded time. What if there was nothing? Why are we here? What happens to you when you die?

What if there was nothing? There is nothing. There is nothing because there exists something. Something being: the wind, the sun, you, myself, the gum wrapper on the street, and so on. Nothing cannot exist without something, and something cannot exist without nothing. Essentially, the only reason we are here is so that nothing can exist. That’s it! We are not here to make the world better. We are here only for that reason. Accept it. Most humans cannot handle that fact. Most humans need a reassuring relevance that in the end is futile. The acceptance of your insignificance will give you true peace.

So what happens when one dies? Think in terms of opposites. Life is one side and death is the other. The substance of life as we know it is that of the tangible. Death on the other hand is the unknown. Life as we know it consists of us encompassing a body with a limited life span and an individual thought and “spirit”. Death is the opposite. When you die you lose your individuality and become part of something much greater than yourself. You become part of the whole. You become “GOD”. In dying your existence isn’t finite like that of life. It is forever. You lose your physical nature. You become nothing. By becoming nothing you really become everything.

Think of your life as a piece of a puzzle, unique and necessary for the whole picture to become complete. When you finally die, your individual piece is placed in its spot and you finally become the puzzle losing your identity and forming something more significant than yourself. Another analogy I always use is the blender theory. Each person is an individual Vegetable. One person is a carrot; one is broccoli, one a tomato, and so on. Take you pick. Each vegetable has its individual trait. The same exists in life. Everyone is an individual. Let’s take these vegetables and throw them in a blender. The vegetables lose their traits and transform into one substance. They become part of the whole, like V8. When one dies the same happens. You lose your individuality and become “GOD”. You transform into something much greater and more significant then yourself.

Confucianism is a set of beliefs revolving around the teachings of Confucius. Confucius existed early in Chinese history. His teachings deal with bettering oneself as a person by molding one self into a human sincere in actions and thought. This way of thinking was inspired by living in a crumbling and diverse China. At the time there was no common language, culture or attitude. The people at the time were more concerned about the well being of themselves and family members rather than that of the country. Confucius compared life to a rooted tree. Stating that the branches are only as strong as the roots. He compared a strong root structure to a strong family structure. He said that the effect of a strong family is a strong community, leading to a strong country.

Confucius is comparable to like of Jesus and Karl Marx. He is comparable to Jesus because of the way he taught. He taught to each community using analogies. Alike to Jesus’ time, most of the population was illiterate. Stories about farming and everyday activities were common in his teachings. Confucius and Jesus both taught to do onto others, as you yourself would like done to you, and to respect your mother and father. Here is a good passage out of his writings that will show you their similarities.

Book I Chapter II paragraph 6

A young man should be a good son at home and an obedient man abroad, sparing of speech but trustworthy in what he says, and should love the multitude at large but cultivate the friend ship of his fellow man. If he has any energy left to spare from such action; let him devote it to making himself cultivated.

Confucius stated that everyone has a purpose. He also thought it right that everyone should have a job. Most importantly Confucius tried to bring the community together as a team. These thoughts are similar to Marxist thought. Marx also felt that every man should have a role, be it a steel worker or a doctor, they are all entitled to a role in society. Confucius talked about being set in who you are as an individual. For example, a doctor is defined by his role as a doctor. If he succeeds in becoming a good man as well as a good doctor he would be considered a benevolent man in the eyes of Confucius. A good man is one who acts with dignity, respect for others and with passion. Confucius believed that China would never be peacefully united unless everyone obtained a role. His way of obtaining peace and community in China was through benevolence. Benevolence in short means “The Way”. Benevolence is best explained through this excerpt from the Analects.

Book II #22

I do not see how a man can be acceptable who is untrustworthy in word? When a pin is missing in the yoke-bar of a large cart or in the collar-bar of a small cart, how can the cart be expected to go?

To the non-benevolent, trust may not be seen as a crucial part of ones being. Yet, to the benevolent, ones trust is viewed as an important part of a man’s whole. To be untrustworthy in word is not to be a gentleman. A man is only as good as his word. If one loses trustworthiness in there word, they don’t just deny themselves trust from others, they also ruin the trust of there family, community, and anyone else they are connected with. If the one that is being untrustworthy has no roots like a wandering gypsy, then the only one affected by their unreliability is there own self. On the other hand, when you wear the family name on your chest, you represent all of them. Not only do you sell your soul by doing this, you are compromising your families, communities and possibly even you fellow countryman’s soul and reputation.

Benevolence is similar to the “Middle Way” in Buddhism. Buddhism differs distinctly from Confucianism not only in history but also in the reason for doing things. Confucius did what he did because of the state of turmoil his country had. Buddhism’s driving force is the hopeful extinction of the pain in the world. The Buddha first realized this when he first left his prince hood to witness sickness, old age and death. These things bewildered him, being that he was not exposed to these things in his earlier life. He took many steps in his life to try to find a way out of the cycle of pain and suffering attempting to achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is true peace, without pain and suffering.

Buddha established four noble truths. He first deciphered that existence is suffering. Suffering in a sense that life is so beautiful that it is painful to think about it ending. He then found that the root of all suffering is desire. To battle that, the Buddha tried to live a desire less life as an ascetic. After six years of this he realized that this was not the way. Concluding that desiring to have no desire is a desire within itself. Later on in his life he became enlightened and realized that there is a way out. The way out is the middle way. The middle way is comparable to the line that separates the Yin and Yang. This middle way is like becoming one with “GOD”. It is becoming part of the whole. This enlightenment is the acceptance that there is ultimately no self (Anatman). This belief in Anatman also relates to Hinduism.

Hinduism is a religion that has no beginning and no end, very similar to a circle. Unlike the religions of the west, there is no one leader, no one language, and no one ideal. A perfect example to show the differences in how the western cultures view themselves in comparison to that of the Hindu culture would be the motto on the almighty United States dollar, “In God We Trust”. This quote states that we believe in one all ruling “GOD”. The Hindu culture has a belief in several “GODS”, also called deities. There are said to be 330 million of these deities, all with different characteristics. The Hindu people don’t look upon these deities in the same way most westerners do. The western culture prays to a single “GOD”. The people of Hindu belief pray to a deity of their own choice. Each deity has its own personality attached to it. Once they pick their “GOD”. They then pray to this “GOD” on a daily basis. They aren’t praying to this image as if it actually is “GOD”, they use is a pointer. Here is a perfect example; lets say I am pointing my finger as if to show you something. Instead of looking at what I am pointing at, you remain looking at my finger. This is the misconception most western cultures have about Hinduism. They believe that these people are silly for worshiping an image. In fact Hindu’s know that these images don’t exist. They are praying to what it stands for. Similar to most native and eastern religions, the Hindu’s believe “GOD” exists in everything. “GOD” is an idea, not an entity.

The old question comes around again. What happens when you die? The Hindu people believe that life is part of a cycle. They believe that one is reborn again and again until they are spiritually pure, pure enough to become part of the whole (GOD). There are social rankings placed on people based on what level their souls are at. These levels are what they call the caste system. At the bottom are the Untouchables, and at the top are the Brahmins. The Hindu people believe that we start out as an Untouchable and work our way up through several life times. You must prove your self on each aspect of your journey in order to move to Brahmin status. You may live the life as a poor man, a rich man, an ugly woman, a paralyzed man, etc… How you respond to your situation will directly affect how fast you reach Nirvana (GOD).

