I really love this Membership!  Not only is this a tremendous breeding ground for success, it is also the largest culmination of like-minded people I've seen anywhere!  I've got to take my hat off to Kyle and Carson for this exhibit showing how the spirit in which they built this Membership could have such widespread and profound viral effect!  It is truly amazing!

This post features one of the many great writers and thinkers in this Membership.  She wrote a post on my blog (one of many,) and has been following the things I have been writing.  Her own blog and forum posts are always insightful and written with love for humanity.  I am honored to comment on her post.  The things she writes demonstrates impending success for her, not just moderate success, but wild success!

We live in a society that caters to "average":

"...not too tall, not too short, not too thin and not too fat. "Different" is suspect. Isn't that typical human nature wanting to be part of a tribe? Most people conform because they want to be accepted. They want to be a good societal fit. It's easier to be average. And, people are rewarded for that."

This is so true!  We receive great merits (or so we think) for high performance at our jobs.  Not only do people want to be accepted, they want recognition in the workplace and consider getting a red star next to their names for things like consistency, attendance, even how well they are able to operate the palm-reading time-tracking devices that is replacing the old punch cards at the clock!

They go to the company Christmas parties hoping to get that flat-screen television and other gadgetry.  This is where the people with the  most stars next to their names are recognized.  Who's going to be the Employee of the Month?  What about the Year's Top Employee???

Not me!  Never was, never will be!

What if you don't conform to these "norms?"  Did you know that you wind up on the FBI's Suspect List just by some of the self-empowering books you take out at the library???  Yes...they've got their eye on you.  Talk about educational things that would empower your peers...find out how long it takes before you get told to leave your personal "opinions" at home because you are ruining employee morale.

When you opt for an unpublished telephone number...and get on those "Do Not Call/Do Not Mail lists, the FBI takes notice of this too!  There's got to be something "different" about you that you have such preferences!  Sad but true!

Is it any wonder there are incentives in sleeping like the rest of the sheep in the fold?  Sheep that awaken are like wolves in sheep's clothing to the media, big business and other authorities that thrive on the dumbing-down of America to exist!

To be aware of this and to share this with others, to our superiors, is very dangerous...to them because it opens the eyes of others...to us, because we can have our income turned off without warning because we've raised the feathers in the hen house!

Here comes someone who comes along and puts a real good product on the market.  This product has the huge potential of crushing the smoking habit for many, many people!

You've now got legislators and the tobacco industry lobbying against these products!  Lawsuits and seizures ensue!  The FDA steps in and says that these products pose a threat to the consumer...and bans them!

Yet I wonder why the tobacco industry is experiencing record profits from sales???  I could go on forever with this but already have a growing post here!

There's Still Great Opportunities Out There For the Tenacious

USA still provides a healthy chance to break rank and break out of the status quo, as long as we succeed at it. Now there's the rub. We love heroes, and we also enjoy tearing our heroes down.

This is perhaps one of the greatest tenets of democracy and a free nation.  The problem is, real freedom comes with a price.  Many of us here Wealthy Affiliate know this!  During the time we are working at our success outside of the "norm," there's people all around doing what they can to pull us back down into the can with them!

Why???  What we are doing is not "normal."  It is unnatural.  We can't be doing this...It's unpatriotic!  Well?  There is an answer aspiring entrepreneurs...Just don't think too loudly.  Make sure the people you share your dreams and visions with will be supportive!  That's why I love Wealthy Affiliate and the Membership here!

This is it.  It's thumbs up...or thumbs down.  Unfortunately this has not changed since the days of the Roman Games!  Only a very few leave legacies...and find true freedom!

If you do as the Romans do, you will get what the Romans get.  Dare to step outside of that and you are in for a danger-filled adventure!  The important thing here is that all of us conform.  To find a true frontiersman today is very rare.  It takes a LOT of guts to move out into unknown territory.  It can get very lonely too!  This, of course, is more incentive to stay right there in that cozy little box!  It's too cold and frightening for most people.  Conformity (to the wrong group) is far easier and hassle-free!

All People Do is Work, Work, Work...

What concerns me is our quality of life. All people do is work work work. Europeans are much smarter at life than we are. I lived in Italy for a year and so appreciate that Italians they take time to live.

I just read an article in Time Magazine about the decline of America.  It shows how we've declined in education, technology, and a number of other things where we were once in first place!  My landlord has also been to Italy, the UK, Germany, and other European countries.  The United States, to them, is a big joke!  It's not that they belittle the people here, just that they would never trade places!

