CHAPTER 1
Beatitudes of Integrity, Law One Balance
"You are the sum total of all your thoughts." "You are what you eat." "Eat a balanced diet." "Too much of a good thing is not a good thing." "Do you live to work or work to live?"
Motivational phrases like these often move us to reach our goals and objectives. Finding balance is more about preventing self-destruction from extreme indulgences or being blind or prejudiced to synergetic functions and processes.
Moderation in all things is a philosophy that should be applied to most indulgences. Seeking balance makes us step back and review our motivations and potential risks that often lead us down a destructive path of obsession. Self-discipline is the measure of integrity that is a prerequisite to achievement. Moderation requires self-discipline. Without discipline, commitments are short-term deals with the devil. Extreme indulgences evolve into dependencies. When you can't trust the temptation, you may have lost your integrity. You can trust the alcoholic, but you can't trust the alcohol in the alcoholic.
Is stress an emotional response to the need to balance? Stressors are the measure of balance. There are good stressors as well as bad stressors. How we manage them — whether in business, our personal relationships, or our own personal development — will go a long way to bringing about joy in our lives. Taking an inventory of our stressors is the first step toward positive change. At the back of this book, please find attached a balance tracker form for you to help you manage the stressors in your life. The example below is a completed balance tracker form.
Highly respected French lawyer and political philosopher, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu argued for balance in government. His writings on the separation of power being essential to the people's liberty — namely legislative, executive, and judicial — have been core values prominent in many nation's constitutions. The drafters of the Constitution of the United States of America incorporated Montesquieu's philosophy. In the preamble of the US Constitution, the balance of power became the staple of its existence. The government, albeit the demonstration of order, is democratically controlled by the people it's charged to control. The Constitution says: "In order to form a more perfect Union, a social contract must be entered into by the government with its people." Montesquieu's separation of power philosophy ensured that the will of the one wielding the power is, more importantly, the will of the people.
For balance to prevail in government, it is imperative to ensure the synergy of socialism and a free market system. Political pundits have created a dichotomous logical fallacy between two models that unfortunately have become the paradox shaping economic politics, socialism versus capitalism. However, the integrity of economics is the marriage of both socialism and a free market, in what has been called the dual economy. Many of these pundits have fooled us into believing that selfishness is a prerequisite to becoming financially successful.
The most notorious of these fraudulent pundits was Ayn Rand, the Russian-American novelist famous for such books as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. She is credited with defining how capitalism should be modeled. Her ideology lacked the I Factor, however, and gave a get-out-of-jail-free card for oligarchs to rig economies at the expense of eliminating the middle class.
Ronald Reagan was another pundit who believed this and forged the winner-take-all economic model, "Trickle Down Economics." The result of this scam has been more wealth to a small percentage of the community and consequently a struggling middle class. In 2017, wages are still out of line with the cost of living. According to political authors Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson in their book, Winner Take All Politics, contrary to conventional wisdom, the inequality of income since Trickle Down has yielded a 256 percent increase in income for the wealthier 1 percent and a 20 percent income growth for lower wage earners.
John Locke, who lived from 1632 to 1704, was an English physician and philosopher. He is commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism" as he influenced the American revolution's Declaration of Independence and introduced the theory of social contract, ignited enlightenment thinking, and defined inalienable rights for social contracts.
Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier first used the word epistemology to describe a branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge, subjective (belief) and objective (facts). Locke and Ferrier challenged conventional patriotic propaganda as detrimental to resolving real problems of social disparity. They implored students of thought to ignore speculation and fabrication and to instead allow their beliefs to seek knowledge based on fact. Their influence on the founders of the new democracy led the leaders to write the greatest treatise of rights ever penned, the Constitution of the United States.
In 1688, John Locke wrote "Two Treatises of Government," a social contract between a sovereign people and its government that addresses the inalienable rights of citizenry to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. His framework inspired the authors of the United States of America's Constitution. A promise was made to all Americans, regardless of privilege, birthright, or fame. The Constitution's Bill of Rights is widely regarded as the apotheosis of human rights.
Without a dual economy, the average and poor wage earners of society will fall victim to the three epical failures of capitalism: greed, gluttony, and gouging. The oligarchs rake in excess and cheat lower income earners of a fair distribution of wealth — not equal but fair distribution. Why? It is human nature to follow subjective logical fallacy politics, bundled in subterfuge and sold on patriotic hyperbole, rather than forensically scrutinized facts. I feel pity rather than schadenfreude for the vulnerable.