With these small introductions to these religions you should have enough to understand a little bit where these ideas I have come from. I hope also that your curiosity may have been stimulated enough to further study these and all other beliefs.

TIME AND ENERGY = “GOD”

I think that it is absolutely outstanding that the symbol of the Yin-Yang, with all of its simplicity, explains absolutely everything. If you notice in the symbol there is a line in the middle. This line is created by the existence of opposites. The friction that is created by these opposites is what creates time. Time is no different than energy. Time is always going forward, unyielding without discrimination. Time is the ultimate judge and jury for everyone. Time like energy, is also created by the friction of opposites. Time and energy are everything. Time = “God” = Energy. Both time and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. This energy is also seen in mathematics. For instance, take the number line. On one side of zero there are positive numbers. On the other side there are negative numbers. Negatives are similar to darkness and silence and the positives are similar to what is tangible like light and sound. These opposites exist for the same reasons. They make existence for the other possible. Duality is binding. The rules are very simple and cannot be bent.

Let us not forget Zero. That number holds a lot of weight. The friction from the opposites creates it. If you start utilizing math, science, art along with everything else around you patterns will form. Things start to fit together harmoniously. Zero symbolizes peace. The existence of nothing comes from the existence of everything. Zero binds the tangible to the intangible. It is that middle line within the yin-yang.

I do not think it is a coincidence that the Yin-Yang is a circle. A circle has no beginning and no end. It is a symbol of consistency and unyielding power. Look at its mathematical definition: pi - 3.1416….. ; This number goes on forever. Mathematics is the language of God. Science is its / his / her way of communicating with mankind. Religion is mans way of misinterpreting Gods message.

Science shows us duality every day. The basic building block of anything we have come to know is composed by the friction between negatives and positives. Take for example the insides of any molecule.

What or who is God? If you are the type of person that thinks when you die you will meet this person named God, you missed the boat! The real question that you should ask yourself is when, where and why is God? God exists within you and without you. It is everywhere and nowhere. It is now, before and later. It is everything and nothing. It is the essence of pre-life, life and death.

Logic will guide you to greatness. Logic will also guide you to all the answers. Logic will show you that time and energy are the only constants. They are a direct result of the friction created by duality. Time is the ultimate judge and jury for everybody. When minutes feel like hours, you have felt “GOD”. Time is “GOD” and “GOD” is truth

WHY RELIGION EXISTS

“GOD” is not a person with gray hair sitting in his thrown with a cane. Believe it or not, both The New and Old Testaments in The Holy Bible state this fact, but in simple terms. If you’ve ever noticed, all of the stories in the Holy Bible were written about farming, shepherding, and other simple aspects of life. Stories like the sewing of the seeds, Noah’s arc, the splitting of the Red Sea, the Good Samaritan and walking on water. These stories are simple and for the most part not to be taken literally. They were written for a population that was simple in thought and mostly illiterate. Today people all over the world take the bible too literally, and are missing the whole point. One can say that it is the cultures of the west that are staring at the pointed finger, instead of looking at what it is pointing to.

A human’s view of the world is created from his/her surroundings (Society). Socialization happens between humans who externalize similar ideas. These people who have the same beliefs form religions. World-renowned sociologist Berger explains the reason for religion perfectly.

Berger’s theory of reality construction would be found in the book The Sacred Canopy. This canopy is said to protect each human from whatever they fear, which is usually the unknown. Nobody knows what happens when one dies, so they invent religions. For most humans religion is their canopy.

Along with the religion, humans also invented theology, giving meaning to their everyday life and existence thereafter. In order to keep these myths alive, humans have formed together into groups protecting their beliefs and therefore marinating their reality. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, and Buddhists are just some of these groups. Conversation between peoples of these groups, especially over a period of hundreds of years, strengthens and expands their beliefs. One problem with isolating yourself within your own group is commonly known as alienation. With this alienation arises a collective false consciousness. Mystification occurs solidifying a group’s belief by giving a mortal human being someone to admire that is beyond human. These groups become so involved in themselves that they don’t accept others beliefs as true. They look down on them. They feel sorry for them. Like the Christians have been doing for years they try to convert others. These groups are so lost in themselves that they are willing to go to war to be right. That is why we are at war right now with the Middle East. That is one of the main reasons why we have always been at war and one of the main reasons why we will always be at war. The screwed up fact is that we all believe in the same thing. The only thing that separates us is language, politics, and cultural history of one’s different religion. Until humans stop raising flags claiming our side is better than yours, or our way is the right way, we will always be at war. In my opinion the only thing flags are good for is indicating that a hurricane is coming or diver down. There is a solution. Reification would have to occur within a group that collectively decides to open there minds, allow others’ beliefs and experiences to influence their own beliefs, and allow the mistakes of past generations to serve as an example to present and future generations. Maybe then we can all raise one flag.

Berger also stated that humans create society and society creates the human. First, externalization occurs. Externalization is the ongoing outpouring of a human into the world, through which society becomes a product. Objectification soon follows. This is the attainment of the “products” that externalization creates. This is the point where society becomes a reality. Finally, internalization happens. This is the re appropriation by humans of the same reality of objectification transforming it once again from structures of the objective world into structures of the subjective consciousness, thus humans are products of society.

Lately is seems that society as we know it is the commonwealth of ignorance. Societies today are so caught up in themselves that they refuse to listen to others ideas. It is hard to shake someone’s hand when it is clenched into a fist. Our planet will never achieve peace until we can learn to erase the boundary line between yours and mine. Other factors play into this mess. Some societies are jealous of others. So they do what ever they can to spoil a good thing. If different religions and cultures could share ideas with each other and admit that some of there ideas and ways of doing this may be wrong, there would be no reason to be jealous. Greed is another factor that hinders peace. Take what Napoleon did for instance. There are 2 things harder to admit than guilt. The first is that you are jealous. The second is that you are wrong.

Religions and cultures push their ideas not to spread “The good word”, but to secure their past and future of their own self-righteousness. This causes war. War does not determine who is right, only who is left.

Religion is the mafia of the common man’s spirit and a burden on our society. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself and better about treating others as good as or better than yourself is the right religion. Everyone wants an answer. That is why we created religion. We take a guess and stand by it. We create consequence to keep the peace and create an answer to keep our peace of mind. Take Christianity for example, I read the last page of the bible. We have nothing to worry about; everything is going to be all right. We should allow our children to study every single religion that exists. We shouldn’t impose our possible poor judgment on them. Let the children decide what they choose to believe in. Hell, if everyone on the planet were given that choice in the first place we would never have as many wars.

As far as Christianity goes, I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth walked Earth. I believe He was an outstanding leader several centuries ahead of his time. I also understand that he was a mortal human like you and me. I believe that people like Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, should be placed on the same pedestal as Jesus of Nazareth. They all accomplished things that helped evolve our race.

The New Testament was written centuries after Jesus’ death. Jesus never wrote down one word in that book. Every scripture and fable in The Bible has been translated and re-translated over and over numerous amounts of times.

When I was a child, I was taught a great lesson about the power of word of mouth and its positive and negative influences. My teacher lined up my classmates and myself. The first child in that line was given a piece of paper with a sentence written on it. Lets say that piece of paper read: The big black dog from down the street ate the bone. Each child had to whisper this sentence to the one next to him or her. By the time this message got to the end of the line it was recited by that final child. Flounder Street stood alone.

Most religions including Christianity were created in a similar fashion. Instead of one classroom full of people and two minutes, this process took part between thousands of people over hundreds of years.

