Romantic Extensions of Art | Reading of Moral Armor CH6P4

Romantic Extensions of Art.I’ve heard criticism against the use of animals as the subjects of art, with the argument that art uplifts Man and should exemplify Man alone—and I don’t agree. Why are wild animals so often used as symbols? The strong, proud stature of an eagle, the power and agility of a tiger, the alertness of an owl, and their total confidence show us beings who act on purpose and without the concept of doubt—a moral dilemma provoked by religion and altruism’s undercutting of Man. What emerges for our contemplation is an entity acting consonant with its own nature. We extract the virtues we can practice in human terms, just as we do from superheroes. Art was created by Man forMan of course, but its subjects can cover all of existence and beyond, to the limit of what a man can dream and project.

Along this line, sometimes we run across products that dramatize the deep thought and care that was put into them—products that have the grace of art and preform exquisitely—so well designed, they bring a sense of glamour to their use, accenting our view of Man in the process. I consider them extensions of art, falling into a few main categories from least to most significant: 1) Products of all kinds, from disc players to hammers to furniture and appliances. 2) Automobiles and other forms of transit. 3) The architecture of dwellings, factories, parks and all other human environments. 4) The structure of a human being and human action—its physical style and style of thought, its health, beauty, elegance, tact, class and poise. 5) The structure of human institutions—their profitability, their timely pursuit of endeavors and their accomplishment, the interwoven psyche of top-down conveyance, motivation and coordinated action, and their stability and long range effects.

Man himself and his utilitarian creations cannot be classified under the strictest definition of art, as they do not serve the primary of contemplation. But they approach art, being as beautiful in form as they are in function, and personally, I get the most satisfaction from active participation involving the objects and entities I prize. I’ve always sought the most artistic surroundings as the medium for myself to become worthy of; be they cars, places, companions, or ideas. While photography is not classified as a primary art either, I find most of my visual inspiration through it; in periodicals covering exotic cars and locations, glamorous people and events. Though I grant romantic significance to sculpture and indulge the rare opportunity to enjoy it, I’d take People or Playboy Magazine over a museum pass any day (looking at mummies doesn’t make my heart race). Perhaps this is just youth talking, but in my view, the most beautiful and successful people standing still or in motion are the attributes exemplified in sculpture anyway. In theater, I prefer the wholesomeness and intellectual depth of old movies. Notice the poise of actors and actresses in the sixties; the flowing poses lost in modern productions. Look at the musicals where half an actor’s value was in motion and song, not just in memorizing lines or hostility. I miss the days when every perceivable facet of an actor’s being was honed into art; when it was truly a profession. We looked up to our heroes in a much deeper sense then, as there was so much more to grasp and value in their conduct. It was a projection of the human ideal. Imagine what a man’s bearing tells you of his character when he stands straight, looks alert, speaks clearly and moves decisively. The use of Man’s body expresses his sense of life. The use of his mind reveals his worth. As an actor or an observer, his response to romanticism is a window to his soul.

We need a romantic release to renew and refocus, as we travel our own roads of self-actualization. Such excruciating effort is draining, and to have a chance to feel the state of arrival at one’s ideal is all the motivation we need to stay the course. Literature is the most important, as nothing beats an explicit explanation of romantic premises, though I find music the most accessible: exaltation in four minutes or less! Literature requires a much greater investment in time. Notice we can’t sit around in a state of euphoria for long however; nature requires that we top off our tanks and get back on the road. Those fully conscious of the virtue in their own progressive intent remain aware of this artistic link at all times, allowing romanticism to accent their every endeavor. It can be experienced any time one stays cognizant of one’s actions; being aware of choices and of making the rightchoices, seeing their cause and effect together, at the greatest range one cares to define. Though art by definition is put in the box of “selective re-creation of reality,” allactualizedhuman ideals have artistic value and emit the emotions of glamour, which those who work towards them, deserve to feel.

Many people exist in a constant state of intellectual and romantic starvation. I have found very few vents—very few works of art that could give me the release I needed. Deeply moving, meaningful pieces are rare, but they do exist in every medium, such as film, music, painting, sculpture and literature. There are enough to hold onto, and once you identify that ideals are contextual, you begin to see them and feel them, everywhere. At the most significant level, listening to Beethoven or James Horner’s Legends of the Fall, reading Ayn Rand’s works or studying Greek sculpture or paintings by Monet or Vermeer, are among the only times I feel compensated for my effort. Other means stair step down in importance, though are still very positive, such as watching a deeply romantic movie, driving and studying an exotic car, enjoying a desirable companion, helping those bright and eager to learn, looking at the city, the mountains, the ocean or just moving through the world, breathing fresh, clean air. All feed a romantic sense of life.

Art and Human Development | Reading of Moral Armor CH6P3

Art and Development.A romantic sense of life is first felt as a response to existence. It can then be felt with others, but as it is built on the achievement of independence, it can never be felt before. As our premises change, our tastes adapt to match the emotional content thrown off at any given time. As romantic art is a showcase for human virtue, its themes are universal. All men can identify the basic emotion conjured by a musical piece or a scene, but they vary widely in their estimation of its value. We respond most strongly to art that reflects the current depth of integration within us. As our depth of consciousness includes more than art, we pick the elements that suit us, and leave behind those that don’t. When a work of art reflects our premises without contradiction, we will wish to add it to our medium of life. As we grow, we come to value elements previously not understood, and move past an equal number of others. Art is an evolving confirmation, continuously rewarding a man for expanding the power of his consciousness.

The structure of music can be defined mathematically, as can sight. Both operate via electric impulses, but this is only a physiological parallel. One needn’t become a math wiz to enjoy music. What is considered pleasurable by a rational consciousness must exist within a certain auditory range. Music has the power to effect the emotions directly, as it rearranges the process of cognition to begin with the reward. It moves from sensate perception to emotional response, to appraisal, to understanding. Emotionsare mathematical as well—the moving sum of the process of cognition—a living, resonant answer to one’s experiences. Sound is a natural result of the motion of entities, emanating a state of harmony or tragedy to be picked up by those having the proper organ. In the nature of sound itself—of amplitude and frequency in the propagation of a sine wave—artists recreate the flow of life. Danger vibrates within a certain range of frequency, while its amplitude determines the scale of the danger. Tranquility has its own range as well.

Life experience implicitly indicates the harmonic resonance of every human emotion to Man. For example, a child can listen to a symphony and get nothing from it, as he has yet to develop the depth necessary to experience the emotions and concepts it intends to express. As he encounters them in life, he will come to recognize and appreciate them in music.

The Artist and the Observer | Reading of Moral Armor CH6P2

The Artist and the Observer.A romantic artist shares the reward of his own mental state, revealing his deepest images of our stature and our environment. What he has chosen to present in colors, in landscape, in words, in musical harmony or in form is what he has trained his senses to focus on—what he finds most significant. To the extent that an artist is rational, his work will reflect living values. His choice of subjects is guided by his acceptance of existential reality. His style will reflect his own cognitive power; his skill reveals the effort and devotion he brings to his values. The highest art properly integrates subject matter, technical skill and meaning, idealizing the useof Man’s perceptual and cognitive tools in the work’s every detail. As an artist and a man, he has the capacity to generate, to create new depth and new ways of positively affecting the senses and of impacting the intellectual and emotional pool of his audience. At its best, romantic art helps Man to recognize what matters most, leading him to find deeper meaning in the range of his vision. By integrating the most prized attributes of a work’s subject, the artist displays the order, structure and meaning behind moral awareness. The deepest and most moving pieces require the most pleasant concentration to enjoy, and it is proper that they be the most gratifying. Art is the most potent medium for exposing the essence of an artist’s character, as well as that of the observer.

A man’s sense of life determines his response to art—his view of himself in relation to what he accepts as possible to Man. All human beings take romanticism seriously. Their reaction to it, positive, negative or neutral, simply reveals the consonance or contrast of their accepted premises. From a consonant standpoint, listening to a symphony he might think, “This is how happiness or sadness (some particular emotion or cognitive action) feels to me.” Observing a sculpture, he might think, “This is my image of what a man should be and can be.” Watching a romantic movie he might think “This is how I want to feel about someone, and how I want them to feel about me.” Reading literature he might think, “This describes me,” or, “This represents my views.” When art is disconnected from the real world or our current possibilities, he might respond with, “If I had superhuman traits, this is how I would use them,” or, “If such a diabolical evil existed, this is how valiant men would fight it.” In acceptance, his ultimate response is, “This is a reflection of life as I see it. In worship of life, this expresses my tribute.”

Imagine observing the milky smoothness of a shapely woman’s statue, then to feel the startling contrast of touch to discover it’s marble. Imagine the tautness in the statue of a Herculean figure and itstexture, which comes as no surprise. The highest art always projects the strongest man, the most stunning independence, the most beautiful physical form and poise, the purest confidence, and the most concentrated purpose—attributes that serve the challenge of life, which we admire and wish to acquire. The next time you walk through a gallery, by holding the moral standards of life and comprehension as your frame of reference, the art—good or bad—will make much more sense. Devoted to human life, I care for only one style, which is the subject of this chapter. The Self-made pattern of cognition isthe means to create romantic art, as well as the means to achieve its projections in real life.

Self-Made Man’s Art: Passionate Expressions | Reading of Moral Armor CH6P1

He was an artist, and what he was, he was only through music.” —Immortal Beloved

Everyone’s life should feel like a sculpted work of art, and self-destiny is the name of the game. Those who seek exaltation by living means, will wish to experience and express it through every physical sense and their guiding power: the deepest, clearest, most tenaciously earned understandings and resultant emotions. Man needs to bring the deepest meaning of his life as well as his most profound and passionate expression towards it, into his immediate perceptual awareness. Since his struggle in the pursuit of values is lifelong, he needs regular spans of time where he can experience a sense of completion—the reward of his values having been achieved. Romantic art satisfies this desire. It shares the feeling of his goal’s actualization, and the experience serves as fuel to carry him further. The intention of romantic art is to uphold Man’s highest, to show him the reward for his climb—for his sparkling rationality, bravery and determination in the quest of life—meaning natural, organic life. Romanticism is a field of pure rewards for a life of challenge—the challenges of Self-made Man.

Imagine flipping through a magazine in a waiting room, and coming across a picture that you can’t take your eyes off. You may not know why, but you are drawn back to it again and again, until you have to cut it out and take it with you. That is the response provoked by the best of art; it extracts a deep personal meaning; a fascination with the emotions and attraction it conjures. Romanticism is a sanctuary for the best within us—where the results of our excruciating effort are loved, encouraged and fostered. It reflects the gratificationin living effort. The realm of romanticism is the projection of rational, reachable human ideals, stylizing every facet of Man and existence, every kind of thought, every shade of emotion, every shape of detail and the grace in action of all living things—whose subject matter is inexhaustible.

Every art form isolates a limited number of physical senses, eliciting cognitive stimulation and appreciation for the depth and range of each. Painting enhances vision, music enhances hearing, yet all streamline and stylize cognition. They are a treat for every sense they affect—a wonderful reward and guide for their correct use, making sensate perception a pleasure, honing in on the very joy of living. The most significant works of art convey the purest, cleanest motivations and share with us their deference for Man.

The Enemies of Self-Made Man | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P24

Self-made Man in essence, doesn’t often understand enemies, or how to have them. He doesn’t understand disrespect; he doesn’t understand the justification for negativity between rational beings—or what he supposes them to be. The nature of his own consciousness does not prepare him for the irrational. With his life’s focus on generating and directing his own energy, their plotting hatred, jealousy and parasitism is inconceivable; a complete waste of resources. He knows there is something very wrong with those who spend energy in this way. He sees their open or veiled abusiveness—a glaring sneer or a malicious cowardice, poorly hidden under undisciplined expressions—and still can’t quite believe it. The source seems abominable—so total a lack of self-esteem, that others become the roving temporary center of their attention, not to experience elation or hero worship, but for the exact opposite; to vent theirgreatest passion—the desire to hurt. Self-made Man doesn’t often understand the attack, or the motivation. The Fear-driven seem offended by his very existence; a malady outside his power to solve. Its only solution seems for him to stop being; a demand he would never approach others with.

His enemy in any context is his antithesis—the Spirit Murder. I recall being disliked and feared, because I could always see much more than such people wanted me to. Implicitly I knew we were enemies, through something I was willing to see and something they refused to see. It was our pattern of consciousness that was incompatible; it made us mortal enemies. The Fear-driven cannot handle life’s problems, so they cause others tension and loss, excommunication and violence. Conversation is refused: a point by point discussion would reveal their immoralities, so they avoid it or any other reasonable discipline, at all costs. Self-made Man can do nothing with the irrational; he can make no progress and find no happiness, so contextual isolation is the only solution. By habit, he isolates all forms of irritation and expands all forms of fulfillment; his cognitive pattern brought to social issues. His proper action in response to evil is to grant it no energy. He counters deception by stalling its pattern, denying the rewards expected by its use. He steps aside and lets their own poison consume them.

Typically, he dispenses with the issue of like and dislike, as he doesn’t care what such others think, if they think at all. His self-esteem is not subject to their opinion. He pays attention to his own desired inertias, especially when stifled by association with another. Ultimately, he does not preserve relationships with those who subject him to any form of insincerity. He conforms to no subversion and remains on the level instead; naming what must not be named. Watching them scurry is his payment for the burden of its endurance. He demandsthe natural freedom that all human beings require in order to function, just as he grants and fosters it in others. He demandscivility and the fostering of virtue, or removes himself from their path of destruction at once. When he is cornered with no chance of escape, he fights for his life—in premise as well as body—whether it takes place in a courtroom, or on the street. Death premises never get away with an uncontested acceptance.

As he approaches none with violence, he permits no such violation. Cognitive independence puts Self-made Man beyond the living need of parasitism, or any premise that leads to it. The disagreement of another is accepted, and respect for positions of authority over their realms of control goes without question. As long as his rights are not violated, no override is ever attempted. His response to those violating proper boundaries is self-defense, period—of himself and others—physically and spiritually. He views violence as a life-threatening insult, its initiation of which is never to be tolerated. When in danger, he counters force with the force necessary to stop it. Only those choosing force and its variants as a means of their physical and spiritual sustenance are the damned, neverthose who defend their right to life when it is threatened.

Sound Relationships: Living Our Sexual Fantasies | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P23

Fantasies.Imagine if you were to encounter some luminous being whose presence engulfs you in the warmth of his power—someone brilliant and mysterious, who answers an emotional need you had no way of expecting someone else to understand, awakening that special place where you hide your most secret passionate fantasies. What if he suddenly walked in and said exactly what you needed to hear, stirring you to feel so overwhelming a desire, that the only way to satisfy it is to just drop everything and leave with him, right now? We’ve all dreamt of such a romantic encounter. Who wouldn’t enjoy being swept away like that? But for the most part, fantasies exist hidden within us, tailored to our desire. As we grow, they advance in depth and complexity, becoming richer and more fulfilling in a positive exercise of our full imaginative capacity. Like being on a beach, we get used to the shallow water before venturing deeper, and the deeper we go, the more exciting it is—the more pride we have in showing our willingness to face and overcome our fears. We struggle in the torrent and dive deep into the peace beneath it—a feat only possible by challenging all that has come before. In our return, we ride the surf as its master, then rise to enjoy the warmth of the sun and the ocean swirling at our feet, recovering the serene calm of certainty. From the beginning to the end, our adventure of life is positive. We carry forward the knowledge that we’ve been to the brink and back, in many ways. We’ve lived the fantasy.

The advice of most the world is that “If we love each other enough, we won’t stray,” yet few achieve it without painful longing, especially in youth. Such is the longing for a greater knowledge and exploration of people—even of oneself. I can hear the rest of this mantra; “Worship one god and never invest in another. Serve one State and never honor another. Love one person and never experience another. Seek a dictator in every realm. Limit, deny and renounce yourself. Follow our rules. Suffer our fate.” I can’t settle yet. I’d rather take my chances and be honest. This is a struggle that through irrational guilt, pressures many people into premature commitments. It impedes collecting the knowledge and experience necessary in their pursuit to identify and find a true soul mate, someone who will reflect their deepest expression of vitality for a lifetime. Repression is a tax and by implication, without mutual freedom the relationship would become a tax. Ultimately, I hold a monogamous relationship as an ideal. I dream to have so pure and passionate a love for someone, that they consumeall thoughts of intimacy. But I know we may not cross paths at the same level of interest or development. As painful as it is, I would weigh her value to me, and if she needs to learn more or I do, I would accept it. With the few times in life that a romantic fantasy is realized, personally I would grant it to her as I would my own rather than lose her over it, see her miss out, or have her hide it and carry the burden of an unnecessary guilt. Given the nature of her value to me, I know her fantasies would be wholesome, as are mine—to experience an exalted facet or discover an answer—about existence, about herself, or about her capacity for an intoxicating interrelation. She can live these rare fantasies and enjoy me as the heart of her medium as I enjoy her, and leave this Earth fulfilled; not limited by me or anyone else. If we stay together, the net result is that she becomes more important to me as she becomes more complete, as I do for her. We’ve confirmed our relationship. We’ve missed nothing intellectually or experientially—we are certain about each other—and can grow old together, in peace and harmony. From valuable experiences, our individual sum grows. If we seek values constructively, the fullness of our satisfaction shows in our future response to life and to others.

People don’t have to be everything you’ve dreamt of in order to have a relationship, and you don’t have to settle down, even when they are. The possibility of spending one evening with an extraordinary person is better than never living one’s dream. When you come across critical opportunities in life, you must seize them and live your passion with no regrets. The fire of our passion does not just go out. It fuels us, or it destroys us. It must be managed; it must be fed.The pain of longing for a past experience is infinitely better than having to regret the suppression of desire. Live the fantasy. Die happy.

There is no point in questioning whether or not the slipper will fit, one day. Those lost feelings are meant as a rededication to what you are waiting for; given that you’ve identified exactly what you want. If you have, then the chances are very good. Such traits cannot be left to implications. If you are working to be the best you can be, then the right one and better experiences are still ahead of you; your love will not remain unrequited. Once found, if you continue to focus on the key elements which bring a relationship into existence, it can live forever—meaning indefinitely.

There is only so much time and so many people you can run across in your life, and so many more you will miss. The one you find may be right for you, but be certain that there are others. With 85 million singles in the United States alone—half the adult population—about thirty thousandpossibilities exist in every age group and major city. It is always possible that your heart can be taken by another, more passionately and more completely. What counts most is that the one you’re with brings positive feelings and experiences into your life, not pain, shame, distrust or anger. With a solid moral frame of reference, people can confirm for themselves what acceptable behavior is and what it isn’t. They can see what is sanctioned by life and what is damned. Just as we all draw in air to further our lives, most will gravitate to the wholesome, meaningful, civil path. In a morally aware, rational society, satisfying encounters will become that much easier to find.

Self-Made Man’s Relationship Perspective | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P22

Relationship Perspective.Given the current definition of a relationship’s successful end—meaning marriage—it’s true that most relationships don’t ultimately workout; but maybe we’re all looking at it wrong. Maybe they did workout. The concept of relationshipis a branch of step two—identification—which in this context can be defined as the interaction of individuals for a specific intent. The Self-made intent is spiritual fulfillment, as the Spirit Murdering intent is predation. As with other concepts, we have to work with the concept, collecting knowledge for its application through experience, and then move on for better relationships down the road. Relationships are the mediumthrough which we seek such fulfillment, not the goal in itself. Fulfillment is the goal, and like self-esteem, is tied to every interaction; another variablein life. Fulfillment indeed, is the socialequivalent of self-esteem. We should not seek to fix or solidify our associations with others. We evolve and others evolve in so many ways and directions over the course of a lifetime, how can we notexpect variation? How can we assume that our mutual development will flow together, and why should it? As in science and technology, we cannot and should not, commit to an outcome beyond our own vision. Like it or not, relationships will remain in flux, but with moral clarity, it will add—not to our fear, but to our exhilaration within them.

A perfect lifelong relationship with a soul mate may be ideal, yet most of us are in and out of relationships, hoping to find the right match. Out of those who do marry, how many actually found a soul mate? How many just settled for whoever was available and willing? There is so much to learn in life, I can’t fathom giving away the right to pursue knowledge, even if that possibility is presented through the person of another. Most live within a state of repression, and I don’t want to be one of them, which brings us to my ultimate relationship rule:

Warrior Note:Don’t plan for eternity until you can see that far.

Time is precious; there is no forever in the context of human life. The one you will be with longest is yourself, and your happiness is the proper focus of your thinking. Relationships are pockets of time, isolated from the world as a private celebration of life. They allend eventually, through breakup or death. The essential is to bring to them and extract, an equal amount of joy. A relationship isn’t successful because it lasts a long time, it’s successful because of the feelings it generates and sustains, and the growth and fulfillment it imparts to those involved.

In the simplest language, we establish relationships to be good to each other, and must commit to this for its duration. I’ve learned as much from bad relationships as I have from good ones, though they are never to be tolerated for long. As long as I wasn’t killed, there was something positive to carry forward—new facets or new armor. There are plenty of wonderful people out there who aren’t complete, ourselves included. Compatibility doesn’t have to be mathematically perfect every time; you learn as you go, trying not to repeat a lesson already lived. Even if you’re ready to settle down but your mate isn’t, there’s no need to push it, and certainly no reason to end it. For example, imagine as thanks for some activity in which you were involved, a business offers you one of their Lamborghinis for a day. Would you decline because you couldn’t keep it for thirty years, or would you experience its magnificence to the fullest, and then cherish the memory? Cedar Pointe is great, but you can’t take it home with you. Just think if the wonderful opportunities you’ve had to love and to beloved, were taken away. I have cherished and will cherish, every encounter. They have shown me how wonderful people can be.

Sound Relationships: Moving On | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P21

Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution.” —Mae West

Moving On.We owe it to ourselves to find the best person we can to spend our lives with, but what if there was someone even more perfect for us out there? Loyalty to a relationship should never be treason to our own highest happiness. It’s like driving an average car. It’s ok for a while, but then you find yourself saying, oohh, look at that one… and you realize it’s time to move on. Sometimes we outpace others as we grow in knowledge and experience, and our self-image follows; so should its reflection. Moving to higher values should never be the exception, but the rule itself. Still, with his kind of independence, a new relationship isn’t required to prompt him to leave.

Often, relationships end in dysfunction for behavioral reasons, which are the result of epistemological reasons—the thinking and patterning of those involved. Therefore, they can end for soundreasons and in a rational way. A Self-made Man doesn’t want to destroy his spouse or get even, if it is time for her to leave. She doesn’t want his energy. They are both looking ahead. As their central power is within them, they can afford to show each other the highest civil respect, by leaving each other intact. It would be nice to hear someone at the end of a relationship say, “I know your life is yours. I’m thankful for the time we’ve had, but if you feel there is something more for you out there, you owe it to yourself to discover it. We only live once; we have to make the most of it.” Whether they are making a mistake or not, whether their choice is prompted by intelligent expansion or by a blind, dissatisfied inertia is irrelevant. They own their lives, and remain free to see the world from where they are, and must learn all they can from that vantage point.

Often when we take on a relationship, we put ourselves on hold and get nothing done; a stress we bring with us. We are taughtthat we have to “give everything” in order to prove our love, which is the process of erosion. We pour all of our emotional and financial resources into the union, just to watch them walk off with it, or snub it without looking back. We suffer one ruined investment after another, until we shun cultural expectations and learn to keep something for ourselves. With reflection, we notice a steady return from our own interests, but from people, it’s hit or miss. We do so well on our own with development so peaceful and straight forward, that we have to wonder if the single life isn’t the better choice; but it’s hard to be alone, and the last thing we need is another dysfunctional relationship. Why isn’t the rational efficiency of our actions translating? At some point we have to question the contradiction, and find a solution.

Time alone is time for reflection on what went wrong, and how to assure success the next time. Self-made Man wants to be in love for real. He wants to knowhis mate is devoted to him and why. He must be wanted for the right reasons, reasons he respects. He has to know that he has traits that are valuable and worthy of love regardless; so that even when it doesn’t work out, he can move on to love again. He wants to be respected for what he can do; to see his honor acknowledged and rewarded, not to see it cause him loss or unjust penalties. Above all this, he wants to remain whole. By isolating and mastering every nuance of difficulty he encounters, eventually his power to have a good relationship grows to astonishing levels; emitting a maturity that becomes very valuable to others. For an active mind, time alone is just as priceless as time with a spouse. Why? Epistemologically speaking, alone, it’s the trunkthat grows. Like saving for a car, the longer you save, the nicer the car you can buy.

Alone, he will miss having someone to dance with. It will hurt to leave valuable talents and abilities idle. He survives by drawing love from the trees, from the wind and from all of existence—his first love. He loves the motion of his body, the sun on his neck, the wind in his hair and how free he is to do anything. Imagine the facial expression of someone who has met the love of their life, and is contemplating all of the wonder of their years ahead. Self-made Man feels that way about his first relationship (Man’s relation to existence). He knows it will be an extension, to feel it with his second (Man’s relation to another). But half the equation is sound, and he can live his life romantically at this stage. He loves the life he has designed, and all the activities that bring him pleasure. There are many forms of love, so he keeps love in his life by practicing the others. When he is alone, it is his purposethat saves him. As a human being, his self must be the center of his concern. His primary focus is to construct an efficiently running entity in himself, whose maintenance continues throughout any relationship. He has reversed dogmatic sacrifice in moral self-defense—the key to the solution. When he is properly in tune to his own projects, it is difficult to give time to others, forcing them to match the quality of his endeavor. It allows him to interface and court with no appeals, and no demands. At his busiest, he doesn’t even mind not having a mate; it’s irrelevant. One could last forever alone, with this style of living. There is no sense of compromise in his existence. He loves being alive, and it’s that much clearer that his next mate must be someone who values and operates at his level, someone who understands and pursues this pleasure as well, and won’t try to take it from him. When he meets her, life just gets better.

Warrior Note:One’s own living sum must advance uninterrupted, regardless of relationship status.

To lose invigoration for life is to lose the game, so he stays on course and achieves without her. He never again parts himself out by the incompetent code of sacrifice. It would be nice to turn his head and be able to look into another’s eyes, acknowledging the pleasure they are experiencing together, but no one is there. He feels a stab of regret; yet if he accepted just anyone, that would mean he could not conceiveof values, and there would be no accomplishments to admire and enjoy anyway. If he chose to compromise again as in the past, it would have the same result—the loss of self-respect, youthful vitality, and future promise.

The lone contemplation of ideals is much more satisfying than their violation and betrayal. Rather than endure a spouse who aggravates them, such phenomenal possibilities can exist untarnished, within him. There is a part of the brain that knows no difference between fantasy and reality—a proven biochemical stimulant—and his projection of ideals, however unreached, is a proper substitute. He doesn’t knock himself for not finding the right partner to enjoy every step of his progression with. He knows how rare his own soul is, and is willing to wait. When it gets to be too much, he accepts the pain. He never fakes reality. He doesn’t run, but looks right at it. He knows what he’s feeling and why. He knows his emotional medium is looking for a payment which he has earned, but cannot satisfy alone. His torture is a tribute to what it should be, and one day will be.

Long-Term Commitments | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P20

Who should be together long-term? Those who in unison, generate the most positive energy. In a proper relationship, the two work together, plan together and grow together. They are compatible if their goals match, and if neither requires sacrifice from the other. All decisions affecting both are made together, but long range decisions yield to the mind with the longest range. Both maintain their own financial responsibility, which is simply cognitiveresponsibility. Each makes their own money, and each controls that same amount. They remain independent together. He might say, “I have only one chance at this life. If I’m not free to live the way I wish, my spirit would die. It’s the same for you. You have dreams and desires, as I do. We both have a full right to pursue them. Mine are on the table: my dedication to my work, private luxury, travel, kids at a specific phase of life or none at all, and a priceless intimacy. I hope yours are on the table as well. If you’re sincere, I’ll use my resources to benefit us both. If not, I’ll have to use them to protect myself.”

They have seen the trauma of unhappy coexistence, perhaps in their parent’s lives, and are committed not to repeat it. No more domestic disputes or renounced dreams. No more shattered homes and battered wives. Just honesty, fairness and sound life-direction based on their mutual integrity. Together, they run through their mutual lifestyle interests subject by subject, to assure both are satisfied in life. Now is notthe time for compromise. Each states “I’d prefer to allocate X time and X money to this endeavor, (be it kids, travel, housing, or business), in order to preserve my core passions and their growth. This is the hierarchy by which I intend to live.” With core passions covered, the balance is negotiable. Neither tries to appropriate a share of their spouse’s capital for their own stubborn interest; they want in life only what they can independently sustain. Neither should burden the other with gifts they could never afford alone. They must be disciplined to wait until they have accumulated the virtues necessary to maintain a desired lifestyle by their own merit. No partner is to be shielded from cause and effect to consider money inexhaustible; it isn’t. Money is human energy, as is love. To waste either, or to spend it without the object’s appraisal relative to the expense of effort (and whose), is a pattern of poverty. No endeavor is pursued until the timing is right for both and the money is sufficient, which sets their mutual value hierarchy. As they move forward in life, each addresses new plans and acquisitions questioning what is most urgent or personally valuable to have first, and seeks fulfillment in the proper order. If ever they part, each is entitled to the share their investment provided.

