The United States Of Entitlement

In the greatest political shock of my lifetime, Donald Trump is the president-elect.

Americans were angry.

Americans wanted change.

Americans wanted an outsider.

Americans were sick and tired of the status-quo.

Who Can Blame Them?

We all need change in our lives, right?

I can’t blame any of those nearly 60,000,000 people who were sick and tired of the status quo.

I mean, for years we have had to deal with:

1. Being the safest country in the world.

2. Having the greatest economy in the world (we have states that are in the top ten by themselves. 

Think about that).

3. Having the best university and higher education system in the world.

4. Educating 82 million students for free each year, K-12.

5. Having the premiere medical/research facilities on the planet.

6. Developing Obamacare, covering Americans denied previously, saving thousands of lives (at least for 2 more months).

7. An unparalleled opportunity for upward mobility (except to President, at least for women).

Wait, what was I talking about?

Oh yeah!

F*** this place!

I am sick of the status quo.

The same thing, over and over again, year in and year out.

F*** being the best country in the world.

I’m tired of it.

Our Unabashed Entitlement

We are amazing.

Take that as you wish. That can either be “amazing, yay!” or “wtf amazing.”

I LOVE this country.

I am so proud to be an American (and especially a white one the next four years. Whew!)

There are billions of people around the world that would love to slap the s*** out of 60,000,000 of you today.

You obviously have no idea how good you have it.

There is ZERO sympathy for you around the world.

Cambodia? Nope.

Russia? Nope.

Afghanistan? Nope.

South America? No. (that’s Spanish for no.)

Africa? Negatory.

Life being so amazing here and people still complaining is the root of the Western hatred around the world.

Everyone one else is looking at us going, “what in the f*** are you complaining about?!?!?!”

“You have everything, and you’ve had it forever!”

In fact, you have had it so long you think: 1. You deserve it just for being here, and 2. That it should be even better!!

WTF?!??!?!

Our country has become the 49ers. Things are amazing, buuuuuuuuut, we want them to be better. So we fire Harbaugh. How is that working out? (answer, not good, just ask Chip).

We have become Gavin Rosdale. We are married to hot ass Gwen Stefani, yet we need a little “strange” on the side. Something new. You know, not the status quo? How is that working out Gavin? Maybe if anyone gave a s*** about Bush 25 years later you would be better.

We are the spoiled brat with the Mercedes that wants the new BMW.

Even worse, we got the new BMW, but it was blue instead of silver.

Waaaaa!

My life sucks!!!!

We Are Becoming What We Hate

We are obviously losing our self-sufficiency, because we need Trump (God help us) to come in and “save” us!! “Help, help!! I’m only on a 14 person yacht!! Someone, anyone, help me get to the 25 person one!! Please!! Anyone!!”

What are we?

What have we become?

Or what have we been all along that we are finally seeing now?

We just elected an ego-maniacal jackoff to the position of leader of the free world.

The most powerful country in the world just “hired’ The Apprentice!!

I am not saying Hillary was the bees knees, but Trump? Grab them in the pussy? Build a wall? 

Monitor all Muslims, block them from entering? I would date my daughter if we weren’t related, Trump? Really?

Why?

Because we were fed up with the status quo.

Thank You Media

By using fear tactics to engage viewers with your bulls*** every night, you have actually gotten them to be scared. So scared in fact, that the most unqualified candidate in the last 100 years was able to double down on your rhetoric and win the presidency.

Why?

Because we don’t like the direction the country is headed.

And I agree.

F*** being the best.

Nice work America.

Joey

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How Bad Is It, Really?

Big day today!! Election day!!! Woohooo!!!

Everything that Trump says is wrong with America will be fixed starting today!!!

All of the things that Hillary says need to change will be better starting today!!

Yiiippee!!!

We can finally fix this horrible country we are living in and make it what it was intended to be: amazing!!

“Hallelujah!! Holy s***!! Where’s the Tylenol?” — Clark W. Griswald, III

A Time For Honesty

A horrible country?

Fallen from grace?

A shadow of its former self?

Is that us?

Is that America?