US President Ronald Reagan convinced his constituency that if they elected him, he would cut taxes on the wealthy, and by default those oligarchs would in turn show their gratitude and trickle more wealth to the middle class. History has proven that the promise of inevitable generosity wasn't so inevitable.
Imagine if Bush hadn't deregulated Wall Street and the Great Bush Recession had been avoided. A corrupt oligarchic economy gloated 247 new billionaires at the expense of hardworking Americans who lost their homes and jobs due to a Credit Default Swap bundling scam that had an inventory of $70 trillion. This resulted in a pre-Obama era 10 percent unemployment rate, hemorrhaging five hundred thousand jobs a month, record high gas prices, and a deficit of nearly $2 trillion. Whenever this social contract is broken, the balance and economic integrity is lost, and a large majority of the population suffer.
So what does this dual economy look like?
An adequately funded education system that provides free and equal education opportunities for all regardless of disability, privilege, or poverty.
A strong economy based on a free market where there are no limits on affluence, aside from fiscal responsibility.
A graduated income tax that supports the needs of the community infrastructure and fair compensation of government services scrutinized for waste and negligence.
A free healthcare system supported by a graduated tax system that ensures quality healthcare, competitive wages for physicians and caregivers, and medical infrastructure integrity.
Tax penalties for domestic corporations that use foreign labor for increased earnings at the expense of domestic labor. Impose tariffs that make domestic productivity competitive.
A minimum wage, which is an aggregate of revenue necessary to cover the basic costs of living, based on a fair distribution of a nation's wealth. This is not to imply that social integrity guarantees an equal distribution of wealth. An individual's hard work must merit a good harvest of wealth and/or satisfaction.
A scrutinized budget that cuts waste, not jobs, maintains the integrity of the nation's utilities infrastructure, ensures the highest levels of education, healthcare, livable wages for the disabled and those obtaining retirement age. The said budget must never create a deficit and must adhere to fiscal responsibility by reconciling spending to tax burden, except in war times.
The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States of America, protects individual rights from ideological deprivation. The apotheosis of freedom, this staple of democracy guarantees the separation of Church and State and protects the rights of minorities from an oppressive majority. The very reason the settlers left Mother England was to escape persecution for religious freedom. Protecting minorities' rights from a nefarious majority's prejudice is the quintessential purpose for which it was created.
John Locke's insinuation that these three things — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — are inalienable rights, and that it is the government's sole purpose to protect those rights from being impinged, should be further defined.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Life: The Webster's Dictionary simple definition. 1. The period of time when a person is alive. 2. The ability to grow and change. 3. The experience of being alive.
Definition one: The period of time when a person is alive is limited to fate, choices, and health.
Definition two: The ability to grow and change is also affected by health, fate, and choices, but it is also influenced by external nurturing from teachers, parents, coaches, and politicians. Laws, policies, and wealth also stifle or promote our growth and affect change.
Definition three: The experience of being alive, however, is determined by the tenacious hunger to discover pleasure, happiness, and the highest form of living, joy. Pleasure comes from the senses, our libido, our fantasies, the pleasure we get from biting into our favorite food or the climax during sex. Pleasure is a short-lived reward that is often insatiable.
"Life is measured not by how many breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -Hilary Cooper
Happiness is measured by our arrival moments. This might be the satisfaction from purchasing your first home, the pride of seeing your child receive his or her diploma, or landing that new job that not only covers living expenses but also covers the trip to Disneyland. Life's achievements don't always bring us happiness, but happiness comes from the satisfaction of knowing that those achievements are the result of our dedicated efforts and self-discipline.
Joy is measured by our overall self-esteem and our perception of the value of our lives. There is no dollar value for joy. There's no one success that brings us joy. People with the I Factor understand that joy is a fulfillment that comes from living a life of happiness and pleasure that didn't come at the expense of another's pain. Few people experience joy in a life lived alone, for joy is a level of comfort and satisfaction reflected and multiplied in the eyes of the ones you love. Joy is that warm good feeling that makes you cry and smile at the same time at the happy ending of a good movie. Our joy shuns death's inevitable arms as a thief in the night, whereas those who have not known joy in their lives welcome death as a relief of despair.