Pursuing their own independent purposes, the relationship can remain what it is in the beginning; filled with exhilarating emotions, the anticipation of joy and the freshness of continually happening upon something special. On separate tracks yet running parallel, there is always an aura of mystery about one another. The nature of this distance holds pleasant surprises and newness around every corner. They think independently, retaining the unique perspective each brings to life, neither being limited by the interests or abilities of the other. Self-governed, they remain free to stay or to go, in a checks and balances system that keeps both rational and fair, reversing the snowball cycle of repression, to the exact opposite result. They are both a source of additional positive energy for each other, never an energy drain; the basic intention and benefit of living in a civil society. With constant awareness of each other’s value, their continual progression vents endless romantic appeal; and as a result, they court each other, throughoutthe relationship.

Relationship Conduct | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P19

Relationship Conduct.You know when you’re packing for a vacation, and you feel that almost unbearable sense of anticipation, where the adrenaline just streamsthrough every muscle? Feeling that exhilarating response, to me, I think is wonderful, and should be our emotional medium. What would it be like, if every day with someone became a stimulating pleasure, where fascinating things were always being uncovered, and exciting new discoveries come up, allowing you to maintain a sense of awe—for me, there is no better way to live.

As a woman, wouldn’t it be nice, to be with a man who treated you like a person for once, who didn’t act like a dog on a leash, tiptoeing around to please you, but someone strong enough to trust you, someone who can joke and play, and pin you down, when you deserve it? You know how the most significant relationships have always had the highest highs, and the lowest lows? It was this conflict, rooted in passion, that drove you to feel more than you ever thought possible, and pulled more out of you, than you knew you could give. The best are always a roller coaster, that volleys between a sense of total helplessness, and glowing, radiant safety; but always, a healthy flow of violent, clashing, compelling emotions, and if you look back to those times, you never felt more alive. With the knowledge and means of its creation, you can look straight into the future, and know what you are in for!

One point of clarity when he comes home is that someone is there who understands him. When she crosses his mind, any negative pressure from life is gone. Just thinking of her potentiality, an enormous weight lifts, and his faculty of sight, hearing and thought no longer bring pain. His senses can tolerate what they see, as the core and majority of his intimate emotional exposure is so overwhelmingly positive. He is not trapped in a thankless life, and she is his proof. Their sacred relationship is built and maintained on pure honesty—consonance with their feelings, open about their fears, supporting, stabilizing, and fostering each other for mutual fulfillment. Private time is priceless between them. Little is on his chest; he doesn’t need to talk about work. Work is like preparing a meal, a focused application of his tools. Self-appreciation is enjoying the meal and being nourished by it. Romantic relationships are the reward of life, the dessert. Seeing his mate should be the climax of his day. Along the food theme, he even appreciates seeing her eat; confident the energy it provides will be used morally.

Self-made individuals know they will never be “one” with another, and would never want to be. They know this poetic ideal is metaphysically impossible and are aware of its true intent, the exchange of independence for dependence. The entirety of their life is spent with only one person—themselves. They are thankful to have found someone who glides alongside so pleasantly. The pattern of life has them in constant appreciation of all forms of beauty; of anything and anyone who “has it right” in life. It is their ability to identify such values, which brought them together in the first place; a realm where they will readily connect with others as well. While a sound relationship is monogamous, they do not forsake interest in the value others may represent, or in discovering their own value to others. Flirting is legal; it can be an exhilarating learning experience. This does not mean that such an encounter leads to sex, nor does it sanction dishonesty. A Self-made couple is so focused on their endeavors, that no question of infidelity ever arises, or really matters. They’ve chosen each other to exist at the center of their world, and the deeper that world goes, the harder it is to uproot. We all like a sense of permanence uninterrupted, until we are ready to leave; but in a relationship, that choice and risk is in equal balance. The same values that he used to choose his mate, determines what he will find attractive in others, and there can be many. He in turn realizes there are other men out there that she will find attractive, and that he better remain competitive. Marriage is not a license for stagnation at any time.

Both take care not to get tangled up in the lives of those outside the relationship. In a sound relationship, man and woman are each other’s first social consideration. He doesn’t come to her looking for a relationship with her family and friends, and she doesn’t come after his buddies. Playfully encircling her waist, he says “To hell with everyone outside of us. We come first.” And hugging him she smiles, knowing how wonderful it is to be so mutually dedicated. With life being a puzzle, she fits just right in his arms; they chose each other for this reason. Together, they are a temporary reprieve from the rest of the world. It is their time to talk about their own goals and about shared experiences, independent of others. As their lives develop and unfold, this time helps them to stay on track, keeping their focus on what counts.He comes to her for reasons and standards of his own that she satisfies, and she recognizes that he is of equal importance to her happiness. He needs to know that he can touch her, hold her, stop her and just look deep into her eyes, anytime he needs to. No power struggle to gain an upper hand is necessary, and no one outside the relationship can come between them.

Sound Relationships: Sex | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P18

Erogenous zones are either everywhere or nowhere.” —Joseph Heller

Sex.It is said that men reach their sexual peak at eighteen. In my view, this is only true if their premises are wrong! Otherwise, it just keeps getting better. With deeper understanding, experiences are richer, fuller and far more satisfying. Sexual interest growswith the growth of one’s cognitive capacity, and such expansion is lifelong.

Have you ever noticed that with certain people, you just can’t seem to keep your mind on light topics; it always moves to more pressing things? You look at them, and you begin to dwell on more urgent needs. Your mind tends to wander toward other things you could be doing, and the thoughts may become overwhelming, but if you could just put that aside for awhile, and let it stir, the desire becomes absolutely explosive, and when you finally get what you’ve dreamt of, it is more satisfying than anything you could have imagined. Somehow, it’s an experience that makes all life worthwhile.

Out of every five hundred people you see, one is a millionaire, and even more rare is that once in a lifetime love interest, who could bring into your life, all of the passion, fun and adventure you’ve ever wanted, affecting you so strongly, you can’t help but respond. When you feel your heart beating in your chest and notice you’re breathing heavily, it’s a wonderful sign that it’s right. Your body always seems to know first. A lustful reaction to someone can be much more than physical, depending on one’s depth and their distance from one’s dream. Lust can be based on seeing someone’s wholesome useof sensuality. Tapping into the value behind the lust is the key. Our chemistry is strongest with those on similar wavelengths, and with the risk of honesty, such resonance can be deafening. There is a wealth of information in body language; the behavior of a girl with a crush, the glances reserved for lovers, the exhilaration of encountering someone worthy of fantasy, the motions and expressions she would make if you were touching her in the most intimate places. As a woman arches and curves her back, a man flares and is dominant, in a rocking, blinding, intolerable ecstasy nothing else on Earth can match. These are natural, gender-specific responses to sexual exaltation, properly guiltless, pure and beautiful in their grace.

A touch is a sanction of one’s being, so Self-made Man isn’t casual about it. He doesn’t go around hugging everyone; it is too personal and too important to be misused. He reserves it for when he feels a sense of incredible connection. Thinking of emotion as a liquid, we have deep emotional pools within us. With those we truly care about, we can relax enough to let down our barriers, and allow our emotional pools to blend, surrounding each other in a glowing warmth, expressing our capacity for truly devoted love and friendship. When he sees his mate, it’s as if there’s an aura between them, and the warmth of that connection glows, as the rest of the world fades into oblivion. It sends a pleasant vibration all through them, which is a physical sensation, driven by their comfort with one another. It is so much, just to sit close to her and feel that wonderful sense of acceptance, which turns into a great warmth, and the desire to be even closer, which becomes a pulling, pressing need to have every part of him as close to every part of her as possible. He thinks of her naked body in his arms, her lips on his, his heart beating so hard he can almost hear it, the smell of her hair, the anticipation felt by every inch of his skin, longing to be caressed, and she responds. The desire to give themselves to each other is the act of saying “Yes” in their souls—“Yes, this is what I give myself to, totally. Take control of us, of me, this is worthy of my total release; this is exaltation.”

Why is sex so powerful? It is the most potent experience of when joy is inflicted, just as a symphony isolates and inflicts the sense of hearing. Whether fast and aggressive or slow and torturous, it’s all good. Sex is the desire to impart to someone the glory of your passion for living—of how euphoric and speechless you feel about this gift of life. No matter what happens in life, nothing matters as much as the desire to positively affect by touch, that which you sanction, and every reciprocation is a gift for your skin to react to. The most intimate causes your stomach to drop as your body moves to face it openly, willingly, in full submission and acceptance of the highest emotions life has to offer.

These zones are nature’s way of leading Man and animal along the correct path. Our skin responds to a loving touch, just as a plant or a flower responds to the sun. Our spirits need fuel as frequently as our bodies need it. Sex is an essential means to acquire that fuel, being a celebration of life, our reward. Sex is the greatest opportunity to reaffirm our highest view of ourselves and of our mate, to sanction and bolster all we respect and wish to see furthered; to let them know we believe in them, that we need them, and that we stand behind their deepest fulfillment in all things. There is a vibration about all living entities, and lovers share a wavelength at the most important level. The resonating power of our mate’s body is one of our greatest healing tools.

The effect a Self-made Man has on a woman is wild. It’s as if being with him is a subconscious command to her body to bloom fully, and she does. Her reaction to him affects her metabolism, and her body begins to change. Her body knows, “this is it,” and begins to prepare; filling out just the way she always wanted, accentuating the hourglass that nature had in store for her. She gets flushed, and carries a radiant glow wherever she goes. With him, she captures the essence of the woman she has always wanted to be. It is how he looks at the world, and how he interacts with her, that makes her feel mature, independent, in control of life, sensually in love with herself and the world—confident in a way that is permanent. It is no different for him when she is Self-made in her own right. He learns what a woman truly needs, and she encourages his growth towards her image of Man and her own ecstasy; bringing them both to a pinnacle of self-esteem and mutual satisfaction; a pinnacle that can and should become a glorious plateau.

In my own life I want to give that special girl the same thrill I get, when I run my hands all over her beautiful shape; so I maintain a beautiful shape for her. I have seen that look in a woman’s eyes; the wonder, and the pleasure of the opportunity she feels she is being exposed to. And then I go on to be satisfying to every other sense she has. I want her heart racing when she thinks of me; I want her short of breath, of how full my lips feel on hers, of how safe and overwhelmed she feels, with my arms around her, particularly where the muscles touch her, the liquid tension, and the magic sensation of the pressure, of my fingertips, exploring every intimate part of her body, each one, independent, alive, with an unpredictable, thrilling plan of its own, outside of her control. A touch is a sanction of one’s being, and I wish to share that, every time. Our openness brings us both to think and feel that a touch anywhere—a shoulder, a hand, is an intimate connection, and that conjures a feeling of inner warmth, that leads into a much deeper need, to be satisfied. Enjoying such intimate sensitivity makes it very difficult to get through the day sometimes, if anyone happens to touch one of us at work.

For the Anticipation-driven, touching his lips to any part of her is a treasured span of time, lived only for that action. It is an act of worship. It is a sanction of what she is, through his desire, and a sanction of what he is, through hers. That is the kind of feeling to preserve for a lifetime. They want each other’s happiness, to just be, and love, and live with passion, and come together, for that emotional release that only they can give each other. True lovers are very comfortable with each other—they pal around, joke, touch, easily inspire romantic moments and are borderless. It is a perfectly comfortable, mutual form of prideful ownership. Knowing they have the future; they don’t have to rush. Dedicated to values, each is committed to always be what they are, to maintain what attracted them in the first place. They want to thrill and be thrilled, so there isn’t a gut to overlook or any irrationality to tolerate; nothing to kill the passion, and there never will be.

Partner Attraction & Initiation | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P17

Attraction and Initiation. Love at first sight has often been the target of refutation; mainly by those who cannot attract it. Is it possible? You bet it is! Love at first sight is linked to the concept of “form follows premise,” and stems most clearly from the puppy-love of our first crushes in youth. First loves are our first rudimentary social connections to personal value. It grows well beyond that with time, but one can see crucial values in another—traits worthy of love—just by looking at them.

Beyond love at first sight, preparation is necessary for romantic encounters. First in the hierarchy of attraction is to please another’s perceptions. Everyone appreciates someone who is clean, fresh, together and vibrant; the elements of beauty, most of which can be acquired. The first essential element of romantic beauty is sparkling, fiery eyes, conveying all that is possible in the anticipation of living. Second is excellent posture, being alert and aware with a backbone and no rolled shoulders. This conveys that one is joyously ready for exciting action. Third is respecting one’s health and cleanliness, having low to no fat, being toned if not sculpted, and well groomed. Fourth, that one’s overall facial structure and expression is driven by premise, with strong, hard, clear features. We smile with our eyes too, which should be steady, revealing joy, self-esteem and intelligence. Fifth is one’s style and sensuality—our way,the mildly suggestive enjoyment of relaxed physical motion and frank interest. The sixth and final element is natural beauty—which can be maintained, but otherwise lies outside the virtue of the entity. All, even the sixth, can be changed, improved, and honed into art. As one develops towards a working model of excellence, inessentials which don’t appear to reflect an ideal, get dismissed in the overwhelming positivism of other traits.

There is a very small percentage of people hopeless in the quest to spark romantic fantasy in the eyes of another. The majority have a virtual well of untapped sensual ability lying dormant underneath a layer of fearful evasion, unwillingness, or simple unawareness, through a lack of exposure to the possibilities.

Warrior Note:If you ask the elderly what they regret most in their lives, it’s never what they did, it’s what they didn’t do, what they held themselves back from doing. What if approaching her could alter both your destinies? Don’t miss out.

Traits desired must reflect traits acquired, so he must gain a conscious understanding of the level of suitor his aura will attract. With the Self-made traits of character, commitment to growth, emotional openness, mature responsibility, honesty, dependability, high self-esteem, positive sense of life and the resulting capacity for love, his options are good. If he expects more, then he has to becomemore. As one-half of the encounter, he must be comfortable approaching people he doesn’t know. Engaging with confidence and without pretense is the key. Decent people are never rude to a sincere approach, but if he is nervous and uncomfortable, he can expect others to be uncomfortable with him. A key to removing the fear is to be complete withouther. If his core purpose is established and his life is deeply satisfying, approaching will be much easier. Regardless, he doesn’t expect to win until he has it mastered, and he keeps trying until he has. He works on what he wants to convey until women respond well. Just as he brings his mind into focus to perform in life, he practices pure perceptivity in initial attraction, consciously controlling his fear until his patterning has devoured it, where he can remain bright and alert, open and friendly. He engages as an adventure, using the adrenaline as stimulation to heightenhis perception, not to limit it. Eventually he enjoysthe thrill and risk of fully open senses. He is still dominant and sovereign, but not intimidating and not intimidated, ready to acknowledge her value alongside his own. He is a sexual being without regret or apology, and in the presence of a desirable woman, that interest always exists somewhere in his glance. He is the foundation, in control of himself and in control of them both, at her will. Once he has it mastered, he can relax and observe her half; what she brings to the table.

He does not limit himself as to whereto find her. Often it’s claimed that work is notthe place to find a mate, but nothing could be further from the truth. Here is a place where both have a core mutual interest, much less superficial than the content of most dates and social gathering places. No activity could prove more affirming and consonant than how we carry out the business of life. If we can be professional about it, then management can too. At best, pursuing one’s purpose is the most powerful realm to meet one’s soul mate—there is no deeper, more dynamic a parallel to be made between individuals.

During courtship, he doesn’t put extravagant effort or cost into activities he never intends to do as an established couple. He does normal things, at reasonable expense. He doesn’t change his lifestyle to gain the relationship; it must fit within his scale and desired direction. He takes her to enjoy experiences along his own lines of interest to learn whether she can handle and appreciate them, as they share hers. Both contribute in turn, neither being shielded from the financial realities we all must acknowledge and respect.

Selecting a Romantic Partner | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P16

Selection.Self-made Man can only overvalue the right partner by putting her beforehis living purpose. The proper hierarchy for a human value system is 1) Purpose, 2) Intimacy, and 3) Everything and everyone else. This is the moral course for a sound volitional consciousness, and there are no exceptions. Dedication to his own life is his first romantic connection, with existence itself. Once he has chosen his life’s work, he is ready to choose someone who reflects its dimension. When he is in full agreement with his own direction, he has achieved a harmonic resonance with destiny, and there is no negative stress related to his purpose. When he encounters a match, the same is true. Romantic love is never a compromise. It is a flowing energy added to his own, accenting his happiness. Besides his purpose, nothing is more important than making the right choice. His relationship choice is a core accomplishment when done right in every way. It is there to lean on and to learn from, to reflect on the correct process of winningin life.

Just as in deciding one’s own destiny, there is a big learning curve moving from temporary mates to permanent mates, which parallels moving from experimental action, to permanent patterns of action. Both are much longer roads without proper moral direction. Self-made Man doesn’t even attempt a serious relationship before he has the basics of his life under clear control. He is financially stable and can handle the rudiments of life—he knows how to feed himself, how to dress himself and how to bathe. His appearance is neat and clean, as is his mind. His living space reflects how carefully he operates within his environment, evolving as respect and cognizance of other people and their possessions as well. As he addresses the challenge of growth and handles his own daily obligations, he interacts rationally and keeps his obligations to others.

Choosing a mate in any phase of life is incredibly dynamic. It is tailored to every individual as a sum covering a dozen general categories, and a few dozen minor ones. It becomes more difficult when family or friends try to play matchmaker based on some shallow cultural attribute which satisfies their perspective, but detracts from or fails to complement your central interests. Motive is everything. One potential partner may be further along in a specific context, such as makes more money, is more experienced or intelligent, yet an aggregate emotional sum will tell you your preference for one individual over another—their worth to you. One doesn’t choose a mate on a scale of value between dueling suitors; but relative to oneself. This is highly personal, as only youknow where you are, where you’re going and how fast, establishing your hierarchy and preferences—intellectually, professionally, spiritually, emotionally, sexually, socially and recreationally. No one else knows what you have yet to learn or what you desire to experience and therefore, who you will mesh with best. No one else knows better psychologically, whether you are seeking growth and exhilaration, or just someone to hide behind; and usually what others propose is some form of this latter.

The truth about the significance of women to men and men to women, is that they worship each other; for proof, look at any effective advertising. Even if they can’t, they want to. It isn’t just sex; we worship all elegant human attributes when displayed most vividly, which hold a parallel virtue for both sexes. From self-projected ideal to actualization, people reveal their depth and self-worth by what kind of partner they submit to. It is here where one’s true standards are uncovered. The Self-made looks for a match, no matter how long or hard the search. He works to complete the ideal social picture of his life, so that he’ll have no need left unfulfilled. As his own comprehension and depth of all the facets of a relationship grows, his fulfillment grows. He continues to seek relationship knowledge throughout his life just as he seeks to advance his central purpose and intensifies their quality with what he learns. He develops many critical relationship areas to a point where his value is obvious to all. He recognizes that value and looks forward to a lifetime of rewarding someone deserving, who has spent their time developing themselves in the same anticipation.

Beyond cognitive honesty, all facets of being human hold potential for compatibility. The more elements that match, the more harmonious the union. Whether one is in possession of a particular trait or simply reveres and intends to acquire a tailored form, there is compatibility by implication. It’s particularly valuable that we have a serious interest in each other’s passions—work included. This gives the clearest understanding of the priorities of a mate’s consciousness. Essential compatibility is to say, “I respect how you go about living.” We must be honest in our evaluation of them for good or bad, and this process is lifelong. Sound relationships don’t begin as projects, blind faith, or rescue missions; they begin with fundamental compatibility. We begin with a certain view of an entity. Upon witnessing a new trait, desirable or otherwise, we continually build and adjust our description of it. We don’t grab hold of a human and try coercing them into compliance with the image we had originally, or what we project is possible for them, any more than we would do so studying an animal. We observe, catalog and draw conclusions from the true sum, not from isolated factors and not from hopes.

Among the many facets of an individual to be discovered, developed, and carried forward into relationships, it is our sense of life that we musthave in common for it to last. We must know there is benevolence in the core of our hearts, which stems from how we feel about living itself. What we are looking for and what everyone needs psychologically, is a confirmation of our view of existence. We need a reflection of that tailored life we’ve created, in the person to whom we are devoted. It is the fuel of our spirits. Our passions will change over the years; but what never changes, is our devotion to making it all worthwhile.

Until reached, the ideal of his future mate’s potentiality is always in his foreground. No day to day events are more important than maintaining a romantic sense of life. His projection is that of worship—of her and the wholesome traits she has worked for. His wish is to exist with this brilliant being; to become a dream team, completing each other. When he looks in her eyes—it isn’t primarily her faith in him or his confidence in her loyalty that he values, but simply what she is. He fantasizes, not to have kids, but to have her kids, not to be married, but to be married to her, not to Jones, but to enjoy the risk of passion. To attain the adrenaline rush of saying “My wife,” and feeling the deepest pride.

Our final choice should be saved for someone special—ourselves. Getting married, we can imagine an overwhelming elation vibrating all through us about what we have decided to do, reflecting on how devoted we are to each other. Projecting into our later years, we hold each other to say, “Didn’t we do well?” We look in each other’s eyes, feeling this incredible bond we spent a lifetime developing, and these children, who are a product of our love, respect and dedication to each other and our relationship—our creation. Our children in turn would know there is something adult that we share beyond them—something they aren’t a part of, an intimacy they must grow to understand. It is the way we speak to each other, the way we look at each other and the way we touch. It is a pleasure to see them watch our peaceful, loving interaction in awe and romantic desire for what awaits them in their own futures.

Moral Armor’s Intimate Relationships | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P15

Intimate Relationships

If this is foreplay, I’m a dead man.”—Cacoon

What we all long for, is to share our lives with someone we will miss all day long. Look at your past loves—what you loved was their life-furthering power, in all its forms, and this is no surprise. There is a clear link between intimacy and sound cognition. You breathe in and take in the scent of her hair. You look down her gorgeous profile, and think in pleasure, “Mine, all mine.” You contemplate all that she is; not just this toned, beautiful body, but the wonder behind the smile, the active mind, full of deep personal interests, breathtaking to watch in their pursuit, capturing the special connection when she looks up at you in sheer enjoyment, as you look at her when hard at work. And when the day is done, we rest, speaking softly in candlelit serenity, holding hands and brushing close in passing embraces, winding down as our sensual energy stirs. We begin to lose coherency of the days events, seeing the one before us—so strong, so capable. We are drawn more and more to look, to smell, to touch—to fill our senses with the presence of this other. So often called “Being taken away,” is to be so overwhelmed in our sensate capacity, “To be taken in everyway” is more like it, to the greatest release of our true feelings and hopes about existence, our possibilities and our lives. Do you see a structure forming? This whole process follows 1) Perception, 2) Identification, 3) Creative Action and 4) Reward.

Love is a reward, whose provocation we learn in our relationship to existence. When a relationship follows the healthy lifestyle of a Self-made Man, love will emanate to others effortlessly. Many individual attributes flow straight into relationships, becoming key compatibility factors. Our own pace, our own courage, defines the range of mates who will be acceptable. When we like what we see, we know its value, we work well together and the result is fulfilling, we are ready to move closer. With interaction so positive at every step, both can commit to its continuance, forming a relationship.

The most difficult question in relationships is commitment: whento commit, whoto commit to, and whatto commit to. The more complex the consciousness, the more areas of compatibility it considers; so the more difficult the decision. Self-made Man can’t have a lot of relationships, because he can’t be indifferent to them. People take time, and if he doesn’t invest in them, the effort won’t be fulfilling. He can sample many, just touching the surface of each other, or he can delve deeply into a few and learn more intimately who he is. His long-term intention is to build an edifice; not a lot of sand hills, so he doesn’t choose a social life of perpetual strangers. But there are valuable traits at all depths across the spectrum of individuals, and he can never be certain when or where he will encounter those who pique his interest. His outlook on relationships evolves as a result of their investigation, so he shouldn’t commit too soon.

Our intimate interaction follows a pattern we will repeat continuously throughout life. It has many elements, each having their own art, which evolves with experience and reflection. First, we go through an internal process of selection, based on our own ambition for values. Second, we must approach and initiateconversation with those we find attractive, by making ourselves attractive to them. This is a numbers game; only so many will be receptive. Once we begin dating, we set precedents that determine how the rest of the relationship will go; so we stay real about who we are, where we’re going, and what we want. Our essential compatibility is revealed here, stirring our anticipation for what is to come. Third, the relationship becomes sexual, sharing a facet of life withheld from the rest—the magnificent exploration of each other, and the deepest pleasure that can be had between us. Fourth, we span the day-to-day conductof the relationship for however long it lasts; the medium of feeling generated between us as a result of how we treat each other and how we handle issues. Finally, the relationship is consummated by either moving on or committing. The process has its own expertise, and the reduction in initial and long-term stress alone makes it well worth learning.

Child Development n Parenting: Deep Encouragement | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P14

Deep Encouragement.Our value to them is that we can see farther than they can. We can give them hints about what lies around the next corner, or explore the result of any road they consider choosing. Future knowledge is all theoretical for them, so we won’t spoil it. We should do all we can to sell them on their most fulfilling destiny. We need not involve specifics, but only the tools they use—their honesty and the projection of their dream lifestyle. We can’t force advice, but we can tell them what we see. We can tell them they are lost if we have good reasons, and provide clear paths to answers they haven’t discovered the questions to. Accomplished men in my past, through greater experience, have offered knowledge that has saved me significant time and stress. Pointers from the perspective of wealth are invaluable, and often the advice they give is tailored in response to one’s particular challenge. It’s alright to offer hard, frank advice; powerful people don’t like to waste time either, especially their own.

Rational mentors don’t reinforce false esteem, but reinstill the patterns that lead to true esteem. We trace and never let go of true cause and effect. We take them to the mountain tops as a lure for their effort; we offer implications and options, not groundless second guessing. We offer memorable quotes of support from wise men to keep them searching, to keep them thinking and to keep them striving. Paraphrasing Warren Buffet, we offer the projection that they can do anything, but never a sanction where they feel they can do nothing.

There is something even more powerful than a transitional generation such as ours; the generation reared under it. They will be a group more absent of fear, more clear and excited about their futures, than any witnessed by the world since the Industrial Revolution, and I can’t wait to see what they’ll do. It’s an astounding feat to overcome the moral confusion and fears that we’ve had, and go on to achieve wealth and happiness in our lives. It is another thing entirely to be raised as they will, never having these fears to begin with. The example we have set for them as self-responsible producers is our pride, and we do deserve to feel it. But there is much more we can do. This again, comes with perfect timing, as we are in the most active phase of our lives, and must begin planning the transition of our enjoyment more and more, into the intellectual. It involves blossoming in a worldly, moral-intellectual manner, reaching the full maturity mankind was meant to achieve by his design, and I think you, the top one percent, are ready for the challenge.

The challenge is to correct the structure of human institutional action, which lies within the young adult’s realm of presumption through college years, but remains outside their grasp. We must see all human beings have a clean, safe, rational environment to thrive in, to see the young encounter beauty in the blossoming of their senses, and not to experience a constant recoil. It is in our power to see them grow into glamorous adults, exemplifying tact, class, elegance, pride, strength, productivity, bounty, fulfillment, honor, respect for themselves and respect for us. We must have them fully prepared for this world as it is, with a clear plan to continuously improve it. We must prepare them to demand fair treatment for all, never permitting themselves or anyone else to be ridden. It’s time to shrug off the Christian weight of manufacturing slaves and martyrs. It’s time to rid the world of the remnants of monarchy from mankind’s savage and unfair past. Let the restructuring of unsound institutions be our greatest gift to the generations to come. We must rally around the best of the human race and the best within ourselves, to preserve the chance for all to live the dream.

Child Development n Parenting: Setting a Sound Example | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P13

Setting a Sound Example.Throughout childhood, I looked forward to find heroes to pattern my life after. After eighteen, I saw no one around me worth emulating. I was what I wanted to be, and to follow the course of someone older would have required me to surrender one or more of my cherished values. I could not understand why it was necessary, and I could not imagine life improving because of it. So I quit looking for heroes, until one found me.

Often, teenagers think they have the whole world figured out, and the quality of their television gives them a good reason to think it. They’ve learned that sex and boldness conquers all, and at the sub-levels of cognition, it works. But after a few years of bar-hopping, manipulating others and being manipulated, they realize how empty it all is without the depth of intimacy and intelligence. It’s as pointless as using foul language to be cool; so they look past the beer and cigarette ads to complete the picture of what life and love is supposed to be, and of what human beings really are. The true complexity of life is staggering, and most often, they reach that conclusion totally unprepared. Often, Mom and Dad were tacky, boring, controlling and unhelpful, and they don’t want to end up like that. What is their alternative?

They don’t need the luck of being born into wealth or rationality, and the Self-made need not consider reproduction a duty; Spirit Murderers will always produce more than enough mouths to feed in order to justify their passivity. The Self-made need only to live the most fulfilling life possible in the sight of the world. Enough young people will use them as a role model—a being that just exudes health from every angle—not the bent work-horse that raised them.

The teens of any generation are at a divine turning point, when their wings grow strong, yet they have not mastered flight; and if we love them, all we have to do is let them know we trust them. Set them free to train their own cognitive functions, and set a sound example. Load them with personal responsibility to train their disciplines. We can treat them like people, because they are. We can give them the respect of a young mind—a new chance at greatness, not a source of irritation to be restrained. We don’t have to force, cajole or threaten to get our point across. We govern by the Self-made quote which deals directly with life and is unafraid to expose truths: “See for yourself.”

We experiment in our lives, just as we teach them to. We show our progress and its pattern. We show its reward. We face what must be faced. We admit wrongs. We reveal uncertainties. We deal with difficult situations and show the path to solutions. We show how important individual happiness is, through our own self-dedication. We walk our talk. Most of all, we stay real. Self-made Man gives them something to appreciate, even when they reach his age and look back, remaining wholesome, open and aware, with the honesty that only true strength can practice.

