Beating The System

Everyone wants an “Edge” … wants to have “a Leg UP” … wants to Beat the Odds …

In fact, we will go to any length – even lying, cheating and stealing when the chips are down – to “get our due” … and, preferably more, wherever possible.   

“In 2007, gambling activities [in the US] generated gross revenues

(the difference between the total amounts wagered [and] "winnings"

returned to the players) of $92.27 billion in the United States.”

Wikipedia

“The biggest impediment in all online dating is the dishonesty …

the inaccurate picture given by misleading answers to a questionnaire …

the inflated job descriptions, the 10-year-old photo … “

Belinda Luscombe quoting Paul Oyer [Time August 18, 2014, p. 52]

Check It Out

“Why America Loves a Con Man”

By James Surowieck

[Reader’s Digest, 09-2014, pp. 120-123] 

So, what’s the primary driving force behind our relentless bent toward “Beating the System”?

 

I suggest two core elements:

1.    We’re not particularly fond of authority (seen as “System” enforcers and perpetuators associated with oppression and replete with “Special Interest” hidden agendas, thus, we feel “justified” in bending the rules as far in our favor as possible);

2.    Behind a backdrop of “Standing Our Ground for Freedom” (but rarely in front of it), we are, at the core, manipulators; it’s simply who we are and what we do!  The minute we learn the power of “No!”, our mission as manipulators becomes patently obvious and ingrained. 

Elements that reinforce a BTS orientation include:

1.    We’re “Special” … and, thus, entitled to anything we can “get away with”

2.    It’s the most “sporting” thing we can do:

a.    It requires no special equipment

b.    We compete on our own terms

c.    It showcases our cleverness

d.    Potential risks are seen as trivial compared to potential gains

e.    There are no rules … other than those we make ourselves  

Wow!

How “cool” is THAT? 

As it turns out, there are multiple ways to Beat the System.  We can attempt to Beat the System either constructively or destructively ... either objectively or subjectively ... for either immediate gratification or delayed gratification … with abandon or with discipline.  

Food as a prime example [NOTE: A lot depends on which system we’re trying to beat]:

In the kitchen, grocery store or restaurant, one can “Beat the System” by:

1.    Creating/purchasing/ordering the most delectable, highest caloric and most decadent selections possible (consequences be damned … after all, we’re making the rules here!);* [In this case, we’re fighting the “System” that says ‘Eat your vegetables’] or

2.    Creating/purchasing/ordering the most health-promoting and “enlifening” options.  While many would say there are nonesuch, this is where the constructive side of “Beating the System” goes into full gear, compelling us to experiment with whatever elements the “System” gives us to create the healthiest options. [In this case, we’re fighting the “System” that says ‘The greatest pleasure is the highest good.’] 

The results, of course, differ dramatically.   

Now, here’s the most sobering revelation: WE are part of “The System”.  In fact, we ARE “The System” most frequently in need of transcendence.  [The official list of human vices embedded in our “System” includes: Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Anger.  Talk about flagrant, overbearing, conscriptive, tyrannical driving forces!] The fact is that, given unlimited choices, we will almost invariably – to our great misfortune – choose that which pleases us rather than that which is “good” for us ... which, almost as invariably, results in health problems, legal problems, financial problems, etc., which, curiously, the “outside” system we so adamantly fight against is designed to help us prevent!   

It’s worth noting that the “Greater “System” has evolved over millennia to provide a framework for sustainable civilization, not necessarily to support every whim and fancy of individual citizens.  Some parts of the “System” we don’t particularly like have been put in place to keep us from tripping over ourselves and/or from undue imposition on or by others.  One might, thus, conjecture that the best way to “Beat the System” is to join it! 

Point to Ponder

Maybe the system is there to help,

and our biggest challenge is to make ourselves “helpable”?

[Whoa!  Who does THAT?] 

Without doubt, powerful cartels of special interests have found ways to ingrain and impose their own agendas upon, within and around “The System”.  (These special interests are only the most glaring examples of what we would do if we were in their shoes or if given enough latitude!)  However, as much as it gives one pause, it gives us some degree of understanding that “The System” can work and can BE worked ... it’s just a whole lot better if it’s done to everybody’s advantage.    

Finally, we have to allow that perfection of “The System” is yet to be achieved and we have to keep fighting to make it better.  This is more effectively done from within, although “breaking the mold” sometimes requires more drastic action.   

