Revolution 2.0

Introduction Rephrasing the question to be more specific, “If you are a monotheist, believing in one God, are there multiple paths that allow us to truly connect with that Supreme Being?”  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Today’s Key Question: If you are a monotheist, believing in one God, are there multiple paths that allow us to truly connect with that Supreme Being? Today’s Key Answer: Yes.  I’d like to sit down with you with a piece of paper or a small white board to help explain, but we’ll have a go just as we are. There are several monotheostic religions in the world, the main ones being Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Arguably there are others, but we do not need to either make or refute that case here. The three main monotheistic religions have different views of God, or they would not be separate religions. If they all had the same views and thoughts about the Supreme Being, then we would need only two, or perhaps even one, monotheistic religion. Does that make sen

Introduction Every parent has heard one or more of their children protest, “It’s Not Fair” loudly and often. The protested issue could be assigned homework, who got the better Christmas presents, bedtime, why you won’t buy them the car they want–you name it and it has been deemed to be unfair.  Every parent has responded in the same, correct way, “Life is not fair.” A tough, vital lesson. Have we forgotten that piece of hard-to-take wisdom? Today’s Key Question: When unpleasant events and circumstances are dropped into our laps, whether we are fully, partially, or not at all at fault, what are our first thoughts? Where do we turn for remedies? That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing One of my favorite stories involves a parent travelling with three young children in the back seat of the family car. The Mom broke a candy bar into three pieces, and offered them to the kids. Each child fussed and complained that their piece was not as large as the others. The M

Introduction Both Climate Change and COVID models loudly claim to be based in scientific thinking, more specifically environmental science and medical science. The believers call the non-believers “deniers.” The non-believers call the believers sheep and big government dupes. I use the words believers and non-believers advisedly; people on both sides show a religious-like fervor when supporting their side, and slamming the other. Today’s Key Question: How do you think through tough issues like these? What are your suggestions on how to serve others with COVID, climate change and other areas in our lives? That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing We just looked at today’s question, let’s look at Today’s Key Point. It is always 100% up to us as individuals. Everything from exercise to relationships to how we are governed. Not 50%/50%, or 75%/25%–100%. Always. First of all, we are the only entity we can control. Second, to the extent that we say that another entity is respons

Introduction The question about when and how to open America back up is not about the Constitution vs autocratic politicians. And it is not about supposed medical sanity vs COVID deniers. There are only these two questions here.  Today’s Key Point: Can there be crises, COVID-19 or else, that legitimately prompt governments at the various levels to move to limit personal freedoms? Are the various governments permitted under the Constitution to restrict those freedoms? That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing I’ll start with my answers; yes to both. And not only are governments allowed to limit personal freedoms in crises, but they must–they have an affirmative obligation here. The key is whether or not the authorities at the different levels will want to keep the power they took temporarily, or keep it forever. A sniff of power can be intoxicating. As in Orwell’s book, 1984, a dystopian totalitarian warning, governments that want to seize and keep power must have an e

Introduction The National Football League has been around since 1936. Even after 84 years of in-depth college athlete drafting experience, players chosen with precious No. 1 picks can fail miserably, and others who were completely ignored in the selection process can wind up in the National Football League Hall of Fame. What can we make of COVID predictions, predictions made with dramatically less confirmed data and shakier models than available prior to the annual NFL Draft? Today’s Key point: What do we do with rapidly changing and often conflicting COVID prediction models? Because we must do something. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing The National Football league is a multi-billion dollar business. The NFL draft is held each year, and is central to each team’s success–or failure. Scouts follow college players from their college Sophomore years (or earlier), have vast amounts of film on all the games played by each targeted player, and have copious amounts of detaile

Introduction Paraphrasing the overworked “Think outside the box.” cliche.  Today’s key point: Everyone has a box, a box where our thinking, politics, beliefs, biases, etc., live. And fester. Unless we constantly work on getting outside of–and staying outside of–our boxes, we will stay in them, embracing others who are in the same or similar boxes, and dismissing or even hating those in other boxes.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Using the word box as the metaphor is useful. A stunning number of us have our thinking and beliefs taped up in a box, a box that is impervious to anything new getting in. But all metaphors break down at some point, this one breaks down because our boxes are made of a magic, one-way material. Nothing new can get in, but all sorts of things can come flying out. And those of us infected with in-box thinking have no idea that we are indeed afflicted with this disease. Quite the opposite; we believe that we have it all together, and the oth

Introduction “It is a lot harder to create income and wealth than it is to spend it.” -Will Luden. We all know that from our daily lives, e.g., which is harder; earning and saving money for vacation, or spending it while on vacation? And this observation about earning and spending lines up nicely with common sense. The https://revolution2-0.org/killing-the-golden-goose-ep-44/ (Golden Goose) is our American capitalist economy, an economy that is by far the largest and most successful in the history of history. Hundreds of millions of people over 300 years worked long and hard to have created this robust income and growing wealth. COVID-19 is causing two massive spending-related responses, one more worrisome than the other: The approved and planned spending bills have either sanctioned or contemplated everything from free money, including direct cash payments and indirect money through rent and mortgage deferrals, and suspensions of loan repayments, to almost everyone in the US, with a couple trillion or so