The roots of The Bible as well as every other religious scripture on the planet lead the believer into a life of sharing and caring. The problem with most of the people who read these scriptures is that they become too caught up in the rhetoric and miss the true meaning of the words.

Spirituality should guide our religions. Religions should not guide our spirituality. Spirituality is pure. Religion is tainted by mankind. Religion is mankind’s way of trying to justify ones actions and ones being.

“Lets all give God a great big hand. I’ve seen the last page of the Bible and it’s going to turn out all right.”

I am not religious. Yet, I understand why religion exists. It is to keep the ignorant / dumb people in line; rules for the retards of progressive thought, also known as most humans.

Personally, I don’t need religion to put me in my place. Science has already done that for me. The fact that there are more stars than there are grains of sand on our Earth is humbling. The fact that every star is a planet, solar system, a galaxy, or galaxy cluster puts me in my place. The universe within my own mind combined with the visible one around me is awesome. Knowledge of this to me is more compelling to me than religion. I am not going to allow religion to cloud my spirituality and better judgment. Religion tends to get in the way of my spirituality.

Religions only true goal should be to guide ones spirit towards truth! If there are any other agendas in mind for ones chosen, forced, or prescribed religion, than that individuals chosen, forced, or prescribed religion is no longer pure and should no longer be considered holy. If religion is forced or prescribed in the first place, like most are, global society as a whole has a lot of work to do in order to truly be free to experience GOD / TRUTH.

ARE HUMANS BORN GOOD OR EVIL?

There are two ancient Chinese philosophers that focused on this question centuries ago. Mencius and Hsun Tzu. These philosophers had different views on whether humans are born evil or good. Mencius believed that the nature of man is originally good. Hsun Tzu believed exactly the opposite; he believed the nature of man is originally evil.

I believe that the nature of man is based on survival. To call their original nature good or evil depends on your point of view. To kill someone over food would be considered evil in our culture. That is because we have been told that it is evil. In past cultures it may be seen as acceptable to kill someone over food. In the Native American cultures there exists a belief that when you kill an animal, all of the animal must be used. A prayer is also held after the kill praising the animal for its strength and thanking it for its body. In our current culture we waste most of the animal, throwing away bone, which could be used for tools as well as fur, which could be used for clothing, and several other items. The Native Americans would consider the way our society wastes its kill evil.

Humans are taught how to act, how to interact with certain people, and told what is right and wrong. Even in our adulthood we have laws telling us what we can and cannot do. If one does not do as one is told he or she will be punished. These laws are set forth not for moral reasons. They were established so that we don’t kill one another in the process of trying to survive. Laws attempt to create stability in an unstable world. The powerful few decide what is and what is not evil.

It is my belief Mencius and Hsun Tzu are on the right track. It may appear that they contradict each other, but they are really talking about the same thing. One is born with no knowledge of good or evil. One is born needing to eat, sleep, reproduce, and then die. By collectively as a human race establishing the boundary between good and evil, we are helping each other live longer. That’s all religion is attempting to do. Religion is attempting to create a universal boundary so that we can eat all the time by sharing, sleep safely by stating that murder is evil, reproduce freely without having to worry about getting killed by a stronger male, (relating to the buck with the biggest horns), and die with ease by establishing a belief about the afterlife.

You are a product of your environment. Going along with this I believe that the nature of mankind is originally good. Good may mean several things to several people. To me it means living your life up to the morals that you have established for yourself. When one is first brought into this world, his or her morals have not yet been established. So, therefore one is originally good.

WE ARE NOT AS EVOLVED AS WE MAY THINK

Only 1% of 1% of the entire human population is responsible for where we are today. All of the progress and technology around us was created by a very small percentage of our population. If all out nuclear war happened leaving only a few survivors, little food and no records of our past, it would take at least two thousand years to come even close to where we are today. People that survived would be spending all there time trying to find food and create shelter. After generations of trying to survive, the civilization that one’s grandparents had would become only be a story. Let’s pretend one survivor was one of the 1%. The raw materials needed to create today’s society are miles under the ground and require modern tools. In reality, this person would most likely be out hunting and finding shelter. People have not evolved, the technology has. Proof is right on the news every evening. If we are so evolved, why are there still hungry people on this planet, why haven’t we figured out cures for certain diseases, why is there still war? The only thing that separated us from past generations is mass production. Other than that we as humans are still mental midgets.

I have a theory that aliens have visited this planet. I believe they came here and turned right around. Any civilization that could conquer space and visit another planet would want nothing to do with us except possibly study us and give thanks that they aren’t as uncivilized as us. In the realm of the entire universe we are still archaic. If you don’t believe in life on other planets, you obviously cannot count. Every star you see in the sky is a sun; a sun surrounded by planets. Every single star you can see in the sky is only within our solar system. So imagine Trillions of other solar systems with the same scenario. That is a lot of possible planets. There is a pretty good chance that there is at least one other planet in this undiscovered universe that has intelligent life on it. Possibly, raising children to learn all of its world’s religions and allowing them the freedom to make their own decisions.

Another theory I have is that thousands of years ago there was a society on this planet that far rivaled are own; society that sent people to the outer parts of our universe. This society raised one flag together as one planet. There was no hunger, no war, and no homelessness, just life to be lived. Something happened. A huge meteor hit the Earth leaving few survivors. Most of the people scrambled to get on spacecrafts that headed to other habitable planets. Millenniums later this first race of humans has returned and decided that they are better off not dealing with our primitive society. Maybe it was just a dream.

The human race can succeed. We have to open our minds. Most people are weak. They are easily led. The weak are drawn to masses. So, it is up to the few leaders out there to lead these weak towards righteousness. Even adults need to relearn some things. An adult is nothing more than an oversized child. It can be taught. So, teach. Teach with passion in search of the ultimate goal being the discovery of ultimate truth.

As a human race, we are closer to nuclear war than we are to stepping foot on Mars. We are closer to nuclear war than finding a cure for cancer, world hunger and poverty. The fact that World Wars I and II did not open our eyes to the fact that we as an “evolved” race can not learn from our past, is scary and ominous. Even worse, we currently do not even realize that we, as a human race, are in the midst of World War III! That fact is not only scary and ominous, but pathetic.

Let us all vote for what the big industry’s money, the money that backs media, tells us to do. Let us all dismiss the past and place blame on the presently elected governments. This is what we have done and it seems continue to be doing. The future was yesterday. We are centuries too late for learning. Even with our technology and knowledge of the far past, we have proven our selves incapable of learning from our mistakes. The human races priorities are disgusting. Look at what the average North American / Western European / Aussi-Kiwi / Japanes person concerns themselves with. Garbage tabloid magazines, music, fashion and all around whatever the big business tells them what is cool and what to purchase by there marketing. Do not get me wrong. I am all for marketing. The issue here is that this is all this generation cares about. The big picture has all but disappeared.

