Know the Rules, Know the Objective

Before you can play the game, any game, you need to know two things, the rules and the objective.  This turns out to be true for the games we call games and the ones we call life.

There are a few people that play any game by their own rules or so it would seem.  What they have discovered either by luck or by design is that there are usually two sets of rules, one that is written and one that is not.  They have become adept at playing by whichever set of rules benefits them the most for any given set of circumstance.  This is what we must learn and the faster we can learn it the better off we are.

I have spent far to many years trying to avoid trouble by playing by the rules as they were written and stated, trying to be the good boy only to find that I could still get into trouble even with the best of intentions.  This is not a recipe for success.  It can be a means to be beaten into submission.

It is better to learn what the real rules are and follow the ones that work.  This is where the real returns on investment are to be had.

A close second to knowing the rules is knowing what the objectives are.  This includes the objectives set down by those that created the game and of course the objectives you set for yourself.  When you met the objectives of the game you are rewarded with advancement to the next level.  When you meet the objectives of another you can also be rewarded, but in order to do so you must know what the objectives are for that other person.  One of the best ways to learn what those objectives are is by asking and through observation.  Many will say one thing but really mean something else.  I have learned this lesson well in an earlier job when I was told that quality was most important but the thing that really paid dividends and was the real driver to advancement was quantity.  As I cranked up my production I found that the number of times my work was reviewed actually decreased but the amount of notice by management increased until I was ranked number 1 in the division I was in.

By the way, the quality of my work did not suffer.  I would not allow it.  One of the overriding rules in all of this is to 'never compromise your integrity'.  You should never, no never, lower your standards, you are too important to allow that to happen.  There is no reward great enough to offset the price paid of lowering your standards.  And that defines what the last objective of any game is...the objective you set for yourself.

The decisions you make about who you are, and who you are going to be are the most important goals you set in life.  These are the goals that are the objectives of the game of life that should override all others.  Whenever you come upon a time where two objectives are competing for your attention, talents and resources, it is then that you rely upon the priorities you have already set for yourself and the answer of which to choose has already been made.  Then it is only a matter of following through with that choice.

To thine own self be true.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Finding hope for capitalism in a game on my tablet

Roy H. Williams of MondayMorningMemo has talked about an 80 year cycle that takes our society from the extremes of a me generation to an us generation every 40 years.  We are approaching the apex of an us generation which would explain all the political correctness of socialism at the moment.  So I was pondering on how will society change back to something more moderate when it seems that socialism is all that is taught in the schools and talked about in the media and legislated in our governments.  Have the roots of capitalism been abolished and replaced with the entitlement mentality?  Has the drive of the individual to become the greatest individual they can become been weened out and replaced with a submission of will to serve the common good however the overlords dictate it to be?

Socialism along with it's more forceful cousin Communism are some of the least effective economic models for a nation even without addressing the moral issues of abolishing free agency.  Take a moment to think about how "well" this world would run if every aspect of your life operated by the same bureaucracy that runs the post office or DMV.  There would be no incentive for efficiency or innovation and therefore there can be no growth.

My vision of the future was growing rather bleak when I happened to find hope in the unlikeliest of places...the games I downloaded on my newly acquired tablet.  Within those games are the elements of capitalism.

At first the elements went unnoticed as I was still learning how to play the various games but then I realized that they were there and hopefully were instilling themselves on those that took the time to play the games.

I have narrowed my recent game time to three games in particular, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Star Wars Tiny Death Star and My Muppet's Show.  All of these games are considered Freemiumware (a combination of free and premium software) in that they can be had for free and played for free but there are extras that you can buy with real money to advance the game a little faster or gratify your vanity.

Within these games there are usually two kinds of currency whether they are called credits, or bux, or vegetables or donuts.  One of the currencies is easy to get and is the basic measuring unit of the game while the other is much more difficult to get but there is always the opportunity to get more in exchange for real life currencies i.e. you real life wallet.  As an added feature of my gaming experience, I make it a point never to use real money in the virtual world .

The games become an analogy of life as they are played.  You are asked to perform certain task for which you earn credits.  These credits can then be used in the game to obtain the next level, a new character or an extra power or decoration.  These will in turn help you earn more credits and at a faster pace in order to obtain more new things that are better, faster, cooler than the last thing and almost always at a higher price.

These are mini simulations of life played out in a somewhat benign way through a computer screen.  Instead of berating our kids for wasting too much time playing video games perhaps we should be playing those games with them and then having discussions with them to help them see the lessons there to be had, lessons we may have missed or forgotten along the way.  The longer you play the game, and the more games you play, the better you will recognize the rules of the game and learn how to play it well.

As the next generation grows up on a diet of these types of games they will provide the energy to reverse the cyclical societal momentum we face and let the pendulum swing back towards a more moderate approach in our lives.

And with that thought my hope was restored.  I remembered that good can be had even in times of extremes.  It is that hope that drives man forward, to challenge the odds and the mandates and give it a go anyway.  It is that spirit that will overcome the oppressive nature of a collective society.  It is that spirit that we should foster to grow and survive not only in ourselves but in others.

I will discuss further some of these lessons I have seen from playing these games and doing the paid to clicks.  Maybe they haven't been such a timesuck after all.  For now this is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

I'm Back

Hello everyone. I'm afraid I've been a little busy lately, and more than a little distracted, but I have returned to share thoughts and insights but probably just to rant and vent.