Introduction Today we are talking about the World of Change. Note that I did not say “New Normal.” Life is always changing; change is the only constant. There is nothing new about change, so I am going to pass on the “new” term New Normal. Change is normal; there is nothing new about that.  What is changing? Are you changing?  Today’s Key Point: The corona crisis is giving us the opportunity to live better, and to live in a way that helps others. Are we doing that? Are we even willing to do that? That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing This is a perfect time to remind ourselves that the core, driving principles at Revolution 2.0, are: https://revolution2-0.org/responsibility-lessons-from-desert-pete-ep-85/ (Personal Responsibility); take it, teach it and, Be Your https://revolution2-0.org/am-i-my-brothers-keeper-2/ (Brother’s Keeper). The answer to the biblical question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is a ringing, unequivocal “Yes.” There is no other answer. Let’s take some cue

Introduction What should be the strategic goal that we want to achieve in educating our youth? Try this one on: The best pre K-12 education with the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars. And those dollars should go equally and freely to homeschooling as well as traditional public schools, charter schools and private schools. That’s what Revolution 2.0™ desires. What do you want? Today’s Key Point: Home schools, charter and private schools, all make public schools stronger.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing My eldest son, when I was talking to him about how many of us have by necessity joined the homeschooling crowd, said that he was very recently admonished for having used the term “homeschooling.” The person correcting him said that since not everyone has a home, the proper term is “online education.” Forgetting the obvious, that if you don’t have a home it is unlikely that you can get online, homeschooling is a very appropriate term: it is schooling that is done at home.

Introduction In the new corona world, Americans are beginning to ask how to balance lives vs. living and livelihood. After all, we accept that we must balance that equation elsewhere–why not with the coronavirus? If we wanted to reduce the annual slaughter on our highways, 37K died in 2018, we would take the max highway speed back limit to 55 mph. With 30% of those deaths alcohol related, we could make the penalty for the first DUI a year’s license suspension, and the second a lifetime forfeiture. But we don’t. Cars killed 740 bicyclists that year, but bike lanes with barriers are virtually nonexistent. As a society, we frequently balance cost and convenience vs. lives.  Remember concepts like “No man is an island.” and Six Degrees of Separation? Where do we draw the line between threatening the lives of others, and living the life we want? That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing We do indeed make frequent and constant trade offs between cost and convenience on one hand, and

Introduction How long did the sea of American flags that were proudly and defiantly displayed post 9/11 last? Will the friendliness and kindness that is cropping up here and there in today’s corona world last? Or will the “Me first, forget you.” thinking seen in our politicians, the hoarders and the large groups of people who seem utterly unconcerned about their being a part of spreading COVID-19 be what prevails when we get through this? Which part of our national character will appear and dominate? Which part of our individual characters will take over?  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Let’s start with a repeat of the truth that crises do not build character, crises merely reveal character. People who help others in a crisis, or those who choose to be selfish, did not become that way because of the events at hand; they were already that way. The event simply allowed their character to be revealed. So, how does the underlying character get created? Faith, family and friend

Introduction What are we doing? As individuals, as communities, a nation–and a world?  “Never waste a good crisis.” is often quoted as an example of how the most cynical among us can take a disaster, and use it to advance their own careers–and to benefit those who share their political beliefs. Has anyone given thought about how we can use a crisis to everyone’s benefit? This brings up today’s question: What are we doing with the corona crisis? Are we using it to advantage ourselves and to club our rivals over the head, or are we willing to dig in and find ways to use this crisis to make us better, stronger and more united than ever? Whichever goal we focus on is the one we will get. Whichever goal we feed.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing One of my favorite stories goes something like this: An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil

Introduction Both are born of ignorance, fear and a desire to be one up on, to be superior to, our fellow human beings.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Most of us have seen photos and videos of people wrestling over packages of toilet paper–some even actually fighting over them. And all of us have seen stills and videos where racism shows it’s ugly head. Is there really a connection? If so, Will, what is it? Let’s take a look at some of the facts and motivations behind these activities. On average, one person goes through two rolls, at most, of toilet paper in a month. That means that one 30-roll Costco bundle would last 15 months. To the best of my knowledge, no one has run out of TP. If they had, one or more news outlets would have featured this “human suffering.” So, why do people fight over something where there is no pressing need at all? Here is a list of the reasons: Overnight TP went from being a joke product, an item that was occasionally used to decorate t