The internet should have made the most common and uncommon knowledge readily accessible to humans. It unfortunately, has not. Most humans use the internet to access their garbage tabloids, look at porn and prey on children. These seem to be the priorities of a race of creatures that would rather use its current library of knowledge for crap rather than to make everlasting peace and end the pity fullness of poverty and the corruption cased by it. The knowledge is for the first time in history everywhere. It seems humans are PATHETIC. If our race is lucky enough to survive on this planet a hundred, a thousand, or even million years from now, they will look at us in the 21st Century as we currently look upon the cave dwellers.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN

Most humans believe that bigger is better, when in all reality size is irrelevant. There could be planets out there the size of a molecule with intelligent life on it. There could be planets out there the size of 100,000 Jupiter’s with intelligent life on it. These miniature universes could exist inside our own planet and even in our very own body. That big black space between the stars in our sky could be a huge planet the size of our own universe eclipsing a giant sun the size of 100 universes. I believe the universe is like that of “GOD”, time and energy. I believe that there is no beginning and no end to it; like a circle. It gives you something to think about. Maybe, Our Universe was a star that went supernova in a massive galaxy, within a an even bigger super universe? This supernova that happened in this super universe is what we see as the Big Bang?

Just because you can’t see something does not mean it doesn’t exist or hasn’t existed. I believe objects exist infinitely as small as they can be big. Imagine spacecraft the size of a fruit fly. Maybe, aliens are already here and we just can’t see them? Our Universe is so vast, it is almost impossible to get the answers we need out in space. I believe we will find our answers looking microscopically. Nanophysics may be able to give us the pieces of the puzzle we are missing?

Maybe, God is the dark matter that makes up most of the universe? Dark matter, that continues to baffle scientists. Maybe, this dark matter is made up of the same material as our souls/spirits? Maybe, our universe is one of an infinite number of universes inside the shell of another until infinity? Maybe, the big bang was that of a supernova? Our entire universe consists of the little pieces inside the sun which exists in its own infinite universe? Maybe, “God” is the infinite never ending universe where time has no starting point nor and end? I believe in that God, and his name is Awesome!

If you give time, enough time for any possible scenario to happen. Every possible scenario will happen. If time has no end or beginning. Every possible scenario possibly already has happened and will happen again and again.

OUR ARCHAIC GOVERNMENT

The United States government as we know it was founded by conservative Christians. The Protestant mindset is one of the major reasons our country has been successful economically. As far as its influence on our culture this conservative mindset has kept the human race well behind the rest of the world’s cultures. Max Weber’s thesis in the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism explains how this religion steered our society on a path of economic greatness. He believed that the Protestant way of life, consisting of the word of God, hard work, and the growth of the business through investment placed them ahead in our country as well as others. Their way of investing profits back into business quickly placed Protestants into the upper class. There are several different branches in this religion that have impacts on their success. Calvinists believe in predestination, which is the belief that “GOD” already predetermined one’s fate, and by having a successful business that would show that you truly are one of the chosen ones. They also believed in a calling, in which “GOD” places certain obligations on a person. By having this calling people believed they were serving “GOD” and this also meant that their calling in life must include working hard and being outwardly successful which correlates to everything capitalism stands for. This way of life created worldly asceticism, and a carefully systematic way of carrying out these particular tasks, which involved no worldly consumption. Along with placing profits back into the business, they did not purchase any unnecessary luxuries. They also believed in rationalization, which includes a reinvestment of profits back into the business; in essence, the spirit of capitalism. In short Protestants have what Weber calls the paradox of PESC. This simply means that if Protestants act as if they are chosen, they will indefinitely prosper.

When it comes to issues like sex, drugs, abortion and many other issues our government is behind the times. We the people need to restructure our government to meet the demands of our forever evolving society. Let’s start with our voting process.

In our voting process there are way too many filters in between the ballot and the end result. When we vote for president the true majority should rule. The same goes for laws. We have the technology right now to revolutionize our government. We should implement video voting. This system would be the purest form of democracy ever. We would finally let the people decide. Every citizen should be given a U.S. Identification card that has a black strip on the back. This strip would hold all vital information and be used in the voting machines. Let’s say an issue arises like abortion. Sunday evening from 7-8 any citizen can listen to people who are against abortion. Sunday evening from 8-9 any citizen can listen to people who are for abortion. This will be played on national television. For people without televisions, they can go to their local town hall to watch. Monday morning the voting begins. People get a whole week to vote on this issue. They swipe their card in the machine; place their fingerprint on the scanner and vote. The following Sunday the votes will be tallied by this computer and a new law will have been created. The government’s new role would be to enforce this law. We could use this system for every issue on the local and national level. This new system would eliminate the need for congress and the president altogether. We the people can finally be heard without all of the political nonsense. Some critics may say that this will cost too much. I believe by eliminating the disgustingly huge salaries that current people in office have, could help fund this program.

Another huge issue in this country is the drug “problem” we have. This war on drugs is silly. The U.S.A. is winning nothing. Never has and never will. Truth is that most all of the drug related crimes in this country are not from people on drugs; they are from people trying to smuggle or buy drugs. Hopefully, we all remember what happened to the crime rate in this country during Prohibition. It didn’t work. The U.S. created an industry for criminals. Exactly the same thing is going on today. Make any good or service illegal and you make it very, very profitable. Non-taxable income is very attractive to most criminals. Isn’t our government smart? This war is a very expensive Vietnam. Lets all pretend that the decision makers in our country were not ignorant. Let’s pretend that we the people created a “Red Light District in every state. We have to legalize in the proper way, with control and safety in mind. We will implement government run drug stores. In these stores an armed guard will be on duty. One must be 21 or over to purchase any particular drug. One must have a special government issued I.D. to purchase these drugs. To get this I.D. one must take a varied number of hour’s worth of drug education courses showing all of the negative and positive effects of drugs. Any convicted felons may not receive this license. By legalizing all drugs the cost of drugs will go down significantly. There would be no more profit in the importation or street sales of any drugs. Essentially you put the criminals out of business. Warlords in South America also would not have the same enormous income from the exporting of these drugs that they have been accustomed to. Police forces that were once used for the upkeep of drug prohibition and smuggling prevention at the borders can be used to prevent real crimes like murder, rape, burglary, arson, child abuse, spousal abuse, and street side prostitution. If legalized, our own government could produce and grow all of these drugs. The government could tax these drugs to fund drug treatment programs, create anti-drug use advertising, and pay for more police. With costs going down, people who normally stole to get money for drugs would be able to afford them. The best thing yet is that children will no longer be approaching other children to solicit these drugs. When is the last time you saw someone on a street corner trying to sell alcohol or cigarettes to a child?

To prevent someone from buying these drugs and reselling them we will impose a minimum of ten years imprisonment for any one caught reselling these drugs. Also, on their I.D. card there will be a black strip on the back that can track the frequency of the citizens purchase history. Another benefit of this legalization is that Surgeon General Warnings, ingredients labels, and dosage recommendations can be placed on the packages of these drugs. Being that the drugs are all grown and manufactured by the government, consumers will finally know exactly what they are getting.

Here are some startling facts that you may not know. (According to Maxim Feb, 2002)

Note: I used this source because I feel it reflects the views of present day popular society. If this source doesn’t suit you, there are thousands of facts in our nation’s libraries that will support my case.

More than 700,000 pot users are busted every year – That’s one every 45 seconds

Average U.S. prison sentence served for a murder charge – 6.3 years

Average U.S. prison sentence served for marijuana use – 10 years

Change in the number of Americans jailed for non-violent drug-related offences since 1980 - +800%

Marijuana plants you can be caught growing to constitute a felony – 1

2001 the U.S. spent $181.1 billion fighting drugs

30 million people in this country regularly use illicit drugs

70 million American’s regularly use marijuana

Marijuana is the number one cash crop in the U.S.