Child Parenting: Throwing Open the Gates 2 Their Future | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P12

Throwing Open the Gates to Their Future.Careers are so embedded in men, that as most knowledge is passed down within the framework of their field, that field is often chosen by his children. But essential, axiomaticknowledge is used in any field, and this is what must be passed down.Imagine if a lawyer chose his profession from deep personal interest, then saw his son choose law because he knew of nothing else. To his son, it’s just a job. The father may encounter a junior counselor with the same passion he feels—the desire to make a difference—and feel a kinship he desires to feel with his own son. He couldfeel that kinship, if he steered his son towards the discovery of his ownpassions, instead of following in his footsteps. Passion—living fulfillment—should be the parallel in their lives to share, where career is only a medium.

Self-made Man knows what his children will go through; he’s lived it himself. He knows of peer pressure, ridicule, bullies, cliques and from kindergarten, how early we can become endeared to others. As a parent, he doesn’t deny that sex is a part of life, especially in teenage years. He doesn’t ignore or try to limit their sexual interest, from playmates to crushes to dating. He never makes attraction out to be evil, sinful or wrong. By conveying sound values, he desires only to see their choices be wholesome and happy. With the complexity of a responsible, fulfilling life already instilled, he will see them making sound family planning decisions instead of the nightmare of mindless, unprepared teen childbirth. He faces life with them again, as open as his children are ready to be. He can see the phases of life before they come, and meets the challenge with a wise, tolerant bearing.

Most parents long for an open relationship with their kids; they claim to desire friendship, but they don’t foster it. It seems they forgot what friends are. How do we deal with friends? Do we tell them what to do? Do we pretend puberty, relationships and peer issues aren’t happening? Do we limit our friends, dictating who they can see, what they can do and what they can wear? Do we rifle through their belongings, invade their privacy and accost them, assuming the worst? If we take these actions, then we won’t be close and they won’t tell us anything. We won’t be friends, and they won’t even be friendly. At best, they’ll tolerate us until they can escape. How we treat our kids is most likely how they’ll treat their kids. Most battled this same oppression, only to nod off and have it destroy the peace a generation later. If you want to skip the belligerent and disagreeable phase, then wake up and stay real, Mom and Dad!

This is a good conversation to have at the age of about fourteen or fifteen: “Soon it will be time for you to take full control of your life. You must be prepared to do that, and that takes practice. I want you to begin to take as much responsibility over yourself as you can handle, right now. I’m here to help and answer any questions you wish to ask. I encourage you to ask others you respect, who live the kind of life you want to lead. I know that I cannot be your protector, softening the consequences of your lessons in life. So I’ll do the only moral thing I can do, and get out of the way. I expect a payoff for the investment I’ve made in you. I expect you to be happy. I expect you to work with the passion and determination to make your life worthwhile, and to make your dreams come true. I believe in you, and I trust you will make sound decisions, not for my sake, but for yours.

Your coming of age preparation begins this weekend (maybe after a birthday). You are getting your own cell phone. You are getting your own credit card. We will work out a savings plan, so when the time comes, you’ll have a down payment for the kind of car you want.” Then you can go on to help them with job and career selection, help decide whether college is necessary, and help them map it all out. Self-made Man knows there is never only one chance to succeed. Kids can be wrong—the art is in recombining, experimenting and never giving up in the pursuit of whatever they wish life to be.

Child Development n Parenting: Fostering Cognitive Freedom | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P11

Fostering Pure Cognitive Freedom.Self-made Man teaches those up and coming to be independent. Among his desires is to see them fulfill their own highest possibilities, running the chain as they should,with no interest in owning or controlling them. He teaches them to think on their own, to validate what they’ve learned from other men—validate everything—through their own experience and reflection. Students must make all knowledge they intend to exercise, their own.

He advances another mind by simply answering the questions it asks of itself, or by showing the cognitive means of obtaining the answer. The latter helps to clear the way when pathways are hampered, showing the young how to use their tools to answer life’s questions independently. He identifies the implications that surround a complex query, displaying the breadth that is possible to attain over time, and the knowledge is absorbed when they are ready for it. This is easy to determine, as theyinitiate at certain depths. They ask the questions.

The honest want their children to remain free from the parasites of any generation, who will try to hang from them. If children are shielded from anything, it should be religion, and any other sacrificial dogma inverting or perverting proper cognition; a moral crime. No knowledge exists outside the capacity of Man, and the farther those at the real limit go, the closer it is for everyone else.

Self made Man doesn’t ask permission to become and to learn. He honors no caste system and no conqueror. He knows the hierarchy of Man adjusts with his every step forward, a viewpoint he passes on. He helps hone their tools, but doesn’t choose their endeavors—leaving the greatest range of possibilities for their moral use open to them. He never dictates; they have room to move and confirm elements for themselves. They are free to run the chain, free to make mistakes and free to take their lives in any direction they wish.

Child Development n Parenting: Handing Down the Map to Utopia | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P10

Handing Down the Map to Utopia.The young can’t see to the depth we can. They start by mastering step one, their perceptive tools, and move on to identification, grasping the rudimentary cause and effect relationship of existence. They have very modest epistemological chains, while ours are long and brimming with experience. We emit a confidence that often, we aren’t aware of having, though they are. They look up to us, even when we have no conscious reason to expect them to. They figure there is a reason for our every action and trait, and they emulate them as a platform. The nature of our use of perceptive tools, our paceof thought, our depth of reasoning, our interactions with others, are all an example for what is appropriate in life. The majority of what they learn from us is wordless. It is the very pattern of comprehension we pass on to them—our brave, open, controlled response to every step, which in the inertia of its challenges, passes on our psychology as well.

POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, AND RATIONAL REINFORCEMENT

In the first years before a child understands the implications of danger that are found in the word “No,” pleasure and pain are the only means of communication. There is no reasoning with a two-year old. Once bad behavior can be stemmed with cognitive penalties such as no dessert, belting them is no longer appropriate. Unless they initiate rude, violent behavior, no physical reprimand is sensible. The second sociallesson we have the responsibility to convey to our children, is not to try solving problems by force. The first social lesson of course, is never to drop their mind.

You can’t sell a kid on life-furthering issues with threats of death as the alternative, no more than you can sell him caution with the joy of safety. All living things grow towards values and are repelled by evils, whose clear division is seen only with the correct standard of value. Look both ways before crossing the street because you could get hit—not because of the life you would then miss. The first loss or the first gain is the primary focal point, where the balance of the argument are just the details. Harmful action gets a penalty, positive action gets a reward. Spanking and being grounded is the child’s parallel to a few weeks in jail for an adult, to be used as sparingly as he is bad. He is to learn that any injustice on his part will be met with swift recompense—given that the standard of justice is rational. Life isfair when sound action gets rewarded, while no action or failed action does not.

We hear the promise of their futures in the line, “I can do it myself.” True pride is the joy of witnessing one’s own ability to satisfy a requirement of life. We can learn from others, sometimes intense, fabulous things, but as we were perceptive enough to pick up what was important, the glory is ours as well. The Self-made say “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,” and the teacher can be a person, a documentary, a book, or just the act of observing the natural flow of life. Schooling can come from anywhere, but it must be integrated within an individual’s own mind, an action outside a parent’s power. Under balanced circumstances, a child gone right or wrong is not the parent’s full responsibility; the road to choose is theirs.

As the child’s capacity becomes abstract, we have to sell them on ideas. Enticement is management of an entity by what it loves. It is welcoming what the teacher intends, submitting to a trusted power—a safe acceptance of domination by an apt, charismatic guide. Coercion is management of an entity by what it fears; shields go up, and the entity stays on the defensive, acting only at times of maximum safety, volunteering nothing, offering the least risk possible. Coercion intends not to engage the rational faculty of another for consent, and therefore can make only temporary gains. Outside of emergencies, it is not a tool of the Self-made. Rational enticement is his ultimate form of civil influence, and is the foundation of most American advertising in concept. Explaining and giving reasons shows respect for the process of cognition. It tells them that they are people too, worthy of consideration, and provides the depth necessary to make responsible decisions. The sooner we begin treating them like adults, the sooner they will act like them. Still, we can only do so much; the one in true control is the life being trained. Kids have to buy in at every step.

Our contribution is to bring them our most valuable traits, and to see them fully armed for the world to come. There is natural resistance to life, which we struggle against to stay even and surpass, to gain the results we seek—that of life and fulfillment. Perseverancedescribes the steady actions we take toward the goals of our lives. We must prepare them to endure whatever is necessary to bring about the fulfillment they desire. We synthesize the elements of each attribute for training: our capacity to judge endeavors and overcome great odds, to outlast powerful storms and great spans of time to reach our deepest goals, to exercise the height of independent awareness, to defend sound living principles, to move physically and intellectually with healthy, fluid grace, to stand on the shoulders of our achievements and shoot even higher.

Sound Relationships: Child Development | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P9

A life of success, wealth and happiness is very complicated, and within the capacity to handle that complexity, lies the paternal pride of the able. It is not for everyone, yet it is the only road to true, sound, unquestionable satisfaction on this earth. The ability to succeed in the face of life’s adversities and foster the next generations to do the same, are among the highest gifts one human being can offer another.

The Right Timing.Long before he attempts to raise another, Self-made Man knows he must master the entity he is. If he intends to be of any use to others, he must see to it that his standards reflect life’s requirements to a “T.” He spends his life answering questions, confident that he can deal with whatever he will encounter, and such life mastery is what he intends to hand down.

His wish to have children in ancient times, was after the war was won. When unsettling circumstances were evident, they did not intend to bring children into chaos. Its modern responsible equivalent is to have children after stability is achieved. His passionate career has taken off and no longer requires eighteen-hour days, and his romantic relationship is exactly what he wants. Kids fit into a grand scheme, along a couple’s value hierarchy and life timeline. The endeavor is financially viable without interrupting his spiritual and material necessities, or those of his spouse. With respect for others, he plans it never to be a burden on those outside his primary relationship—so that seeing grandchildren, nieces and nephews will be a pleasure, not a duty.

He has mastered himself and his relationships and can convey healthy versions of both properly. His method for development reflects his own, instilling independence at the highest, proudest level possible—the cleanest rationality; the most straight-forward moral action, teaching them to run the cognitive process without fear and to interact socially without cognitive interruption. He teaches them to use their tools to meet their basic needs, to masterthese tools, so they can handle anything life throws at them along their tailored course. Learning to provide the proper frames for their greatest possibilities takes time, and he waits until the time is right.

Sound Relationships w/People Who Count | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P8

Self-made Man has lost the need to confide in anyone, or to justify his actions to others. He no longer considers it; yet it isn’t irrational to desire the approval of others. He has no desire to be an outcast, and little desire to fit in, but he knows that when he finds a Self-made individual or a room-full; he’s right at home. He loves true camaraderie. To enjoy approval is confirmation that one is living among human beings, born able to achieve and appreciate greatness.

We spend the social part of our lives desiring to see traits we can look up to, and to deserve being accompanied by greatness is to reflect it. Unfortunately when misguided, we overlook loosely veiled sneers and grant a blind faith that others can identify values and view them honorably. Rational, productive men do not need any granting of faith. Within his true family, he no longer needs to set a false context in his mind, blanking out what people really are, in order to convey his pride to them. Respect for life and ability is already set; it is accepted, cherished and knelt to, by the Self-made.

There is a vibration that defines our aura, and it is this vibration in others that you pick up on when you interact with them. If your values and sense of life—your emotional response to your dreams and possibilities—is in sync, you will resonate with that person. Self-made Man chooses to develop this resonation alone, in his first relationship with existence itself. By this ability, he is capable of resonating with the greatest number of others, and to unveil his own soul mates much more efficiently.

Imagine standing at a party with a few of your heroes; the pillars of mankind, pausing for once, to enjoy the idleness which is so unlikely for all of you. Imagine yourself to be one of them, just feeling the radiant power of their overwhelming certainty, and their fully functional, jaded capacities for action. It is the parallel realm: the best in Hollywood, the best in business, the best in science and art, gathered by grace of their virtue. Each can appreciate and revere the other’s ability, just the way each needs to be revered. As others kneel before what you hold as sacred—your passions—you display the same reverence for theirs. It is a personal interest in the subject of passion itself, its actualization, its practice and its importance to our own spiritual preservation. The parallel between you is the feeling that life is worth living, experienced through different mediums of expression, but with and through the same physicalmediums—our moral cognitive approach, and through the same background—existence itself.

Absent this deliverance and along the road to its fulfillment, he settles for projections; the historic best are his ancestral friends through time. His physical lineage may determine significant attributes, but his spirituallineage is key to the value of his being. We are never alone.

Sound Relationships: Contextual Limitations | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P7

A Self-made man can look at his family, and see in what issues they can be trusted and in which ones they can’t. He knows their basic moral side, and he knows their intellectual level. His associations with them are contextual, and he maintains civil relations by limiting their effect on his life to those categories. This is done by identifying, accepting and appreciating an individual’s contextualefficacy—isolating properly—without stretching virtues to cover vices on other subjects. The only trustworthy people overall, are those committed to wiping out their own evasiveness in every context in which they live and act. If one makes a study of love, one will be good at loving. If one makes a study of the natural world, one will be good at living. If one remains aware of cause and effect, one will be honest. These are all epistemological factors.

Self-made Man rids himself of destructive people and replaces them with the living, with little guilt expended. It is wonderful, the pressure that disappears when we surround ourselves with those whom are bright, passionate and industrious. Without the slovenly, our bitterness wanes. Left with students, teachers and peers, we feel alive, and all of our living energy is put to productive use.

Sound Relationships: Friends and Family | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P6

Friends come before extended family, as they are one’s chosenassociates. To have any meaning, the concept of “family” must exclude any preference due to incidental relation. To acquaint you with your true family, you have to see the essential division of Man: Self-made Man versus Spirit Murderer; these are the true families, even thicker than blood. Blood relation is the first caste system of the Spirit Murderer—the demand of respect and equal standing for something other than respectable action, precariously guarded by those who do not intend to trade on the level.Family must pass the same test as friends—that compatibility is based on values, not alms, and that the medium is good will, not obligation. Relatives or not, they are just human beings, and must be judged by the same impartial standard: the standard of life. What Self-made Man feels for family is the step beforelove—the faith-based promise to grant love to the traits within their grasp, which they appear willing and en route to achieve. Every man accepts his life as his standard of value—as his basic referent—by choice, and this choice determines his rationality. Self-made Man is supported in his sound, civil, life-furthering endeavors by his loved ones—family and friends—or he abandons them. Human beings associate for a constructive and joyful result, period. He doesn’t associate with those he wouldn’t, were they not blood relatives. There is no excuse for tolerating abuse, injustice or the burden of those who won’t pull their own weight.

His own survival demands a sound environment in which to flourish. If he expects a sound business and political environment in society where the interaction is complex, then the corruption is not going to begin within his own family, where the interaction is simple. The pattern of family precedes and predictsthe pattern of the others. He doesn’t preserve relationships with those who subject him to any form of insincere or unjust action, or those who expect him to practice it. He demands the natural freedom that all humans require in order to function, just as he grants and fosters it in others. He demands the civility and fostering of virtue, or removes himself from their path of destruction at once. It’s very simple; if they want to practice destruction, if they want to con and pretend, he lets them practice it…alone.

An indestructible spirit must operate free of unnecessary taxation; that being any deviation from the rational process of cognition. A Self-made Man gladly accepts the natural challenges of life along his sound, constructive path, but with contempt, he dumps immediately any request for the senseless—the blatantly false attempts to mask the vices of cowardice. Carefully controlling his energy to fulfill his quest is difficult enough; to carry the burden of his energy’s destruction is ludicrous. He won’t waste his time even to acknowledge death premises as an opinion to be considered equally valid to his premises which lead to life; he will not relocate the battleground to be within him. Negativity must come only from the inconstancy of an entropic outer atmosphere, and that is where he leaves it. Self-made Man practices that which is based on values, not pity, sacrifice or any self-destructive tenets. He cares about lifeand remains firm, cognizant and life-furthering at all times.

Sound Relationships: Reading Emotions | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P5

Often, the Self-made overlook emotional vibrations—the whole truth—being so focused on deeper elements. The Fear-driven commit their entire intellectual range to the shallowest resultant factors, so often they are more adept in this realm; but we should learn to pay attention to emotional content also. Valuable rewards exist within such awareness when used for positive reasons, as well as the invaluable protection it offers. As half the primary motor cortex of the brain is reserved for delicate facial expressions, immense knowledge about us is vented through our emotions. If this were not meant to be read and heeded, it would not be so significant a part of our biological makeup.Its social purpose is communication.Our senses are so delicate, that we can read the intentions and mood of another, from across a room. We can tell if they are open to conversation, relaxed or nervous. You can hear epistemology in a person’s voice—just as you can hear the hollowness of evil in a Spirit Murderer’s. It is important to know what kind of emotions your soundeffort is producing in those around you. If it is negative, you are dealing with Spirit Murderers—a waste of your time or worse. You are putting yourself in danger, spiritually as well as physically. If it is positive, you are likely on safe ground in both realms. How well you are received can let you know if you’ve found the bridge between yourself and any opposition between the two sides—a one waybridge, disallowing their premises to infect ours. Emotions are an excellent indicator to define whether you have been understood, while eyes serve as a window to the motives of others. The eyes are the barometer of conscience. Far above conflict, emotions are evidence of the most profound and devoted love between those of like premises, a reward we cannot afford to ignore.

What you are actually reading, are premises. You know when someone is performing the act of thinking; you can distinguish it. You know when he is in contemplation; trying to remember, trying to forget, or when a new idea pops into his head. Still, expression is cataloged as an emotional characteristic, as emotions are often the strongest expressions. It is not just emotions you are reading, but the full psycho-epistemological function or dysfunction of the entity; another’s very moral foundation. There is an expression for every action of mind and every combination, as well as their emotional results. Most amazing are the expressions of guiltless purity, intelligence and active exhilaration reached by the Self-made, responding to life as if he just stepped off a roller coaster. Steady your glance and look at those before you; there is nothing—for the Self-made anyway—to fear.

Sound Relationships: Compatibility Index | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P4

With our great power to deduce methods for success in every other aspect of life, how often is our solution for finding a mate better than sitting on a barstool and expecting our dreams to walk right up to us? Often an ideal mate is defined by physical appearance alone, along with an inessential, arbitrary grouping of psychological and experiential characteristics, such as family oriented, has specific musical tastes, or likes to dine out. Internet dating sites have made the search for a mate more intellectual, more sensible and more likely to result in fulfillment; but such abstract adventure could be aided significantly with a standard by which to weigh that probability.I for one have been dissatisfied with my choices even when my desires were met. Within my own philosophical experience, I still couldn’t predict or fathom what killed one relationship after another. Dating younger girls, I often felt like a bowling ball fraternizing with a pea. It was always, “wasn’t smart enough”, “wasn’t ambitious enough,” or “wasn’t mature and forthright”, but the data was too wishy-washy to serve as filter for when the next one came along. Sensing a parallel existed, I needed to understand better who was suitable for me; not only for the woman in my life, but to understand my friends, family and associates as well; for all human relationships.

By identifying the moral process of cognition, an interesting facet took shape and I got what I was looking for: a standard for measuring human compatibility. This scale reflectsthe steps of the cognitive process, and one’s adherence. Beyond the four key steps of cognition (1, 2, 3, 4), lies a like pattern (5, 6, 7, 8), in pure abstraction. People are grouped as 1-2’s, 3-4’s and 6-8’s; the nature of the scale being cognitive efficiency—one’s clarity in real-time and the willingnessfor clarity—one’s integrity. Once the basic side of Fear-driven versus Anticipation-driven is defined for an individual, one then runs up the scale to assess their cognitive operating efficiency. The rateof cognition is the moral-biological equivalent of calculus in mathematics.

At the lower end of the scale, there is a simple cause and effect relationship with existence. The Self-made at this level are typically children, as we all begin in this world, and with sound health and full range of motion, he makes steady forays into the next levels. For him to remain at the 1-2 level into adulthood is rare. Such a man would be a day laborer, practicing a life pattern not encouraging or requiring abstract thought; so he won’t often be found reading material that projects beyond the day to day range of a newspaper. This range permits subsistence, but leaves little opportunity for growth. The limit of his ambition and pride, are the fundamental tenets of human life: independence and good will. He exists at the rudiments of morality, in a fully hands on relationship with material existence. He is steady, trustworthy and good at what he does. With life implicitly being his highest pursuit, his spoken allegiance often revolves around the subject of competence. For him to respect the levels beyond him, others have to be as good at their job as he is at his. He keeps to himself and lives an honorable life, meeting his own needs and never being a burden on others.

The Self-made 3-4 runs the chain a decent portion of the time, and at his best, sees all four steps. The majority of mankind exists at this level, involved in the furtherance of some specific enterprise, which in essence is the maintenance of their own lives. Historically, they’ve operated on half-explicit, half-implicit philosophical essentials, striving for clarity all the while. He is much more open and social, interested in the world’s political direction and enamored with our noblest. 3-4’s produce the abundance of a civilization’s wealth, and therefore are the primary target for predation. Within the 3-4 level lies the American middle-class, though it is not a financial division. Actors, doctors, politicians, executives—all those furthering the products and processes of the minds of others, exist here. Achievement-based fame is well within the reach of the 3-4.

A 6-8 runs the full chain without error and can advance it. He originates industries and the companies within them; inventing and creating without difficulty. His actions can change the course of mankind. He goes as far as human knowledge allows, often acting as the determiner of that limit.He advances science, industry and civilization, making contributions that result in cultural immortality; surpassing fame by making history. A 6-8 will operate at that level in his primary endeavors, and typically at a 3-4 level in all others. We all step down a number of levels when we look to other fields, but when we focus on truly knowing another individual, we bring our 6-8 capacity with us. His most excruciating effort is his most intimate pursuit, and with good fortune, his most intimate relationship reflects that intensity. Within him is the deepest tribute to Man; the deepest emotional capacity and the most intimate, heartfelt commitments. There is the greatest sense of justice and respect for civility, the purest integrity, the longest cognitive range and the most complex individual purpose. At this level, he has the opportunity to witness his own magnificence, and the magnificence of Man. His relationships are rich in understanding, rich in drama and bathed in romantic fulfillment.

Self-made Man is not limited in his relations by rich or poor, white or black, male or female. He sees bright eyes, dreams and the willing ability to reach them. The arbitrary classes of Man have dissolved in his mind, along with the guilt of adhering or not adhering to them. The essential classifications of Man are fully cognitive.This compatibility index is not an actual caste system, as no matter how high we go, we still begin with perception,while we exercise and respect the full range. Metaphysically, the 3-4 range is where we all live. Indeed, all 6-8 intentions return to find their realization at the 3-4 level, where there is a direct link to material reality. The more familiar you are with the steps of cognition, the easier it is to see where other people deviate, stop, or are having difficulty. Do they perceive and identify their perceptions, but become confused in its execution (1-2)? Do they see the true purpose of it all and get the result they want (3-4)? The point of tedious complication is their level.

Progress for all human beings is to move up in this chain. Improving intellectual efficacy is key to becoming a good partner as well. As a Self-made Man advances in the process of cognition, addressing and conquering his fears, he becomes compatible with new levels. With a lifelong pattern of development, there is no guarantee that his ultimate direction won’t eventually deem him incompatible with the mate he’s chosen; especially if he made the choice beforehis choice of career, but a more complex mind must satisfy a more complex need to be fulfilled. As he sees farther, he must strive to reach that vision. Deep dwellers cannot live, being dragged back to the surface every five minutes. Shallow dwellers cannot handle the pressure down below. Mixing the two becomes a struggle for life, to the benefit of no one. A 1-2 won’t be compatible with a 3-4, just as a 3-4 won’t be compatible with a 6-8. Each range thinks at a different speed, converses at that speed, and sees implications at that speed. Separations are painful, but spread out before him is the wild expansion of intimate possibilities to feel more than he has ever felt. The key to compatibility above and beyond initial attraction is understanding and acting at similar levels of clarity, at a similar rate. We can sense fundamental disparity. It is a spiritual necessity to find someone near your own level who is moving in the same direction in life, not more than two clicks apart.

Sound Relationships: Line Never 2B Crossed | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P3

When one encounters any consciousness, a special pattern of cognition is called into play—that of determining motive. Whether it is a dog or a person, their disposition tells of danger or safety, just as ours indicates to them. The pattern of interaction is a pattern of cognition for each involved, as entities of consciousness control all interactions. The specific steps of interaction are 1) Perception of entity, 2) Identification of motive 3) Interaction with entity, and 4) Result. All social action exists beyondthe fundamental process of cognition, which is operating prior to the encounter as an individual faculty of life. One process presupposes the other; the two cannot be mixed. If we encounter a dog, do we involve the dog’s thoughts with our own? Of course not, so we don’t do it with people either. Social interaction is a secondary pattern, never to be brought into the first.

Self-made Man is historically notorious for refusing to mix his cognitive process with the process of others. He doesn’t set out to be humble. He could stay home for that. He doesn’t meld or compromise or sacrifice. In conference, he sifts through ideas, running suggestions through his own mind to verify logic before acceptance, then moves to the next juncture. His own rational discipline chooses the best course. He has kept the line clear, and by so doing, has alienated all those who cannot complete the first chain alone.

Communication between two bodies and all acquired knowledge must pass through his senses. His first relationship is with existence; and its truth must be his first loyalty. The guiltless man is true to himself, and runs at his own pace. He does not slow down for anyone. Those worthy can keep up, which is the filter to his ultimate social satisfaction. Anything less will cause pain, as energy expended at a lesser efficiency resonates at a lower intensity than his known ability. He moves towards his truth without consideration for anything it may do to his life and relationships; and with reflection, he sees it only makes them better. It brings about better situations and better people. Of course the old situations and relationships have rotted, but being saturated with the nutrition of fresh life every day, he can let them go with barely a backward glance.

It is due to the Spirit Murderers, that he built a level within him that is beyond all human reach. Not a closed door, but a crystal vault, open to view, but not to harm. What’s in the vault? A collection of gems: 1) His sovereign essence, his purest perception and his life-giving power. 2) No fear and no concern for the views of others, and no hesitation in seeing what he knows to be true. 3) No room for the pain of regretting illusions that don’t pan out; just a pure perception where all implications are clear and are accepted. 4) His sovereign love for existence, no matter what others make of it or try to do to him. 5) What he knows to be possible, what exists within him, and what he wishes could find its freedom in every man on Earth. 6) The peace of calm reflection necessary to tailor his fulfillment to his ever integrating, ever expanding sum.

Such a pinnacle of Man enters a room giving off an intellectual/emotional vibrancy that affects all those around him. In awe, it can be felt, studied and enjoyed, but to be acquired, the energy source must come from within, in the same manner he acquired it. He knows that there are others who have been around the block, who know of the negatives out there and remain untouched by them. He knows there are others who have not made terms with evil and have not been tarnished by its existence. They know what greatness is possible and choose to practice that,while discarding the rest. They don’t try to compromise, allowing it to wipe out their passion for living. They simply reject it as he does, and live their lives focused on their own enjoyment. This is where he finds intimacy. Self-made Man knows his colleagues across the spectrum will treat him with objective sincerity. With moral clarity between them and full awareness of their conformance, they have no qualms about judging or being judged. He maintains relationships with those who have a thirst for life, which means a thirst for discovery, a thirst for honesty, accuracy and for what works, because they intend to use it—not a thirst for blood. This is his realm—those who don’t need assistance, and their honest, voluntary followers, all seeking a greater sum in themselves. They share their endeavors, their mutual interests, their personal triumph and the limitless future they see ahead. Their parallel is passion, allowing others to feel the same exhilaration as their own.

There are only so many people he can be close to in a physical sense, a small number really. Mother Teresa may advise to give our best to strangers, but this is totally incompatible with the moral standard of the Self-made. His scale of intimacy is deepest first, to whom he grants the most time. This begins individuallywith his purpose in life, and is followed by his most intimate social relationship, his spouse. The more people he wants to affect, the more abstracthis medium must become. Some are so passionately dedicated to their pursuits, that they acquire fame, moving a great number with their work. As the number of people in one’s sphere of influence moves to infinity, time decreases the potential for personal intimacy to zero. We then touch lives through abstract mediums, such as literature. As our cherished selectivity of individuals moves to one, our intimacy moves to infinity.

Sound Relationships: Our Fundamental Relation | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P2

Individualhappiness is having all of our essential cognitive elements working together seamlessly for the fulfillment of our lives. Socialhappiness is having these elements understood, appreciated and practiced by those one inhabits the planet with to its noble end: our peaceful yet energetic rush of adrenaline for all that is possible everyday, to everyone. It is a man’s essential dream—a projection of his dying wish—to spend the most time on the most precious subjects and with the most important people, a concept of utopia, as is actually possible.

All social virtues stem from individual virtues, as all groups are made up of individual men. His implicit sense of self-responsibility carries through; sound thought and action becomes responsible interaction. His productive self-discipline extends to satisfy social transactions by keeping his obligations to others. Respectful of the effort to bring his values into the world, he is cognizant of the efforts of others and respects their property and possessions. He never attempts to circumvent their cognitive action even in praise, but appeals to their reasoning mind.