My Challenge To You

Take everything the news has been telling you. Everything the candidates have been telling you. This 

horrible country we are in. This awful time in America. The failed economy. The failed borders. Our safety. Our jobs.

Take all of those things and leave them on the TV. Leave them on The Socials. Put the phone down for a minute.

I want you to look at your life. Just yours.

Not the people you hear about. Just you, and your family.

How bad is it?

How is your health? Your job? Your home?

Is it as bad as they say it is?

Are you voting today because of what you feel and see? Voting for your life as you know it? Or are you voting because of what they tell you? Voting because of what Fox tells you, or CNN, or MSNBC?

If you take away everything you have heard the last 12 months and just looked at your life, your day to day, how bad is it?

It’s Up To You

Don’t let them tell you what you think.

Don’t let them tell you how it is.

Democrats, Republicans, media, any of them.

F*** them all. They don’t know you.

They want to scare you. They want you to think that you need them. That you can’t do it on your 

own. Both major parties tout small government, or big government. It’s all bulls***.

All they have said the last 12 months is you need them.

You need the government.

Your life sucks.

Your life has sucked the last 8 years, and it’s only going to get worse.

They Are Wrong

I know your life doesn’t suck. Why? Because you are alive and able to even read this. You woke up this morning. You are alive and can vote today. You are alive and will either be furious or ecstatic tonight. You can feel. You have emotions. That’s a beautiful thing. Things are pretty good. Life is pretty damn wonderful if you take the time to look. If you take the time to block out all the noise, the hate, the fear, the news, and especially the candidates.

Take some time and settle in to the peace and quiet.

Be grateful for the peace.

Be grateful for the quiet.

Be grateful for the breath that just entered your lungs.

The eyes you are using to read this.

The heart that is pulsing life through your veins.

The friends and family that love you with all their heart.

The friends and family that you love with all your heart.

Life is beautiful.

Take a moment to feel that today.

It’s going to be a hell of a day.

Just remember to ask yourself:

How bad is it really?

I’m guessing it’s pretty damn good.

Joey

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Prop 60

In case you don’t live in California, or aren’t paying attention to the upcoming election (besides the dumpster fire presidential race), this is Prop 60:

Requires adult film performers to use condoms during filming of sexual intercourse. Requires producers to pay for performer vaccinations, testing, and medical examinations. Requires producers to post condom requirement at film sites.

The Democrats oppose it.

The Republicans oppose it.

See! They can agree on something! They want their porn raw and dirty.

Finally. Working together for the common good.

Way to go everyone! Congratulations!

Condoms? Really?

I can only think of two reasons why this would be a big enough deal to have on the ballot: 1. Someone, somewhere actually thinks that porn stars are role models or 2. There are so many people in the porn industry that this is affecting a lot more people than we realize, or want to realize.

Number 2 is interesting, but I don’t have much to add. There are either a lot of porn stars or there aren’t. Who knows? More importantly, who cares? Unless you are one, or are looking for one.

Number 1 is where my money is. Porn star role models?

Just to be clear on my position (no pun intended), if your role model is a porn star, you need to worry about a lot more than a condom. Well, actually, wear a condom so you don’t reproduce. Please. For all of our sakes.

No matter how I look at it, I don’t understand how someone who has sex for a living is a role model. 

I know most of you reading this have seen some porn in your life, so let’s go to the extreme to make my point. Let’s just say, hypothetically, that a woman is in a scene where she needs protection from multiple “co-stars.” That’s your role model? Really? Do you really think you are going to take someone home, and when you are ready to “make sweet love,” you will reflect on the chick putting everyone’s everything “everywhere” and go, welp, if she did it, I should too! Yay protection!! Yay porn star role models!!

Is that the scenario being played out in their heads?

Jenna Jameson, my hero?

If she is a hero, why aren’t prostitutes heroes?

They do the same thing, but one is in private, and the other one WAY public.

I don’t get it.

What the hell is the difference between porn and prostitution?

Distribution

That’s it.

Weird, huh?

The only difference between porn and prostitution is distribution.