Point to Ponder

The US was not founded by a bunch of systems sympathizers!

However, these “change agents” were not trying to “Beat the System”.

They were committed to creating a new and better system.  

Further Point to Ponder

Civilization as we know it would have been impossible without the compulsion to better our own circumstances.  Those most responsible even found ways to channel the vices into constructive engagement. (Lust gave us laborers and consumers; Avarice created banks; Sloth brought us labor-saving devices; Gluttony gave us limitless food choices; Pride brought us excellence; Envy called us to better ourselves; and Anger provided righteous indignation against deplorable action and failure.]  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*SPECIAL NOTE on hypercaloric loading to beat the system: There are multiple “Systems” involved here.  Hunger is a “system” unto itself, and hypercaloric loading is an over-the-top way to combat hunger-driven deprivation.  However, another “system” involved here is the food industry.  The food industry is geared to generate maximum profits and will stop at nothing to separate us from our money – as we so willingly indulge!  The food industry is both ruthless and relentless in devising irresistible combinations of sugar, salt and fat.  [How about the newest sensation: Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger Delight!  http://treasures-by-brenda.squidoo.com/krispykremeburger]  When McDonald’s launched its McLean burger – giving at least a passing nod to those clamoring for more healthy food choices, it found sales were so anemic they eventually had to give in to what was selling best and give up on the McLean.   

“The McDonald’s Deluxe line [including the McLean] was a series of sandwiches introduced in the mid-1990s and marketed by McDonald’s with the intent of capturing the adult fast food consumer market, presented as a more sophisticated burger for an adult palate.  It failed to catch on and is now considered one of the most expensive flops of all time.” [Wikipedia]

Recognizing this new [old] reality of the marketplace, McDonald’s followed the demise of the McLean by launching a $200 million campaign advertising its successor – a triple bacon double cheeseburger.   

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alternative Strategies May Be Important:

“US [soccer] teams have been run with the implicit understanding that they rely on hustle because they aren’t skilled or schooled enough to play straight up with elite teams.”

Jürgen Klinsmann, Coach of the US World Cup Soccer Team 

Other Examples

The US “System” for connecting the states involves an imponderable concatenation of roadways.  If you want to “Beat” that system:

1.    Buy a “hybrid” automobile ... a motorcycle … or a bike;

2.    Move your domicile to a place near your work and near a bus stop so you have options to walk, ride a bike or take the bus. 

Capitalism is driven by the capacity of Wall Street to create artificial needs through creative marketing – even to the point of portraying us as “losers” if we fail to use the right products or services.  Beat the System!  Define your own needs and let your own highest standards prevail! 

Be circumspect about which “System” you’re fighting, about who or what the real “demons” may be, and about your strategy for advancement.  If we get these elements on track, the “Greater System” will not seem so formidable … AND it will be unable to deny us our “due”.  Quartermaster

 

Affirmation

It’s what “Makes Our Day” …

the acquired, adopted or bestowed assertion that we’re OK ...

that we have value and are headed in a reasonably ”right” direction.

It’s what we live for – a sense that we’re “making it”.   

Life without affirmation is an existence without color or light or hope or possibility. 

However, it’s important to note that an affirmation is not an indemnification – i.e., a guarantee that we will be “held harmless” for any and all contraventions and contrivances, or an assurance that we have “paid our dues” or are “off the hook” for any future assessment.  It is a momentary and very fleeting assessment … something that allows – often demands – that we press on to even bigger and better things. 

It means that whatever we’ve done – so far – is good enough to keep us in the game.  It doesn’t mean that we’ve won the END GAME and can take home our trophy and sit on our laurels. 

Also important, an affirmation in one area of life does not automatically translate to cover ALL areas of life; an affirmation in sports does not necessarily keep one “in the game” of academics or business.   

So we have to keep acquiring affirmations to stay sufficiently in the game to keep acquiring affirmations – kind of a vicious cycle, if you’re a cynic … or a core tenet of success if you’re a narcissist.   

But isn’t that the way life works?   If we’re not getting our fair share of affirmations, we’re either doing something wrong or not doing enough “right” or are in the wrong group or business altogether.   

Easy affirmations are readily available.  Advancing to the next level in a video game can affirm one’s capacity to play video games.  And being able to acquire designer jeans affirms one’s capacity to purchase or borrow sufficient funds to pay a premium price for signature goods.  [However, the presumptive affirmation one may expect while wearing goods emblazoned with someone else’s name defies a certain logic here!]    