Estimated annual untaxed sales of marijuana in the U.S. - $32 billion

Tax revenue this could have generated for our government at a rate of 6% - $1.9 billion

Percentage increase in marijuana seizures at the Mexican border in the three weeks after The World Trade Center attacks, compared to previous weeks – 36%

Approximate increase in the annual budget for U.S. drug control since 1980 - $35 billion

The U.S. could have purchased 8 airlines with this money

In Holland Drugs are legal. They have one of the lowest crime rates in the world and minimal problems related to drugs.

Percentage of 10th graders in Holland who have tried marijuana – 28%

Percentage of 10th graders in the U.S. who have tried marijuana – 41%

I hope these facts enlighten you. Given enough research I guarantee you will find libraries full of facts that lean one towards legalization. If you don’t like drugs then don’t do them. And if you do they are so easy to get thanks to our governments prohibition. Just go to any urban street corner or your local college or high school. It is screwed up when 13 year olds are selling drugs. If you support prohibition, blame yourself.

Currently in our country there are 6.6 million people in our nation’s prisons. We obviously are dealing with this situation in a very poor fashion. I believe that Murderers, child molesters and rapists should be punished to the fullest degree. I believe that the family members of the deceased get to decide the fate of the criminal. The rape victims and abducted should also get to choose the fate of the convicted.

The most outrageous fact is the cost of keeping someone behind bars comes out of our paychecks. We should recreate old Roman coliseum. Charging admission to see these rapists, molesters and murderers try to fight lions would create revenues for our nation’s police forces. This idea sounds very radical but I guarantee these violent crimes would dramatically go down in our country.

Along with ratifying the way we deal with criminals we should raise taxes that will fund free College education and free medical services to all citizens. To ensure everyone pays their taxes we should stiffen the penalties for tax evasion.

I believe that our country has a huge gun problem. A guns sole purpose is to kill. That’s it! There aren’t any other reasons. Guns should be taken off the streets completely. If caught with a gun one should get a minimum of five years imprisonment. Guns should only be used for hunting and sport. To keep these guns only on the hands of the hunter and sportsman the NRA and U.S. government should create facilities where one must check their gun out before hunting and return the weapon at the commencement of sporting. The same should go for law enforcement.

Everyone in this world should receive an equal education. One way to achieve this is by having cable run courses in classroom in the country. Children learn more effectively through video and audio stimulation. We can create the same curriculum for the entire nation giving every student an education filled with knowledge from all over the world. Students in the poorest inner city would receive the same education as students from the richest suburb. Anything is possible. Our government should also make it mandatory for students to have at least two semesters abroad. This would be funded through taxes. Giving our children experiences in other cultures would indefinitely guarantee a future filled with less ignorant adults.

Our environment is another issue that doesn’t receive all of the attention it deserves. I believe the oil industry has put a damper on our progress for making environmentally sound cars. I believe that it is possible for an automobile to be able to utilize the power of the wind, electric and solar energy all in the same machine. By utilizing all of these resources we can greatly reduce the amount of oil we need. The gas and electricity will initially move the car. The car will be fitted with solar panels to utilize the power of the sun. In the front of the cars grill, turbines will be fitted to utilize the wind created by the moving car. Like I stated before, anything is possible.

Mandatory recycling should occur immediately in every town. I cannot believe we haven’t implemented this yet. Any one that argues the cost is too much to create a national program obviously has no foresight. It will cost future generations thousands of times more money and thousands of more hours to fix the problem from not recycling now. Have we not learned from our past mistakes?

I believe abortion is an issue that has been clouded over by ignorant people who hide behind their religion. These people that talk about taking a life are the same ones that kill people at abortion clinics. I guarantee that some of these people would kill a mouse if it were in their kitchen. That mouse has a life. Where do you draw the line on taking a life? A fetus is not developed yet into a thinking organism with emotion or memory. If these people truly care they should adopt. There are millions of illegitimate and orphaned children on this planet. These people should step up to the bat and adopt. These people otherwise should shut up, go home and pray. They are a waste of time and annoying.

The decision should be up to the women. It is her body. I still think the man should have some say in the situation. The United States as well as all the other countries of the world are filled with children who are neglected and abused. I strongly believe that if you cannot give you full attention to your child you shouldn’t have one. Also, if you are too young you shouldn’t have children. Aborting fetuses is not taking a life. If the people having the baby aren’t fit to raise it the fetus is better off not evolving into a child.

The separation of church and state was just recently put to the test in the United States. The statements “In God We Trust” and “One Nation Under God” both prove to me that our government obviously does not understand the definition of separate. Our government has completely discriminated against all citizens who are non-Christian, non-Jewish or non-Islamic. That includes all Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, Native American and all other tribal religions of planet Earth. If the United States gave its citizens true unhindered religious freedoms our pledge would quote: “One Nation United In The Pursuit Of Absolute Truth”, and our money would read: “Through Truth We Live”. What our government is doing with Christianity is no better than what the Middle Eastern governments are doing with Islam.

“The only thing we learn from new elections is we learned nothing from the old.”

“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

“Any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it.”

WOMEN AND MEN ARE DIFFERENT

I am very close to removing this chapter due to the distractive nature of it. It has come to my attention that most women skip right to this chapter and don’t even read the rest of the book. It seems this topic is more important to females than trying to answer deeper questions like, “why are we here”? For now, I am going to keep it in. But, that may not last for long.

The differences between men and women don’t end at the physical and chemical aspects. The differences extend into the social realm. Throughout human history the woman’s role in society has changed. I believe it has changed for the better. The one thing that hasn’t changed much is how men and women view sex. A fact about sex that most women can’t accept is that they can get laid anytime they want. Any weathered person can see that any woman can get laid every single night and day of the week. That is the man’s fault. It is in our nature to want to have sex as much as humanly possible. For most men they want sex pretty much every day of their life. Most women on the other hand do not have this sex drive. Given these facts one can start to understand why we are so socially different. Most men do what they do in order to attract the most women. We attain a lot of money to get more women; we get in shape to get more women; the list goes on forever. Proof that men cannot always get sex when they want exists right on our streets. Prostitution is the oldest form of business on our planet. If men could get laid at any time there would never be prostitutes. Notice that there are no straight male prostitutes. Almost all male prostitutes are soliciting other men for sex. Men will do most anything for sex. That’s why we go to bars. We go to solicit ourselves to the cause and we drink to ease the pain of our unsuccessful nights. Women are like wine and men are alcoholics.

In our society it is not seen as a good thing if a woman has slept around. For a man it is not looked down on for having sex with numerous women. A man has to work hard to get laid. It is a daily job. All a woman has to do is to pick. Yes, even the ugly women can get action every night. If you are an ugly man your chances of getting laid are slim, unless you are extremely wealthy. Another fact is that most every man has an orgasm every time they have sex. For a woman, the exact opposite is true. There are some women that have never even had one orgasm in their entire life. This is another reason that woman are seen as sluts if they sleep around. On one hand it doesn’t take much effort for a woman to get laid, and if she doesn’t have an orgasm most of the time then psychological factors come into play. Most women that have sex or oral sex with more than 10-15 people in their lives have either been sexually abused as children or have huge insecurity issues. That insecurity is what most guys take advantage of in order to get what they want. That insecurity is very unattractive to most men and is the main reason why easy women are looked down upon. This insecurity is proven in their use of makeup, high heels, skimpy clothing and the fact that they blame men for most of their insecurities, instead of being mature about the issue at hand and blaming themselves. The whole purpose of makeup is to hide. Most women are so insecure about their beauty that they feel the need to cover up there own face. High heels reveal a woman’s insecurity about their height. And skimpy clothes tell me that that particular woman is insecure about herself as a whole. The fact that she needs to show off her body for attention instead of using her personality solidifies it for me. Don’t get me wrong there are many insecure men also. There are men who hide their insecurity behind a ton of muscle, or behind a huge bankroll. Other men hide it by wearing ten pounds of gel in there hair or adding highlights. That list could also go on for hours.

