Monday June 17, 2024
– First Quarter Moon Phase – step out, take action, breaking away, expression
– Moon in LIBRA – Void of Course 2:05 AM – 2:35 AM Moving to SCORPIO
– Retrogrades in 2024 –
- Pluto – May 2 – October 12
– Best Days (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – June 17th – – Mow to Increase Growth, Dig Holes, Cut Firewood, Wax Floors, Cut Hair to Increase Growth
– Planting Calendar (from the Farmer’s Almanac) – June 17th – 18th – Plant seedbeds. Extra good for planting fall lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, and other leafy vegetables. All aboveground crops planted now will do well.
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Year: – 20 ARIES: a young girl feeding birds in winter
– Aspect of the Aeon Sophia: (Wisdom): – Kali – The Destroyer
– Aspect of the Aeon Thelete: (Will/Desire): Ian, God of the East
– Sabian Symbol for the Solar-Lunar Month – New Moon in Gemini SUN/MOON – 17 GEMINI: the head of a robust youth changes into that of a mature thinker (EARTH – 17 SAGITTARIUS: an Easter sunrise service)
SUN – 27 GEMINI: a young gypsy emerging from the woods gazes at far cities
EARTH – 27 SAGITTARIUS: the sculptor’s vision is taking form
Happy Monday! Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther. ~JP Morgan
Back during the depths of the Obama Recession, I recall hearing more and more about a piece of advice in regard to gift giving.
“Spend money on experiences, material things are nice but experiences are the things that will make you TRULY happy!”
or
“Don’t spend money on things… spend money on experiences. You’ll enjoy life a lot more!”
If you google this or something similar, there are a lot of quotes. It was featured in a Wealth book by Ziad K. Abdelnour called Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics. I did not read this book (or any like it at the time). It was published in 2012. But I remember it clearly.
At the time, I was paying attention to the affects of the financial doldrums we were in the middle of. I had lost my JOB due to the recession. And the affect on us was not pleasant. We never had money to go out to eat. Gifts at Christmas were significantly reduced. We managed. But there was definitely less.
The recession hit everyone hard. SO many restaurants and stores went out of business. People’s lives shifted. It was the time when the word “staycation” came into vogue for people taking time off work and just staying home and doing things together.
Google AI describes it this way:
Some say that experiences can be more enjoyable than material things because they offer more variety and novelty, and they can be shared. Others say that possessions can lead to comparisons, and that people can adapt to new things over time, making them less exciting. For example, someone might be thrilled with a new car until a friend buys a better one.
or another article from Forbes in 2021:
With all things in life, there is no guarantee that you will always have a good experience. You may very well return from your epic vacation to the Brazilian rain forest with saber-toothed monkey lice, shit happens. But nine times out of 10 you’re better spending your money on experiences and other people than on yourself. You’re much more likely to have genuine, fulfilling happiness as a result. So remember: You want be happy? Stop buying things and start buying experiences!
My take on it was a little bit different. I noticed these “movements” spreading in the midst of financially depressing times. The administrations (and their greater organization of apologists) in power were doing anything and everything they could to explain it away or to pretend life and the economy were not where they were.
Call it a lie.
Call it propaganda.
Call it a desperate attempt to stay in power.
My vote is mostly as desperate propaganda. First to stay in power. But even larger is that it is effort to hypnotize the people of the west in the march towards Marxism.
The Specter of Communism
The western world won The Cold War back in the 80’s. This was primarily seen as a war for freedom against collectivism. The Berlin Wall came down. The USSR broke up. The Eastern Block of Europe opened up. The Wind of Change swept across the continent and around the world . . . kind of.
Since the late 1980’s, I believe that the “softer” version, called Socialism has spread. It sounds better. But we must always remember that even Marx stated that Socialism was just a pathway toward the end goal of Communism.
Most of the EU countries have embraced levels of Socialism that would have been unheard of at the end of WW2. And the spread has been a part of a cultural war that the Marxists would call a revolution. They have convinced a majority of the world’s population that they are better off in the hands of a collective government that will take care of them.
It has been well planned and well thought out. And here in the US, where our political and social way of life has been based on a more Capitalist system, the plan is working. There was a poll conducted in 2019 among millenials that found 70% were likely to vote for a Socialist candidate.
Thanks to the last 30+ years of Critical Race and Critical Climate Theory. This is thanks to Common Core in the last 15 years – which required a complete change in all curriculum to help teach to a new test (magically developed in advanced by left leaning think tanks.
Come 2019, it is no wonder so many of the new voting youth were supporting Bernie Sanders.
Back to Experience
The point I began with in telling about the spending money on experiences ties into the leftward push. It is part of a greater “reeducation” of our population. The message was clear that they want to teach the youth of the world not to want things and personal possessions.
Collecting of wealth is an anti-socialist notion.
Fundamentally changing our country (the expressed goal of the Obama administration) involved changing the way a capitalist population thinks. Teaching them to want and expect less (easy to do when they weakened the economy and put so many people out of work – and thus poorer).
This effort was but one little change implemented by said administration to move us leftward. In my estimation, a brilliant one. Unnoticed by most of the somnambulent population. But the death by a thousand cuts requires these little cuts.
Call Me a Hypocrite
I point out all of this, but then look what this year has brought to my owl life. May and June a big gifting times in our house. My birthday is at the end of May. Father’s Day follows in June. With 10 kids, a lot can happen. In looking at the gifts I have received, I feel most lie within the experience category.
- My 14 yo son joined with his sister to get us tickets to see the Phillies next weekend. Not a cheap trip by any stretch of the imagination. But he has never experienced a live baseball game. It will be epic!
- My 34 yo son is taking me to see Hootie and the Blowfish in Hershey in another week. Never say no to a concert.
- I received a couple cases of craft beer from various other kids. Something I would never buy for myself, but plan to enjoy.
- Two gift cards to Home Depot for gardening supplies. Technically this would equate to Things and not Experiences. But I will let you know that it has already given me hours of entertainment. Didn’t get me the new lawnmower I needed, but lots of plants and mulch.
Part of the Marxist plan worked. There is value in the experiences that we have. The lasting memories that we share.
But I have to say another thing. When we had more money, we had even more experiences. Longer vacations. Money to go out to eat. Money to pay for services that would free up time to experience more.
And no matter what the lefty sociopaths want to say, there is nothing wrong with earning money. Saving it. Spending it on what you want. And without the perception of guilt for enjoying the fruits of your labor.