Gratuitous affirmations also abound.  Some would call them “flatterings”.  A former acquaintance used to go out of his way to capture people’s engagement by telling them what a nice tie they were wearing or noting the beauty of a scarf or necklace.   

Salesmen, marketing and advertising groups are notorious for gratuitous affirmations.  Credit card companies are particularly masterful and aggressive in affirming how much they think we’re worth! 

The constitutively needy and insecure require constant extrinsic affirmation/validation to function.  This can be a precarious condition, being exclusively dependent on outside forces for a viable sense of wellbeing – sometimes to the point of incessant preoccupation.  Perhaps this is why Facebook, Tweeting and Twittering have become so popular? 

 

Intrinsic or self-generated affirmation – i.e., the ability to generate one’s own sense of “self worth” [not to be confused with posting “selfies” on Facebook!] – is the gold standard of sustainable self-esteem and wellbeing.  Being “comfortable in one’s own skin” … even through difficult and uncertain times … is an integral part of an intrinsic affirmation profile. 

One can, of course, take intrinsic affirmation to an unreasonable extreme, becoming insular and ignoring valuable input from outside sources (including constructive suggestions and criticism).   Irrepressible egotists and geniuses – real or imagined – who are unable to tolerate the less amply endowed are thus afflicted.

Further afield, the ploy of the recalcitrant underachiever to belittle others in order to elevate himself or herself – thus artificially conscripting an aura of affirmation – is a despicable but not uncommon practice.  Political campaigns are filled with examples too numerous to reference.

Finally, the search for ultimate and more permanent affirmation through religious/spiritual engagement is a common pursuit, and one which often has uncommonly positive (Mother Teresa), but also uncommonly negative (Taliban) impact.   

So how do we deal most constructively with affirmations – understanding how essential they are to an overall sense of wellbeing, yet knowing the dual polarities they can have?

1.     Find and articulate your PASSION, your PURPOSE, then doggedly pursue it; you’ll be too busy to worry about affirmations and – surprise – your affirmations will find YOU!

2.    Ask: “Have I done anything wrong?”  CORRECT IT, then CELEBRATE!

3.    Ask: “Have I done anything RIGHT?” CELEBRATE!

4.    Small victories are victories, nonetheless; take them and run while building your castles!

5.    Do what you can – and KEEP DOING!  Mountains get worn down as you’re going UP.

6.    Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

7.    Understand that a worthy sacrifice is an affirmation unto itself.  Do not shy from giving up even significant things in order to bring about GREATER things.

8.    Get organized and clean up after yourself; you deserve it and you’ll feel so much better!

9.    Adopt an orientation toward “eventual surmountability”:

“I may be a lump of coal, as you see me now.

But I will not be stopped until I have become a diamond!”

[Source Unknown] 

BE good and DO good – for GOODNESS SAKE (!), and you will never be impoverished of affirmations.  Quartermaster 

“Do all the good you can.  By all the means you can.  In all the ways you can.  In all the places you can.  At all the times you can. To all the people you can.  As long as ever you can.” 

John Wesley

 

Manageability II

OK, let’s face it:

Most of the things that make life more “manageable” range from boring to downright unpleasant: 

·         Picking up after ourselves

·         Doing the laundry

·         Making the bed

·         Loading and unloading the dishwasher

·         Studying / Preparing a presentation

·         Grocery shopping

·         Preparing meals

·         Getting our exercise

·         Flossing

·         Getting up in the morning

·         Turning off the TV

·         Changing the filters on the furnace

·         Mowing the lawn

·         Walking the dog / cleaning the kitty litter box

·         Making the requisite phone calls

·         Practicing and perfecting our art (piano, guitar, vocal, painting, pottering, … )

·         Getting organized … and reorganized

Then there’s parenting, spouse time and extended family obligations …  

Is there any “manageable” way through it all?    

“That’s life!  Suck it up!!”

Taskmaster

“Onward through the fog!”

Henriette Seiterle

However, it doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom … and fog!  The way we view things makes a world of difference.  If we view all the stuff that makes life more manageable as burdens, then burdens they will surely be.  And it will always be a struggle to do burdensome things.

It’s a lot tougher to do what’s “good” for us than it is to do what “pleases” us.

