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

Twitter

Snapchat

iTunes

YouTube

Facebook

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

Twitter

Snapchat

iTunes

YouTube

Facebook

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

Twitter

Snapchat

iTunes/Soundcloud

YouTube

Instagram

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

Twitter

LinkedIn

Youtube

iTunes/Soundcloud

Snapchat

Instagram

The Only Chance The GOP Has to Stop Trump

 

I am only writing this blog because I was down-voted enough times to be collapsed on Quora.

 

I think it is hilarious that ANY answer to who the GOP would need to beat Trump would get down-voted. We are talking about DONALD F'ING TRUMP as the GOP candidate for the presidency! WTF!!?!?! It's not like I put Mickey Mouse, even though MM is just as much of a character as DT.

 

Anyways, this is what I wrote. I thought it was good:

 

I can only think of a couple people who could come in at this point and unseat The Donald, and they would be long shots, but that's what is needed right now.

 

I think the only way to end this whole Trump fiasco would be to bring in
another non-politician.

 

People who are voting for Trump are anti-establishment, whether they are correct or incorrect in those sentiments. Having an establishment member like Romney lash out doesn't really do anything, because the people voting for Trump are going against the establishment anyways, so who cares what the establishment thinks. If anything, it's giving him more credibility. "Look, the establishment hates me too."

 

I personally think the media guides people to think things are worse than they really are, but that's just me. If I were in the Mid West or Flint, things might really be messed up. We are pretty
insulated out here in the SF Bay Area.

 

So who in the hell can come in at this point and take out ol Trumpy?

 

Who would that be?

 

A celebrity of course.

 

A fireball for sure.

 

Someone that can get people real fired up, and real quick.

 

I know the perfect person.

 

The Rock.

 

Yes. THE Rock.

 

Imagine that. I think it would actually work. Remember how fired up Arnold got everyone at the National Convention in 2004? It was awesome.

 

If you got The Rock up there, all 6'5 260 of him, eyebrow raised, looking
in to the camera, and saying "What's the Democrats candidate's name?

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HER NAME IS!"

 

"CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE GREATEST NATION IN THE WORLD..... IS COOKIN'?

 

Holy shit! That would be amazing.

 

Sound crazy? Who gives a shit, Trump is the nominee. Shit's already gon crazy baby!

 

Jesse "The Body" was governor of MN.

 

Arnold was governor of CA.

 

Ronald Regan ("Ronald Regan? The Actor?)" was president.

 

Trump is nominee.

 

The Rock running against Trump is not all that crazy (when I put it like that).

 

He is conservative, which the right wing needs.

 

He is not the establishment (except the Hollywood establishment, I don't think that counts).

 

He's huge.

 

He could take a picture on a horse with his shirt off like Putin.

 

What's not to like?

 

He's a stud.

 

He should run.

 

That would be the only way the Geriatric Old Party could get Trumperdink out of here.

 

The Rock for President 2016.   

The Electability Of Donald Trump and Our Fat Ass

Donald Trump, meet Our Fat Ass.

Our Fat Ass, meet Donald Trump.

You may not think you two have that much in common, but you do.

I know what you think I am going to say, “Donald Trump’s an ASS!”

Nope.

The thing Our Fat Ass and Donald Trump have in common is they both got here relatively the same way. We saw them enough that we got desensitized to them, which meant it’s ok that they stayed, and voila!! Donald Trump is THE candidate for the GOP and our ass is fat. Fantastic!

Remember the first time your jeans didn’t fit?

Remember when Trump said he was going to build a wall? (actually he said the best wall. He builds great walls, so I’ve heard, mostly from him) He was going to keep all the crime ridden, rapist Mexicans out of the U.S.?

In both of those situations you were appalled.

In both instances you thought, “What the hell are you doing here? You don’t belong.”  

But you didn’t do anything about it. You thought they would go away.

You knew they were still there though. You looked at it day after day.

Yup, still there.

Yup, still don’t like it.

But you still didn’t do anything about it.

“It will go away. It has to. It doesn’t belong.”

Then something weird happened. You got used to it being there.

Maybe it’s not such a fat ass?

I am just big boned.

It happens when you get older.

Maybe he could be the president?

You justified it to yourself. You didn’t want to make yourself feel bad for allowing it to be there, so you made yourself feel that it was ok that it WAS there.

The news says I should be angry.

I AM angry!!!

The news says we are losing the war to ISIS.

ISIS!!

THE MEXICAN BORDER!!

RRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

We need change!!!

I am so unhappy!!!!

The news is so bad every day!!! Things must be terrible because David Muir says they are every day! The world is falling apart!!! America is in shambles!!! That’s what they keep telling me!!!!

TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT!!!

MY ASS IS PERFECT!!

SO WHAT IF MY CLOTHES DON’T FIT!!

SO WHAT IF HE SAYS NOTHING IN HIS SPEECHES!!

3,2,1

Boom.

And that’s how it happens.

You become desensitized. Actually, you become sensitized to not so bad, and desensitized to bad.

It becomes ok.

You love drama. You love to be stimulated.

Your life is boring, so you find your stimulation on TV, on your phone, on the internet.

Guess what? They know you like to be stimulated. You love cupcakes. The worse the news, the more stimulated you are. Truth? Eh. We can bend that. As long as we get viewers, we are good. You love drama, and that’s what they give you. You eat it up. Cupcakes, cheeseburgers, bad economy, America falling apart, we aren’t safe, pizza, shut down the borders, everything. You eat it all up and don’t even realize what you are doing. Instead of changing course you tell yourself stories to make it ok.

“I’m not the model body type.”

“I am happy being thick. More cushion makes my man happy.”

You aren’t thinking about your health, about your quality of life.

“The Mexicans are going to take our jobs. They are raping and killing people.”

“ISIS is practically living next door.”

You aren’t thinking about the health of the country. You are voting for a candidate that use hate speech and fear. That’s who you want to lead the free world? Of course you say no, but you are still voting for him. You are not disgusted any more.

He has the full support of Putin.

PUTIN!!!!!!

Are you guys retarded?

I bet his campaign posters will be used for the campaign posters for ISIS. “Trump in ‘16”

“Well, he is a successful business man. He will make good decisions.”

He makes the “decision” to do his hair like that every morning. Think about that.

It Is A Perfect Storm

The news and media sensitizing us to fear the things that aren’t there. The desensitization to The Donald being president, that he will solve these “problems” that are completely blown out of proportion (and don’t think the same thing isn’t happening with Sanders. That is equally as ridiculous).

We are being spoon fed our own shit. “How does the ice cream taste?”

Not only are they telling us it’s ice cream, we are telling ourselves it’s ice cream.

Do we even see what we are doing?

Turn around.

Look at your ass.

It’s huge.

That’s not ok.

Please do something before it’s too late.

Talk to you soon,

Joey