The medium of exchange in material goods is money—our energy’s equivalent. In spirit, it is how that energy is spent—love and hate. The biological parallel to objective standards aims love and appreciation towards life and the actions which preserve it, while hate and contempt is reserved for actions and premises which bring about its destruction. Self-made Man doesn’t practice unconditional love; his condition is life,and all of the intellectual discipline necessary to see its implications: eyes that see beautiful actions, ears that hear beautiful premises and a mind that can tell the difference. Relationships form on the nature of trust, also a self-derived concept. To trust oneself is to know one uses the cognitive process properly for the fulfillment of life. Socially, it is to know others use the cognitive process for the same reason and make no intentional errors or evasions at any step. Honesty with oneself, is the prerequisite to honesty with others, as is love. It is through honesty that we communicate, and only through honesty that true connections to others can be established. All traits left undefined must be assumed as consonant with what has been shown. This bridge of faith is maintained until given a rational foundation, or until it is violated.

Our love shares the integrity of our work. Every time we switch on a light, some part of our minds should be saying “Thank you.” Every day should be a form of Thanksgiving—our day to honor the creations of Man—bridges and ships, buildings and cars—to know why they stand, to trace the steps of their structure, and to contemplate all they bring into our lives. Self-made Man honors the creative actions of others, by practicing his own.

Self-made Man wants to see everyone reach their own form of greatness. Complete on his own, he needs nothing from them, and with the opportunity of freedom, hopes they will seek it. He wants to enjoy witnessing that “Anything is possible to me” look of youth in passers by, and seeks to establish it as the proper medium between human beings—strangers and friends alike. He wants to see them free, confident and active—unafraid to see and feel deeply, in truebrotherhood and peace. Our goodwill starts when we look at the sky; it’s a natural response to our environment.

Self-Made Man: Sound Relationships | Reading of Moral Armor CH5P1

Not everyone believes what you believe.” “My beliefs do not require them to.”—The Matrix Reloaded

A rational man socially interacts for the purposes of pleasure and productivity, the sustenance of his body and the fulfillment of his spirit. He does not use others as a buffer between himself and reality. His style of dealing begins with respect for the natural requirements of the species Man, with the same expectation in return: freedom from coercion in any form. His means of trade and communication rely solely on individual consent and persuasion, necessitating no subservience. Men form civilizations to make life easier by offering their specialization in trade for the specialization of others, which creates the internal and external production hierarchy of superior, subordinate and peer, customer, supplier and competitor. The prohibitive social classes of men dissolve, and the worth of a man is defined by his productive capacity: his ability, effort and civility. This encompasses all the forms a human being can take, as its inverse describes our enemies as well. Production’s true opponent is not competition, but dictation (irrational regulation).

Moral men produce the relationships of master/apprentice, producer/patron, associate, friend and lover—all of which are guardians. The Self-made seek relationships for the creation and production necessary to sustain human beings, for moral confirmation of their style of living and for its celebration. The social reward of living is a precious compensation for his own virtue and provides cues for directional improvements in the pursuit of his own life.

Self-Made Man: Welcome to Atlantis | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P37

Come into my world where so many universal problems are solved, and where youthfulness is a way of life. Welcome to a place of rest, of safety, of calm, where you are free to exchange the pain for elation and the anguish for fulfillment. Here, you are free to relax your face, your jaw and your eyes; to relax your shoulders and breathe deeply; to look at the world around you, and enjoy this wonderful setting for Man. Here, it is okay to feel exactly what you feel; to let it out if you need to cry, to explode with laughter when you feel like it, breathing deeply to savor this incredible sense of freedom. Here, you can do anything, be anything, and there is no need to be afraid. There are no masks, no barriers, and you are free to practice and to notget it right the first time. No one here expects you to be all things, but they do expect you to be working towards the goals and traits you desire. You are free to look at your own motives to see what drives you in all areas of life—to experiment, refine and idealize. You can make your life the sculptured work of art it deserves to be. Here you can develop true self-worth, to attain that radiant state of wholesome, valid happiness, which now will forever be yours to move towards—directly, openly, guiltlessly and with great passion.

Come to bask in the joyous, boundless power you felt as a child on a mission of discovery, in the crisp autumn air, running across a field and down to a stream, devising a means to cross it, not to be stopped. A being, radiantly capable in its own eyes, without doubt, without pain, or fear, or guilt. The glory began with one,just between ourselves and existence, and there is no reason for that feeling ever to die. Imagine the penetrating warmth of the sun on your back, the wind in your hair, the smell of a limitless living world all around, returning to a loving home to be appreciated for your sparkling eyes and innocent smile; held tight for all that you are and all that you aspire to be. And in time to see this radiance projected into adulthood, coming of age to the climax of your own epic sovereignty. You’ll see it in the admiring eyes of the mate you’ve chosen to share your journey, who has the response to your person you’ve longed for and deserve. You’ll walk among people who value your strength, courage and effort—your tribute to life. You’ll enjoy a culture that cherishes your magnificent adherence to truth, to honor and to justice. You’ll live in a country that respects what you’ve bled for; it wasn’t in vain; we thank you. You’ll see a society that rewards pioneering endeavors, touched by the influence of your dedication, while the worst of mankind looked away. Here before us, you can hold your head level and enjoy the sanction the whole world owes you. We see where you are going and we believe in you.

Imagine how completely you can love and trust, when this is the nature of existence. With the real possibility of Atlantis before you, suddenly your whole outlook is altered; you never want to grow old; you never want to die; you never want anything to change. Every day that passes becomes so sacred, that you treasure every minute; anticipating every dawn, thrilled with every sensual evening, with or without anyone else. You’ve matured as one center of this enchantment, a Living Generator. It becomes heartbreaking to see time slip, never to be regained. But for once, you didn’t waste it. You lived. You lived. And the strangest truth comes to you, now that you love life as it should be loved. You can let it go without a struggle. When it comes to be your time, you are at peace; because you know what it truly means to be alive; and you are, at last. There will be no more wasted time. And no matter what curves life throws, from now on, you know how to preserve this romantic feeling, because it is not just between you and another, but has developed between you and this Earth, your home.

Self-Made Man: Flooring It, Morally! | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P36

The intensities of all degrees of happiness (and any other emotion for that matter) are determined by their causal factors; therefore, happiness is contextual.For example, in the future, if someone asks if you are happy, you’ll be able to say something like “In personal growth, yes. In my career, yes. In sports, yes. In relationships, not quite. In financial stability and prosperity, almost there.”

Often, an element in our tree of knowledge may be acquired in one context, but is unknown to be an element in another. If you work out your arms you can lift more, but what else? You can throw a ball farther, swing a bat harder, and ride a bicycle more confidently. Your range of action has improved in every way those muscles are used. As the mind is no different, this leads to a fascinating benefit. This pattern provides the greatest opportunity in self-esteem, as we can never know in how many ways our capacity has expanded, with every step forward. Virtuous growth spreads exponentially, coating all areas of potential application, to be joyously discovered in time. As happiness is contextual, all other endeavors where an advance is applicable, holds a pleasant future surprise.

At this level, experience has proven repeatedly, the validity of our cognitive process. Life for us has become quite streamlined, fascinating and casual. At some point in his work, Self-made Man exceeds in virtue what no one can match, not an associate, nor a mate. He knows what to rationally expect from others. So, though a point of loneliness, he accepts it. This is his world, and the achievement needs to be for him, but there is an often un-admitted benefit: he no longer needs to check his speed. He drops consideration for their inability to follow, and surges ahead full speed, pushing himself for his own pleasure, without regard to limits. He rises above all with maximum grace and style, exalting his central theme which the outer world cannot touch: His exhilaration for living, for seeing justice prevail, for the magic colors of a sunrise, for strength, health and beauty, for the lovely smile of a stranger, for her scent as she passes by, for his dream marriage, for the unlimited opportunities to succeed, for the freedom to try, for his tear-filled love of being alive. And then he finds her.

Self-Made Man: Fountain of Youth | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P35

A stunning effect of Moral Armorand any other sound philosophical practice is the beautiful physiological transformations that occur over time. The human physical image is a reflection of our premises. People who are lost, often looklost; just as those who are confident, look confident. When I was eighteen, I saw no one older worth emulating, so I stayed eighteen. That joyous, youthful vibrancy, the immensely desirable resonating confidence, that unharnessed, unrestrained energy, the pure power of unquestioned action—these are traits not to be given up. I have the same all or nothingattitude I had then, and preserving that spirit is my life’s pursuit; but one cannot stop the clock.

I don’t mind getting older; because for each element nature takes, I add one. Intelligent awareness allows us to counter its effects, making the process of aging a graceful one, where we need not regret its march. Our living sum increases; we rise in stature, regardless of what is lost; making time our friend.

At any size, age or capacity, we must stand upright and live like human beings. Stripped of all inessentials, an entity should be only what it needs to be. Elegance is found in purpose, in a well-maintained physique and way of standing, whether it is a man, a building or a system of philosophy. Does it slouch, or is it clear-cut and proud? We all have unique physiology and it is our responsibility to achieve and maintain its most beautiful, ideal form. The fountain of youth does exist, and can be found in the philosophical statement, “Form follows premise.”

The primary motor cortex of the brain, which handles the willed action of our muscles, reserves fifty percent of its mass for the face alone. Deep conceptual information can be read within the delicacy of our expressions. In a Self-made Man, one sees supreme joy, a confidence so complete it seems relaxed, and oddly enough, innocence—with no expectation of hurting or of being hurt—an openness that seems as if no danger exists. There is wisdom, energy, and an honest bearing so mature that it brings proper meaning to the concept of elegance. The repetition of graceful emotions felt by the Self-made, builds specific muscles of the face normally associated with beauty. Facial muscles used for smiling typically are considered high cheekbones. His confidence lends its grace to relaxed eyes, as to his arrogantly scornful smile; his certainty translates into a relaxed forehead; his playfulness results in animation, his exhilaration shows in the fire of his eyes. Appearing and vanishing instantaneously to the happenings of life, these traits give his face a real workout.

Much can be learned from the uninhibited Self-made; they can bring out our best, when we fully realize that we are just as free as they are, to do what we want. They awaken into a fresh supply of energy that washes over them every day, as a constant renewal. They spend it efficiently—controlling and heightening its production through nutrition, pleasure and rest—so that enough is available for rejuvenation. They are amazing—the way they walk, they way they look at you, that playful sense of arrogant pride, their energy—they strut! And that is how one should feel about living at any age. I love it.

Self-Made Man: Intransigence | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P34

There is no greater power for a man or a group of men, than moral certainty. Intransigenceis the point of full permeation of one’s premises with one’s person; the arrival and greeting of the full and final identity of oneself.You can feel its warmth pour over, coating, glimmering and protecting you; refining your own immaculate beauty, restoring serene pleasure and calm. Having lived the bounty linked to seamless concepts, our conviction stands behind their undeniable logic, and they become a part of us. This is the completion of the biological armor we’ve been building, upon the inner structure given us by nature.

In this phase, you’ll reach the calm of a man who has made a final judgment about the origin of all validation—his own mind. He sees the world through his own eyes, makes up his own mind, doesn’t cower and doesn’t pretend. He stands openly and faces his world with a self-chosen view, unswayed by primitive influences, not requiring others to join or to confirm the validation. This is invulnerable sovereignty. He knows what he feels; he looks right at it. He looks at the players and their motives, including his own, and he chooses the pathways to life, to growth, to the highest inner peace possible. He is independent, in love with all that is within his power, with the world and the greatness he can reach.

Indeed, our self-image determines our tolerance for evil. The clearer you see the truth, the less you’ll budge from it. You’ll come to the point where no stimulus, positive or negative, can cause you to suspend or drop any element of your process of cognition, or to live in defiance of your sound understandings. When no oppressive power—inside or outside—is allowed to interrupt your flow, your abstract structure takes solid shape, and begins to support you in turn. You start to recover the capacity for action without hesitation. To combine a peaceful inner calm with motive-driven energy is a stunning phenomenon; a feeling of so potent a power for living that you know this is the true emotional goal of morality and one of the greatest rewards of life. Having lost the capacity for doubt, standing tall becomes effortless, and no evil can slow your pace without getting itself run over.

At some point we get comfortable with the clashes necessary to achieve this. We know the only straight road to our goals is the one in our minds. Traversing this world requires a moral 4×4, where one comes to expect much experience off-road. You have to fight through the brush, absorb the shocks and keepmoving. The most powerful men in history were fighters. They felt alive in their peace and equally alive while stirring it up. I fight for what is right, but that doesn’t hide that I feel at home in the heat of battle; a competency acquired like any other. Justdomination is in my blood. You don’t have to go the way I have—figuratively speaking, the point of the arrow simply must be the hardest. You can find a calmer, more serene medium along the same path, but if the opposition knows that you are going to fight, they will likely seek an easier victim. It is better to be prepared for all one is likely to encounter. A Moral Warrior is someone who reaches intransigence. Through experience, he has developed such a comfort with the most difficult, most mature truths, that he lives, holding them before his mind in a place of the highest honor. He sees to the wall with so tried and true a conviction that he will die for them, but never surrender them. He is a rock.

A spirit need not be delicate; it can ultimately be invulnerable, but there is no hardening of what, by nature, must remain fluid. No level of intimacy is lost, nor ever need be; quite the contrary. With the worship of truth, all levels are enhanced. Concepts normally associated to fantasy, do have mortal equivalents. The concept of invulnerabilityapplies to intransigence. The concept of invincibilityapplies to spirit and the concept of immortalityapplies to integrity. It is the state of being where we’ve gained the tools one would wish to gain, if we were to contemplate living forever.

Nothing will ever again hamper your independent judgment, or skew your ability to see clearly what is right and wrong. Your moral strength will convey to others that challenging precedent is okay, and the impetus for the reversal of corruption will have begun. Those around you will adapt to the proper ranges of action, and this virtue will begin spreading in ever widening circles. Regaining control over your own destiny and taking the moral power back is the ultimate joy of intransigence.

Self-Made Man: Full Volitional Maturity | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P33

The playfulness that some adults enjoy is always termed child-like, but it isn’t immature at all. It is seen when innocence reaches the other side, intact. It is the natural cognitive reward of Self-made Man shining through unimpeded, with its proper results: a sense of joyous lightness, that no problem is too great, that the main point is to enjoy the process of living, that the essential requirements of existence have been met and we have earned the right to vent and revel in the sheer pleasure of being. To rediscover and reintegrate the openness of youth is a blessing to the true definition of maturity.

The Self-made typically wait to have little ones, because what they needed to learn from them, they havelearned. All the traits we love children for, can be preserved or brought back to our own character. Of the four elements of cognition, only adults practice three and four (creative action and result) in regard to their ultimate purpose, yet we all retain a fundamental respect for one and two—perception and identification. It was our own derivation, which we blissfully share with the newcomers. Cognitive discipline is a key to maturity and an essential element of integrity. It is infinitely more fulfilling to exercise the entire process than to be sheltered halfway. We the adults, have moved on to a confident, creative response to our natural world—our productive effort—and have secured its sound result: life, and the boundless satisfaction we can achieve. We know what’s in store for kids and we know it’s built on the adventure they are experiencing now. We must display the balance of cognition in order for them to acquire it. The feeling that life canflow, that human beings canremain pure, that dreams canbe reached—is the view of life Self-made Man passes on by example—through sound, educated decisions, by adhering to a sensible, proven standard of morality and in the countless endeavors he enjoys across the span of his existence. A mature animal has mastered the living functions of the entity which it is.

We are the dominant species due to our vast capacity of volition; the freedom of moral choice. Our pinnacle of maturity, the point of full blossom and the moral destination for Man, is found here. Full Volitional Maturityis defined as exercising the full range of responsibility offered by our capacity of choice. The result is that we automatize intellectual and behavioral patterns that foster a continuous progression. Organized to efficiently pursue Man’s natural affinities—to live in accordance with, not in contradiction to, one’s nature—reveals the dynamic lifestyle we were meant to achieve: a lifelong seamless integration of pleasant, productive physical motion, driven by a calm, guilt-free, active mind. It is his glory that Self-made Man chose to face existence in this way as an ideal state. His reward as master over himself is the zenith of spiritual nourishment.

See how it flows? From the beginning, the elements of cognition—wide open senses, emotionally disciplined identification and integration, creative action and validation—were all necessary to get this far. First, Self-made Man develops conviction in the correct process of cognition, through its proven ability to result in physical and spiritual bounty—the achievement of self-sustenance and happiness.Second, with the power to think and define life-furthering values firmly in place, he is able to question all the premises Man ever created, to revalidate what works and throw out what doesn’t—the virtue of metaphysical honesty.The control of others over him is wiped out; the majority of his stress dissipates, and third, sovereign as a result, he is free to pursue true integrity. He weeds out any self-hampering ideas or behaviors in order to get his life flowing in the trouble-free direction nature intended—the perfection of existential consonance.His sophistication soars as his virtues blend into a pattern of lifelong advancement, where all of his human attributes are properly utilized—full volitional maturity.Intransigence adds the weight of experience—watching sound principles in action and winning—rooting out personal flaws to assure his practice matches the actual concepts, and tenaciously closing this gap. He reaches full conviction; not just agreeing with concepts, but knowing, through personal validation over time. A word on convictions: 1) A convictionis what one knows beyond all doubt. 2) What one knows is made possible onlyby a rational process of validation. 3) A rational process of validation requires the cognitive integration of sensory data which is formed into concepts that are provable through rigorous trials generating consistent results (obtained by isolating the elements of a context to measure a specific variable (which science calls control groups)), finally to be brought without contradiction, into the total sum of one’s knowledge.

Self-Made Man: Moral Perfection | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P32

So what is perfection? The only realm where perfection could have any significance is the realm of self-esteem, or more to the root, the realm of choice. Perfection in human terms is a reachable, ideal state of moral purity. To guard our view of ourselves is to be consciously aware of the moral root and value of our every motive and action. The perfection proper for a man to seek is to maintain existential consonance: to leave no contradiction unsolved, to always act in accordance with what is understood as moral and right. Integrity is moral perfection—one’s overall flow with what reality requires.

Integrity is not applicable in individual contexts, which one can exercise in one context and defy in the next; that is the realm of honesty. Integrity exists in the context of life in general; either we have it or we don’t. It is a living consonance, which transcends all issues. Having integrity is to have understood and integrated conscious life-serving premises in allof one’s experiences. It is an integration of our overall actions by one common theme, that being the furtherance and preservation of human life, primarily our own. To have integrity is to consistently choose by metaphysically honestmeans, existentially consonantends. In other words, it is to be aware of the moral implications of every action, and to act in their favor. It is the next step; a prelude to full volitional maturity and intransigence.

Just like happiness, integrity has its own set of necessary elements to be sound. It requires the identification of every facet of our existence which is under conscious control, as well as the continuous search for new ones, and the mastery of a life-serving pattern for each. We automatize these so they become routine, and then we are free to enhance them for the rest of our lives.

Self-Made Man: Dissolving Ill Tension w/Metaphysical Honesty | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P31

The indestructible spirit of the Anticipation-driven operates with little taxation. Seeking to be free of pain as a natural course, he watches stress carefully, to quickly and accurately diffuse its causal factors. His own survival demands a sound environment in which to flourish, so as the body wicks away toxins from the primary system, Self-made Man wicks spiritual toxins away consciously. Such an ability involves much more than being truthful with others; it begins with how we see the world. We cannot lie to the universe and defy its attributes. We can’t ignore gravity and float away, or disregard sickness and be held immune. Honestyis the willingness to acknowledge that things are what they are.

Metaphysical honestyis sincerity with existence, as well as with oneself and others, which necessitates an unexpected level of intelligence and emotional discipline. It requires recognition of the separation between the products of men and the elements of nature, to understand what is in our power to develop and revise, and what must be accepted as unchangeable. Sun, wind and rain are products of nature. Continents, oceans and mountains will continue to exist, whether or not we do. The human design is also a product of nature, as is our sound cognitive process. As all things natural, that process is left for us not to create or alter, but to discover and obey. The whole of civilization, with its systems of mass-coexistence—its great buildings, industries and governments, its philosophies, sciences and arts—is the product of Man, and is entirely changeable. Both are to be mastered, but as one is discerned, the other is determined. The universe is known by observation, while our heights are borne of creative action.

Self-made Man’s first creation is himself. His first obligation is comprehending the role of a human being, beginning with the most efficient use of his cognitive faculty. Developing as intellectually sovereign, he dispensed with the dogmatic interpretations demanding he feel guilty for his very existence. Operating as neither predator nor prey, he can see no need for men to feel guilty in advanceof taking any action that would deserve it. Accepting only the knowableas knowledge, he saw through such guff and stopped fighting that he was human long ago. Only authentic, self-determinable evidence provides satisfactory validation in any field (not to mention the question of practical use), and he cannot conceive of any benefit that would justify overriding the source of his values, his mind. Accepting only what builds a reliable and traceable chain of logic, he is able to drop all unnecessary cultural stress in a heap.

Self-made Man doesn’t suffer the mental mix of contradictions where reality is foremost on some issues, but where wishes and nonsense take precedence in others. By understanding what is changeable, he takes mature responsibility for it and drops the rest. He doesn’t spend time locked in tension because he is too old, too young, too tall or too short. To chase his tail over what he can never change is a dead-end stress-inducing waste of imagination and instead, he uses his energy to determine what he cando with what he doeshave. He accepts what he is in factand accepts what level of reward or penalty his current state of being deserves. He is concerned only with what lies within his power to improve, and works to widen the ranges open to him for his most crucial interests to get as close to his ideals as possible.

The aim of a Self-made Man is to become sovereign in all things, expanding his percentage of self-responsibility while reducing the uncontested outside conditions. Negativity comes only from the inconstancy of an entropic outer atmosphere, where he is subject to a myriad of unsound motivations. But as so small a percentage of his life and enjoyment is at the mercy of others, it matters little. He doesn’t blame himself for circumstances outside of his choice. He doesn’t agonize over being out of place, being liked or disliked. He no longer hides his virtue or frets over his inability to scale the emotional barriers of those unswayed by rationality. Beyond a fundamental respect for civil rights, the idea of conforming sociallyis foreign to him. So focused on his pursuits, he isn’t concerned with what others think, say or do. He has dropped all cultural pretenses of duty to his neighbors, grants them rightful privacy, and is responsible only for himself and his own. Living by the action of his mind, he doesn’t need people in any fundamental manner, so his relations with others are free to be wholesome and sincere.

When living patterns are acquired, it is amazing what just drops off naturally. He learns much faster by studying the functional versus studying the dysfunctional. There is no need to dissect every variation of evil known to Man, as evil will always mutate. Likewise, the variations of good are unlimited. Focused on solutions, the problems disappear. By seeing the division between what is possible to change and what isn’t, between what is rational and what isn’t, all unnecessary conflict within him is eliminated. Constant training to combat personal difficulties assures that he will overcome any obstacle he chooses to clear. The leftover stress he deals with is little more than what is typical of all living beings; hunger, physical pain, exhaustion, and the human exclusive; the excruciating effort of thought and the sometimes painful growth phases that follow. His key difference to all others is his absolute sincerity in accepting whatis.Knowing that guilt results from the chosenpractice of life-threatening evil just as pride results from the choice of life-furthering good, he is free to seek the only perfection possible to Man: consistently chosen existential consonance. That acted on, he can see himself openly and accept himself completely. As understandingis the pathway to life in facing the unknown, he is free to drop all inner tension and look, with all seeing eyes, allowing fear to turn properly into exhilaration. His sound moral standard of good and evil—of life itself—has set him free; and as it respects his need for coherence, he will guard it with his life, forever after.

Self-Made Man: Levels Beyond Happiness | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P30

We’ve all heard people say, “If I could just be happy…” But Self-made Man doesn’t stop there. He sees the road still stretching ahead, so in tow, we will go much farther. For every mile traveled he accumulates a new virtue and coins a new concept. From the conscious acceptance of existence, to earned confidence, pride and happiness, his next steps, like the others, build on what has come before. From how he deals with stress, to metaphysical honesty, integrity and existential consonance, these attributes lead to the next level of pride: intransigence and the exalted medium of full volitional maturity.

His strengths serve much more than what is historically considered as only a heroic defense against evil. Most can discern such traits in war, but often don’t recognize their use in peacetime. Of what values are heroes truly capable, if their heights are only to be reached in times of horror? Attaining peace is only the first level. The power of their positive application towers over their use as a protective shield. Their actual purpose—what they were reallydesigned for—is the pursuit of discovery, an epic stature and an unlimited joy. The true awakening is to see these same traits at work in productive endeavors, where the threat of destruction does notloom near; in the creation of theme parks, the making of movies, the building of spaceships, skyscrapers, multi-billion dollar assembly lines and their spiritual equivalent, captured in the quote “In His image and likeness.”

If your goals don’t make your stomach drop, you’re missing all the fun. This makes America in particular, the hero’s playground, where bare necessities come within easy reach of all, as a result of the sheer unleashed vitality of the most able. From here, Self-made Man rides the crest of his virtue, managing and advancing interests already brimming with positive results, radiantly youthful, drenched in unfathomable strength, justly on top of the world. And of course, with the relaxed bearing of a true master, he makes it look easy.

Self-Made Man: Choice of Virtue: Ourselves to Admire | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P29

No matter what context happiness is experienced through, self-appreciation always lies at its base. Search the meaning in any happy feelings you’ve ever had and you will find a sanction of the value of your ownbeing. This is natural and right. Happiness often seems to come from the outside, but it never does. The smile of a spouse, a solution to a problem, a raise in salary—is all existential data which must first pass through our senses, so our interpretations of meaning are alone responsible. Happiness is gained through our interrelation with ourselves, with nature and with others, generated by the soundness of what we view as important in life.

For example, experiencing pleasure from watching children or animals play can give you a sense of happiness, but the source of that happiness is the identification of what you regard as virtue. In this case, it is the recognition of your capacity to appreciate that special sense of existence children have; in their fearless awareness of the world and of people, in their innocent gaiety and the boundless certainty they display in the confident motion of their bodies, as beings who have not learned the imprisoning patterns of self-doubt (and maybe you can silently reflect on what has been wrongly lost in adulthood). Who hasn’t been victim of the blatant staring of a two-year old in a restaurant and lived to tell about it? One level beyond attributes of character, the reasons we enjoy children, as in our own pursuits, affirm the efficacy of Man’s senses (and their integrator, the mind) which leadto the fostering and preservation of life and its enjoyment. The anticipatory awareness of their wide eyes, eager to see, looking for the source of every unique sound they hear, their questioning expressions, open or retracted to the scents of the world—good and bad! Their able little bodies reaching to the sun, exploring, learning, endlessly invigorated by every new discovery awaiting them around all of life’s corners—these are the pleasures of sensate perception and integration.

With animals playing, you get to see your appreciation and respect for social joviality, beings enjoying their coexistence, where the crucial problems of life have been solved, and one has earned the right to feel truly light, playful and open. If you look closely, happiness revolves around only two facets: your own confirmation, appreciation and respect for the pathways that lead to life; (1) its sustenance, and (2) its enjoyment. It is your awareness that what youpersonally value, generates a positive physical and spiritual bounty—a life pattern—and it follows that by witnessing its proof, you have validated and sanctioned your own reasoning power; a moral validation—and therefore have gracefully earned self-esteem.

Self-Made Man: Rules of Happiness | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P28

The source of happiness has always been a big mystery, but not any longer. Think of a time in your life when you were most happy. Happiness is a bright, sharp, clear, light, radiant state of being, isn’t it? We see blue skies, satisfied bosses and customers, a warm, stable home and meaningful relations. Happiness is associated to when things are going well—in nature, at work and in our personal lives—a reward for an unrestricted flow. It is a state of awareness where one needn’t fear looking at the premises that caused it. In contrast, cynicism and malice—any kind of irrational negativity—is like mud: sticky, gooey, heavy, indeterminate, shapeless and dull—just like the premises that caused it, premises undesirable to reveal, premises we are going to wash away.

Self-help books declare thousands of ways to bring joy into life, but fortunately there is only one fundamental way. Generated by the sound pattern of cognition like all concepts, it has its own set of rules. First, happiness is a state of consciousness;the sole province of the individual. Since one can choose to actively think or to float randomly instead, then consciousness is a matter of choice. Rule 1:Only those who choose to be conscious, can be happy.Next, happiness requires a means to which this desirable state is the end. Once you consistently practice the means, you will have happiness as a constant. The means are efforts of thought and action, which result in self-appreciation. Forget those who lean on their parent’s or their spouse’s money and social position, because only one’s ownpractice of virtue—the capacity to survive independentlyat the level one lives—determines one’s true stature and self-respect. Therefore, Rule 2:Happiness is self-generated.The extent of our own thinking and the vital results based on it is the extent of our worth, period.Finally, Rule 3:Happiness only results from the practice of life-patterns,and is therefore inextricably linked to personal honesty. Happiness is a confirmation that one is on the right course in life, and that the course is worth sustaining (that life is worth living). Happiness is the natural result of the correct process of virtuous action—not the joy of escape, but the shining, glimmering pride of brave vision—of a universe worth seeing, of experiences worth living, of a countenance so appealing, of intimacy so moving, of adventure so exhilarating, of study and contemplation so engaging.

Virtue is notits own reward; it is a means to an end. Our goal in the pursuit of happiness is to expand our fulfillment by virtuous means in our every avenue of interest, to the end of our days. There are no short-cuts to self-esteem; the natural links of cause and effect run all through the pattern. From the axioms of existence and consciousness, to the honest effort of life, to the confidence of the means chosen, to their success, to the pride that follows, to the bravery to form new questions to answer, to the medium of happiness made possible only by the continuation of the process, the flow is discernible and fully accountable.