If don’t let anyone see you hump it’s a crime.

If you let everyone see you hump, it’s legitimate.

Does that sound crazy to you too?

If I were a pimp, I would hand out masks, film it, and put it on the ol’ interwebs. Then it’s legal. Then it’s legitimate.

Customers worried about other people finding out? Guess what? That means they are watching some low production value, dirty, prostitute porn. That puts them in no position to question what you are doing because they have to explain what in the hell they are doing.

If it is really any issue, wear a body suit, or something to cover everything except your twig and berries.

I don’t know why I am giving suggestions. I am sure you will figure it out.

They may need to wear condoms starting in a few weeks, but other than that, they will be legitimate.

Pimps and ho’s.

Ho’s and pimps.

You are welcome.

Yes on Prop 60?

Why not.

Joey

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The Adapt Or Die Economy

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Such a huge part of every election is jobs.

We need more jobs!!

“They took rrrr jobs!” — South Park

We need a leader that will help create jobs!!

Aaahhhh, silly dreamers.

Taxes and Tariffs? Do you really think that is going to bring jobs back?

They are gone because they are no longer necessary.

You may no longer be necessary.

It’s sad, but painfully true.

There are two options: cry, or learn/do something new.

The reality is your jobs are gone because they are obsolete. It’s either that or money. No matter what the taxes are, it will always be cheaper to have workers in South America or Asia, always.

You think a company is going to keep it real? Keep it American?

Please.

It’s all about input and output. How much does it cost to make our crap, and how much can we sell are crap for? Period.

The only jobs you can count on are the jobs that they can’t do anywhere else. The jobs that need to be here. The jobs of today. You know it is a “yesterday” job when it isn't’ here anymore. That’s hint #1.

Blue collar work? Tech from yesterday? Come on. Just because you had a job doesn’t mean that job should always be available. Be reasonable here. What did you tell your kid when they wanted to stay out later on a Friday night? Not an option. Same thing here, except the economy is your daddy.

Pretty sure cart making diminished after Henry Ford’s assembly line.

“They took rrr jobs!!”

I bet a lot of CD player companies hated the iPod.

“They took rrrrr jobs!”

Waaaaah!

Can you imagine if cart companies and CD player companies demanded that the government created more jobs in their sector? It sounds ridiculous, but it is exactly what’s going on here.

The Land Of Opportunity

What happened to us?

This is the land of immigrants.

The land of opportunity.

The land of inventions.

The land of hitting a dead end and finding a new route.

Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Rockefeller, Steve Jobs, Gary Vaynerchuk, Ben 

Franklin.

That’s us. Those are our people. Always keep moving, keep learning, and keep pushing.

Now we are the land of excuses.

The land of entitlement.

The land of waiting for someone to help us.

A reality check:

There are jobs that just aren’t options any more. Companies either don’t need them, or they need less 

of you to do it.

There is nothing wrong with that.

It is the way it has been since the beginning of time.

Mike The Caveman lost his job when Jenny The Cavewoman learned how to make fire easier. Jenny lost her job to Marco, the caveman that never let the fire go out. Innovation. Adaptation. It’s a wonderful thing.

As long as you are in the right mindset.

What mindset is that?

The Lifelong Learner

The world can only pass you by if you let it.

Can you imagine someone in a race just stopping? Then getting mad when they start losing?

That’s us right now.

It may not be you specifically.

Or for people with horrible grammar, pacifically, but there are a TON of people out there that are just chilling in the middle of the track, getting mad because they are losing.

Suckers.

You need to open your eyes and stop trying to hang on to what is comfortable. Is it easier to just stand there? Hell yes. But you are going to lose. It just happens.

Learn how to take your skills are reapply them. If you like renovation shows, you can re-purpose your skills. It’s a big job. It’s scary. But what are your options? Exactly. None.

Trumps is not going to save jobs.

Hillary is not going to save jobs.

There is only one person that can do that, you.

How?

The same way Americans have always done it.

Learning something new.

Developing skills.

Out thinking your competitors.

Busting you’re a**.

Move/relocate/migrate.