But turn the kaleidoscope just a bit to get an alternative view and perhaps try a novel approach: 

1.    Make a game out of doing the necessities.  Above all, don’t make mountains out of mole hills – don’t make things look or seem more difficult than they really are.  Experiment with different ways of making the obligatories more efficient – or even perfecting the process or results ... making them both more interesting, efficient/effective and rewarding.  

2.    Try doing different things at different times of the day, either between more pressing engagements (i.e., for “therapy” plus a welcome reprieve) or at less pressing times (i.e., when you can more legitimately go into regenerative, “recovery” and reset mode). 

NOTE 1: It’s tempting, particularly for the OCD, to just get the unpleasant, mindless, chores out of the way up front and clear the way for more productive and rewarding activity.  It does work.  However, it’s been found that “sandwiching” mindless, low intensity activities between more demanding engagements provides valuable decompression and gear-changing latitude.  For those adept at multi-tasking, “sandwiching” provides a opportunities for strategic planning, problem solving, elimination of “writer’s block”, etc.  (Make a list!) 

NOTE 2: The physiology of the human being is not necessarily “primed” for tackling big rocks right out of the gate, and reluctantly doing unpleasantries doesn’t help.  Light exercise is sometimes the most expeditious way to quiet spurious “frazzles” and get the physiology adjusted for full engagement.  The person who can find ways to make exercise an integral part of doing chores has a great advantage!   

3.    Designate a specific “Time Out” … preferably when nothing more important or more pleasant is likely to happen or is allowed to interfere.  And maybe once-a-week or once-a-month is OK rather than once-a-day for some things.   

4.    Think of executing manageability necessities as “Powering UP”.  After all, you’re making life more manageable!  Seriously, if whatever you’re doing isn’t making life more manageable, maybe you really shouldn’t be doing whatever that is.    

5.    Engage in Productive/Instructive Self Talk.  Instructively guide the child within – the one who just wants to play and experience immediate gratification – about what it is you’re doing and WHY.  “We’re going to clean up the kitchen now so we’ll have clean dishes for the next meal … so we’ll be able to find what we need when we need it next … so we’ll not be stuck later dealing with ‘caked on’ residuals … and so we’ll avoid unnecessary microbial invasion, ants, mice, etc.“   

6.    Consider necessities as “Core Activities”.  Embrace the necessary!  You’re going to have to do what you have to do.  But you can even make life easier and more manageable by doing patently unnecessary things – like packing your lunch the night before!  Wow!  Who does that? 

7.    Be circumspect about non-binding virtual “obligations”.  “My friends/family/work associates ‘need’ me to do … ‘expect’ me to do … (instead of making my world more manageable.)“  Or not!  In terms of your engagement, others “need” most for you to have your act together.  They certainly don’t “need” you to go drinking, to movies, mall hopping, Tweeting and Twittering – else they are, themselves, too needy.  One can’t be governed by presumed “needs” of others.  NOTE: There could be an underlying insecurity here that begs some reflection: Do I need unreasonable reassurance of acceptance from my family/friends/associates, such that I have to be constantly at their beck and call?   If they expect so, that’s their problem, not mine! 

8.    Finally, just DO IT and don’t think about it!  Make at least some essentials a mindless, thoughtless exercise while you’re thinking about something else.  Put on your iPod earphones or invest in some Google Glass to surf the net while vacuuming, doing the dishes, preparing meals, etc., or do some quiet time high level problem solving.

SPECIAL NOTE:

For maximum "manageability", start big and more challenging projects early.  Big projects need a head start.  They need  incubation and “simmering”.  They require a substantial degree of ground work to get the boulders out of the way.  They need visioning and revisioning.  And they need collaborative engagement.  Building in contingencies and “Second Chances” up front is what consistent “Winners” do.   

 

Prepare to thrive!  Whatever else you do, be assertive in making life more manageable.     Quartermaster

Manageability

First Principle of Manageability

You can’t have it all and/or do it all – at least not all at once.

We CAN – and DO, however, all hope for better and wish for more.

And reasonable opportunity to DO and BE is essential.  The minimum one can ask is to have at least a “fighting chance” to make our best possible way in the world.    

But the real day-to-day, guts and grit operationality challenge of life is in keeping things manageable.  Not surprisingly, a lot of that is up to US – ourselves – individually – on our own.   