Happiness is a necessary, spirit-sustaining validation that life is worth living. Confidence alone won’t do it. Security won’t do it. These are sub-elements. A person can be brilliant, rich and active and still be miserable if his means have not addressed his most private heart-felt longings. There can be no compromise at any level of cognition, especially in regard to one’s purpose. The most penetrating happiness is found in the knowledge that one’s deepest, most personal desires are being reached. It is achieved by the steady, lifelong accumulation of one’s owndreams, one after another. It is the trend of actualization that draws the deepest fulfillment; the deepest appreciation of self. Success begins with giving our true goals our best shot; then, win or lose, we know we haven’t wasted our time here. This is where happiness becomes profound and the true meaning of life becomes clear—and priceless.

Self-Made Man: Happiness is Self-Appreciation | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P27

Happiness is achievable midway up the axiomatic ladder, being the next link in the conceptual chain above confidence and pride. It is the mediumof pride, as pride is the medium of confidence. Each can become a form of wealth; wealthbeing an accumulation of anyvalue above and beyond one’s need to spend. Happiness is an accumulation of positive emotional energy to be enjoyed consciously, as it was borne constructively. It is not a man’s job that is important, but his work; and science tells us that ‘work’ is any expense of energy which accomplishes an objective.

To develop as happiness, one’s effort must serve sound, rational goals, but those goals can vary greatly. The desire to bring a new invention into the world, to go where no man has gone before, to close a deal, to be appealing to a certain quality of partner, to turn a faster lap on a racetrack, to express exaltation through art, these are all actions of joy; of pushing oneself to the next level in endeavors self-important to pursue. The joy varies only in degrees according to the personal significance and depth of the endeavor. It is a man’s own passionate interests brought to life in a sound value hierarchy that leads to a consistently earned pride and a deserved happiness. Its depth determines whether the satisfaction is sustainable or fleeting. A surface goal gives off little esteem compared to a long-term goal of greater complexity, but both add to the plus side. The emotional reward for a small accomplishment can last only a few minutes, while the pride of something immense will be much more profound and lasting. Seemingly unrelated, both add to the plus column and both serve the same end; a tailor-made existence.

We select a favorite shampoo for the same reason we design and build skyscrapers. It is the act of creative, useful self-expression that displays to ourselves,our ability to meet our physical and spiritual needs, and therefore allows us to experience a sense of self-esteem. Happiness isself-appreciation and can naturally spring from nothing else.

Self-Made Man: Our Exclusive Medium (Happiness) | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P26

How nice it would be, as a ship has water as a medium for travel, if our minds had genuine enjoyment, expectation and light-heartedness as a medium through which to navigate the world. If only there were a clear path to follow, then the tear-filled divinity in most souls could come pouring out in total safety, with full honor and sanction. But there isn’t. Self-made Man holds the secret to this pathway, often even from himself, as it is a product of traits condemned by widespread erroneous beliefs. By sacrificing our highest and enshrining our lowest, by worshipping the unknowable and ignoring self-destiny, such others have been justlydenied this fulfillment.

Happiness—real, repeatable, consistent happiness—is had only by those who accept and practice its true foundation. It is not a random, causeless, selfless, undefinable phenomenon relying on mystical or intuitive elements which lie outside our power. It is a product of the proper tools of cognition practiced by the Self-made: perception, identification and purposeful action—of all that has come before—and one need only embrace the reality of its pattern. Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed. Happiness cannot be had by seeking diversions that clash with our values, or by means which negate our consciousness, leading nowhere. It cannot be had by serving others. Self-made means self-made; not neighbor-made. No dead-ends, dependencies or freebies lead to happiness. It is instead, the radiance of a fully valuedconsciousness. It is a product of achievement. The code of the Self-made brings a man to the point where he is no longer copingwith existence, but reveling in it. Following his lead, so serene a calm will develop in your control of life that you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. The radiant result of a moral existence as well as its most powerful motivation and product, is a profoundly private, self-serving personal joy.

Self-Made Man: Earned Greatness | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P25

Part Four: Life’s Reward: Concepts of Self-Esteem

If you done it, it ain’t bragging.” —John Wayne

Earned Greatness.The fourth cognitive element, the concept of validation, has many faces. The effect of so many causes, it first stands for justice. In this regard, the words rewardand consequenceare synonymous. For the slothful, validation is the hell on Earth they bring about by their own default. For Self-made Man, it is the glory of his existence. We are the men who see and hear, and trust those perceptions. We are the men who think and feel, and are totally honest about the conclusions we draw and the actions we take. We never, never, neverdrop our minds. We produce and therefore earn the stunning luxuries our freedom makes possible. Beautiful homes, exotic cars, sun-soaked vacations, a life with the mate of our dreams—it’s all possible in this land of opportunity. The disciplined focus of our efforts, the intelligent choices and dedicated hours provides a steady climb to heights of our own. We know what we’ve earned and our work should berewarded, and in America, it is; yet the most important reward is internal. The reward is self-esteem. It is our own ruthless sense of justice, knowing our own value and looking outward; ready to accept and give value for value in love and respect for existence and for others; with our greatest human bond reserved for those who live up to our standards. This is the spiritual stature of a Self-made Man.

Self-Made Man: Sound Guidance | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P24

In any field you choose, you must care enough to want to operate at the top. You can go straight there in the privacy of your own mind with projection and try to think at their level, beginning with the end in mind. There is only one type of person safe to gain advice from: those who have taken your field the farthest. Whomever has obtained what you desire by private effort, is the one to ask or study. Those who have tried, erred and tried again are the primary source for sound, practical, experiential understanding, where one can learn the specialty as well as its proper method of development. The problem is finding them.

Heroes do not travel in herds. The training of sound practice can be all consuming, and most are so focused on their task that they have little time to spare for social interaction. That is why they leave most behind as they venture forth into their light. But by virtue of our respect for progress, fame for such a man is inevitable, and our exposure to them is made possible through what they have documented. Honing the skills of interaction with their science is their methodical process of advancement—the result of the steady pressure of application. Tenacityis this steady pressure. He sees the goal and learning what it requires of him, storms every angle until it is achieved. The consciousness most capable of satisfying its own ends is not mass-produced, but tailor-made, asking the self-made questions throughout life of “What am I living for? What do I want to be? What do I want to experience? What is most important for me to accomplish?”, and letting nothing stand in the way of oneself and its achievement.

The most extreme feel they were chosen—that there is something they need to do, something the world must see, which only they understand and only they can bring. They have been ridiculed, thought to be crazy and tortured for their truth, but they all say the same thing—that it was worth whatever men made them pay. It was worth it. Horrendous obstacles are here for a reason: a test to see us grow past such challenges, to make insurmountable barriers look irrelevant, to challenge precedent and ultimately to cut our own path. They must be overcome to see our best prevail and determine higher standards. We prove our worth by facing a torrent of opposition—braving the storm to see our vision through to the end—an accomplishment that lived and triumphed due to the power of our will alone. We all need someone to believe in, and weare that someone. Legends don’t die like a man dies. We have to accept the final stress of the decision to go forward—the contemplation before eternity—to embrace the point of no return. And we must go. Whatever is going to happen, will happen. The message must be heard in our words, and these words will live for us when we are no longer. They will live for all time.

Self-Made Man: Nullifying Apprehension | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P23

There is no need to fear choosing the wrong purpose. Rational endeavors all share the correct fundamental premises: the preservation of life by civil means as its primary, the exaltation of its master as reward. There are so many endeavors to expand one’s fulfillment that they can never be exhausted. Self-made Men search until they find the perfect fit. Even if you never find it, you’ll have a hell of a lot better time looking than if you weren’t. My first career was automotive design, the second was real estate, the third was the stock market and now I am a writer. In between, I gorged myself on philosophy, law, economics, business acquisitions and even considered founding a bank. I try whatever sparks my interest on this planet because I love being alive, but the pursuit of purpose certainly grows more refined as we gather experience. As we see farther, we can look back and understand why a previous goal suited our level at the time, and what made us move on. For example in my teens I could have trained to become a professional bicycle freestylist as some of my riding acquaintances went on to be. What stopped me was that I could not dedicate my life to it. My life’s pursuit was still to be discovered and I knew if I tried to make my mark in freestyle, I would die inside. Likewise, if they tried to do what I do, it would be the same for them. They would feel trapped where I feel freed. Freestyle gives them a feeling about their lives which I could only experience through writing, and vice-versa. They could appreciate what I’ve done, but could not make it their purpose. So freestyle remained a sideline, while I kept searching. You must be able to say, “This is what I want to do with my life, or at least what I want to do right now.” Take the first steps into purpose and further steps will be revealed. Reflecting back, I tried this and that, responding with, “No, that’s not it,” time and time again, but investigated each correctly. I had a serious interest to learn all I could about a subject, enjoyed it thoroughly, and worked hard to make it pay.

Outside of one’s living purpose, other goals appear to be ends in themselves, but often prove to have significant value. Some such goals are not lifelong and just have to run their course. Starting out poor in youth, all I wanted was my dream car, a Lamborghini Countach. That dream led me to become a business owner, to study law, economics and finance—all knowledge I constantly draw from, long after the car has gone. With that experience, I realized my working hours should give me as much pleasure as the car did. Self-made Men watch their well-rounded educations take form through their passions. We do things because they excite us, and when the thrill subsides, we move on to a different challenge. It’s that simple. Discarding old endeavors is not failure; we simply close chapters in our lives, and with greater vision, open new ones. If we enjoyed the way we spent our time, we need regret nothing. This is life; the knowledge and experience from every venture is carried forward into bigger plans and deeper exaltation until the time comes for us to let go.

Self-Made Man: Warrior Training & Development | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P22

Self-made Man’s life holds one main certainty—his direction. Subjects change often, particular interests and activities may appear random and are, only to the extent that they do not detract from his direction. That direction is his continued happiness and the furtherance of his life, physically and mentally. In essence, Self-made Man is after a ceaseless flow of new data to integrate. Learning to him is a warm, stimulating pleasure, because hechooses the subjects, and sees an immediate boost in the enjoyment of his pursuits as a result. That is what he lives for, not just the pridefully-earned byproducts of productivity, such as money and luxuries. He doesn’t consider his education complete after four years; it’s a lifelong commitment.

As an honest man, he looks openly, using his strengths to bolster his weaknesses. He rebuilds them, tearing down to the appropriate levels to ensure firm foundations, purifying his life by advancing his competence to live it. In facing and solving new problems, it is he that is built, day by day, step by step. Every day he becomes the master of a new skill, or master of one facet of a greater skill. He branches off at random to complete ideas and answer questions that form during other studies, all which serve one central purpose. He often forms a private library to minethe best minds. Our confidence exudes from knowing what we know, as we are able to walk our chains and revalidate any part of them, and often do. We maintain a willingness for reintegration long after our concepts are accepted as fixed and eternal, always interested to discover how new elements fit in. We stay open to new directions in the midst of valuable evidence and take the time to restructure if necessary. The purpose of an efficient flow of life never being far from our own specialties, we stay on the cutting edge. Why do we do all this? To see clearer. To live better. To save time—time to be spent on the unlimited discovery of our own joys.

Ultimately, Self-made Man’s inner world revolves around just a handful of sacred subjects; his alone and his primary energy—his very life-force—goes to satisfy these endeavors. Limited to a lifetime, Self-made Man identifies all the key possibilities of life he wishes to experience, and then seeks to discover the means by which he can most effectively achieve and enjoy each one. His career, sports interests, hobbies, romantic involvement and parenting all require different traits and skills, and he makes a habit of accumulating and improving them. As his own view of himself is paramount, he looks deeply into the character of heroes, and works to acquire the attributes he wishes to represent. He is aware of the moral worth of his every action, so his esteem affords him to be fully conscious of his true ability in every context in which he lives. It is then easy to see where he is for any goal at any time, where he wants to be, and to move forward in their order of importance to him.

Training becomes as vital a part of his life as production. He knows that consonant with the flow of life, his abilities are in constant flux, and to stay sharp he must practice his skills. At times, he must accept back-pedaling in areas that need to wait while others take priority. The pleasure of a context that has advanced beyond the others need not be spoiled by one that languishes behind. He can grow by leaps and bounds in his work, be quietly tortured by a lack of intimacy and friends, yet still preserve the feeling that life is worth living. Joy from one activity cannot stretch to cover another; such radiance can only be reflective. But as his hierarchy is in place to control all of his actions, all values will be addressed at the right time. To stay up, he rewards himself regularly for practicing so sound a pattern of moral action. Scaled to particular actions, the reward may be just a candy bar, but one cannot wait until the final triumph to enjoy the elation of any consciously wholesome pursuit.

He may see inefficiencies in other areas of human life, but he cannot do everything. With respect for his time, he stays focused on his own interests, yet monitors advancements in the other fields that affect him to stay on the cutting edge there, too.

Self-Made Man: Range and Self Impact | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P21

Our proper evolution as volitional entities drives a moral imperative: to ceaselessly investigate the efficiency and impact of our fulfillment in every aspect of our lives; to be self-sustaining at the highest level, physically and spiritually. The level of goals we choose—family, business, political or historic—is the longest-range moralcontemplation and action open to us. What level of impact do you want to have?

In my case, I wanted to have a global effect. The range of my endeavors had to involve the environment I considered my realm, my home—the whole of the world. Primary metals were my first industrial interest, because they are in everything. After reviewing businesses to purchase, I realized something would still be missing. I felt that it was more important to discover and name this attribute, than any other benefit that I could bring to civilization, and to myself. I found it. It turned out to be the primary behind the discovery of primary metals, and of every other human concern. I look forward to helping people through this book, but first and foremost, writing itwas what I wanted to do more than anything in the world. I gave up values which others could not fathom letting go of to see this through, but it was nota sacrifice. I valued Moral Armorhigher than the money I could make in the interim, the women I could date, the trips I could take and even the Lamborghini I owned. My lifestyle was an aggregate of dreams itself, attained triumphantly, but they were the dreams of a younger man. After a while, my enthusiasm for past accomplishment waned, and I became hungry for more. I was no longer of the same dimension. I had grown in stature and vision and needed a more elaborate vent to channel my energy.

I gave so much to every past endeavor that prosperity in my new venture was a forgone conclusion. Having come so far in philosophy and in wealth, I knew my next attempt would be pointless if it didn’t make the greatest self-impact. As our vision evolves, so do our goals. Our passion is an investment that must show the highest return possible, and I was finally free to concentrate on what I alone, found most exhilarating. Fed up with the weaklings considered by intellectuals to be the giants of thought, I want to show the world a philosopher who can reallylean into it. That is my dream.

Self-Made Man: Self-Determination | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P20

As ninety-five percent of all blessings are self-made, our lives must be adventures of our own design. One individual can change the whole course of mankind, and with the right cognitive guidance, there is no telling what you could bring to the rest of us. But there is one caveat; your purpose must be chosen alone. Every part of you has a wonderful potency just waiting to be discovered, but you have to find your own way; your unique approach to experiencing your own highest view of yourself. There is no point in learning what you do not intend to use. If you are sitting in Geography class learning about European border laws, you’ll have little incentive for retaining it. If you are crossing from Germany into Czechoslovakia on a near trip, you do. Use determines retention and therefore value, and the desire for use is the moral province of the individual. You don’t have to know everything, and you don’t have to consider everyone. The stimulus to elicit the energy necessary to establish order and coherently build our chain is found only through what draws our individual fascination, and men of purpose will tell you they can be aroused by nothing less.

True moral action is to work for our own self-interest and spend its bounty on our own sustenance and happiness. As we grow and expand by this means, we bring the greatest growth and expansion to the lives of others; but it must begin within, just as every flower must bloom before revealing its beauty. By learning your own endeavor, you form specialized knowledge, and bring its benefits to all you encounter. That you are the one to choose is truly a matter of spiritual life and death. The third cognitive element—creative action, demands that purpose be derived by the second, identification. There is no external controller in regard to this; full control resides in your consciousness. Purpose is a product of cognition, and can be nothing else. It is defined exclusively by the integrating capacity to be called upon for its completion—which alone knows its own sensitivities and loyalties. You alone know your physical and mental strengths and weaknesses; you alone know the true distance to your full capacity in all respects and your willingness to reach it. If you feel your own purpose is crucially important, you won’t interrupt it for anything. The opinions of others may be weighed, but must never be allowed to override your own. A specialization is an independent derivation; unique and self-generated, as is its pride. Purpose is a road to travel where one should not look for a companion or a shepherd; nature allows no collusion. Like it or not, you are on your own. What we give our time freely too, or what we run to and immerse ourselves in during difficult times—given they are constructive—is the road to our passions. On this road, we will find what we wish to bring into existence: our purpose.

Self-Made Man: The Rules of Purpose | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P19

A purpose, to be valid, must obey three rules: Rule 1:All Purposes must be self-defined.Our portal to creative action must be defined by our cognitive tools. It is not only an epistemological derivation, but a physiological one, determining not only what we will do, but where we must start and at what speed we can travel. Rule 2:Purpose must be existentially based.As it is an abstract concept derived from the biological need for cognitive integration, its subject must also be existential, exercising human thought and action applicable in our universe. Rule 3:The central focus must be ourselves.As the very architect of our capacities, purpose mustrevolve around us. A proper purpose does not require others or their agreement, or any specific outside cognitive power. As we move, we remain its constant center. Though we may employ others to see its facets to fruition, no one man is irreplaceable beyond ourselves. We are its essential contributor—the prime mover—without whom it cannot continue. Our purpose is a product of our consciousness and therefore dies with us, though our legacy may remain.

Self-Made Man: The Purpose of Purpose | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P18

As the Moral Warrior first fought for his freedom, then set out to satisfy the basic necessities of life before he could pursue other interests, we must do the same. Purpose can no more be separated from spiritual preservation than profit can be separated from physical preservation. Each is responsible for the other. The primary purpose of every human being is life itself. No further values are possible without life’s needs first served. But beyond the sub-elements of food and shelter, there must be a reason for such effort’s continuance: life’s enjoyment.

There is natural resistance to life, and the most effective means of accumulating and spending the energy necessary to overcome it is found by selecting a reason to live—a purpose. Purpose itself has a purpose, serving a crucial role within a volitional being. First, overcoming this resistance sets a hierarchy of goals driven by personal interest for the individual to spend his lifetime accomplishing. Second, it steers the individual to embark on a path of self-development, inspiring commitment toward gathering the knowledge and ability needed to live and to satisfy his desires. Third, it lengthens his range and depth of thought, allowing him to see and consider the entire span of his life and set his goals according to the investment of time and energy necessary for the attainment of each. This assures the most productive and efficient use of his tools of cognition (cognitive steps 1 and 2), as a map for his creative action (cognitive step 3), and opens the door to the highest levels of spiritual accomplishment: the true maturation of his intellect. Purpose exists as foreman in the construction of our whole tree of knowledge.

At the top of the pyramid, our purpose guides and oversees all integration below, sorting what will help or hinder its attainment. All that lies beneath it is similar for every man—just existential data—yet without a central purpose, a human being is rudderless. Without a main intention there are no chains to run up or down, to set priorities, establishing order in hierarchies of importance. Without a central purpose, one floats disconnected to the whole of one’s life and is unable to tell day by day, issue by issue, what is moral or immoral; what furthers or threatens one’s goals and desires. We can be swept in any adverse direction by the ceaseless flow of data streaming into our senses every moment if we don’t take conscious control. It must be gleaned of essentials by our ultimate volitional filter: our purpose, so the stream carries us closer to where we want to go. We have no choice in building a knowledge tree, but its value to us—what it will contain, its effectiveness and the purposes it will serve—is up to us. Having lifelong goals breeds cognizance of the long-range effects of any circumstance, to assure we don’t end up in the wrong place.

Self-Made Man: Our Moral State of Mind | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P17

If men obeyed accountants, there would be no internal combustion engine, no airplane, and no light bulb; no steps taken on the untried and the new. A visionary is a man who holds his own view as paramount, motivationally equating the concept of investment with the concept of breakthrough, sensing the inherent risk in predictability. He is only at ease when he is safely out in front. He may weigh the ideas of others, but he never substitutes those ideas for his own cognitive process. If a visionary alters his course, it is by conviction; he learns the new facet as thoroughly as its creator, and accepts full responsibility for its use and result.

At any time, the effort necessary to reach spiritual fulfillment is dictated by the limit of our personal vision, which is also in a state of expansion over the course of our lives. As we mature, our undertakings must evolve to reflect our depth. The pinnacles of men embark on endeavors that encompass the whole of the world. They address the universal problems of existence and arrive at the next summit of questions to be answered. The most extreme of the pinnacles takes actions in life—runs errands, dines, works—oblivious to the world around him. People and the rest of the world are often just background. He has blinders on, seeing only the quickest route between two points; the issues of his mind and their solution. Self-made Man has instilled an automatic preoccupation that steals away the focus of his consciousness from others during all idle time. Confronted by people asking questions, he answers as he moves, not breaking stride when possible.

Like most people, I began my career in the pattern of a painful grind and cherished weekends, with torturous years and precious vacations. It was all backwards! Now, when I think of vacation, I think “To escape from what?” I love everything I do. There is no such thing as forever in human terms. Each second that goes by cannot be recalled, as it is ruthlessly subtracted from the span of our lives. No matter what happens—good or bad—we must enjoy our time here to our fullest capacity. No matter what we accumulate—money, fame, enlightenment—nothing compares to the satisfaction of squeezing every ounce of joy, passion and adventure out of our conscious hours. The goals of a Self-made Man are fully obtainable—even the long-range goals of his philosophers—and he expects to be rewarded without unnecessary delay. He accepts no undefinable gap between cause and effect; between required action and reward, as his time is too precious to be wasted. He expects both to be proven within a reasonable and determinableinterval, and sets his hierarchy of pursuits accordingly. He shows as much concern for the expense of time as for the expense of money, and manages both in a businesslike manner.

All men have dreams, but their nature varies in regard to personal integrity. They all include riches and glamour, but his dreams differ from others in that Self-made Man exalts the effortnecessary to achieve them. He knows that this is the source of his self-worth; not the havingalone, but the earning. The capacity to deserveis the glory of any human being, in wealth, in love and in honor. He reveres the elements of the complete process—the chosen ideal, the training, the battle and the victory. His respect for time is a result of the crucial undertakings for which he wishes to spend every waking moment. When he does pause to look at the world, his glance is not that of a stranger, but of an appreciation beyond any depth the others could reach. When he looks upon men, he sees the same potential he feels about his own life, imagining their pursuits to be as profoundly important to them as his own, and his living eyes reflect the acceptance he feels in looking upon his own creations. His primary focus is his conscious purpose; his secondary is all other communication and action. Men are not a part of his inner world—they are not needed to achieve his goals—and consequently there is a total absence of fear. It is a world where no form of submission or violence need be accounted for, as there are no external authorities to undermine his course. There is only what he will do. And when he does take a break, he astonishes most with the untroubled lightness of his manner.

Self-Made Man: The Power of Prosperity | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P16

The men who were driven by an overwhelming need to take responsibility and do something about evil—the leaders—are now answering the overwhelming need they fought for: their own fulfillment on Earth. The Moral Warrior lays down his arms and looks at the world. He sees ferrous elements glittering in the rock and thinks of the metal that can be extracted. He sees the violent flow of a river and thinks of the power to be generated. He sees the bounty of the forest, part of which is to be transformed as beams to become his home and the homes of others. His children can grow safely here.

Before long, thanks to those who have met the needs of civilization in these endeavors, individuals need not make the basic necessities their primary concern. Their purpose can exist far along Man’s chain into abstract territory, furthering pleasurable concepts such as style, where an honest living can be made in as many creative ways as there are people. The vantage point of morality in action is often as witness to the pioneers of our past and present, following the structure of their course to define the motives, means and ends of the actual good. To the limits of their vision, they create and further our great industries and set the best examples for the whole world to follow. These are the men of purpose. They have a calling; a desire to see some specific end achieved, and the whole of their being is poured into its accomplishment. When they are finished, they find another. They spend their lives on growing, each concern more sophisticated than the one before, as a constant answer to why they live. With their every moment drenched in meaning as a result, they are the happiest, deepest, most devoted, and most genuine people on Earth. Their essential purpose acts as the highest abstraction in their epistemological chain, and all actions in life and all knowledge accumulated takes place within its framework. As a result, they acquire the longest intellectual range; knowing how every step they take will affect their lives, and are able to project their activities to the end of their days. With their purpose as motivator for every action, no energy is wasted. Their neurobiological development is streamlined and as a result, their chains of knowledge grow much faster and much longer than usual. These are the men who utilize the human mind as it was meant to be, and can show the rest how to actualize their greatest potential. Our appreciation for these men isour respect for life itself, as the axiomatic reason for purpose islife.

Self-Made Man: The Meaning of Life | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P15

Part Three: The Meaning of Life: Concepts of Purpose

You won’t be any good at all, unless you love it.” —The Perfect Storm

Peace: The First Necessity.Why is it that we no longer hear of men and women like William Wallace and Joan of Arc? They were fighters for freedom against any kind of oppression. They knew what they wanted—it was simple enough: to end the use of force against them, to gain the freedom to earn their living and to keep the results of their work. They longed for a society where they need not face constant perils; an environment where today’s achievement could be furthered tomorrow without fear of it being demolished, confiscated or stolen. They wanted a world where their children would be spared the unnecessary hazards of predacious savages. They fought alongside those they inspired, fully willing to die for their dream, and became legends of human greatness. Do such people still exist? Where are they now? Hint: they are in industry. They had won their freedom to act, and now they are acting.

An industrial revolution is what happens when men are set free. It may have a name associated to a past event, but it is actually a human being’s natural response to his surroundings when nothing stands in his way. Prosperity, honestlydistributed, is what only freedom can regulate. Someone has to stand in every era—those who are part scientist and part adventurer—to speak and to lead. It doesn’t matter whether the task is leading men to fight or leading them to produce; such men can do both equally well when called upon. All such men prefer prosperity to violence, but choose the latter when they witness corruption gaining a foothold on our civilization. Men like William Wallace of Scotland—the strong, reluctant warrior, the man of unimpeachable integrity and spirit seeing nothing but his right to be, guarding nothing but the integrity of men–will pick up their weapons again when the law tells them that the government monopoly on force allows the citizens no right to defend themselves against it. The warriors have not died off, and will never die.

Every successive generation asks, “What are we here for?” Moral Warriors are the men who have answered that question. We absorb the same fables, stories and legends—the great battles of good and evil—all sharing the same elements of innocence oppressed, to be quelled by innocence grown strong. We address the same universal problems as time moves on, passing to future generations the peace of ours. But for the most part, modern warriors use words now. We are free in America; we can speak. Words are swords without the “s,” and they are powerful weapons. Every utterance of integrity is a blow to evil and a plus to the side of life. With our freedom of speech, the concentrations of evil have been disallowed a monopoly on Man’s conveyances to men, and an unprecedented era of productivity has been the result.

Self-Made Man: Turning the Tables on Evil | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P14

Why is the cognitive process so important to a Moral Warrior? Because when virtue is allowed to pass undefined, then so is vice. Sound conceptualization is responsible for all human furtherance. As nature determined our cognitive process, its proper utilization is at the root of every moral action. With the understanding of conceptualization comes the understanding of every moral violation.It is from the negation or perversion of proper conceptual construction that all twists come. The base of nonexistence—of that which isn’t real—is derived from that which is. A negation of any one of the four elements—perception, identification, creative action or reward—allows a man to be taken advantage of, and a lack of its comprehension on our part dulls our sensitivity to the risk.

By virtue of the fact that we live, that which is harmonious with life is what we must respect. In our individual lives and in our history as Man, with an interest to see our code make sense it is rational principles we’ve supported, while ignoring, tolerating or opposing the senseless. We have been morally correct implicitly through our reverence for the joy-generating potency of our experiences, even in our memories. But without a clear standard to judge moral or immoral ideas, we were unable to get a fix on their identity, allowing them to recur in our own lives, in our relationships and in our law. Yet we still revere what is right: the ideals in Man that we cherish are his life-defending, life-furthering traits: the unflinching nerve, the candid honor, the powerful ability, the free, proud, radiant joy of a being who is calm, confident and in control—all elements of the four basic virtues.

A lifetime of evidence validating this process is behind the steady eyes and frightening potency of a Moral Warrior. The man who reaches the point beyond all doubt—the point of total conviction by rational means—who grew as Self-made, yet has spent serious time immersed in the world of the Spirit Murderers, who knows their evasions, their escapes and their denials, the man who learns to answer them in every context and watches them fold in their true impotence, time and time again, becomes untouchablepsychologically. With pure honesty, there are no longer any psychological threats to fear. With full willingness to see ourselves, we will have eliminated them. The right shields are up; beautiful, clear, impenetrable shields, through which nothing can ever cut too deep. When you can breathe deeply and, with steady eyes, are able to see what’s right and wrong and who stands where, no danger is ever too frightening; not even death.

Our pursuit of life is not evil and never was. Thought and knowledge are the tools of Man, and Man is their proper benefactor. The offenses borne against our pursuit were the actual evil, but self-defense is only the beginning. Once the way is clear, the freedom it affords—the clean pathways to new heights and sacred rewards—will open a whole new destiny before us. We amass within ourselves the wealth of a precision instrument, brimming with radiant activity; a controlled storm that took years to master, and we are free to create life in the most adventurous and exciting ways. That is our nature, our birth-right, our destiny and our glory.

Self-Made Man’s Sixth Sense: Inertial Awareness | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P13

Forewarning information can be powerful, though quite unreliable, but I am beginning to pay closer attention to this facet of my being. I have had experiences in real life that happened first in dreams. One segment lasted for about five minutes. I was at a party. I knew who I was about to meet—what their names were, that we were standing by a circular stairway, that a pretty brunette would pass behind them—the detail was too remarkable to ignore. These people had no significance to my life and never would; I don’t know why I was exposed to the information in advance. Déjà vu is a rare phenomenon we’ve all experienced to some extent, but I believe it can be made useful.

