I'm still trying to figure out why Elon Musk is being allowed to run amok through our government. And what you plan to do about it.
You are tacitly approving of him standing on stage and holding up a chainsaw, and making a mockery of the federal workers he's firing indiscriminately. You are condoning his nazi salute.
But those are just "simple" yet essentially harmful actions. His more nefarious ones that you are letting go include:
Creating a "department" that he claims to both not be a part of yet and also run, and whose acronym conveniently is an advertisement for his crypto coin.
Deciding what is happening at the FAA because of his personal beef with the administration in order to promote his own spacex company - while endangering all of us.
Telling us that we need to get rid of the international space station in order to go to mars - again a blatant promotion of his own private company.
He received a contract for tesla vehicles that went through no bidding process - and which serves to enrich him personally as the ceo of tesla.
He has already moved some official communications from agencies to appear only on the-platform-formerly-known-as-twitter which he owns. And again without any sort of formal process. And plans to move more agency information there and there only, for his own gain.
This is simply absurd. DO YOUR JOB and hold him accountable. He's an unelected person who is telling the president what to do. And profiting from those things. He's a foreign national to boot. He has no business doing all the things he is doing.
As Delon Trusk continues to assail our public servants, I noticed something.
Did you know that nearly 30% of all people in government service are former members of our military? And 70% of all federal jobs are defense and security- related businesses?
By volume of federal workers, here are the biggest departments:
Veterans Affairs ~19%
Army ~12%
Navy ~11%
Homeland Security ~10%
Air Force ~ 8%
Justice ~6%
Defense ~5%
So, in effect, by "trimming the workforce" (and seeing Musk holding a chainsaw is the absolute height of absurdity), they are both adversely impacting veterans AND essentially weakening our defensive capabilities.
And for some retired military personnel, there is a general fear that their pensions or other benefits may wind up being cut or delayed either directly or indirectly because of these cuts.
Now, the title of this post is about history repeating itself.
Let me start by saying that I am a "citizen archivist" for the National Archives (and will keep doing it as long as that remains available - who knows what might happen there?). I am helping to transcribe hand-written, cursive letters regarding Revolutionary War Veterans.
The thing about the Revolutionary War is that people, ordinary citizens, took up the cause to fight against the British. They did it because it was right. But it was understood they would get pensions and land grants for their service.
The war ended, and the new government sought to make good on this, and set up a program to give back to these soldiers. Except that being newly formed, it was complicated to figure out just how to do that. And once they started taking applications there was a fire that destroyed most of the documents.
So the soldiers had to wait longer still. Then, in 1818 - 35 years after the end of the war - they officially started taking information again, but it was based on testimony of the soldiers who were still alive and their families. Some were paid out, and some had to wait longer still.
The records I'm going through are from shortly before the civil war - in the late 1850s, another 40 years later - so now these pensions that were worth far less since it was almost 75 years later were going to children and grandchildren.
History repeats itself insomuch as the soldiers we have defending us are not really given their due. The VA setup we have now is inadequate, and in some ways not so different than it was after the Revolutionary War; soldiers suffered injuries that weren't treated properly and they weren't compensated for their injuries.
And yes, I am painting with a fairly broad brush. I just found it interesting that we put so much emphasis on our military, but the actual people in these jobs are mere commodities that are cast aside once their service is done.
The Chinese believe they have unlocked a solid state fuel to get us out of Earth's atmosphere.
For those not quite sure what that means, we use a liquid rocket fuel coupled with a liquified oxygen in a controlled explosion that creates thrust.
A solid rocket fuel would be something more stable and with an even greater control. If you remember the model rockets many of us had as kids, it's taking of like the rocket packs that were stable and safe we'd use to launch a rocket.
By the way, the article notes that watching Boeing's failure with Starliner helped jump start their plans.
Take a look at the article below. Essentially we are being warned by the CEO of Whole Foods that climate change will directly impact our food supply
Citing egg and dairy shortages over the holidays as an example, Buechel warned: "We're going to see that with more products within our grocery stores."
Buechel said it's critical that customers understand what's happening to food supply chains as warming temperatures cause extreme weather events to become more intense and frequent. According to Bayer's 2024 Farmer Voice Survey, more than 60% reported "significant revenue loss" due to adverse weather over the past several years.
"We have to bring some of these things to broader awareness so customers know these things are happening, which can tie back to climate change," he said.
On the outside, it often looks like people don't care about others. It appears that people are selfish. But if you take a closer look, you'll see that everyone is affected by what other people think and do. Let me give you a few examples:
The guy who's going to the gym for years and always thinks other people have bigger muscles than him.
The girl who's not going after her career because she doesn't want her friends and family to judge her.
The guy who's dressing in t-shirts because he's afraid of what his "bro's" will say if he expresses his true style.