Remember, the goal is survival. Put your family in the best position to win. If that means moving, move. It is means going back to school, go back to school. Get your edumacation on.

This is the land of opportunity.

It’s manifest destiny.

Things are out there, and they are just waiting for you to go get them.

So go.

Stop being a p***y and get out there.

Now.

Joey

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Hillary Is 100% & 100% Wrong

I am voting for Hillary Clinton.

There is not a doubt in my mind that she would be a better president than Donald Trump.

Not that that’s saying much.

Hillary has had an amazing political career. She has been at the top of the political world for nearly 30 years, which is an incredible feat in-and-of-itself. Does that mean she would be good in real estate? Hell no, so why are we thinking it would work in the reverse?

Anyways.

I wasn’t planning on voting for Hillary 6 months ago, but I was not left with much of a choice.

Would you like fries with your burger? Or dog poop?

I will take the fries, thank you very much GOP.

So, How Is She Right, And How Is She Wrong?

I am going to focus on the disparity of wealth in this country.

She is 100% right that there is an issue with the disparity of wealth.

I live in the SF Bay Area, and it is expensive here. So expensive that some people cannot afford to live here.

This is all true.

What is Hillary’s solution?

Raise the minimum wage so people can live here.

Why?

What not move to a city you can afford to live in?

Move

We are a country comprised of immigrants. When did we stop migrating? The only reason any of us are here (unless you are a Native American) is because someone down our family tree wanted a better life and moved.

Where they lived was not providing the opportunities they wanted, so they went and found a place that did.

The history of America in a nutshell.

My family did it about 100 years ago. Sustaining a living was becoming increasingly difficult in the area of Genoa, Italy called Liguria, so they moved. I don’t mean they packed up and moved to a cheaper part of Italy. They packed up their lives, took a boat to New York and then a train to California. Ever since then, my family has been on a steady upward trajectory. More education, better jobs, more money, and more comfortable lives.

What if they had stayed?

Would we have a better life or a worse?

I am guessing it would be worse. Why? Because it was hard 100 years ago, then there was a war, then there was another one. Not a great recipe creating a better life.

Forcing your family to live in a situation that is a daily struggle is not fair to you or your family.

Paying $15 an hour is not going to allow you to live comfortably in SF anyways. It is more of a publicity stunt. It sounds nice, a couple extra bucks is better than nothing, but the city is still expensive as hell. It won’t even make a dent in the housing issue.

What is wrong with moving? Modesto? Fresno? Nevada? Nebraska? A place where you can work whatever job you are qualified to do and still live reasonably.

What are you doing to your family by forcing them to struggle in a city they can’t afford to live it? 

Why would you live in one of the most expensive cities in the world? What trajectory are you putting your family on? Is it going down? Or going up? You are the deciding factor. Decide wisely.

Figure out how much you can pull in, then find a place that allows you to live there. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

We have done it since America was just a wee little lass. Why would we stop now?

Change Jobs

I know you work your butt off. No one is denying that.

But are you working smart as well?

Are there other jobs you could do that would pay you more? Are there skills you could learn that would allow you access to better opportunities? Not just in your hometown, but anywhere. 

Remember, we are willing to move now. We are going to tap in to our history and get moving.

Are you trying to “move up the ladder,” get raises, increase your value to the company?

I am not trying to take away anything that you are already doing, but if you took a step back, are you really doing everything you could/should?

Ask yourself that difficult question. Get some “mirror time” as LeVar Burton says. Be honest with yourself. It could be a defining moment in your life.

Are you really doing what you should to get what you are complaining about? Or are you just complaining because it is easier than doing the stuff you should be doing?

Let that marinate for a minute.

No One Is Entitled To Anything

When did we start feeling we deserved everything just because we wanted it?

I want a James Hetfield (lead singer of Metallica), white, ESP, Snakebite guitar. I don’t have one. 

That’s not fair.

Should it be cheaper? Should ESP give me money so it is easier for me to buy the guitar?

Hell no.

When you put it in a different context, can you see how crazy that line of thinking is?