There are inertias that one can pick up on based on one’s choices in life and one’s likely future choices. Every choice we make immediately generates positive or negative energy; it immediately begins physiological preparation for the actions to come. This is a fascinating contemplation for me; an untapped cognitive ability I have termed Inertial Awareness. Its popular name is ESP, which is actually a way of saying what it is not. In time, I wish to find a valid philosophical link to what has been considered the proper domain of mysticism. I don’t think it is mystical at all; it begins and ends in our minds. It is not a sixth sense, as it is not sensory; but simply an untapped facet of Man’s integrating capacity. Thoughts, however complete in themselves, are not static. They have momentum; they are preceded and followed by other thoughts as are the motions of your body. Your intuitive responses are reflections of your own life’s inertia, in a given context at the time of the intuition.

It is an amazing feeling to know in advance how things will come out at any range, long or short. I think of extreme sports, such as the sensation of a bicycle freestylist accelerating into the air on takeoff, reaching weightlessness, then falling back to the ramp. He knows by his approach if all will go well. He knows by his takeoff, how he will land; every fiber of his being can feel it before it happens. The smell of the air, his position on the ramp, the wind on his back, the feeling of the grips and pedals; his overall balance determines his overall confidence. This translates to any other activity. Making a business decision, walking down the stairs, driving a car on a winding road—you know what to expect; the pattern repeats. The inertia of now, indicates the inertia of the next moment. It is predictable.

All actions are energies whose ‘abstraction to physical action’ neurobiological link is yet to be discovered, but they can be used now for forward thinking. I take actions that further the inertias in my life—the paths I wish to see furthered. When I make a wrong turn, the inertias stop. I do what is necessary to get back on track. It can be any choice—the wrong person, a wrong business affiliation or the wrong approach. When it is correct or corrected, the inertias I wish to further are invigorated. As only the right equation will solve a problem of science, I believe that moral consistency is the key to make use of Inertial Awareness: the concept is integrity. Contrary to the claim of psychic hotlines, inertias do not determine your destiny; your premises do. As your premises evolve, your actions change; and so follow your inertias.

Self-Made Man: Role of Emotion | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P12

What part do emotions play in cognition? The hero of any story is always a just, strong, honorable mind, compelling an able body into action. Notice how his negative emotions are a reaction to the conflict and not an element of the solution. Notice how his elation is a resultof his victory and the restoration of peace, earned and deserved after the battle was won; a desired result, but not the reason of success. Emotions are never sought for solutions to crucial problems—solutions of any problem. Notice how emotions are a reaction to a stimulus, positive or negative, which was a result of a happening or a thought. They are never the reason for action, but an indicator of an event’s significance to our own conditions and possibilities. Emotions are strictly resultant factors. They ride the torrent of our environmental exposure, reading our health, pride, fear and pain with precision, revealing our own deepest estimate of a person’s or a context’s significance to us. All possible emotions are important—good and bad. They are estimates, giving an indication of the soundness of our course. As an intensity gauge, emotions measure virtue or vice, reward or penalty.

Emotions are not volitional phenomenon, butthe resultof volitional phenomenon; the result of choices. They are the finished product of actions taken earlier. Wherever they are encountered in the chain, they confirm the correct path, or warn of trouble ahead. They signal a fork in the road, indicating an alternate route, but they do not provide the map. Proper or improper cognitive effort is responsible for every human action.

Self-made Man considers his emotions to be just one of many gauges on his control panel, and patterns his intellectual effort to use his mind most effectively. He does not ignore them, but pay’s strict attention, as to every other measure of health. He traces back through what led him to feel certain emotions, in order to continue their causes or to eliminate them. Once the source of an emotion is understood, it can be reproduced and harnessed as fuel; a concentration of power that can be used for some constructive end. He knows that if a negative emotion remains undefined, its power will rob energy from his sacred goals and possibly destroy them, along with his enjoyment of life. Morally, Self-made Man is motivated by the anticipation of all the pleasure that can be obtained by bettering his condition.

A mind at every turn chooses right or wrong, good or bad. It is simply a choice—a decision made—either based on reason, or based on non-reason. Fear and elation are not perceptual existents, they are psycho-physiological reactions based on the projection of dread and eagerness, which is itself a product of proper or improper conceptual effort. Emotions are a second-level resultant indicator; their implications are accounted for by reason, reason being the faculty of judgment which is rooted in your five-sense awareness, and is the only sound, predictable, repeatable base in which to entrust any decision.

Self-Made Man: Role of the Subconscious | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P11

There has always been this debate over the subconscious mind, and whether it is master over our lives and motivations, or servant. To Self-made Man, it is servant. What is the purpose of the conscious versus the subconscious mind? The conscious mind is the integrator, the organizer of percepts, from which concepts are derived, acted on, and whose bounty is then harvested. The subconscious is the automatizerof concepts frequently acted on by one’s consciousness. It has no knowledge other than that which we give it, through repetition of our conscious effort. We pace ourselves with a certain practice until we understand it, then as it becomes automatic, it is released from conscious control and delegated to the subconscious, allowing the conscious mind to grasp new material. As our efficiency raises, our minor actions become automated, while our major goal remains conscious, and continues to expand in whatever direction our conscious mind chooses. If we make no determination of course, we float, and stillget what we’re after; it’s only that “random mess” was replaced as the goal.

The concept of willis just the honest application of the process of cognition, of open perception—of honest identification—of disciplined, rational action and of gratifying reward. Human will is nota subconscious attribute, though prior automatization can serve to undercut our will or to fortify it. The subconscious makes no choices; it has no faculty by which to make them. The subconscious needs direction from the conscious mind. All it does is operate automated processes based on our accepted premises. If we automate unsound processes, it will operate them without question, and our resulting misery will continue as long as we evade the responsibility to correct them. Perceptiveness, evasion, introspection or its avoidance, are first set in motion by being the subject of the conscious mind. Whatever we dwell on, we train the subconscious to evoke and maintain. We control the subconscious whether we accept that responsibility or not, and controlling its automatization can produce fascinating results, to be explored in future works.

Self-Made Man’s Tree of Knowledge | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P10

Remember those starlit nights of youth, lying on the hood of a car, contemplating the limitless galaxy and all of our possibilities? It implied future action, and was an experience of the exhilarating use of consciousness. The very term “question” is derived from the word quest. Those nights should have followed us into adulthood. We get so involved in our routines, that little energy is left to contemplate what we are all doing here. Topics concerning the universe, social movements and the boundless power of our minds can stem into anything, and most people haven’t taken the time to understand the root of it all. The magnificent complexity of our civilization provokes thoughts that can branch off in countless directions. Most believe that every mind creates its own reality, that every branch of life has its own tree, and then it’s too overwhelming a task to investigate them all. But how much simpler would it be if all branches led to the same trunk?

All sound concepts begin grounded in the axioms of existence itself, and consciousness as the faculty of perceiving existence. These concepts are not different for individual people; they are valid and useful for anyone who picks them up. We all use the same dictionaries as they all condense data about the same world. The axiom of existence spans and underlies the complete range of human awareness—of everything that will ever come within our grasp, encompassing the subjects of mankind’s entire tree of knowledge. The parallel drawn between all branches of human intelligence, is the means and structure of their accumulation. As all limbs of a tree are of similar form, so grows our mental structure and the information it contains—all in this pattern of genus and differentia. If you zoom in, you’ll notice that one branch is medicine, while another might be plumbing. Zoom in even closer and you’ll see a detailed account of a limb or of the circulatory system—how it works, what helps or hinders it and how one repairs its internal and external maladies. While higher concepts of one branch save individual lives, concepts of the other make it easier to live those lives by feeding electricity, gas and water to all human establishments. Zoom in on the other, and its branches reveal the technical intricacies on the space shuttle, in complex machinery, in our homes, businesses, cars and hospitals. Other offshoots such as law on the branch of politics protect our freedoms and make life worth living. All branches of knowledge as all branches of a tree, live dependent on their trunk, and any separation means death for the limb. It is the trunk which is rooted in the ground—that gathers nutrition and provides the living energy to expand and reach new heights. In other words, any disconnection from existence invalidates a concept.

Healthy, valid concepts all serve the same ultimate purpose—providing data on which men can act. Each branch is held and furthered by the men who harbor that specific interest. There is no central location for the entirety of mankind’s knowledge. The knowledge exists by grace of the specializations of every human being. We all build a knowledge tree, tailored to our own specific interests. The stability and worth of our tree depends on how deeply our roots delve into the soil of existence.

Building the Tree.Our epistemological structure is the father of all scientific classification. If you remember from biology, the animal kingdom is classified by the following tree: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. The intention of this method of course, is to integrate data into a single whole. The act of gathering, validating and placing knowledge along this chain is integration.From any point on this tree to any other, a chain is formed. At any time, you should be able to see where you came from, where you are and where you are going. This should be true for any tree you amass on any subject. There can be no indetermination at any step. Indetermination is the end of every chain of knowledge—as knowledge is the defined and the determinable. A fuzzy element breaks the chain and cannot be considered knowledge until its full definition is discovered. There is no room for what ‘might be’ in fact; either it is or it isn’t. Fuzz is where epistemological order ceases, waiting for and dependent on, the faculty of reason to deduce the subject’s exact identity. Identifying the missing links in one’s life and taking the steps to acquire them is the progress required of every volitional consciousness. A self-made rational man does not accept approximations into his epistemological chains, only at the non-useful (as of yet) ends. His judgment is based on sound reasoning, considering all of the elements necessary to draw conclusions. He is thorough in life, in order to thoroughly enjoy it. A step by step progression of logic is the convincing factor; the only means to conviction.The development of conviction is the road to intransigence,led by the practice and automatization of leaving no stone unturned in the validation of every premise.

Self-Made Man: Language and Concept Formation | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P9

“I am.” is the shortest sentence in the English language, and with a romantic imagination, maybe the first. The second was probably the first subversion: “I’m not.” Having been developed at a primitive level some two million years ago, language was created for inter-species relations, and became the key abstract means for identifying, cataloging and passing on knowledge.

The origin of our language begins in the common vocal range of a man. A variety of individual sounds that can be made without strain were refined to comprise our alphabet, and form approximately 158,000 different sound combinations. They allow a concise, phonically-clear conveyance to be spoken and understood. Our system allows no meaning to the concept of “A,” beyond its visual representation of the sound made. A fundamental advantage exists in this type of language, as its components maintain no fixed correlation to ideas. In contrast, the Chinese language has only 1,600 sound combinations, severely limiting the number of spoken words. Their alphabet is comprised of about three-thousand commonly used character-words (out of sixty-thousand) which define preset ideas,yet the combinations of our twenty-six are nearly limitless, as are our comparative advancements. Why? To hamper expression is to limit individual progress, which is to limit social progress; and this in part, is the reason the language spoken by the greatest number of people on Earth is rarely used outside Asian borders. Their symbols denote prior meaning, and therefore tax the creation of new meaning, skipping an essential cognitive step. Ours provides no ideas from which a consciousness must begin, allowing it an empty slate—full freedom to use the tool without the interference of non-self-derived, non-cognitive elements.

The definition of our every word denotes a specific, exact concept. Concept-formation is a sub-concept itself, of identification. The cognitive progression goes: existence, consciousness, perception, identification, concept-formation. It is obvious how the first step of perception precedes this second step of identification. To identify and integrate efficiently, one must see as clearly as possible to grasp and define the greatest number of attributes of any given entity. The simplest concepts are of perception—the words formed to represent physical objects, such as the concept pencil.All entities observed on the planet are given names, as are all attributes of entities. The observation of their attributes forms these sub-concepts, such as arms and legs—of a man, a dog and a frog, excluding the arm of a chair, as the subset biologicalbecomes implicit in the trend. Such associations are created and can branch and be cross-referenced infinitely, given their relevance to human application. Entities spawn all abstract concepts as well, in attributes such as dimension, mass, energy, speed and trajectory—in the size of an atom, the energy of the sun and the speed of light. The definition of a concept indicates where it came from, pinpointing its location and differentiating itself from all other concepts on Man’s tree of knowledge, and spawns derivative concepts of its own.

Practical use and clear conveyance of these concepts is a result of clear understanding, achieved by a focused mind. The discipline to understand them exactly, determines the quality of our actions and the ultimate quality of our lives. Words are like building blocks. They are what they are, they mean what they mean, and you can build what you want with them. When you discover or create something new, you combine words or signify a new word to describe it. Some understand the medium and built skyscrapers. Some corrupt good concepts to knock them down. There is a clear link to why the world’s most popular language shares that stature alongside the world’s standard of monetary value: the American dollar. One respects free will, while the other is stabilized by the exercise of free will. The existence of such concepts as passion, justice, rationality, precision, tenacity, effectiveness, intransigence and independence, presuppose great men of the past who didbuild and reached great heights.

Self-Made Man’s Montessori-style Epistemology | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P8

The first steps of a human consciousness as identified and trained in children by the world renowned Dr. Maria Montessori, were designed to explore and master the full range of Man’s perceptual capacity. Her work focused on the subtle differentiation and integration of all facets of each sense, by comprehending the graduations of differing yet similar existents. Her blocks of graduating dimension in length, width, height, weight and shape allowed order to be established by sight and feel, by each sense independently or together. Her bells of graduating tone awakened the mind to the awareness of and differences in, tonal quality. Tactile sensitivity learned by assessing and organizing shapes and textures while voluntarily blindfolded, led into the simplified causal connections of round pegs into round holes. The tying of bows, fastening of buttons, snaps, and zippers transformed fumbling motor skills into practical, graceful motion. Her methods held the implicit truth that differentiationis the key to comprehension, which laid the foundation for sound independent judgment. Bringing sense and order to our perceptual tools is the springboard to an elegant, intellectually and emotionally mature future.

By training the structureof a child’s consciousness, she prepared them for assimilating its future content.We use the four elements of a volitional consciousness—perception, identification, productive action, and reward—to validate and then store this data we then reference, in order to live. As a result, we have developed methods which measure and classify this data, according to the manner in which it was obtained. The first of our abstract creations was language;the second was mathematics.Their derivatives include the conceptual structure of genus and differentia,and the standards of measurement by which we identify and make use of the data received by each sense. Light and sound waves, the chemical compositions determining flavors and aromas, and the facets of touch: texture, pressure, temperature, sensual enjoyment and pain, can all be broken down into compositions and quantities along scales designed to be useful to Man. Such knowledge then leads to the means by which we can observe, measure and classify entities which exist well outside of our perceptual range. Every scientific and industrial instrument of Man is designed to extend the range of our senses, from the perceptual realm into the conceptual realm. We cannot see microorganisms, but with an electron microscope, we can. We can’t grab radio waves from the air for our own enjoyment, but with a receiver, we can. We can’t fight off menacing carnivores with our bare hands, but with the American Bill of Rights, we can.

Taking a few steps deeper can assure us of the proper foundation, as if digging into the Earth to view the roots of a tree. Moving from Dr. Montessori’s mastery of our perceptual ranges into adult conceptualization, we should validate its origin. The answer lies in mathematics and the physiological workings of the human organism—in how we deal with individual existents and groups of existents. If a number of sticks were placed before you, how many could you perceive before having to count? Looking at ///, its no problem. Looking at /////, most could still reproduce the picture with little difficulty. Move to //////, and most minds hesitate, and have to count. But show six as /// ///, and one has no problem grasping it quickly. The reason is the separation, which is the foundation and purpose of conceptualization: to bring information about the world into our perceptual range, so that it may be dealt with efficiently. Five to six units is the limit for most people, myself included, where the mind begins to reduce the complexity of input to manageable levels, along one of two roads: the conceptual and the mathematical.

Remember the scene in Rain Manwhere Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character counts toothpicks in quantities of 48, but cannot comprehend the concept “dollar”? That is an example of a mind whose full range is utilized perceptually, and cannot graduate to the next step of concept-formation. The perceptual faculty of a healthy mind permits only so many elements at once, and begins to condense information by the process of concept-formation, upon reaching that threshold. The creation of language and math is the means to that end.

Self-Made Man’s Mental Structure | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P7

The elements of a single thought are the foundation upon which every wonder of Man has been built, and need to be understood explicitly if we are to comprehend and own any firm moral convictions. The most important phase in our ethical maturation is gaining explicit understanding of the structure by which Man accumulates and validates his knowledge. Most understand and accept that a healthy diet, exercise and posture for the body are ideal, yet do not grasp that a healthy posture also exists for a consciousness: the structure for an unlimited database, which only the discipline of reason can build and reference.

Being carbon-based, water and oxygen sustained entities, men require all the same nutrients to survive. The needs of water and oxygen are axiomatic,or in other words, are self-evident, foundational truths. Axiomatic needs are fundamentally irrefutable and reach substantially deeper than most imagine. They transcend these obvious physical associations to reveal links directly into conceptual processes. Every man’s mind classifies information alike, building concepts in a standard pattern, and we either learn to hamper this natural design, or learn to act in accordance with it. The process is called conceptualization,and we run it at some level, all day long.

The proper means of cognition is in itself, an achievement. It is achieved, not granted—earned, not automatic—respected, not forced. And it can be learned any time one assumes the responsibility to do so. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed, and the proper utilization of the mind must be accepted by all those who intend to think, to live and to enjoy living—the aim of the Self-made. Accountable conceptualization isthe abstract axiomatic necessity of life sustenance for Man. It isn’t a separate issue to our need of air and water, but an extension of the same requirement, moving from direct sensate observation to conceptual observation—driven by the capacity of volition. Its first step, perception,is the open integration of clear, coherent sensory data. Perception must be used in any observation of existential matter, and in any communication with others. The second step, identification, is the mental effort extended to distinguish the objects of one’s perceptions, their attributes and actions, for classification of all existential data along a rational hierarchy. To give them names—to name their attributes, to measure their motions and characteristics—is a hierarchy called an epistemological chainof knowledge. Its links reveal the origin, components and ultimate purpose of any concept. Proper integration builds one’s knowledge of the world into a non-contradictory whole, from which sound choices can be made. Reason is the process of making those sound choices, reflecting off this base to establish plans for the third step, productive action.The process of reason, or rationality,accumulates and unites every pertinent detail to arrive at a well-informed conclusion determining one’s course of action. The fourth and final step is the product of all that has come before; the result.For Self-made Men, most often the result is a reward, a beneficial outcome achieved by intention, such as a positive emotional state, a thought provoking observation, a paycheck, or the United States of America.

Reward is often mistaken to be only a resultant factor, not a part of the process. Reward is not an element separate from cognition—not an isolated result that can be expropriated or divided in any way from that which it was borne—but contains vital, essential information to the soundness of one’s cognitive process, and determines the steadfastness of course or of its correction. Another word for “result” in the cognitive process is validation.The moral import of this process is that it istheelife-serving means of existential control for Man, and every step is optional, though the consequences of their evasion are not. Nature cannot force you to compose thought; it can only force you to decompose. A man must accept life as his standard of value—as his basic referent—by choice, and conceptualization is the fundamental life-pattern—the definitive attribute of a human being. Self-made Man displays the cognitive willingness to exercise every aspect of the process until it is automatized, because he wants to live at the highest, most humanlevel possible, to earn and enjoy the greatest pride.

Self-Made Man: Confidence vs Instinct | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P6

All living entities run a cycle of accumulation, processing and the result, which is either a reward or penalty. Often considered an involuntary biological process, it is the pattern of cognition as well. The living patterns of Self-made Men all share this structure and can be seen at all levels of rational, civil human endeavor: free-market economics (Capitalism), sound business organizations, democratic elections, the evolution of the space program, Olympic training, choosing a career, the process of eating,…the list is endless. All human action has a purpose—an end in mind—and leads back to its origin; the elements which compose a single thought. The purpose of this cause and effect relationship is to produce confidence—an axiomatic need for a non-automatic consciousness—which acts as a constant barometer of physical and spiritual health. Animals supposedly have instincts to guide them—a set course to follow—so confirmation of sound cognition is unnecessary. All they need is a predictable environment to act in. Regardless of what is considered the primary causal factor, a disruption at any step affects the rest; it is a natural continuum. Studies have shown that when an animal’s life-pattern of ‘effort for sustenance’ is interrupted with penalties when expecting rewards, it will quit eating—refusing to exist in a world it cannot comprehend—and this is true for us as well.

Confidence is the emotional aggregate resulting from the status of one’s condition regarding the primary alternative—life or death. It involves data encompassing how well one’s chosen premises are achieving one’s desired ends—one’s intellectual and physical health. Confidence attained is never a fixed state. It needs replenishing even more frequently than the body needs food. Confidence results from our every day-to-day action and it varies from brimming to anemic, just as our situations vary. I’m sure you can remember getting a job and suffering the embarrassment of a poor initial performance, which with critical apprehension was rectified quickly to your relief, as you settled into the work. Imagine reliving that experience every moment. Imagine if every right turn was supposed to be a left. If we didn’t make most moves in life correctly, the stress alone would kill us off in no time. Pride or self-esteem is our awareness that our actions are correct. By adding to and building our confidence, they indicate that our ability to satisfy the requirements of existence has proven effective. A sense of prideful confidence is a part of the continuum for a rational being, a reward we have to earn and deserve, and which we could not live without.

Self-Made Man’s Neurobiology | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P5

In a truly stunning discovery, science has proven our self-chosen capacity in observing what physically happens as we think and automatize our processes. The mind is not an independent entity within the body, but an organ of the body—its regulator and driver. But it too has a driver: our conscious will. There is heightened brain activity in certain locations, relative to the type and level of exertion required for any action we take. With brain imaging techniques, this activity can be monitored and linked directly to its causal factors. That portion of the brain actually expands to allow greater sensitivity to a chosen stimulus, enhancing the accuracy of our perceptions and our means to deal with them. When we apply consistent effort to a particular endeavor, connections in the brain are reinforced so that more neurons can be devoted to the task. The body builds stronger connections for the processes given preference by one’s consciousness. This doesn’t mean that if a man is a plumber, it advances the ‘plumbing’ part of his brain. The biological augmentation supports natural functions of human cognition such as creativity, motor skills, memory and specific sensory acumen, which span an unlimited array of practical applications. Just as the blind experience a heightening in their remaining senses, hearing for instance, and touch for reading Braille, we experience a heightening of our own design, based on our individual practices. A painter will experience increased activity in the frontal lobes and will develop strong connections between the visual cortex and the supplementary motor area controlling the minute skills necessary for delicate brush strokes. This physically tailored awareness is a proven phenomenon in all living entities. Why? Because their lives depend on their link to the environment—the flow of sensory data, and in the blind man’s case, the loss of one makes those remaining all the more crucial. For humans alone, our physio-intellectual structure adjusts to serve our own chosenpremises. It designs itself to serve whatever we choose as most important to pursue. If the wrong methods were learned, they can be overridden by sheer will, and the body will physiologically adapt to further its new instructions. Change your premises, and it will change you physiologically; it’s all up to you.

That’s all for now, thanks for watching. Next up is how confidence replaces instinct for man. Click subscribe and leave a thumbs up if you’d like to help the world’s simplest moral philosophy based on nature itself expand to make the world a better place. Below are links to Moral Armor and The Care and Feeding of Freedom, my latest book, on Amazon. Please leave comments or questions and I’ll be glad to answer anything wholesome and growth oriented. Thanks again, and see you next time.

Self-Made Man’s Intellectual Efficiency | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P4

Every man lives alone in his mind. We are complete entities in ourselves, which means, ‘every man isan island’ in regard to his own life and consciousness. Every mind has a certain operating efficiency defined by its biological environment, then developed and maintained by the conscious will or degenerative random actions of its owner. It must operate at peak awareness in order to satisfy the basic moral requirement of a volitional being: to maximize its capacity to choose the path to life when faced with any alternative. Commanding it to act contrary to its nature or in excess of its capacity cannot work; it only results in dysfunction. We can see this in our driving speeds. An active mind can handle a more intellectually demanding environment than most. Just as one sets a stereo at a comfortable volume according to one’s own physical requirements and mood, so one seeks to adjust the conditions open to one’s choice, with respect to the integrator of one’s perceptions (according to its refinement). If we are active, we turn upthe environment by increasing our speed to a level that matches our intellectual efficiency. If we are forced to move slower, our mind wanders. It is our capacity to deal with the elements of existence (and freedom to do so) that determines our confidence in taking any action. Consonant with the flow of life, this level of efficiency and confidence ebbs and flows with our own physio-intellectual health and energy. If we act outside of our capacity, the result will be life-adverse; so in natural response to exhaustion for example, we drive slower. Every mind has its own speed and limitations, whose boundaries are to be pushed by and at the risk of the owner himself. The physical and intellectual efficiency of every man is determined by his own chosen focus and actions, and is a solid measure of moral stature. Acceptance, development and exercise of our full sensory and intellectual range is responsible for our level of comfort with ourselves, others and our environment.

There are different levels of efficiency to be sure. I define them on a scale related to the steps of cognition. The 1-2 level defines children mostly, as to remain Self-made, one must complete the metaphysical range of 1-4. But it can be completed in an isolated context prepared forhim, where he operates at a very modest level in everything else, quietly and honorably. At the 3-4 level, he is career minded, morally questions ideas, and supports sincere intentions. Institutionally he may own businesses, be in politics, and provide moral leadership. At the 6-8 abstract level, he is a scientist in his field, and can have a global impact. He defines new knowledge, overseeing existence to harness principles for the furtherance of all. At each level, his range of effect increases, and his capacity to advance increases with experience. Maturity affects his level, as we all begin life at 1-2, and move on to contextually practice elements in the 3-4 level. How far one goes is a matter of personal ambition.

Self-Made Man: Validation of Mind: Concepts of Reason | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P3

Part Two: Validation of Mind: Concepts of Reason

…historically, dreamers have a pretty good track record.” —Sidekicks

With the incredible level of data collected in the medical and physical sciences, we have more than enough physical evidence to form a sound philosophy for Man. So many human attributes considered evil have been proven to be biologically natural, life-promoting structures, that the false-righteously stiff sit frozen, remaining backward as their control over morality is taken. Their stranglehold on innocence is succumbing to age, finally. Why did they fight rationality? The concepts of judgment, certainty and pleasure, which were considered impertinent, arrogant and selfish, have proven themselves to be derived by axiomatic needs—needs at the base of conscioushealth for Man—just as air and water are necessities of physical health. Judgmentis the identification and acceptance of right and wrong; certaintyis the established link of cause to effect, and pleasureis the reward for acting on the certainty of rational judgment. All were damned so that the imposed guilt could be used as justification to expropriate the values such concepts created. We were preyed upon by the Spirit Murderers all along, not for our vices, but for our virtues. Our sexual drives, our emotional propensity for constructive or destructive action, our degrees of intelligence; these are issues that as far as moral import is concerned, can be put to rest. There was and is, no mind/body dichotomy. There is no moral struggle of one against the other. There is no fixed, ‘I can’t help it’ prenatal level of awareness. There is no struggle for control between the conscious and subconscious mind. The struggle is and always has been, between reality and the Spirit Murderer’s unwillingness to accept it.

At one’s first moment of conscious awareness, one sees the world, and is either afraid of it’s complexity or is intrigued. One either immediately desires exploration or tries to back out. This initial reaction sets the stage for the manner in which one’s mind will classify information or assimilate, from then on. The question truly is, “To be, or not to be.” From the very beginning of cognitive responsibility, Self-made Man decided that he wants to live.

The most powerful emotion a man can feel is anticipation, and its antithesis, dread; the expectation of enjoyment, and the expectation of pain. Anticipation is a high positiveenergy response to existence driven by confidence—the projection of fulfillment—whereas dread is a high negativeenergy response to existence driven by inadequacy—the projection of doom. No other emotions can bring about so deep a personal impact: the trembling, the butterflies, the sudden perspiration—hot and then cold, a dry throat, and at the extreme, total incapacitation; all precursors of an outcome of crucial importance to the afflicted. Then there is the moment for some, when everything turns quiet: the purity of total focus, of absolute calm, the lock-on to a ruthless expansion of awareness, monitoring and maintaining only the key elements of achievement at peak levels. In this state of consciousness, the mind drops all inessentials and applies one hundred percent of its attention to regulating the expectations of one’s conscious will. Access to this intellectual level is the province of the Self-made: the most purely earned state of personal accomplishment possible. From it, comes the wealth of the individual: the greatest advances, the greatest performances, the most passionate connections and the most powerful conveyances. Aware of it or not, Self-made Man utilizes this same process at differing degrees to satisfy all of his intentions, from the simplest to the most complex of endeavors.

Often these primary emotions can switch places without warning. Fear can easily turn into anticipatory exhilaration, because they are epistemological antipodes. Fear is easier to elicit, as it often precedes identification. It hits you just when you are faced with an input you were not prepared for; information outside of your focus. This is the critical juncture in every context, when a man chooses either to turn the lights on, or to keep them off. It is here, that the Self-made and the Fear-driven go their separate ways. Self-made Man goes on to achievement and self-satisfaction, while Fear-driven Man damns himself to stagnation and self-hatred. Perceptive bravery (courage) is Man’s non-automatic, self-motivated, self-generated, conscious moral response to a new situation. As courage is not automatic, he must use discipline to exercise it; a moral choice. Choosing to identify the product of his senses (his perceptions) requires confidence in his ability to handle whatever is coming, in order to solve his life’s concerns. Fifty percent of all heroic actions are done by untainted cognition—the “Yes, I see.” The other half is being true to what is seen, by taking appropriate physical action.