The usual admonitions pertain, of course.  Everything your mother told you has some enduring value:  Get organized, clean up after yourself, do your homework, don’t buy what you don’t need, put as much money as possible in your piggy bank, get the chores out of the way as expeditiously as possible, go to bed at a decent hour, and get up early enough to start your day right.  

Planning helps.  And strategic and tactical planning help even more – i.e., lining out not only what’s most critical to be done when, but how to go about DOING it.  [NOTE: This applies to recreational and regenerative activities, as well.  Rewards well earned are worth being well planned and well executed; don’t just let the very best of life haphazardly happen – or not!]  

A Really Simple Example

When loading the dishwasher,

put things in with at least half-a-thought on how you can make

both the cleaning better and unloading easier. 

(Whoa!  Who does THAT?) 

Nothing underpins “manageability” more than having a critical mass of CAPACITY … with enough reserve left in the tank after “givens” to deal with vicissitudes and exigencies. 

My daily 6-mile bike ride was made much more manageable

by first doing a 1-mile bike ride … then a 3-mile … etc.,

all the time increasing my capacity.

(Moving from a 3-speed bike to a 21-speed touring cycle

also made a world of difference.

So, having the right tools is a major plus!)

Owning or having access to a critical mass of negotiable SPACE is another core element of manageability.  This includes mental, psychological and spiritual space as well as physical space.  How’s your personal space inventory?  

Being well GROUNDED and having reasonable BALANCE are important.  How much wind can your sails take before your boat starts taking on water?   

And who can function at all well without enough TIME?  Be very stingy with YOUR time.   Use as much as you can to build capacity and get better grounded. 

MONEY may be the “root of all evil” when poorly managed, but, without it, things are a lot less manageable overall.  Proactively position yourself to compete where money is involved (and that doesn’t mean playing the lottery twice a day!)

SUSTAINABILITY is another core element of manageability.   A considerable amount – if not ALL – of what we do should have lasting value … preferably appreciable (expandable) value to help assure a manageable future. 

EXERCISE is hard to oversell.  It increases both physical and mental capacity, strengthens the constitution, enlifens the spirit, and “weeds out” superficialities and inconsequentials ... all of which makes life much more manageable.   

On the other hand, things that make life a lot LESS manageable are legion.  For me, they include:   

Donuts, candy bars, sugar-containing snacks and soft drinks, alcohol, mind-altering drugs, television, video games, fantasy and fiction, perseveration/procrastination, gossip, web surfing … [add your favorite “can’t live without it” indulgence here] …   

For maximum manageability, CONNECTION to a network of significant others who are mutually supportive can be extremely advantageous.  Such networks provide substantially expanded resourcefulness in addition to sanity-enhancing camaraderie, “reality checks” and endorsements. 

Finally, one has to allow that manageability can be overdone.  Having everything neat and tidy “in its place” may give obsessive-compulsives some peace of mind (oh, right!).  But if the stuff you need to keep life manageable isn’t readily accessible, it’s a marked impediment.  Stacking dishes upon dishes to maximize “clear” space (e.g., for improved aesthetics (?) and easier cleaning purposes) can actually make living life more convoluted.   

SPECIAL NOTE: When life becomes unmanageable, all is not necessarily lost.  Remember the First Principle of Manageability and consider the possibility that you may have to give something up.  Start with the easy stuff: television, partying, window shopping, joy riding, bridge club and other diversions.  But also consider more serious sacrifices, where needed.  Short of selling off the farm and entering a monastery, options may exist – or can be created – that, although painful, can at least buy time and slow the accrual of suffocating liabilities.  [During college, graduate school and the early part of my career, I gave up all non-essentials, including my first love, music.]  Intense monitoring and an early response will minimize the pain and keep life manageable to the most manageable extent. 

“The time to take all measures for a ship’s safety is while still able to do so.”

Admiral Nimitz

Codicil

How we make the most challenging aspects of life more manageable is becoming a pressing urgency.  Like poverty.  Perhaps by definition, poverty is unmanageable, but we have to keep trying.  And how about diversity?  Sunnis versus Shiites in the Middle East … Catholics versus Protestants in Ireland … Israelis versus Palestinians … “Manageable”, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.  But, at some point, one can only hope that the “beholding” can become broad enough, deep enough and sufficiently shared to bridge these unfortunate chasms of unmanageability.  Quartermaster