3 Minute Monday

Hi friend,

I’ve just got back from a sick week in London.

Recorded on Rebel Wisdom, the Lotus Eaters Podcast and Andrew Doyle’s show on GB News.

I also went to Jeff Wayne’s War Of The World Virtual Reality Experience.

You need to go if you have the chance, it’s outrageous.

I’ve been thinking about material success a lot this week.

Hustle & grind culture doesn’t really seem to have an end-point.

It’s not very cool to say you’re satisfied with what you’ve got.

In fact, I’ve never seen someone post online “I’m done with trying to acquire more wealth or material growth”.

Now maybe this because I’m looking at the wrong people.

But what seems more likely is that people don’t like admitting that they’re happy with their lot.

Or maybe they don’t ever realise that they are.

“Nah I’m good with where I’m at” isn’t a very celebrated achievement in 2021.

Mimetically, this encourages everyone to continue chasing more wealth, because it looks like everyone else is happy doing that too.

It’s like we’re gaslighting each other into believing that the endless pursuit of more resources is a good life-strategy.

There aren’t many places in modern culture for someone without blue-sky material desires.

It’s difficult to make a frugal heart look sexy.

Especially in a meritocracy.

But from how I see it, a frugal heart is a competitive advantage.

Let’s say that you will be 90% monetarily satisfied when you earn £50,000 a year.

And your friend won’t get the equivalent satisfaction until they earn £500,000 a year.

Who is in the stronger position?

Well from the outside, the person earning half a million looks more successful.

But there’s a huge difference in how much effort they’ve had to expend to get to the same level of monetary satisfaction as you.

If the goal of acquiring wealth is to make your life happier, more satisfied, more liberated and more comfortable, then should people who chase more wealth be pitied?

“How unfortunate for you to have all this money, and still need more.”

Money is a tool, not a god.

It’s a means to the end.

It HAS to be a means to an end, because if it’s not in service of something else, you’ll chase more money forever.

If it’s a competition, you’ll never win.

Millionaires are envious of the billionaires.

You are no less successful because your happiness arrives at an early point than someone else.

Let go of the chase as soon as you can.“Money is like gasoline during a road trip … You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations. You have to pay attention to money, but it shouldn’t be about the money.” – Tim O’Reilly

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MODERN WISDOM

I do a podcast which has had 20 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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This week’s upcoming episodes:

Monday.
Stephen Davis – a breakdown of the British Government’s cover-up of BA Flight 149 where nearly 400 passengers were captured by Saddam Hussein. Shocking, fascinating.

Thursday.
Not sure yet, maybe Darren Grimes on the challenges of aligning traditional values with a modern culture.

Saturday.
Stuart Russell – literally the man who wrote the textbook on AI discussing the dangers of superintelligent machines when we still can’t align their objectives with our goals. Real-life Terminator stuff.

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THINGS I’VE LEARNED

1.
​45% of Britons think they could beat a goose in a fight.

38% think they could beat a medium-sized dog.

18% think they could beat an eagle.

5% think they could beat a kangaroo.

I actually think that’s quite fair.

What I’m more concerned about is that only 66% think they could beat a house cat in a fight.

So 34% of Brits think they would LOSE a fight with a cat – an animal which literally looks like it was designed to be kicked over a fence.

This is why the communists are winning.

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2.
​Don’t take it too seriously.

“We’re clusters of chemical reactions that contemplate deep truths about the nature of reality” – Steve Stewart-Williams

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3.
​Everything gets framed by the press as systemic.

Philip Pullman recently got in bother for comparing online cancel mobs to Isis.

A man in Plymouth went on a shooting spree after posting online that he had struggled for years to find a partner.

Immediately this is framed by the press as a sign of white authors’ obviously racist beliefs or a deeply pervasive misogyny which runs rampant through male subculture.

Humans are so peculiar and idiosyncratic, by definition it’s far more likely that a person who does something shocking is an outlier, rather than representing a dangerous underbelly-group.

Or else if wouldn’t be such a rare occurrence.

Attributing any individual’s actions to this broader, conspiratorial mindset is simplistic and idiotic.

But it does get clicks.

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LIFE HACK

Pack A Lumbar Pillow For Travelling.

If you suffer with lower-back pain, maintaining a good neutral posture when travelling is crucial.

For some reason, airplane and train seats have been designed for turtles, rather than humans with spines.

A small lumbar pillow will help to protect your lower back and let you arrive at your destination without feeling like you’ve been in a fight.

It’ll fit in a backpack and weighs basically nothing.

You have no reason not to use this if you have back pain.

I actually have this one for travelling (£12)

And this slightly thicker one for in my car (13)
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Big love,
Chris x

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