Everyone feels uncertainty about the unknown, until its nature becomes clear. Self-worth is nota question of feeling fear or not; that does not define one’s bravery or one’s value as a person. What defines one’s value, is how one responds. Some shrink according to their self-belief; Self-made Man expands according to his. But where does his self-confidence come from? It comes from his pattern of cognition. The pattern of life-serving human cognition is (1) sensate perception, (2) identification and integration into one’s knowledge base, (3) creative response, and (4) result. Self-made Man can recall enough instances of his past to see the pattern implicitly; he knows the actions bettering his chances for success are contingent upon his remaining aware. His alpha-potency is made and perpetuated in this instance. Self-made Man develops to the point where he doesn’t even realize fear couldbe felt; what he feels is exhilaration. The new is the unexplored; the startling is the adventurous and he anticipates his own triumph against any challenge.

Self-Made Man’s First Relationship: Existence Itself | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P2

Ever since I can remember, as early as two, the Earth has been mine. It was given mysanction, through a pure, clean awareness, and its every glory has been mine as a result. I would open my eyes, look up from my crib and feel the exhilaration running all through my body at the start of a new day. This world held a new fascination at every turn. There was so much to learn, so much to do and so much to see. I couldn’t wait for the adventure to begin, somehow aware that it already had. I would lie there and enjoy the simple pleasure of my own power of sight, the brilliant colors and the details I hadn’t noticed before. As contrast improved, I could apprehend the flow of a curtain’s motion and its relation to the gentle breeze that would follow. A visual phenomenon translated into touch, and the integration of my senses had begun. I could look at the world or focus inward, experimenting with the pleasant vibrations my vocal cords could produce. I was discovering all that was within my power, enjoying the capacity to improve my comfort by controlled muscular contraction—learning even then, that I need not settle for anything less than satisfaction, waiting for her to come and get me.

Life then was a constant exercise in sensory expansion—of learning the mechanics to control my tools of perception and mobility—and there were no barriers between the world and myself, beyond my effort and willingness to see. I wanted and needed the utmost clarity I could render and the purest concentration possible to be able to understand everything I came upon. As I grew into adolescence, adults attempted to introduce barriers—to claim that my senses were misleading, and I couldn’t possibly be sure of myself. I rejected it contemptuously, but overpowered by those resorting to force, obeyed in silence and kept my private domain pure. Never once have I been tempted to doubt my own eyes, or the judgment of my mind. Confusion made me pause, but nothing spurred me into action except clarification. A wrong turn made me look deeper to make the correct course mine, which is Man’s proper cognitive action. Why they would encourage us to violate our own nature was beyond me at the time.

Nature provides an advantage to every living species, making it possible for all to sustain and perpetuate life—advantages they were telling me to ignore. We watch the Discovery Channel in awe of the keen eyesight of the owl and the hawk, the agility of the cheetah, the shark’s acute sense of smell—senses and abilities that give every animal an edge in its survival. We don’t have to question their value. We know that the sharper the senses are for an animal, the more powerful its capacity to feed and protect itself, and this is true for Man as well. In addition, nature adorned us with the largest creative brain-mass, many times the size of our nearest biological relative, empowering us with full control over our consciousness. Instincts—if they exist at all—are a simple set of preprogrammed instructions that lead an animal along a course of self-preservation. Our reflexes can pull away from a hot stove without cognitive direction (the flexion reflex), but they cannot instruct us to build a house, plant a garden, or run a business. Humans are volitionalbeings—entirely self-guided. Our perceptions likewise, give us no automatic course of action. In order to survive we must make choices. In order to validate choices, we must identify a standard of value by which to weigh them, and the standard for Man and all living things is the alternative of life or death. That which protects and furthers life is the good; that which hinders or destroys it, is the evil. This is the implicit moral question in every human mind, spanning from morning to night, determining every step we take over the course of our existence. Rational judgment is life-furthering judgment. The conscious choice of life-serving action is a moralchoice and is what keeps us all alive. Steering a car, crossing a street, selecting groceries, pursuing a career—these are all decisions originating through sensate perception, which begins a cognitive process of reflecting on our awareness of what will further our lives versus what will take it from us.

Self-made Man knows the moral confusion he was raised with was unnecessary. He moves from adolescence into adulthood thinking, “There should be sense made of all this.” He knows what he would do if there were no one around to damn his actions; he would do just what he’s doing anyway, but without pain, or fear, or guilt. Regardless of the animosity of others, he can see nothing wrong; nothing to condemn. We work to earn a flow of capital, which provides us with our base axiomatic needs: food and shelter—a moral action. We clear snow off our windshields, use our headlights and stay in our own lanes so as not to put ourselves or others at risk—all moral actions. We cross the street when it is safe, seek clean food and pay our bills to preserve the flow of our health and independence—all moral actions. We teach our children to respect the rights of others, to stand up for their own and to be aware of their surroundings—all moral lessons. Life actions are made to preserve its flow, and Self-made Man efforts to become cognizant of his every moral step. It is in the background of his mind as a constantly replenishing source of pride and life satisfaction. He is aware of our highest possibilities and greatest depths, and holds an endless love for those who strive to reach them. Even when in desolation, his example is the only one to look up to. The vast potency and grandeur of the individual astonishes him, through the choiceshe himselfmakes. He is enchanted with how honorable men can be; the bravery it requires and the power of the pride that follows. The spiritual rewards are so great, he could not imagine keeping any other course. He glances at most as they stagnate in groups, but pays them no mind as he can achieve so much alone. His ambition for moral action is unlimited and though refined in appearance and motivation, he is often bursting inside with childlike enthusiasm over new matters to explore and new roads he is eager to take. Looking from one path to another, he asks, “Where will this lead? And where will this lead?” And he can’t wait to find out.

Self-made Man looks at the world alone. In his world, men can see, hear and comprehend. Walking into a wall with his eyes closed is all the proof he needs to validate the importance of his senses. He knows that the clarity of his perception determines the quality of his life. To depend on others at any fundamental level is intolerable, flying in the face of his struggle to become a self-sufficient adult. He is responsible for all facets of his life, and outside of a physical malady, accepts no ongoing assistance. All tools to be used for his survival must come from within. He thinks on his own, validating what he has learned from other men—validating everything—through his own experience and reflection. No fundamental delegation is done; all outside sources are the unaccountable, and to suspend his judgment in favor of another’s higher certainty is to become a dependent once more. He makes all the knowledge important to him, his. Self-sufficiency is the base of his self-esteem, so he exercises and expands the range of every sense, while mastering the mobility and competence of his own physique to maximize his momentum.

Self-made Man doesn’t question his capacity to think, to feel, to sense or to live. He knows he can, and his highest judge is himself. He makes up his own mind what makes sense and what doesn’t, who is honest and who isn’t and gets to the bottom of any issue with the clearest chain of knowledge necessary to act. He spends his time serving, creating and defending his own life and its peaceful progression. He inherently knows what is good for him or evil. Heroic Self-made Man didn’t need to be told by clergy that an army overrunning his village was bad; he was already there, fighting for our freedom. He knows there are material and spiritual predators among men, and that he owes them no goodwill. He knows a thug is to be stopped, and a producer is to be rewarded. He knows that rational law is designed to protect the producers against the thugs, and shows his loyalty to values when law becomes corrupt, by maintaining his just course, regardless. He doesn’t tolerate the idiocy that demands the subordination of his sensibilities; he is a fighter. He doesn’t accept irrational premises that cannot be validated in the course of his own existence. He does not allow assertions to replace his perceptions. He moves unfettered at the comfortable pace of his own physio-intellectual efficiency, veering only when necessary, to avoid or stamp out whatever or whomever claims a dogmatic right to bar or stop him.

Self-Made Man: The Origin of Pure Moral Action | Reading of Moral Armor CH4P1

Part one: Validation of Origin: Concepts of Perception

I followed all the rules—God’s and Man’sand you, you followed none of them. And they all loved you more.”

—Legends of the Fall

There are forces in nature that cannot be stopped; they bring us to pinnacles, and sometimes they destroy us. We see and hear of great storms—hurricanes, tornadoes—striking one land or another, bringing relief or devastation, which parallel the emotional storms within all men. The heroes among men learn to channel and direct their storms, bringing to mankind the wonders it has never seen. They appear, displaying to the world their radiance, only to vanish without a trace. Some become legends. Held safe from their magnificent power, we are free to drop all fear and witness in awe, their astonishing beauty. The world will always reserve its most passionate response for those who look with their own eyes, decide with their own minds and take actions by their own standards–regardless of the opinions, laws, barriers or precedent of those who came before. They are the originators of thought and the fathers of honest effort who bring elegance to human stature, and a sense of glamour to precision. They are the Self-made Men, and their every generation faces nature alone. Accepting first and foremost that existence exists, they hold the most firm claim to this Earth, and to the extent that their premises are heeded, we as a people get to experience a touch of Atlantis.

Welcome, as the next four chapters are ourworld. We are those who are at peace with our maker, those whose dedication to civility and rational discipline did not rob us of our manhood. We remain in control, viewing our time here as our turnon this planet, and intend to match the glory of our forefathers, or surpass them.

Imagine for a moment a few candles burning, the crackle of a fire and peaceful music as light as thought in the background. The aura of this night is a setting for pleasant contemplation, accented by the faint howl of wind in the outer darkness. Drawn by an unknown urge, you move to the door and go outside. The sound stirred expectation of a chill, but surprisingly, the gusts are warm. Ascending the hill behind the country home, the long grass parts easily, as if welcoming motion. At the top looking back, a wonderful sense of safety washes over, in opposition to the ominous, darkening sky. The storm advances as if motivated by anger; sheets of wind challenge your stand and trees reel to remain steadfast, the grass hissing—the world is alive. As forces are set to embark on a violent battle, you are ready; for underscoring the howls moves a melody, untouched in the distant calm of the structure. With sympathy to any animal caught in the storm tonight, a brief chill runs its course, but turns to warmth in response to the glowing comforts that await. With an immense pride you cannot name, you feel a part of this great struggle, a contender, the master; and revel in the meaning of being a man.

We arethe masters. No other beings can carry on regardless of storms, regardless of night, with no break in the flow of their activities. We don’t live in defiance of nature, we live in harmony with all we’ve learned. We cherish the wind in our hair, the texture of the trees and the crunch of leaves under our feet. The smell of a world moving toward hibernation or of fresh new growth is intoxicating, and exists as a setting for every action we take. The glittering water and majestic sunsets bursting with color affect us with a fullness that feels nourishing to our eyes, and they are. Such stimulation expands and utilizes the full range of our tools, reminding us of their great capacity and preparing us to focus deeper, bringing us a warmth of confidence that we canunderstand, handle and appreciate our world. The senses through which we experience the glory of nature, provide us the gateway to fulfill our dreams and to reach all heights. This Earth is our home, and we are welcome on it wherever we can manage her forces. The wonderful relationship we share with our universe was made possible by the relationship we have with ourselves, through our sensate perceptions and our brave honesty to trust in them. But how did it all originate? What can we answer about our own origin and what is left to be discovered? Cozy in the glow of the fire, the distant howl a reminder of our pride, contemplation has us focused on the beginning of time. With the proper foundation, we can look into our possible future to confirm the course of our present. For years, we have looked to the stars and wondered what’s out there. Let’s go to them and look thisway for once.

Cruising in a small craft from deep space, we gaze upon our spiral galaxy in the distance. Just over two million light years from M7, we are almost home. Stunned by its majestic beauty, we contemplate, “Wow, by sheer chance, a planet begins to orbit at just the right distance to the scale of a star to develop and sustain life, and here we are.”

With every drawn breath, we all bear witness that this, the nature of existence, is the true foundation of it all—even if we aren’t consciously aware of it. The evidence is all around us. There is only one way to consistently advance, and that is to recognize and respect the proper frame of reference. As our galaxy turns, fundamental calculations are effected. Earth’s location relative to the stars—our early means of navigation—is not in the same place it was in Viking times. But the laws of nature, in the span of a human life and within the range of human use, do not fluctuate with enough significance to warrant account. They must be held constant and are for all human applications. From the darkness of space, we can see that we are the glorious sovereign beings of the planet—of the galaxy. We are the volitional entities, evolved without instincts and therefore without intellectual limitations, inextricably linked to the Earth’s celestial environment, its rotational patterns, its composition and its climates. The rotational velocity of the Earth determines our periodic exposure to this radiant star. What we have named “day” and measure time by, sets the growth and retraction cycle of all living things—from amoebas, to flowers, to Man. We awaken and grow tired as a result, in tune with this duration, which determines the amount of expendable energy in our optimum workday. Our needs of nourishment, which then determine our sensate capacity for the coherence to meet those needs, have their origin in our planet’s chemical composition. Our bodies are comprised of the planet’s materials and require the same materials to sustain them. Everything we need is here.

We were designed by this Earth, and grasping that is responsible for our every step forward. The frame of reference which must have our cognizance and respect is the natural world as it is. The closer we come to identifying universal truths, the more useful the information becomes. It is the base axiomatic frame of reference to be held as absolute, and our adherence determines our intellectual depth, our range of concern, our capacity to project our own futures and our ability to take the actions to achieve it. Just as for animals, our senses have evolved to sufficiently detect the fundamental aspects of this world, and all validation of what is good for us or evil rests on them. Earth’s gravitation defined Man’s range of size and mobility. Our physical dimensions define the basic scale of the buildings we inhabit, the tools we use, the beds we stretch out on and the vehicles we travel in. We have designed our products around ourselves and for the conditions they will encounter in our service; thereby extending our range of power, travel and depth. The birth of an individual creates predictable requirements for the sustenance of that life which, in a civil aggregate, creates the base of an economy. Even our most solemn sense of self-worth—our happiness—is found in our capacity, exercise and deepest respect for our own creative life-sustaining potencies. Our romantic idolization of heroes—those of passionate energy who stand to uphold justice and remain true to truth—confirms this. In all that we are, there are no contradictions to find, and none in our true origin. It all makes sense, and can be traced by a balanced mind, step by step, through time.

We witness human activity from the beginning of life to its end, from morning until night—beautiful in its own harmony, all geared toward one goal: to fulfill the requirements of living. We think of moral action and its reward. We see the glittering lights of our cities—ourstars—possibly unaware that they were originated by a moral process, to serve a moral purpose. Thought devoted to such advances has given us all that we have, and the human race depends on it. It is estimated that Earth has been here for thirteen billion years, and that Man has existed for over two million. After countless millennia, those who looked at the world with open, questioning eyes, willing to work for their values, road out the storms and won their peace at last, dispelling ancient myths with every new achievement. I have them to thank for this space ship and the technology around me, which has allowed such an incredible experience of life. To see the world from here and to know that there is no limit—that there is so much more to discover—is an honor. What happens when we reach a horizon? We find another. Just think, such excruciating efforts were taken to discover the principles necessary to build this craft which, with the Space Age, brought another consolidation of human intelligence. We now understand that space travel can exist on a large scale only if it serves industry—that is, human life. It can only be sustained by a free market system established and maintained on Earth—invulnerable to war—which generates a surplus large enough to allow us to explore. Just as freedom was necessary for economic expansion, peace is necessary for long-term projection, and within lies the confirmation for two hundred years of American capitalism and the bill of human rights upon which it rests—an example for the whole world to follow. As a man grows to be independent, the technology of this space ship also will one day be independent. As businesses and nations seek independence by means of prosperity, the sovereign entity at all levels is pursued as ideal. Peaceful productivity on Earth—a delicacy of thought and responsible action geared by self-interest on the part of everyone—is required to keep these ships flying. Another step is seen.

This technology has allowed us to observe other inhabited planets and watch their storms of men move through the same stages of barbarism into civility. We’ve seen their astonishment at every new discovery, frightened into believing fire and water were gods, possessing the choice to reward or harm them. The confident were tortured for effrontery as they faced these gods and experimented. As they began to develop concepts, Earth gods gave way to conceptual gods, emanating attributes such as wisdom, beauty and wrath. Eventually all authority consolidated under one god, coming full circle to take its proper form: the form of a man. Only one step precludes their meteoric rise as a galaxial species: final identification of the entity who has held the sole capacity of volition all along—themselves. The day they finally look in the mirror and see who has the definitive power to harm or reward them, to judge what is good or evil and to determine their fate is the day they reach full volitional maturity. Then, their chains will be off, and we will have many new friends.

In our experience, so rational a discipline was required to counter the ancient dissolution of consciousness and secure Man’s moral footing, that it now seems insurmountable. Still, in contrast, the root of the misguidance was only the Neanderthal action of closing one’s eyes, refusing fact and wishing that reality was something other than it is. To discover that the purveyor of so immense a malady was powerless all along is profound, but the pattern has been the same on every planet observed: consciousness aware versus consciousness dropped. It’s so easy to see who is right and who is wrong from out in space. The mystics could never outpace Man’s mind. It was our comprehension that originated every step; that conquered every barrier, placing new creations before the eyes of the world, which the Spirit Murderers could only sneer at, then attempt to subvert, steal or destroy. But reality turned out to be real. Proper evolution has continued, and here we are.

Our Social Challenge | Reading of Moral Armor: Our Moral Vanguards CH3P5

It has been time for another Tea Party for decades, yet one hasn’t come. While our society is advanced, twice now in history men have been freer and more morally wise on average: during The Golden Age of Athens and America during the 1800’s, when our productive atmosphere was positively euphoric. But since then, our ancestors have allowed the moral degenerates of altruist slave States to infect us with guilt about our prosperity, through their inverted moral code. Such guilt is atonable only through the loss of our products and our money (the tools of civility), the loss of our peace of mind and respect for others, and the loss of control over that which we’ve created. Their code tells us that the highest moral action is to give up everything we hold sacred.

The Cold War may be over, but its beast is not dead. It lies dormant—preserved and nurtured by a fatal philosophic mixture. This veiled primitive psychology is responsiblefor our tolerance of living as fifty-percent slave without revolt as we do now in America. Successful men haughtily shrug off any forewarnings in the midst of their own prosperity, never considering it necessary to examine the true source of their wealth. They’re ahead of the game, right? Well, the train is coming in many different ways, and our best have always stood on the tracks. Without moral grounding, they’ll get creamed in a heartbeat when crisis does strike. The good doesn’t always win, as Athens lost to Sparta. When a civil state faces a military state, a war’s outcome favors those who like to fight and who know the dance.The Living Generators are fighters too; they don’t pretend that an opposition does not exist, and they are not willing to live at anyone’s mercy. We must come to understand how to protect the sourceof our values—human cognition—and to know in advance when it is threatened. The Living Generators know who their enemies are, as well as their peers.

The two types of men, the Self-made and the Fear-driven, tend to act consonant with their inner motivation in all things. We will come to understand them and see their actions extrapolated into all the realms of Man: relationships, art, institutions, and politics. We—with eyes that cansee, minds that canjudge and bodies that canact—will learn what is forgivable and what isn’t, and to know the gravity of misgivings against a rational course of action at any level: personal, industrial or national. The direction of a society is determined by what its active individuals believe serve their benefit. In our lives, immorality should be reduced to its rightful identity; just a natural form of sediment. Like kelp on the ocean surface, we can predict encountering it and design appropriate intellectual protection. It isgoing to snag you from time to time, but it is no longer going to stop you.

Proper moral armor is like a boat: a well-engineered outer shell to deal with this natural environment while the softer, shock absorbing cushions carry the passengers in comfort. If you have ever fallen while water skiing, you know it feels like concrete. Imagine such continuous exposure, and then appreciate how purposeful and long-lasting the hull of a boat is. Man designed it to withstand the elements and achieve objectives that he could not withstand or accomplish with his own body. Our products are extensions of ourselves. Man answered this problem of existence brilliantly and continues to improve his answers as the sum of his knowledge grows in all things. His spiritual development deserves the same allegiance, aiming to blast through the sediment with the throttle pinned, on his way to his chosen goals. With seasoning, we’ll be capable of using this technology to step again into forbidden realms, to prevent harm, to remove inefficiencies and to redirect outcomes in every little way that counts—in our lives and in its extrapolation to world events. Then, when we seek to change things it can be done simply, quickly and without violence.

If the intellectual range of the top one-percent on Earth is taken to a new plane, the rest will follow without question. These forty million people do not start from the Forbes 400 and descend from there. They are not measured by the virtue of sound financial accumulation alone, but by the combination of metaphysical honesty andproductive efficacy. They use their bodies and their minds for the purpose nature intended. They are the most human of the humans—The Living Generators—the Self-made Men who intend to remainself-made. They understand that life is an act of constant replenishing in body and mind, and they don’t use their advantages to secure a parasitical means of sustenance for themselves.

Nothing can exclude you from being counted among the prominent of mankind if this is the path you choose. Not wealth, degrees, positions, connections, citizenship or family name. It is a state of existence attainable by anyone who decides to pursue it. No one can stop you, and its rewards are beyond expropriation. The pursuit and its fulfillment are not primarily social, but are primarily between you and existence. As all great men do, we can develop ourselves to our own highest potency in every aspect of our existence that we care enough about living to remain conscious of.

If you are honest you can advance at an exhilarating pace, but socially, reforms struggle at the pace of an aggregate honesty. The American revolution took 156 years from our landing at Plymouth rock (1620) to our liberation (1776) and you can bet many of our lethargic inhabitants were opposed to thought, to freedom, to life and to civility, even under British oppression, and today’s world is no different. Most of the populace lives in a state of panic—of emotional arrest—not knowing whether they are on track or whether they are wasting their lives, fearful to discover the truth either way. They live without certainty, without purpose and without joy. They think and make decisions as if every choice is life or death, where death always seems to have the advantage, and they bring into existence all of the impotence and misery that they themselves feel. Forget them and concentrate on expanding your own freedom and refinement. As moral leaders, we can build a better world with the most effective means: simply leading by example. This book was designed for the Self-made anyway; not for the slothful, the pretentious or the all-yielding. It is for the efforting, the honest and the successful—the way above average. It is for the morally invigorated, to help make their consciousness more integrated and their moral understanding more potent; to make their hides thick and their spirit high. Many of you have been in a cycle of consistent development throughout life or you never would have picked it up. For the rest of you, look in the bottom drawer, no, the shoe box in the back of the closet. Okay, open it. See that? That’s your brain… hose it off, put it back in, and let’s get going!

Chapters four and eight are comprised of new moral-philosophical technology. As the most abstract, they are the most difficult, so take your time; all moral action rests on them. If you’re still foggy at the book’s conclusion, read it again. I’ve read certain books over fifty times, as new experience clarifies their lessons. Moral Armoris a synthesis of 2500 years of philosophy; the bold headings address specific attributes of Man, making skimming and future reference a breeze. We use lights constantly; so should we reference their source. There will be a sense of familiarity to just about everything I’ll name. Without knowing the content, you will still feel as if you have known, and here is why. It is the structure that is familiar, because all useful knowledge has come to you in this same format. You’ll be able to sense my respect for human beings through advanced consonance with our proper means of comprehension. Now it will be deeper, more explicit and more precise than it ever has been. You’ll find yourself settling in to the warm flow of logic, confirming for yourself that each step taken isin the right direction.

As you gain full cognitive responsibility for your own motivations, you’ll begin to notice the difference between an emotional tantrum and a rational conviction, whenever you encounter an idea you are uncomfortable with. You will come to understand how your elders have been operating, and you will move past them. You will come to see that there is no value in maintaining their incomplete or irrational assumptions, knowing that the protection of the wrong ideas is a threat to your quality of life. You will begin to find safety and opportunity in the act of embracing the right ideas and in the pleasurable act of discovering them. The old consequences from defying reality which left you stranded with a shameful anger and a desire for emotional deadness will become senselessly immature—clearly the wrong path. There is no escape from existence, and any struggle to, will become too painful to bear. Evasion will become so suffocating that your immediate reaction to it will be to stand up straight, look openly at what is, and breathe in the pure fresh air of your proud moral choice: to face the world openly, as a heroic being must.

Eventually you will come to look at truths as the life-fostering blessings they are, and at your willingness to stand by them as the romantic transformation in your character that it is. You will become a scholar in your own rite as the great scientists were, calmly observingnature as it is, independent of what you might have hoped it to be. With the indestructible spirit of a Living Generator, you’ll be one of us, and more so with every sunrise and every new connection. Openly dedicated to clarification, you’ll employ new knowledge in order to live well, maintaining a pleasant state of fulfillment.

Moral Armor,like its spiritual predecessors, is a treasure map, and it leads to Atlantis. There are wonderful things to understand and wonderful emotional states to experience, once one hasunderstood. We would all like to change the world and we can, but it must start with ourselves, and this is the road. To lift darkness off the Earth, one must first lift it from one’s own brow.

As American law was designed to protect the producersof the nation by protectingthe productive capacity of a man—to protect his life from violence and to guard the ownership of his creations—I want to see our society refined so that it protects a man’s spirit as well as it protects his body. Our elders down through the centuries should have loved us more than to allow what has happened, to happen. The moral sanction of evil by the generators of life is up. Now it is our turn.

Still, the war will continue on many fronts, so be prepared for opposition. Due to morality’s subversion, as a public officeholder, if you intend to uphold the tenets of the Constitution and pursue the endeavor with clear reasoning, you’re considered a traitor. If you pursue scientific discoveries that clash with present views, you’re considered crazy. If you disagree with degenerative cultural trends and seek to better human lives, you’re considered behind the times. If you vent fresh ideas on the subject of morality, you’re called insane. Mindless hordes will always try to batter us, but now the side of the good has a philosophical avenger. In such an atmosphere, it is honesty and justice that are considered controversial. So be it. The evil have always made the most honest, able and striving individuals pay for achieving in body and spirit, what theybetrayed. Now they will witness usreaching critical mass: the radiant pride earned for accepting and practicing without apology, a moral code defined by rationalstandards. Unless we realize and accept that the premises we have suffered under for years do not come from God, but from men interpreting what the writers interpreted what the Disciples interpreted what Jesus interpreted was the message of God, as on any other grapevine, we are better off validating all moral premises for ourselves. As morality begins with the nature of cognition and cognition is an attribute of the individual, if you cling to the Bible and push its teachings after spending any serious time on this planet, you probablyarecrazy, which leads to the next point:

Warrior Note:No valid morality begins with an external frame of reference.

Every man is the owner of his mind, and if he must reference an outside source in order to find out what he thinks, he has sacrificed the moral power of his life. Morality is meant for our protection, and with the proper foundation as in all other civilized undertakings, our control grows with time—in scope and precision. The question of what fosters or destroys a human life is a mature concept linked to fact, and is not subject to wishy-washy interpretation. Pursuing endeavors which provide the greatest self-impact while respecting the rights of others is by farthe most moral course any individual can follow. The greatest passion to be drawn from an individual is to be elicited bythe individual. Such long days and late nights produced the light bulb, the phonograph and the personal computer. They’ve produced great works of art, beautiful buildings, and priceless literature. Such days and nights produced the defense and exaltation for this living pattern, which you now hold.

It is time for the premises of death to yield to the greater power: life and its immaculate patterns. The ominous evil you sense at times is just a midget behind a curtain, projecting a huge shadow. That’s all. The good must regain control of this world. Take it back! Don’t assume your elders know what they’re doing. They don’t. Don’t make the emotional conclusion that evil has metaphysical power and that there is a natural bias towards it. There isn’t. Evil gains its power only through the life force that is willing to serve it, and you have a choice in the matter. We are not tied; we are not forced into silent passivity or driven unalterably towards a future that takes from us our freedoms. If you’re not treated professionally in a job, you can quit. If you’re not treated fairly in a relationship, you can end it. If you’re not treated appropriately in a store, you can walk out. If you’re not treated civilly by a governing body, you can step away from society and create a voice for reform. We are as free as the risks and responsibilities we are willing to assume.

If you’re going to be an outsider, be a good one, and know that you’re not alone. Show the world that you are alive.Show them your motives and let theirs be seen. Let’s see if the soulless can handle practicing their evils out in the open. Make no mistake, my mission is to restore moral potency in the minds of individual men—the best—to give them, not just a semblance of control over their lives, but total authority. As compensation, I want to see looking back at me, not a defiant tension, but a free sense of ease and recaptured innocence: the healthy, vibrant confidence of eyes that knowwhat they’re winning.

Our Heroes: The Living Generators | Reading of Moral Armor: Our Moral Vanguards CH3P4

I’d rather die a broken piece of jade, than live a life of clay.” —Bruce Lee

My blessing and my torture is that I’ve never been able to kid myself about anything. All of my life from one relationship to the next, romantic or otherwise, I’ve suffered the same ultimate rejection: rejection of my purity, of my depth and of my strength. The best of us love living so much that we cannot fake anything. Everything we are and everything we have must be earned, deserved and wholesome. We don’t seek to protect social appearances for our self-worth, for our love interest, for our health or for our philosophy. We care only about getting it right, and we stop at nothing to discover it. Those who take the greatest chances and advanced their fields exponentially, names the whole world knows—men like Aristotle, Copernicus, Edison and Ford—men who clear the highest barriers in their time, have also suffered the worst denunciations and the cruelest punishments in return.

We watch cable specials about Napoleon, Gangues Khan and Pope John Paul, but centuries later, do we benefit from their existence? On the other hand, we move through rooms turning lights on and off, we drive our cars to work daily, we wear nice clothes and we take planes to vacation and business destinations. These are all products of another type of man; Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Eli Whitney and the Wright Brothers. Isn’t there an essential difference in the quality of their contribution?