The main reason why some women deny that there is a difference between the sexes is that they cannot accept the fact that they allowed themselves to get used by men. The truth is that women should have all the power. Once they realize that men are addicted to sex, they could rule the world if it was not for them being so insecure about themselves. Hopefully, this will change as our society evolves.

“It takes time to be a woman.”

CORPORATE DIVERSITY AND HOW IT MAY BE BRINGING DOWN OUR NATION

It seems a lot of corporations these days are trying to do the politically correct thing and balance their employee workforce. As far as education goes I agree with having a fair ratio of women to men, black to white, or what ever the balance may be.

But, when it comes to our nations companies, I believe the most qualified person with the most experience and the best track record should get the positions offered. It seems other nations have no problem excelling past us by doing this.

I was in a company where we had a position open for sales. The many overqualified people that initially interviewed were passed up. These applicants were for the most part all white males who would have hit the ground running placing a hurt on our competition. Instead of hiring one of these applicants, which were best for the position, this company waited three months to hire a female with no experience at all, just to fill a gender gap. This placed our competition far in front of us for the sake of appealing to group of bleeding hearts who don’t understand the bottom line. This female in the end did not excel in the position and finally resigned.

If diversification takes the place of hiring the most qualified candidate, then American companies will soon find themselves getting their asses handed to them by Asian and European companies.

If this diversification logic worked then the NBA would have a lot more Caucasians and Asians playing in the league. Imagine if the LA Lakers, the year after winning the NBA World Championships decided that there was not enough ethnic balance on the team. Imagine if the next year they let go 90% of their African-American players in trade for White, Asian and Homosexual players who were not as experienced or as good as the players that should be on the team. If this happened the league would go to shit. The best players would not be competing against the best. No one would watch the NBA anymore. If the Lakers were the first team to do such a thing, they would for sure be the last to ever win an NBA World Championship.

Going to work and playing sports is like going to war. If I am going to war, I want to be surrounded by the best. If the best is a Black, Jewish, Lesbian Female then put her on my side. Don’t hire her to fill some bleeding heart quota. Hire the best! Our country will thank you! If you don’t, WE THE PEOPLE will all lose valuable time and money. Diversification over talent and experience promotes weakness and instability.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT

I can sort of see where this movement is coming from. I use “sort of” because there is no solution to a common message. I think the greed part may have to do with the mismanagement of the recent bank bail out. Supposedly, the banks got bailed out the equivalent of $10,000 per American citizen. If that is the case, a better solution would have been to give each citizen $10,000 to pay off their debts. The one stipulation is that it has to go toward debt. The way it would work is by applying online through a government website. The $10,000 would be applied to debts with the highest interest rates first. Credit cards, auto loans, student loans all the way to home mortgages. US citizens over 18 that have no debt, the $10,000 will be placed into a 401k towards their retirement. Citizens under 18 with no debt will have the $10,000 placed into a fund for their higher education. If this were to work out smoothly, most people would be able to pay off some or all of their debt, get their head above water and the banks would indirectly still receive their money. Is is a simple win win situation.

This movement sees the banks as being greedy because an action like this was never proposed and if so would have perceivably never happened anyway due to the greed that is being protested against.

The we are the 99% slogan reminds me of the movie “Fight Club”. Let's hope their solution doesn't mirror that of the movie.

REVELATIONS / FINAL COMMENTS

The only true prophecy of one’s fate is ones death. All other revelations are based on the human race’s failure to stop repeating our past mistakes. If we humans continue to pass arrogant ignorance as our torch to our succeeding generations, the only thing the light from that torch will guide them to will be more war and destitution. Let us now light their torch with a fire of peace and happiness. The oil for this torch is only found in the well of wisdom.

I believe that if we don’t start acting as one planet, there will always be war. These wars will only get worse as time goes on. We must form a world organization, raising one flag as one planet, united against jealousy, greed and ignorance.

The union’s role in today’s society has changed. No longer is there function solely for its original purpose, which is to protect the worker from “The Man”. It seems more and more the unions protect the lazy man whose goal is to make as much money as possible with the least amount of effort as possible. Union’s promote incompetence, laziness, and they take away accountability for poor workmanship and half-assed jobs. In the end taxpayers flick the bill for these overpaid laborers. In short, they are bringing our economy and country down. The only people making out are the brewers of cheap beers and cigarettes. It seems when I see a Union worker on the job they are always smoking and hung over.

“Perhaps the best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.”

“Absolute truth cannot be possessed without infinite knowledge.”

Logic will keep you alive. Truth will keep you honest.

When in doubt THINK!

Passion is the secret to success.

“The truth shall set you free” – Buddha

Unhappy people seek luck. The trick to getting luck is to seek happiness. Luck is attracted to happy people. The key to seeking happiness is not through wealth, power or even love. All one has to do is to truly desire to be happy.

There are two ways of looking at every situation. Only one way of looking at your situation will make you happy. Change the way you look at your situation and you situation will change.

“There is no WAY to happiness. Happiness IS the way.”

“By changing the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.”

“If it makes you happy to be unhappy, then be unhappy.”

More proof that most humans are lazy and stupid: In all my years in the alcohol industry I have noticed that most people will spend there one or two days off to wait in line to be in the “cool” dance club or bar with dancing. I found out why. The pubs and café’s of this world require one to have a conversation. This requires using one’s brain. Most people can not do this. So, they dance to avoid having to use their brain. They avoid the humiliation of being a slave of the society they live in by posing in a dance club with their name brand clothing drinking their name brand drink. They are nothing but slaves to marketing and media. The only good thing about this fact is that most quiet pubs and café’s are now only filled with peace and insightful conversation. The morons of are planet are dancing like monkeys to rap and country music. God bless the people with taste in music that requires talent to make!!!!!

When you share negative knowledge of your fellow businessman as he/she does you; A TRUSTWORTHY, liberal, and profitable relationship is bound to occur.

Acting: Not trying to act like the character. But, acting like you would if you were the character.

“Conquer all with knowledge and skill.”

“Know thyself.”

“Adversity introduces a man to himself.”

“Prosperity makes friends and adversity tries them.”

“Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.”

“We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.”

“A man could retire nicely in his old age if he could dispose of his experience for what it cost him.”

“Experience teaches you to recognize a mistake when you’ve made it again.”

“A Mistake at least proves somebody stopped talking long enough to do something.”

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

“Learn by doing.”

“Bad fishermen catch dumb fish.”

When you leave a bar with loose teeth, drive slowly on the way home.

“Man thinks. God laughs.”

“He is always right who suspects that he makes mistakes.”

“Who builds upon the people, builds upon sand.”

“Time and tide wait for no man.”

“Opportunity can often sway even an honest man.”

“All truth is good, but not all truth is good to say.”

“Truth brings forth hatred.”

“Death cancels everything but truth.”

“Hell is truth seen too late.”

“After all is said and done, more is said than done.”

“To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are.”

“What is the use of running when you are on the wrong road?”