In fact I have been so upset and angered by this countries lack of discipline, integrity, and sensibility while being driven by an overwhelming self-centered selfishness and an overpowering level of stupidity that my emotions got caught up in it all and I couldn't quite bring myself to compose from a reasonable centered me so I gave it up for awhile.

Anyone that has been watching the news for awhile will have noticed the insanity that has laid claim to the world around us and often makes it tempting to retreat into hibernation or at the very least begin practicing the life of a hermit.

But alas I am too far entrenched in day to day living to commit that form of social suicide. And neither should you if you are experiencing the same level of frustration of that external world that tries so hard to dominate our lives. It is at this point that we must stand and say "nuts to you" and move on with what we do, and that is to live the good life and fight the good fight. To accept anything less is to deny our true inheritance.

So what was the trigger that brings me back around. A little news article on the radio this morning that reported President Obama praising someone other than himself, a republican no less that goes by the name of Mitch McConnell. You have got to know that you are way off base when no less than Obama and Harry Reid are calling your ideas a 'serious proposal'.

So what is this 'serious proposal'? How about letting the President raise the national debt ceiling without GOP support. That's right, the Senate minority leader is suggesting that Congress forgo its duties and responsibilities and hand the President the last keys to national destruction. I don't know why they would bother since all three branches seem to be working in a concerted effort to accomplish the same willful degradation of the remnants of a once upon a time fine upstanding and well respected country.

If you understand the debt crisis at all, or even just a little you are shaking in your boots right now along with the rest of us, but it is not the core of the problem. It is not even center stage of our drama or worse yet in the eyes of the people that matter most, the citizens of this nation. It is also just one symptom of a long list of symptoms plaguing our country right now and its future is hanging in the balance.

Someone from the White House said "never let a good crisis go to waste" but the scary truth that walks hand in hand with that is 'if you don't have a crisis now, make one'. I don't know how much of what is happening is fabrication and deliberate manipulation but I have seen enough to make me think that there is a definite plan being played out and there are some who think they will gain power by allowing events to unfold the way they have. Over the past several years (and decades and beyond) these types of events have led those in power to excuse themselves in taking action that has undermined our freedoms and our liberties. And for all intense and purposes it is happening again. Just as we now joke at the cliche of 'do it for the children' (although I still hear that one used time and again) we are not laughing at the effects it has had on our lives. Last time we were all too willing to do 'whatever it takes' to maintain our homeland security. This time we will do 'whatever it takes' to maintain our economic security. And all the while we have willingly done 'whatever it takes', we have done so without really realizing what was taken. The physical and economic security that was once in our hands as been placed in the hands of another, and now we have neither.

Where is that country that was so highly praised for freedom and liberty and was hailed as a land of opportunity and righteousness? Where is that people that stood proudly for one nation under God and valued it so highly that many would willingly give their lives in defending it? Where are the voices of reason in the tumultuous din of stupidity?

It is not all gone...yet. It is not all forgotten...yet. Fear not to add your voice to reason. If it sounds like stupid and feels like stupid, please don't be afraid to say so. When stupid looks itself in the mirror, truth is revealed and reason can stand. It is time to let laughter and ridicule drive stupidity back into the long forgotten shadows from whence it came.

History is replete with examples where stupidity runs rampant, but it only last for awhile. For those of us looking for the better way, having lived it and knowing what it is, there is still a light of hope that all is not lost. There is still a chance for the return of sanity. And although I am predicting that there is the potential for some serious hard times ahead, both economically, politically and socially, there is still an opportunity for much good to come from all this. That is what I continue to look for, hope for and pray for. I hope that you will be doing the same.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.

Don't take free agency lightly

The world would be a better place if instead of trying to find new ways to place limits on us, we found new ways to remove the limits we have and expand the realm of possibilities.

No one that I know of wants to have limits placed on them, but many are quite willing to have those limits in place not for themselves but for others. You see there used to be a comic strip that wasn’t all that funny called “There out to be a law”. I think it started out as a way to point out stupid behaviors that could be observed occasionally by the common man. As it continued though you could notice that it grew into something much more.

Driven by a desire to eliminate these poor behaviors in others, legislation was created to outlaw its existence by mandate. Unfortunately that desire has gotten out of hand. Now every little thing that bothers someone else is potential fodder for legal action. More and more actions are now controlled by the mandate of government at the behest of some group that has decided that they know better than you what is best for you. By process of elimination through a little nibble here and a little nibble there, we have lost much of our ability to function as rational mature human beings capable of reasonable thought and self determination.

Case in point, I don’t need a law to tell me to wear a seat belt. I shouldn’t have to be forced through penalties and threats to have to wear a seat belt. It shouldn’t have to be enforced by someone that carries a gun and has been given the authority to do bad things to me and create oversized consequences for not following their rules.

I should be allowed to wear a seat belt because I choose to. I should be allowed to wear a seat belt because I have been educated in its use and understand the statistical evidence that reason the benefits of its use. I should be allowed to wear a seat belt because I have made a conscious decision to do so for my own benefit.

This is what free agency is all about. The freedom to choose. The freedom to make our own choices and to be responsible for those choices. To make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. To excel through making correct choices that benefits us and those around us. That gives us the ability to learn and grow and define who we are. We become capable as we move from childhood and become adults in charge of our own destinies.

This is a basic principle for which we should fight to maintain. This is a battle that started long before the world was formed. The freedom to choose for ourselves in order to prove ourselves is at our core foundations. We chose on the side of free agency once and that is why we are here today. Be wary that it not be taken away easily.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.