CHAPTER 2
Beatitudes of Integrity, Law Two Don't rent Space in Your Head
Ironically, we personally violate beatitudes of integrity law (BOIL) number two more than we would like to admit. Our passion and prejudices can be the causes of our own demise when we allow those emotions to close the door of scrutiny and allow others to fill our heads with their ideology. Allowing others to rent space in our head makes us vulnerable to giving up our free agency to those seeking to wield power over our minds and enlisting our efforts in their causes.
In 1978, Religious Cult leader, James Warren Jones, founded the "People's Temple" religion, infamous for the mass murder-suicide of 918 members, including nearly three hundred children. Jones promised his members that they would join him in heaven if they drank the heavenly juice, which included cyanide poisoning. Jones had convinced his members to follow him to Georgetown, the capitol of Guyana, where they would find God. Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered in his attempts to stop the mayhem. The phrase, "Don't drink the juice," has since been coined to mock the gullible and vulnerable.
Fanatical zealots, relentless in their convictions, who sincerely believe they have been chosen by some higher power to deliver God's will and save us from eternal damnation, are very, very, dangerous people. Their hyperbole and motives are narcissistic. Their intent is merely fame. Their tools are fear, stereotypical blame, and greed. They prey on the vulnerable of society's ignorance, fears, and hope. There is no debate worthy of denial, but these zealots, heretofore referred to as extremists, are the cancer of the human race. The only way to eradicate this cancer is by taking back our minds through education and fact-based knowledge. Applying natural laws is the beginning of bringing back social and moral integrity. When someone from a public pulpit proclaims, "Believe me!" guard your mind against your emotions.
Extremists not only disrupt balance and wield power over our minds but also are breeders of intolerance, injustice, ignorance, and xenophobia (fear of what we don't understand).
All too often, business decisions influenced by subjective propaganda fail because we drink the juice and fail to research the facts and test the impacts. Risk isn't the culprit of failure but rather the lack of knowledge- based decisions.
Xenophobia is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "fear of the unknown or alien." Fear is a powerful emotion that — under the right circumstances — will cause us to say and do things that we may later berate ourselves with regret. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." But when we apply balance to this warning, fear is a useful emotion when we know all the facts and scrutinize our reactions. For example, peer pressure may rent space in your head with the idea that you don't need to wear a life jacket when waterskiing. But the fear of drowning is warning you of possible consequences. By scrutinizing the facts that you're not the greatest swimmer and that you will eventually fall, you go against peer pressure and you wear your life jacket.
At the top of the list of control freaks who wish to rent space in your head are the stereotype abusers. Persons with the I Factor understand that different is neither good nor bad; it just is, and typecasting is, simply put, a logical fallacy. Eccentric lifestyles usually get the brunt of abuse by stereotype abusers. Any procedure, person, or contrary belief that challenges their comfort zone, based on their frame of reference, is perceived immediately by the stereotype abuser as different and as an attack on their comfort zone and perfect world. They label the person or the behavior, and they seek to convince others that the person or different behavior is a threat to their existence.
Unfortunately, false perceptions have real consequences. In most cases, mankind acts on its xenophobia and people get hurt.
Your I Factor meter should run off the charts when exposed to the following controlling personalities: voices of misogyny, racism, elitism, bullying, homophobia, guilt (religious), and fear (dominance). People who own their own souls avoid these control obsessions.
The greatest power is wielding control over another person's mind. The greatest weakness is allowing it.
CHAPTER 3
Beatitudes of Integrity, Law Three Boots on the Ground
As a nai've and scared nineteen-year-old, I committed to completing a two-year Christian Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Queensland, Australia. From the airport, I was driven to the mission home by two twenty-one-year-old missionaries who dressed like Secret Service agents rather than humble servants of God. Their expensive sunglasses, crisp full suits, and perfectly tied ties gave me an uncomfortable feeling of working for the mafia and not the Lord.
I entered the office of the Mission president. During the brief orientation, no reference was ever made to the small stand-alone plaque that sat at the front of his maple wood desk. My nineteen-year-old brain took a mental picture of the motivation tent sign with two words inscribed, and I stamped them in the frontal lobe of my brain. The motivational truth, simply put, has had more impact on my life than any call-to-action motivational slogan since "Do It." Just two words: do it.