“If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.”

“To lose is to learn.”

“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.”

“Every time history repeats itself, the price goes up.”

“If the student fails to learn, the teacher fails to teach.”

“War does not determine who is right, only who is left.”

“Young men think old men fools and old men know young men to be so.”

Jealously is a weight that does not float in the waters of success.

There will always be someone less fortunate than you and there will be always someone more fortunate than yourself. Learn from the less fortunate to appreciate what you have and learn from the more fortunate to see what you can achieve.

“Solomon made a book of proverbs, but a book of proverbs never made Solomon.”

“The name of God is truth.”

God = Everything (Everybody). God = Nothing (Nobody). Everyone is God. God is everyone. Everyone is everything. Everyone is nothing. A=B. A=C. D=A. A=D. D=B. D=C. Become significant by realizing your insignificance.

I saw God whole on LSD several times. Most of the time he was very nice. The one time he wasn't, it scared me straight off the stuff for good.

By wanting nothing you receive everything. Water can be your wine; your shack can be your palace. It all depends on what you place your importance on.

Life is not about what you want and getting it. Anyone can acquire things. Life is about how you deal with what you already have and appreciating that.

The older I have become, the more I have realized that I could have been anyone and could have done anything. The irony of this so called knowledge is that the older I become, the less I care.

One is a man, when one embraces responsibility that was avoidable and not wanted.

The most powerful (Mafia / Company/ Clan) in the world currently is the United States of America.

Fate is nothing more than the outcome of a decision or decisions made at the time of a present circumstance. Any one who believes fate is some sort of mystical scratch ticket, has been misguided.

Embrace your mistakes. They are one of the few things in your life that you can truly call your own. Most successful people have made more mistakes than most unsuccessful people. I obviously haven’t made enough mistakes. Don’t be afraid to fail. Remember nothing is perfect except perfection.

Most people define themselves by other people’s perception of themselves, instead of finding out who they are them self. The worst thing about these other people who judge you is that a huge majority of them truly don’t give a damn about you.

If it were not for war, Europe would not be speaking any other language but German. If it were not for war, North America would be raising the Union Jack every day. If it were not for war, The United States would not exist. There would be the free north and the Confederate flag waving south, which embraces slavery and all of the other ideals of the Klu Klux Klan. War is not always the worst solution. It is nature’s way of finding the weak links in the human animal and promoting a stronger, smarter, and less ignorant species. Weak of mind, body, and sprit are naturally weeded out by evolution. Since we are at the top of the food chain, we can only eliminate ourselves. And it just so happens, war is our way of doing it. Peace is millenniums away. Jealousy, greed and ignorance keep the human animal away from being truly civil.

We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. When you are young a day feels like a month. As you get older a month feels like a day. Soon, a decade feels like a year. It is sad how most people spend the little time they have. They spend it being miserable, worried about materialism. They spend it talking about the bad things. The bad times should make you appreciate the good things a little bit more. They help you realize how precious the good moments are. The trick is to use the little free time you have cherishing the good moments and not wasting that precious time thinking about the bad. Enjoy today and don’t waste it grieving over yesterday. Tomorrow may be even worse.

“I have learned that countless paths one travels in life are all equal. Oppressors and oppressed meet in the end and the only thing that prevails is that life was all together too short for both”. (1)

All is not lost in a down economy. A down economy likes that of the 1930’s and the middle to late part of the first decade of the 21st Century will lead to a survival of the fittest / Darwin like thinking.

Communism and socialism are the ideal situations in an ideal world. Unfortunately, the human race is not ready. Possibly, 1000 years from now we may be ready. Only if we eliminate greed.

Money does not exist. Unfortunately, it is a concept that currently puts food on the table. There in lies the problem.

Economic Darwinism - I believe the same rules that govern nature. Govern economy. A Darwin like effect will take place. An economic evolution of sorts will arise. The weak employee, as well as the week employer, will be replaced by the stronger, giving the human race a machine like workforce. The lazy worker as well as the poorly managed company will become the disease of an ideal capitalistic society. The hard working employee and the well run company of the future will be the fruits of the human race’s future in technological, philosophical, spiritual, and scientific advancement.

LOVE – My current question with love is this; the fact that the term unconditional love exists as a separate definition than just “Love”, is a self-negating term. Isn’t love alone unconditional? Why redefine? Whose is kidding whom? Such a simple word is abused and misused!!! If it weren’t there would be no such sayings as, “falling out of love” and “I don’t love him/her anymore”. Love is love and that’s it. Everything else is not love.

It is not about what you cannot do! It is about what you can do with what you have. How bad do you want it? Any goal within logical reason is attainable. There are paralyzed people who accomplish more than you and I combined.

People who regret have no respect for there past judgments. And, have no respect for there future mistakes which with honest assessment would lead themselves to a future of less mistakes. Hopefully, given the assumption that they themselves learn from there past mistakes.

Successful companies are created when the loyalties between an employer and its employees are equal. The employee must put in his/her time to gain loyalty. In return the employer must give that employee the money and leisure time he/she is worth.

Proudly dancing through 32 years of age, I am coming to a new dilemma. I am concerned that hard work cannot be taught. My even bigger concern is that laziness can be. Hopefully, either one is a decision of the individual. Unfortunately, like discussed before, it is easier to be lazy.

I bet that 100 years from now, historians will look back on the crisis in The Middle East and consider it the World War III. The Third World War’s starting point would be the years leading up to September 11th, 2001. Most defiantly our presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and most likely war with Iran would signify another indicator. Basically, it is the World fighting for freedom against the tyrannical extremist Muslims. These people are no different than the Nazi’s in ideology. These people believe that if a person is not a specific kind if Muslim than they are worthless to the planet. If we let them have their way they would murder ever man, woman and child that do not conform to their ideology. For us to pull out of this war is asinine. If we don’t keep the war over there, they will bring it here to us. Just like September 11th and the attempted attack on Fort Dix. This paragraph was written on May 10th 2007.

A LITTLE ABOUT MYSELF

I was born and raised in Syracuse, New York as a Roman Catholic. My Parents were Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They met in high school and married soon after my father graduated from Syracuse University. My father was on full scholarship for football at Syracuse. He received a degree in accounting and now is a successful CPA. My mother spent most of her time raising my younger sister and myself.

My heritage is Italian, from my mother’s side and Polish, from my father’s side. Both sides of the family were very hard workers and big on heritage. Both grandparents had their own gardens and cooked on a regular basis. Most of my extended family lives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

As a child my interests were in geography. That still hasn’t changed. I used to recreate maps in preschool and dream of going to those places. In grades one through five I attended Catholic school and had the pleasure of learning the Bible forward and back. I actually took great interest in this religion becoming an altar boy and reading the Bible on my off time. As I grew older, I made friends with many different kinds of children who all shared different beliefs. I hung out with a Chinese neighbor down the Street who taught me about his Buddhists beliefs. I had many Jewish friends who invited me into their Jewish lives and invited me to their Bar mitzvahs and Baht mitzvahs. I had Indian friends who taught me Hindu. I grew more and more curious as I grew older. In fifth grade I asked my parents to send me to public school. I hated being taught only one religion. I felt as if I was being cheated out of learning. Around the seventh grade I told my parents that I did not think Christianity was the answer to life’s questions. I took a strong interest in the philosophy of Taoism.

I was also very interested in music and art as a child. I took a strong interest in artists like Salvador Dali, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Pearl Jam. In high school I started drawing and painting seriously for the first time. I came to find out that I had a talent for art.