I don’t have $2 for a Big Mac, but I’m hungry. Should McDonald’s give it to me for $1.75?

Hell no.

What do you do? You go find a place where you can buy food for $1.75.

The job and housing market are the same thing.

You don’t deserve it live anywhere. Is SF cool? Yes. Is Manhattan cool? Yes. But so is Tempe, AZ. 

So is Colorado Springs, CO. So is Chattanooga, TN.

Stop wasting time wishing things were different. No one cares about you. Only you can make the changes in your life that get the things that you deserve. So get up and go deserve them. Put in the work. Stretch your comfort zone. Maximize your potential.

Can I get a hoo-ra?

HOO-RA!!

Alrighty then.

Get to it.

Joey

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Donald Trump Is Exactly What America Needs

I have to be honest.

It was hard even writing that title.

But I 100% agree with it. We need The Donald. He has been great for America and will continue to be so during this election.

I will even go so far as to say he is the greatest thing to happen to politics since FDR, maybe even Abraham Lincoln. In completely opposite ways of course, but just as impactful in the socio-political realm.

1. He has pushed politics to the forefront of conversation for months.

I was a political science major. I love politics. The combination of social dynamics and leadership involved in the political process fascinates me. The average citizen does not take politics seriously enough, but they have since Trump. And just to be clear, you can take something clearly and still be bat s*** crazy. I am just appreciating the fact that people are so fired up, so engaged in the political process.

Have you gone a day in the last 6 months without talking about politics, or at least hearing others’ conversations about politics? Has that ever happened in your lifetime? That’s a rhetorical question, I know the answer is no.

American citizens that have not given two s***s about politics are discussing it daily. They have the same views as you, they don’t have the same views as you, who cares? The fact that people are listening, contemplating, and discussing politics on this scale is amazing. That would never happen without Trump. Granted, Bernie is the left wing equivalent to Trump (but with actual strategies, none of which are bigoted in any way), which creates a similar discussion on the other side, or opposite side to be more accurate.

Polarizing figures are great for everything. Business, sports, television, everything. It forces you to have an opinion, it pushes you to react (hopefully only verbally).

Can you imagine baseball in the late 90’s without the Yankees?

The NFL without the Patriots?

Coffee without Starbucks?

They all force you to have an opinion. Trump forces to have an opinion. He is too extreme, and now too popular not too.

It’s fantastic!

We are discussing politics at a level I have never seen!

It’s beautiful.

2. Trump has been a litmus test for this country.

Have you ever had more clarity on the socio-political climate of America than you have right now? 

That’s because of Donald.

He says crazy s***, like he is building a wall, or he is going to kick out Muslims, block Muslims, whatever, and you say that’s crazy! Then you see rallies, blogs, news stories, and trends on social media supporting it. There are people supporting his craziest ideas? There are a lot of people supporting his ideas? Really?

Wow.

That’s my point. You wouldn’t have that “wow” without Trump. His ideas, his popularity, his huge or Yuuuge number of supporters has given you more clarity as to where we are as a country than ever before.

You may not like what you see, but at least you see it.

You need to thank Mr. Trump. If it weren’t for him, we would be in the dark about where this country stands on issues of race and religion. I mean, we had an idea, but this blows all of the sugar coating off of it. We can’t pretend it’s anything other than what it is, fugly.

I bet you had no idea so many people wanted a wall between Mexico and the US.

I would double down that you had no idea how many people wanted to kick Muslims out of the US based on nothing but their religious affiliation. You thought it sounded a lot like WWII propaganda from a certain, small-mustached, individual. Surprise!! It’s not!!! It’s a huge part of the USA, and in 2016!!! Thanks Trump!!

America

Admit it. He is pretty awesome.

He has given us more in the last 6–12 months than any non-President has in the history or the US.

That’s saying something.

It may not be what we wanted to hear, or what we wanted to see, but we are much better off now than we were a year ago.

Clarity is yyyouge.

Politics are yyyouge.

And we can think 2016 GOP candidate Donald Trump for them.

Thanks buddy.

I know that even you are surprised (whether you admit it or not).

Joey

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