Introduction The corona crisis has been called a test of our national character. I am calling it a test of our individual characters. As we as individuals and families react to the coronavirus pandemic, are we thinking of ourselves, of others, or both?  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Everyone can be infected; the serious consequences are concentrated on those over 50 years of age. If you take the recommended inconvenient precautions, you take care of yourself and others. If you do not, because of laziness, ignorance or selfishness, you endanger others.  Politicians are fond of using the phrase, “The most vulnerable among us.” meaning the poor, sick and needy–then announcing taxpayer-funded programs to help them. In these corona days, that phrase, the most vulnerable among us, means those at greatest risk from the virus. And we can all help them at no cost beyond personal inconvenience.  So, Will, do we have any individual responsibility to others not to spread the v

Introduction We may pretend that either we don’t know which sort we are, or that we just know that we are in the good groups–but we all know the truth, whatever that is. One way to determine the truth is to take a look at the five people we spend the most time with, and ask the Giver or Taker and Producer or Depleter questions about them. And be honest; don’t try to skew the answers, knowing where this questioning is going. Once we have the answers about them, we have the answers about ourselves. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Very early in my Silicon Valley career, I became the department head of two combined departments in a publicly held software company, totalling about 45 people. The company was shuddering its way through layoffs, and the other department head had been sacked. In my third week in this position, I was given the order to lay off 40% of the combined department. I was told that it needed to be done at the close of business that Friday, and that the la

Introduction “Young people are not coming out to vote.” “Hillary Clinton did not inspire voting in the way that Obama did.” “In off-year elections, we expect to see reduced voting.” “We expect to see about 55% of eligible voters coming to the polls in this presidential election year.” In round numbers, there are 330M people in the US, 230M of voting age, 150M registered voters and 130M who bothered to vote in the 2016 presidential election. Why so few? It takes less time to vote than it does to do a load of laundry. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Caution: This is not a get-out-the-vote podcast; this is a get-out-the-well informed vote podcast. And by well informed, I mean thoughts and opinions that are grounded in facts, honest and in-depth analyses of contrasting and dissenting opinions–all formed in the crucible of non agenda-based reasoning. One of the principles we believe in here at Revolution 2.0™ is that with every right, in this case the right to vote after q

Introduction I received my first bank loan when I had no credit history to speak of, no credit cards and no idea what a credit rating was. Oh, and no collateral. The banker, from National State Bank in Boulder, CO, came to my 2-bedroom cabin west of Boulder, saw a few loudspeakers I had built, interviewed me, and decided I was a good credit risk. Assuming that he wanted at least some form of security, I eagerly offered him the title to my ‘66 VW bus, which I had purchased used for $600 a few years prior. “No thanks.”, he said, “We are lending you the money personally.” The banker was white, as am I. As was just about everyone in Boulder. Would he have lent me the money if I was black? Would that have tilted his view of my character and prospects? To avoid even having to address such questions, the lending industry has turned to an all-numbers approach to lending. Must that be the end of giving consideration to character, drive and potential in lending money, or in business decisions in general? In our diver

Introduction America needs the Democrats to nominate Bernie Sanders as their candidate for President. Many other countries have tried socialism, some failing, others modifying it or retreating from it altogether. The only so-called successful democratic socialist countries are not socialist at all; they are free market countries with heavy income redistribution. We must have a national debate about socialism now, and a presidential race is the best forum for that needed national discussion. If we decide to implement democratic socialism, we are going to either “Feel the Bern” in the positive way the slogan implies, or we are going to “Feel the Burn” indeed.  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Here are the various Sanders’ positions the national discussion must touch: “America is racist from top to bottom.” In general, the further left you go, the more you will find this belief. Do you believe that America is racist from top to bottom? Do we want a president who believes that?

Introduction American stock markets fell 15% in just a few days, one of the worst weeks in history for the markets. More cases of the virus are appearing in countries around the globe, many with no known connection to travel to infected countries or visits with people known to be infected.  Is this a repeat of the Spanish flu where millions were killed globally? Are we headed to a major recession, or even a repeat of the Great Depression of 1929?  That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing Let’s start out with the core of what is happening: The economic damage will be widespread and will take months to resolve. But it is the very steps that need to be taken to contain the virus that are causing the economic harm. For example, China, a source of much of the world’s finished goods as well as necessary components, correctly shut down entire factories and whole cities. The same with another example country, South Korea. And both countries represent strong consumer bases, and much consumer

Introduction Paraphrasing Marine Corps Colonel Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson, in “A Few Good Men.” as Jessup was being cross-examined in an important military court martial. The Colonel was making the case that his questioner, Lt. j.g. Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, who was demanding the truth in this climactic scene, could not handle the truth if he heard it. I am making the case that perennial activists, here in the US, in the Middle East and elsewhere, while demanding justice and peace, can’t handle peace. It simply does not fit into their plans. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing The activists I am talking about are either professional activists, e.g., the leaders of Hamas in Gaza, or dedicated amateurs. These activists are not looking for solutions, resolutions or the peace that would come with the implementation of a solution; they want the rewards, money, fame, approval–all of the above–that comes with their continuing oh-so-public public activism. I am no