Athletics also played a part in the cultivation of who I am today. I believe that my father being an athlete made me want to do the same. In my younger days I was one of the fastest kids around. I played Soccer form first grade until seventh grade. From fifth grade up until now I played Lacrosse. From eighth grade up until my senior year I played football. I truly believe that sports kept me associated with the “normal” crowd. My views on life and art weren’t and still aren’t very mainstream. I had the luxury of hanging out with people from both sides of the fence.

My college years were spent in Los Angeles, California. I had been recruited to play lacrosse at Whittier College. They offered me an art scholarship, which made it hard for my parents to say no to. My parents were very against me going to school so far away. I explained to my parents that I needed to go and live in another culture. In college I studied many religions very deeply by attending various religious classes. Along with religion and art classes, I also took many sociology, philosophy, and psychology classes. I commend Whittier for giving me this opportunity to learn about these different ideas and customs.

After college, myself and few of my friends started our own company marketing golf courses. I figured that unless I sliced my ear off or died, that I would be very broke for the rest of my life as an artist. In that company I had the opportunity to travel all over the country, meet all kinds of people and make a lot of money. Between my company and my journeys from college to home, I ended up driving across the United States a total of seven times. After a couple years of working intense hours and intense traveling, I quit my company and moved to San Diego. I got a job selling Japanese beer. I oversaw all of the San Diego market for Asahi Beer. My contract with that company soon ended and I was hired to be a sales representative for a local distributor. I was responsible for the sale of around 30 brands from The Gas Lamp District and Olde Town San Diego to all the way to the Mexican border. At nights I would bartend at an Australian bar in Pacific Beach. Spending close to eight years in California, I grew tired of the west coast mentality and thrived for the culture of the northeast. I moved to Boston working first for an alcohol promotion company and then for my current employer Molson-Coors Brewing Company.

The beer business, bar tending and especially the experiences I had in my first company, I probably met an average of 50-100 new people every day I worked. I learned a lot of interesting facts. These experiences are what led me to write this book. I also have a huge passion for travel. I have been all over the United States driving across country seven times and living in five states. I have also been to Canada (visiting seven provinces) , Mexico, England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungry, Romania, Sweden, Finland, The Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, The Netherlands, Greece, Vatican City and Italy. I plan on traveling until I die. Currently, I live in Boston and work with close to 3,000 bars in the metropolitan Boston area for The Molson-Coors Brewing Company.

As of Saint Patrick’s Day 2005 I married my Claudiane Meire Soares from Brazil. We have a son, Peter Joseph Pietryka The 6th, born on May 28th 2005 and a daughter, Genevieve Kathryn Pietryka born on January 6th 2007. She is named after my Nana on my Italian side; Genevieve Kathryn Sileo. Maiden name is Battista.

Here are some quotes I like about children and marriage:

“A bachelor never makes the same mistake once.”

“Get married. You can’t be happy your whole life.”

“The most dangerous food is wedding cake.”

“For those who have everything, send them kids.”

“Children are a great help. They are a comfort in your old age. And they help you reach it faster, too.”

“Adolescence is the age at which children stop asking questions because they know all of the answers.”

“Anything which parents have not learned from experience they can now learn from their children.”

“Pretty much all the honest truth telling there is in the world is done by children.”

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”

“A man should have a child, plant a tree, and write a book.”

There are very few day’s that go by that I don’t meet someone new. There are few days where I don’t have a conversation about something written in this book. That is another reason I wrote this book. It seems that these are the topics most people I talk with from all over the world are most concerned and fascinated with. I truly hope you enjoyed the view on my truth.

Intelligence is often confused with social and business status. Within the same atmosphere, there exist extremely intelligent homeless people along with dumbfounded silver spooned upper executives. One’s attainment of one’s priorities should define ones intelligence. Is it possible that the homeless person doesn’t value status, material goods or the common comforts in the same way as the average 21st Century human does? Possibly, this person has reached his or hers inner El Dorado? To find a content human among us may be harder than finding a new source of renewable energy. Is it possible that our current and past societies may have place value on the wrong things and people?

I have no aspirations to be any happier. I am happy. One can not become more happy than happy. It is hard to aspire to attain something that is already in one’s foundation. I aspire to live longer and to remain as healthy as possible, so that I can continue to indulge in my simple enjoyment of being alive.

If I was to place an in depth autobiography on my life to date, it may be in vein. For these reasons only: I truly do not believe that any human would believe how many drugs I did, woman I slept with, alcoholic beverages I consumed, experiences I had in such little time and how I am where I am in life currently. I should be dead several times over. I do not deserve to be here with the beautiful family I have today. My life as it is currently is the best accident any human with my past history could ever dream of.

I am not entirely proud of my past. At the same time, I would never take back a second of it. I am proud of who I am presently. I know that without my past, I would not be who and most importantly where I am today!

I believe that most other humans would have been dead already given the path I decided to take. I also believe that other humans, if born in my body and situation, and possibly taken the “RITCHOUS” path, would have indefinitely been either dead or on welfare if they were lucky.

Live in the present. Learn from the past. Prepare for the future. If you can’t master the past and present, your future is lost.

Laziness is the catalyst for stupidity.

There is no need for an alarm clock in Las Vegas. Every time I go there, I seem to be awoken with diarrhea.

I have never been to a psychologist or psychiatrist. If I did ever go to one, I would hope that I would get the same results as I get from a loud early morning alarm clock and a clear mirror.

Almost anyone can be smart. All one has to do is think for one’s self.

A great salesman realizes that he can not be everywhere all of the time, but he damn well better be somewhere during his time if he wants to be productive. Paper work and analysis only tells you what you could have done. When what you should have done was be available to your clients. The face time with your customers will give you the results you want. Let your competition look at there negative numbers.

To be smart, is to be of open mind. To be of open mind is to be mentally flexible. To be mentally flexible takes patience. To have patience is to have a subscription to reason. It seems that this subscription is far short of its quota.

I am not scared of death for one strong reason. I believe death will happen in a similar fashion to life. I do not remember being born. If the same base logic is to close the door that was opened, I will undoubtedly not remember being dead.

I don’t believe in luck. Luck is an aspiration of the lazy and weak minded. Hard work, patience and knowledge through experience make me a lucky man.

In the present day, the guillotine for the lucky few who were born on third is the internet. It helps expose truth.

Regret is a waste of an emotion. I knew damn well what I was doing when I did it, and knew the consequence of my actions if found out doing so. To regret a conscious decision is to regret your own judgment of your respective place in overall time and space. Basically, regretting yourselves own existence.

I believe that if you want something bad enough, you sacrifice and lose years off your life, you will succeed. If you do all that and you don't succeed, then you did not want it bad enough and enough was not sacrificed. You have in essence reaped what you have sown. Possibly, you have picked poor soil? Possibly, the land was not tilled with heart. Possibly, you did not tend to drought, pestilence and insects diligently enough?Either way, time will reveal you truth. If you do not accept the judgment that time delegated to you, then you are blind, ignorant and unable to ever become wise enough to ever succeed or pass on the learnings you made from your mistakes to keep future generations from repeating them.

CAN "TRUTH" CHANGE OVER TIME? Below is a piece I wrote In 2001. Since then, a lot has changed for me & the world. Including my belief on what is TRUE.

Peter Pietryka

Outside Sales Representative at Horizon Beverage Company

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