The guy who thinks people will not take him seriously because of his accent.
The girl who thinks her followers will not approve of saying something that's controversial.
I can go on for a while. And I can't say I'm immune to these thoughts. We all care about what others think because it's part of our nature. Humans all have the drive to be accepted. That's called Belongingness.
The fact that we have Belongingness in our genes is because of natural selection. In the pre-modern age, humans who didn't have the need to belong to a group didn't survive on their own. To a certain degree, that's still true today. We're inherently social beings.
But things have changed: We're more mobile and we have better technology now. We don't need to be accepted by everyone anymore. Back in the day, you had to be accepted by the people around you. Now, we have more power. If people don't accept us for who we are, we simply move on. But how do you do that? How do you care less about what other people do? Here are a few things that have helped me.
Detach From Imaginary Groups
I used to love being part of a group. In high school, we had a cool-kids corner. We owned that corner and didn't allow people to join us. Being a part of that group gave you a false sense of power and status. At some point, I grew up and realized how childish it is to be part of a group like that.
Everywhere you go you have cool-kids groups: At the office, among your family members, in bars, clubs, on social media, YouTube, you name it. Everyone wants to be part of these imaginary groups.
These days, I think it's pathetic to be part of a group so you can be cool. It's all signaling and a cry for acceptance. As an adult, you don't need groups. You have your family, a few good friends, a career, a few hobbies, and that's about it.
Every time I see a group, I run. That's why I never became a part of writer or blogger groups. I don't have anything against other writers, but I don't have the need to be part of a group. Look, there's nothing wrong with seeking peers to exchange stories with. I like that too.
But under no circumstance must you attach your identity to a group — doesn't matter what it is.
Be Mission Driven
One of the reasons we gravitate towards groups is uncertainty. We don't have a set of rules for our own lives and blindly adopt any belief system we run into. When you join a group, you must adopt their views and beliefs by default.
Now, if those beliefs are already yours, that's okay. But most people changetheir beliefs so they fit in. In today's world, you don't need to fit in anymore. What's the point of fitting in with certain people when you know there are millions of people just like you?
Instead of being driven by your need to belong, be driven by your mission. If you don't have a mission, it's not something you create in an hour. The late Stephen Covey explained it as follows:
"A mission statement is not something you write overnight but fundamentally, your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life."
That last part is very important. Instead of measuring everything in your life by other people's standards (which is why we care so much about what others think), measure it by your mission.
Vision + Values = Mission
I've written a lot about the power of having core values. In this article, I share 8 values I live by. That's how I measure myself. This is not a new way of living. In fact, most successful people I know who are also happy are driven by their values. Howard Schultz, who served as Starbuck's CEO, and turned it into the cultural icon it's today, says this about values:
"I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values."
If you want to be driven by your mission instead of being driven by Belongingness, take the time to uncover your core values. But that's not enough. You also must have a vision for how you want to live your life.
When you know where you want to go (vision) and have a roadmap that brings you there (values), you're less susceptible to what others think and do.
So what if other people go out twice a week, buy designer clothes, have Lamborghinis, talk a certain way, have biceps the size of watermelons, or have legs that look like bread sticks?
And who cares if people don't like your work, don't approve your career choices, want you to become a doctor, or give up your dream to please them? You should care about your mission.
Don't Disappoint Yourself
A big part of Belongingness is that we don't want to disappoint people. This is a trap that kind and thoughtful people fall into. I consider myself a kind person but I don't give a shit if others are disappointed because of my actions. Not my partner, family, friends, and certainly not strangers.
The only person I don't want to disappoint is myself. For example, when I catch myself telling a white lie, I'm truly disappointed in myself for not living up to my core values. When I don't live up to my mission, I correct myself.
The truth is that if people are disappointed by others, they are selfish. A selfless and satisfied person will never be disappointed by another person. After all, if you don't need anything and don't expect anything from others, how can you be disappointed? My philosophy is that if you're disappointed, it's your problem, not anyone else's.
Close Relationships With Good People Is All You Need
My ideas come from Belongingness to family. I have great parents, a loyal brother, and a few close friends who I talk to weekly. That's the only Belongingness you need. In those cases, it leads to less depression and suicide.
If you don't have that type of group; create one. This is a matter of biology. I understand that there are people who prefer to be alone and not belong to any group, but that's not what I'm talking about in this article.
To be clear, trying to belong to shallow groups so you can feel better about yourself is bad. Creating a family or group with people who support each other, is essential to your well-being.
We must respect our genes. If our ancestors belonged to groups, we can't disregard it. But since the world has changed, our need to belong has started to work against us. We started caring about the opinions of strangers and people who don't care about us. Instead of letting those people influence you, gravitate towards people who you're deeply connected to.
What you'll find is that you don't need to be a part of other groups anymore. At that point, people will want to join your group.