Yes...they do love us!  We provide revenue for them and it's just like taking candy from a baby!  Unfortunately, most Americans do not match the prudence of the average European.  I believe this, however does exist in the United States...in pockets.  The right kind of knowledge can and does, not only empower, but sets those who find it free...if they use it!

My landlord reports the same thing about Europeans.  They tend to have far more of a handle on life than we do.  They see life on a far more practical and sensical (to use an archaic term) way than we do.  They've not been dumbed-down as the American consumer has.

The social convention here in America is that it is an obligation to work for our money through wage labor.  If we get bigger and better-paying jobs, we are to show this by getting bigger and better, more expensive things...even if the old things are still functional.  We learn from necessary inference that it's alright to go into debt.  Everybody else does it and it's the American Way!

Unfortunately the American Dream is not reached by excessive, uncontrolled spending, though we are inclined to delve into such uncertainty thinking it will all take care of itself in the end.

But then comes the day when we can no longer work.  Our bodies fail.  Then the stuff we acquired quickly breaks down.  We can't afford those big homes and our cars fail.  We then wind up depending on our relatives and friends...and the government to supply our basic life's needs.

This kind of conformity only leads to those golden years after decades of grueling existence at the local workplace.  Trouble is, the gold in those years is fool's gold...old, tired and broke!  We regret that we are no longer of any use to society and wind up dead, living in nursing homes waiting to be buried!

Why, the wealthy do it!  Well, do they?

There's a big stupid difference between consumer debt...and debt service!  Most people are not aware of this...but the rich are!

And yes...Europeans tend to have more control of their lives...and therefore can enjoy more of it.

There's been a frenzy here in the USA to acquire.

People running up credit cards just to have the latest TV or iPhone, hot tub, gadgets. Gobs of things flooding our shores from China and other places. I know our economy is fueled by a buying public and we sure have a buying public.

One thing I've noticed for a long time...and that most people could shake a stick at...is that the vast quantity of the stuff out there on our department store shelves equate to brand new rubbish!  It's just too new to throw into the heap...but one thing China and other places love...is that American consumers are so indoctrinated to buy.

It's a real marvel how stuff can be made to look like it was made for the jet stream!  Those contours and lines...it's like being in that wind tunnel!  Many wouldn't even know what I'm talking about here.  It's how I see it though.  Problem is, these sleek designs can hide the crappiest pieces of brand-new rubbish!

It's not only an illusion...it's a delusion!  Simplicity and practicality doesn't sell very well.  It has to appeal to the consumer!  Yes...we all know that...  Ever notice automobile commercials?  It's those contours...what it looks like...a few fringe benefits...but the car on the road, handling the curves (Drivers, don't try these stunts at home!) Ahhh, the comfort and design!  Forget what makes it run and how long it will last!  This kind of practicality does not sell as well here as it does in European countries.

Don't even get me going about the laundry soap commercials!  Yes, I know most people see "clothes in the wash" with the miracle suds...but I see nothing but illusional imagery that most people can't see nor would shake a stick at

Remember the Nintendo cartridges?  Ever open one up and find the game hardware in the bottom one-third of the wasted space inside?  Did you know the Japanese versions of these games were about one-third the size?  American versions were made bigger and far more colorful...practicality doesn't sell very well and the Japanese know that by making them bigger, Americans would gobble them up and Nintendo Corporation make a HUGE profit!

Planned obsolescence  is as very much a part of the rubbish that makes up our consumer products as those sleek contours and infinite lines!

It doesn't end with consumer products.  We have some of the most unhealthy foods on the planet...and more of it!  Did you know that most people from other nations cannot believe their eyes when they see an average American restaurant serving of food...which is generally four times larger than those in their countries?

The portions we take for granted when we eat them will provide four servings for our counterparts living abroad!

Ever wonder why America comes in at number one for having the fattest population...and that people abroad think American consumers are just a bunch of pigs?  Sad but true!

OK...just another new one for those Strip That Fat campaigns!

So Jat, Let's Finish the Story and Moral to It...

What are are we producing? OK all of us entrepreneurs...it's time to produce something so that we can have more things to sell online. Let's replace all the mediocre to crappy products in the marketplace with value. Where are we going to make them?

Give our customers some REAL value...Educate them by giving them empowering information!  This is not to cease with the consumer products...that would be silly, but give them the best they can have for their money!

Thanks Jat for all the value and support you give to this Membership.  You are loved and appreciated!  This is true for many, many people who are or have been here!