They say but for a handful of men over the course of human existence, none of civilization would have been possible. Men to whom we owe so much—the mountain peaks—would give their lives and sometimes do, in their pursuit of truth. I’m exasperated at the world for resenting their quest to discover the next steps for mankind. Shouldn’t the world hold sacred it’s highest and best? Shouldn’t it—if it values its own life, yet cannot equal their achievements—shouldn’t it stand on the sidelines and cheer them on? Shouldn’t the world just naturally want to follow them? Why try to suppress their importance? Why rob them of their glory? Likewise, Moral Armoris an answer and counterblow to all those who have called me cruel over the years, who have attempted to induce shame as reward for my virtues, to covet my achievements and to expropriate the value of my effort while attempting to conceal their evasions. The pattern is the same; it is to avenge those historically tortured and protect their spiritual descendents into the future that demanded such a statement and ultimatum.

Very early on, I felt the need to make a declaration of the terms on which I am willing to live and work in our world, but there was no guideline to be found. How was human effort to be expended on a mature, explicitly moral basis? I had to gather the fragments from history; from the wealth of human experience as well as my own, and integrate it all into a logical whole. Men may choose to disobey rationality and often do. But ultimately, they can’t hide or deny who is wrong and who is right, who is depraved and who is honest, who has earned and who has loafed, who is brave and who is a coward. We cannot work with the physical reward of our effort stolen or confiscated; that would make us slaves. We cannot enjoy our work with the intellectual/emotional reward stolen; that is worse. That steals the value of life: spirit. History has shown that self-absorbed, self-guided Man brings life to others. Flowers bloom and life expands; hope, belief and happiness are made possible by his presence. Nothing justifies his martyrdom.

We as the self-motivated of mankind have developed an awesome personal power, and often take on burdens that are unjustified simply because we can handle so much. We watch the rest struggle to live, and floundering badly. We put up with a horrible level of insincerity, listen to intolerable shallowness for unbearable durations and pacify by letting them have their way, confident we can take the wheel if things get out of hand. Exuberant in our capacity to overcome any obstacle, we approach it believing that anything is possible to us. While in the moral mind of a producer this is a positively reinforcing affirmation, it is subject to an axiomatic caveat which, when unheeded will lead to the destruction of all that we hold sacred. The term “anything” includes all things evil; and often our own foolish generosity foils our plans and tarnishes our expectations.

We are all paying a price in stress, in frustration and in exasperating futility. Our chosen patterns of action arewhat bring about success, and if success is the result we desire, we cannot deviate from what we know to be true. We cannot let go of the wheel. They immorally consider our crucial actions to be optional, and we knowthat they’re not. It is the source of all values that they reject on a private level, and at some point it gets political. All private evils have political manifestations. We have earnedour prosperity, and the last thing I want to see happen is for us to lose control to the same demons as we have in our past. The heroes of mankind have always seen their ultimate goals frustrated by their inability to understand or express the moral foundation of their actions.The rug gets pulled primarily by the inversion of moral principles within their ownminds. Secondarily by the moral subversion of others, and third by the simple absence of knowledge on critical social issues affecting every one of us. The unfortunate truth is that the tools of mass prosperity can be turned against mankind with the power of moral uncertainty and used for mass murder. They can and they have, repeatedly, throughout history.

Look at what had to be accepted in order for Germany to take the course it did in Nazi times. Conversely, look at what had to be accepted in order for America to be born. These great surges were driven by the philosophy accepted en masse. When the prominent in society build on Aristotle and Thomas Paine, the result is America. When they build on Kant and Nietzsche, the results are the horrors of The Third Reich. When they build on Hegel and Marx, the result is a very bloody Soviet Russia. Everything we do, everything we endorse and everything we allow to be done to us affects our quality of living, and the quality of living for the rest. We cannot make “anything” possible for others and we shouldn’t try. They need to be held to life-furthering standards at whatever level their minds can handle. We should never be subject to the discovery that we unwittingly provided the means for neurotic aggression to succeed. Living Generators must be psychologically strong enough not to subordinate their premises to premises less developed.

Over the centuries, many evils experienced on a personal level have gained great social and political inertia. While our political system rests on sound moral footing, our explicit mass understanding of why, lags by over three hundred years. It is a great concern to the future of the world what is taught and passed down, but most importantly, just what is accepted on a grand scale. Moral philosophy is the fundamental driver of mankind, and has been throughout all of history. It determines just about every action we take and gets more sensitive as men make decisions together. We need to understand why men have chosen in aggregate the methods they practice, as there are always serious consequences. Once we know what drives any issue, we can be sure to side with life; which is to side with civility, sound purpose and competence. After all, whom do we want to see running the world: those who can, or those who claim it doesn’t exist? Out of the two, who belongs here? Who loves it, and to whom have we always sacrificed explicit moral control?

The problem is so ancient and so vast that most philosophers will tell you that short of annihilation, no reform is possible. Should we nuke the human race and start over? No. For one, it isn’t necessary, and two, the currently accepted view of morality, which drives the actions of “the moral majority,” would result in a society suffering from the same errors. No such issue can be approached and solved as a group, primarily. As in ballet, the performers must be in shape and know the dance beforeany choreography can be attempted. Moral restructuring is the same; it must be addressed by every individual man in his own time and at his own pace. Your own moral clarity is the place to begin in any attempt to change society for the better. It all starts with one. If you were purely civil and morally empowered, then multiplied yourself by millions, you could predict how such a society would function. If you followed Mein Kampfthen multiplied such an abomination by millions, you could easily predict destruction and bloody murder. If sacrifice is accepted as our standard, what Hitler did becomes excusable. Millions have been destroyed with the ethical perversion of our mass relations to one another. But jumping from the reform of oneself into reform of a society is not the next step either; a relationship with oneother person is. When you’ve mastered a relationship with one other person, thenyou are ready to move on to moral contemplation for a society of men.

Investing in Our Future: Abstract and Institutional Vanguards | Reading of Moral Armor CH3P3

The vanguards which our prosperity is most sensitive to as a nation are those who administer our legal and political structures. The fathers of our country foresaw encountering different forms of oppression. Just as Man designs durable products to withstand the natural elements, we devised a system to protect our life’s constancy; to protect us physically from any kind of invader. It was a great idea which would take our minds off watching our backs and leave us free to achieve, individually and as a Union. We created an organized body to whom sole authority to use force against those who threaten the nation’s people was delegated.

Our physical protection was its onlyvalid function and concern. It was to leave all men free to pursue their survival by offering the results of their effort for a voluntary trade with others of the nation; our free system of commerce. Such a system was designed to protect the producers of life from the parasites of the living. The government was just an instrument of the people; it was not intended to serve as master; it was not to rule. It was to stand as guardian from any initiation of violence against men at any time; whether taking place in an alley, an office or a home. Weas citizens take care of the rest. It was to respond to the actualuse of force, where human lives are compromised by evildoers subjecting citizens to aninvoluntary circumstance. All other human action is voluntary, and therefore is supposed to be the object of their guardianship.Yet now, perceivedthreats are regulated; which simply means that laws are for sale. Any form of incarceration is a life-taking power, so such power must be exercised with the utmost care and the clearest reasoning. But what has transpired? The careful maintenance of individual freedom as technologies advance is clearly not the government’s trend or priority. Our representatives have violated the Constitution, allowing the government to break loose of its essential function to permeate and decay everything in its path.

The evidence of degeneration is countless, whose aggregate result is our unjustifiable tax burden, our economic Fed-watching and the wild swinging in our scales of justice. There are now government agencies and government businesses competing in or constraining every major industry, most extensively in the credit markets; monopolies expropriating the benefits of freedom by those politically connected, to simply take it for themselves. In every instance outside its legitimate purpose, it has become a conspirator of the very evil we needed protection from, and now it is destined to enforce the irrational. On a common level, take for example the ludicrous injury judgments awarded by juries, the blaming of corporations for products used in self-inflicted injuries and the antitrust suits filed by our own government against private citizens who display the deepest vision, where alesssuccessful effort on their part would have shielded them. Imagine working your whole life and rising to the top of your field, only to be attacked by those who reserve the sole right to attackin matters of business, who decide that yourway is not the way to run yourbusiness any longer. Just when you should be getting the keys to cities and other honors, your brilliant ability to put together an organization that employs thousands and benefits millions is blasphemed and destroyed by the politician’s “expert witnesses”—men who are unable to stay competitive with you for the same reasons and means by which they propose to restructure your business. You are someone who has been building a better world in your every thought and action. It has kept you up at night, gotten you up early, and given you a more genuine pride and satisfaction than any other endeavor. As a result, your company has been voted the best alternative by everyone who seeks a voluntary purchase in your industry. Does it make sense that you are considered an enemy of the country? There is no greater corruption, no greater self-abasement for a country than to take our highest and best—those who deserve our most reverent salute—and rob them of their control as we wipe our feet on them.

Throughout history, one empire after another has choked to death on its own red tape, and the first men to be sacrificed physically and legally—Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Bill Gates—are always those of integrity in business and politics who are able to lead. Government is proper only as a consolidation of the right to use force against oppression. When wielded inappropriately, such as in initiation against private enterprise for a supposed “good cause,” it acts as a catalyst to bring about such a policy’s actual intention in defying nature; destruction. When this cycle begins, government becomes the most lethal enemy of the people, and only a return to sound fundamental principles can save them. Our government is no longer a pure vanguard of the people, no longer standing for American values alone, evidenced by our permeation of government enterprise, our trade status with slave nations and our debt-based currency system. It has become morally inconsistent and financially reckless, no longer guided but simply restrained by the original Constitution. Until and unless its motives are cleansed, we will continue to suffer a slow downward spiral back into another dark age.

The most prominent opponentof morality began its life as one of the first abstract vanguards, which is not at all unusual. I saw how religion could be abused as a child and have been at odds with it ever since, but in looking beyond my own experiences, I discovered a crucial and redeeming truth: Many people who seek religious guidance begin with an honest desire for an explicitmorality. They want to find a clear format for living that allows them to feel good about their actions; they want to knowthat what they are doing is right. With all of the innocence of a child, that is just what I want, and have pursued since it was missed in my youth. Religion has dominated the subject for millennia; it is after all, theepublicly recognized domain of moral judgment, and was my first stop as well. As my studies continued to subdivide and move deeper, I understood that it was the intentional misuse of religion that I disagreed with, and thatallowed me to relax. So if you follow the flow of thought which has full validation in the natural world, you’ll understand that we quite possibly have the same benevolent motivation. If your religious premises are sound, they will not reject the nature of cause and effect either, nor our means to discover it.You will be able to identify which principles are life-furthering and which ones were “snuck in” to your faith over the centuries, to secure unearned benefits for the freeloaders.

Early on, religion claimed the title of Moral Vanguard. Yet at the Vatican for example, actualmorality is lightly touched on and mostly avoided in fear of their follower’s discovery that they have no clear idea of what morality is,and that what they have compiled is a very confused, obscure, semi-rational, semi-evasive definition. Their undefined and indefinable basis for explanations is not a means of validation. Identifications and conclusions suppose a rational chain of knowledge—an epistemological chain. You’ll never witness their high priests in a public moral debate, vulnerable to having the world discover that they don’t have a leg to stand on. They preserve some semblance of dignity by handing down their senseless edicts while hiding behind a locked door. They are apprehensive of any argument regarding morality, because they sanction and exercise no fundamentally valid frame of reference, and they never will. To do so would be to wipe out their remaining power. Clinging to their own self-limited interpretation of their chosen dogma, they remain hopelessly behind the rest of the world in the understanding and conveyance of moral action. Life does not flow with the patterns these men attempt to dictate, and the whole world knows it. They have lost their power to compete for the minds of rational men, and I wouldn’t consider them a serious threat to western culture any longer.

It is to the productive public’s intellectual credit that they have largely abandoned such sources for true moral guidance. Today, their statements are often treated on television news as entertainment. With the propensity of the press to exploit the obvious, discredit comes from claiming that they are “behind the times.” But “times” do not determine the contentof a moral code, only how it is practiced. It is their content and their means of its attainment which is unsound. Sound moral principles cannot go out of fashion; they are good for an eternity. For example, if you lived under censorship, openly sharing your ideas would get you killed; so until freedom is restored, in self-preservation the correct action is to withhold them. In a country of free speech and free men, your chosen career pays best when you openly share your ideas, so in self-preservation your correct action is to bestow them. When faced with the prospect of physical destruction, it would be immoral notto guard your life, by stopping or escaping those whose intention is to take it. In civil times, when one is able to address issues beyond sheer survival, it is morally right to expand the range of your knowledge and abilities, making life easier and more fun (as progress is a physio-intellectual necessity). “The times” change the form of our allegiance, but our objective remains the same; to preserve and further human life; vitally our own. The public’s lack of explicit understanding on the issue is evidenced in that most do not recognize their daily, self-sustaining actions as moral. The Vatican’s actualdiscredit is what is responsible for this: in their unwillingness to recognize that Man’s lifeis the object of a rational moral code, and that the preservation of lifeis its purpose.

Understand that the populace may have lost touch with the Vatican; but they have not lost touch with religion as such. The world’s most widely recognized set of moral principles became one of the first mass-scale abstract victims of the Spirit Murderers. Religion was intended as a standard of action for men to live by, and yet it has been slammed into the wall and ridden into the ground just like any other unguarded value. Those seeking a buffer between life and the effort to deserve it have always been on the lookout for a means to obtain values without thinking or working. They saw how powerful a moral code is, how desperately it is sought by men, and they schemed to subvert it. It was their contradictions with the nature of existence that inventedhypocrisy. Such a painful, heartbreaking and undeserved moral guilt¾that one cannot be moral if one takes the actions necessary to exist; that one has failed one’s Lord and one’s self¾is all they have to offer their followers now. It shocks me that someone can be stopped from pursuing knowledge, such as reading an important book or carrying on scientific or commercial work, due to the unsubstantiated condemnation of it by moral frauds. It is a frightening glimpse at just how primitive and influential their horror psychology, such as “You’ll go to Hell if you even think it,” can be. Through guilt or just the threat of potential guilt, Man can be controlled; and control of men is never a truevanguard’s intention.

For the most part, religion, astrology and other popular forms of mysticism give me the creeps. It is not necessarily the mediums, but the interpretation and expectations of the audience that I find unsettling. As in religion, my contempt is reserved for followers who are willing to negate their consciousness (which true professionals in such fields will tell you is improper) in favor of external drivers. They float through their lives like pieces of driftwood, revering unaccountable forms of knowledge, while neglecting the provable and consistent ones. Abandoning reason, their fate rests in the stars or in the hands of others, but never in their own, where it belongs. Their future and esteem hinges on anyone’s opinion, and the less it is substantiated the more it is heeded. Such people are looking for a way around thought for a very specific, self-abasing reason. Fools misuse mysticism, but it canbe productively utilized by the rest of us upon reaching a certain intellectual level. The field is important as it often encompasses the cognitive unknown, mislabeled as the unknowable.Some attributes that are considered mystic, I am inclined to support. In time I expect to see them accepted as actual human capacities: as part of the knowable, natural world, releasing new keys to spirituality which the mind-negating fools never could have achieved. Their contemplation is very interesting, but still I say to all of mankind, master what is here.Your mastery of and action taken on what isunderstood within a sound philosophy, is what provides you with the personal inertias that such mystic techniques measure and project. Their job as Moral Vanguard is to help you see where your momentum is leading. Master existence first, and then build to new discoveries. Whatever you find interesting, a clean philosophy will make your exploration of it efficient, decisive and more enjoyable. You will reach answers sooner and be able to move deeper; answering questions that right now, you could not possibly comprehend. Mysticism at best is a compass. A proper moral code is a global positioning system, 455 horsepower, and a full tank of racing fuel.

 

The true abstract vanguards are those who projectideals through specific mediums; the artists and the stars of field, stage and screen; those we voluntarily boost to their heights by individual sanction;by purchasing movie tickets, attending concerts, buying books, going to stadiums, etc. They are our public heroes. Not all celebrities are moral just as not all public sanctions are rational, but the mediums they reach us through are sound. The most significant medium of the abstract vanguards—when precision is required and nothing can be left to implications—is literature. It addresses the mind directly. Others such as sculpture, painting, music and film, can share what exalted states can be felt while living, but can’t explain the means of achieving them. Next to literature, the most significant medium is what doesshow you; the productive coexistent activity of men: business. Actually, all of the tradable products of Man, be they automobiles, wedding dresses, medical skills or artistic creation, are subsets under the category of business. There is no greater moral education in action than American free trade; and the freer, the more refined the lesson. It is the best, as it addresses every possible subject of interest to human beings, tailoring lessons to every ambitious mind. Free commerce makes available every bit of marketable knowledge and makes careers possible in anything imaginable. Most importantly, it teaches men the processof utilizing a mind to its proper boundaries of productive creativity—a moral process. The ways to approach a career or business endeavor and therefore the sustenance of a life, are as wonderfully varied as the number of men on the planet, when they are free.

So what is myrealm as Moral Vanguard? Simple. The protection, development and exaltation of all entities of volitional consciousness in their domain. To shield the world with my body if necessary, for I know by how Ifeel about living, the glory all of mankind could feel about their lives, and who deserve an unrestricted attempt. Now it is time to decide what yourrole is. Yes, there are things wrong with the world. Yes, sub-humans stand in our way. So what! We’ve all had experiences that end up limiting our emotional freedom through traumatic events and those who have hurt us, where we have to lock away a part of our heart¾the part that grants faith¾possibly forever. Such an experience was the genesis of Moral Armor.But there is still some part of us that needs to reach out and connect, and feel the warm safety we felt in an adult’s lap. We needguardians. And then there’s the side of us which is confident and sensual, that longs for the raw, primitive release of our deepest passions, that calms us and keeps us on track. But it’s a jungle out there. The proper moral armor can lead us to those who are safe to turn to in these vulnerable instances; and any other time we care to be fully coherent of our choice. Such integrity is our foothold, for when it is time to stand alone.

Sometimes we must have it understood that we need to remain independent. That there are certain things we don’t want help with. That we will find healing on our own, and in our own way. That we need solitude; to run away, to not call, to not consider, to just be alone and exist for ourselves, sometimes. I ran away to complete facets of my own chain of knowledge. I used to think, “I don’t want help; I can do it myself.” Now I know that what drove me away was the natural fact that one man’s integration cannotbe done by another. I cannot convey all of the peace this solitude has given me.

No matter what I have experienced, I have a priceless faith in mankind which grows from my own motives, actions and sense of life. I have always used myself as the gauge of moral action and for my view of Man, and so have you, whether you are conscious of it or not. Because of my introspection and all that has developed as a result, I know what we can be. What we are driven to do and what drives us, has a much greater self-impact than any action taken by others. You can never simply obey others who tell you what is right; you must judge for yourself. You must get away and take the time to understand. Understanding and choice is the essence of morality anyway. What we are and what we think is wholly our own; it is not to be determined or touched by the outside world. Whether or not others played a part in influencing what we have become, we still had to accept or reject the soundness of their authority. And whether we bothered to check their claims or not, what we have concluded is a reflection of our own intelligence and character. In our lives, we are and always have been the ultimate Moral Vanguard.

Behavioral & Developmental Vanguards | Reading of Moral Armor: Our Moral Vanguards CH3P2

The first vanguards we encounter are those who brought us into being; our parents. They nourished our bodies in order to preserve our one cardinal value, our lives. If we were fortunate, they nourished our minds also, training us to carry on the life-process independently. The wave of guardians that followed were those whose intent was to shape us cognitively; our teachers. With the effort of comprehension, we found mentors wherever knowledge was to be had. It was their contribution that taught us how to carry out a rational progression from 2+2=4 to understanding the wavelengths of light, and to convey that knowledge. They fostered our ability to identify what is and what isn’t a correct answer, in order to make decisions wisely in any context of our future lives. In school, the right answers and actions led us to good grades. In life, the right answers and actions lead us to prosperity. If they taught well and we paid attention, we then join the world of production, the “real world” of the life sustainers where one’s capacity for profitable actions is put to the test. We gain full competency by emulating the vanguards who do their jobs well. Upon mastering the realm of sustenance—which is to maintain profitability by outpacing what one consumes—we are free to rise to the limit of our ambition. Then webecome the vanguards automatically by doing all that is required of one;by setting a sound example.

There are clearly a lot of should be’s and if’s in the above paragraph. Those who should be our protectors are often our corrupters. Some of us owe our very existence to a knee-jerk response in our parents, who sought children as a neurotic aversion in an attempt to fill the void of purpose. Lost on their own, such parents aren’t aware of what kids need cognitively, and as a result can be abusive and neglectful. We all know of the dreadful records our public schools have, risking the quality of their lives and the future of America by putting a child’s emotional state ahead of his cognitive structure (his very means to achieve self-affirming emotions). Executives and workers are often as inept as they are intelligent. It is quite common that we serve as a physical and spiritual punching bag for another’s subhuman frustrations instead of receiving any healthy training; and upon ourindependence day, our ambition is all but dead on arrival. But it remains true that the role of parent, teacher and life generator are all meantto be the developmental guardians of the human race. Their contributions are essential and we must be forever cognizant of their impact, as they give structure to an individual’s potency for the next levels of living.

Our most treasured response to existence, our purpose in life,parallels and motivates our highest intimate response to another human being; a romantic relationship. The charge we get from pursuing our dreams and winning, drives the need to express our deepest loving power. A romantic relationship is our greatest social experience and release; our most precious spiritual vanguard. We work conscientiously to develop and maintain our attractiveness to deserve the same in return—the best a spouse can offer. We practice wholesome values because we want the elation of true love, and with integrity, we haveearned it. When we find someone who shares our style of living, our resulting fulfillment is priceless. But sometimes we have to spend years alone, and watch the passion we generate die on the vine. Popular psychologists tell us we shouldn’t need anyone to be happy. So why are theyall married? A relationship is not a dependency, it is a confirmation. Don’t kid yourself; no one can keep his or her spirit fulfilled without personal intimacy when its potentiality is aroused by every passing smile. Love is a sacred reward.

Still, finding a suitable mate is rarely a cooperative pursuit, and can be a heartbreaking challenge. The torture of loneliness can drive us into the arms of those who harbor many unsettling characteristics. With foolish generosity we grant them faith, unable to believe their views on life could mean what they seem to mean. Slipping into an intellectual coma, we give our love completely (the only way we know how) and then tragically discover that the mate we’ve committed to isn’t drawn to our hard won identity or any of the splendor we can create together, for any number of reasons. Here’s one: They cling to you due to the shear, naked fear of facing life independently. You have been reduced from the sense of a gallant romantic partner to being a source of food. Confronted with the appalling reality that you aren’t special to them at all—that the concept “special” is incommunicable to them—you fog out the knowledge that their favor could’ve been had by anyonewilling to pay their deficit. With your last remnants of faith (they’ll change), you continue to pretend that their mental range isn’t one meal away from death. Equating your tolerance with weakness, they lose respect for you and attempt spiritual domination to secure their position. This leaves you to question: How does the one who professes to love me, consistently take actions of hate? Hmmm…A being spurred into action by negativity, yet passively indifferent to intimacy…

Or maybe they didchoose you for your personal attributes, but furthering no life purposes of their own, seems to exert his or her greatest passionate response to you by relishing your physical or emotional pain; seeing your desires in life and in the relationship frustrated. They are so slow to provide comfort and so eager to help confirm your impotence in life. The worst default is your silent resignation to endure such hell out of romantic starvation; even though they have turned on you. Who turned on you first?

There will always be Spirit Murderers who seek to steal our potency. It is up to us to stay aware of who the realvanguards are; those who uphold justice and foster progress, privately and publicly, physically and spiritually, and who the impostors are in every context of our lives. Many claiming the title of vanguard are just the opposite. Both become easy to spot with the right tenets, to be fully spelled out in the following sections. But for now, understand that an imposter’s energy is used to justify his own impotence, and his life’s frustration exudes negativity. His focus brings about a sense of strain in those burdened by his presence; a sense of painful contradictions. In his life, everything is your fault; that is unless he runs into someone even more accomplished. Then it becomes theirs. When you cross paths with him, you breathe a sigh of relief when he is out of range.

A true vanguard carries around almost no negativity. He uses his energy to fulfill his dreams of which you may be a part, and his pride and peace exudes good feelings. When you pass himin the street, you can feel lifewalking by.

The Front Line: Our Moral Vanguards | Reading of Moral Armor: Our Moral Vanguards CH3P1

We are all set to win, just as we are born, knowing only life.” —Enter the Dragon

Human beings have a natural affinity to do what is right as clearly as the need to breathe in, and I trust would always make that choice with the proper moral coherence. Being born and raised in a civil society, is it too much to expect that those who came before us would have provided such guidance? When a topic calls for it, we look with open eyes and questioning minds to those who hold positions of power and responsibility to reflect sound moral judgment. Yet whomever has been appointed or declared themselves the moral leaders of Man—priests, judges, politicians, professors; those we expected to see out in front—have mostly defaulted on this obligation. The university intelligentsia remain lost in unworkable utopias that they devise outside the laws of reality; our government accrues massive, unjustifiable debts that wehave to repay; our courts have lost their objectivity and common sense and our spiritual leaders never had any. This is the greatest failure of our leadership on planet Earth, evidenced by the basic sense of unworthiness most feel: the steadfast, paternal accountability dropped throughout the ages; the careless logic, the lack of humanity and the lack of moral direction, all held back by cowardly, subhuman “get away with it” motivations. It is time to accept who the real vanguards are, and who they are not.

Living in a blessed era of peace has allowed us to realize implicitly that the most appreciable leaders are those who make the natural, practical flow of life more smooth and consistent. Our gratitude is owed not just to those who lead us to victory in battle, but to those who lead us to prosperity in daily life. As ninety-nine percent or more of our lives is not spent in fox-holes or running from tornadoes, it should be clear that soundmoral guidance concentrates on long-range human progression, under the conditions that make settled life possible. That said, the essence of a Moral Vanguard’s focus is to clarify and make explicit—to employ, protect and disseminate knowledge of the life-furthering attributes and actions of the best of men and their creations, in every context within the realm of their interest.

They exist in all fields required for Man’s survival as do the sentry’s of evil, so it is crucial that we learn to tell the difference. A true moral vanguard helps clear the way for men to live and to enjoy living. He teaches men to live independently by teaching them to think independently. He furthers ideas that foster and sanction the expansion of mankind’s awareness of the world around us. Able to harvest the highest moral pride by his own actions, he seeks to exemplify and protect access to mankind’s most sacred states of being. He knows that men have a nature that cannot be violated to their betterment; that a man owns his own creations by right and has sole authority to determine their means of distribution in trade. He acknowledges no authority over the actions of his person or over the product of his effort. Likewise, he doesn’t try to do another man’s living for him, never standing between another man and that man’s own judgment. To do so would be to disrupt that man’s life-generating power. He knows that the key to prosperity for a man and a nation is that men must be free; free to think, free to act and free to keep the results; freefrom being forced to pay for the lives of others and from bearing the penalties of their misfortunes. He doesn’t attempt to secure values for himself or for others without earning them, as the champions of Welfare, unconditional love and government lobbies do. He never approaches others with force. He does not subject men to arbitrary rules that cannot be identified before breaking them (Antitrust). He does not seek his own sustenance or the sustenance of those he wishes to assist, by confusing, conning, barring, riding, robbing or murdering other men. A Moral Vanguard respects the sovereignty of men above anything he could gain if he didn’t. Most importantly, the noblest can be identified in that they achieve their stature by life-serving means in a free market; by the voluntary consent of everyone who trades with them.

There are three main categories of vanguard as I define them: the developmental,the abstractandthe institutional.The first deals with direct relations of Man to Man; the second, Man to Man’s creations; and the third, Man to the organizations of Man. The actions of all three follow the same pattern for the same reason. For example, As Moral Vanguard, a president’s realm is the good of his country, which implies the good of its citizens, which implies a morality consonant with their nature,which requires protection from physical force and the intellectual and physical freedom necessary to function. A producer’s realm is the good of his business, which implies a morality consonant with nature,in order to harness the principles that make his product possible so that its production may exceed its consumption of resources, allowing sustenance and growth. The good of his business implies a morality consonant with the natureof those he employs, as no unnatural requirement can leave them free to function in the capacity they were hired for. An employee’s realm is the fulfillment of his assignments, which implies a morality consonant with nature,by which to gauge the profitability of his actions in order to earn for himself and his family, their sustenance. A parent’s realm is the good of his and her children,which implies a morality consonant with their nature,protecting their physical health and guiding the progress of their intellectual potency, leaving them free to expand both experientially in preparation for lifelong independent thought and action. A lover’s realm is the good of his or her relationship, which implies a morality consonant with their shared spiritual and physical fulfillment, satisfying every sense, supporting their mate’s expansion of potency as a human being and pursuing one’s own. Notice a trend?

All living entities and their organizations must seek a course which allows an unhampered continuance in the flow of their lives. That flow is identified and preserved by a set of principles—a moral code of action—consonant with their nature. It is the philosopher’s realm to define this code with respect to the nature of existence and the nature of Man. No instinct forces Man along a course of self-preservation. He must choose life by a process of thought, where the preservation and furtherance of life isthe standard of value, and then take action accordingly. The body of knowledge that results from his correct decisions is a code of morality. A code of morality is Man’s volitional equivalent for the concept of instinct. Moral Vanguards are the men who follow this code.

EXPOSING EVIL with Nature’s MORAL ARMOR

When the video is finished, please browse through the Ethics Underground website to gain a better understanding of the Philosophy of Moral Armor. Welcome to a new world of clarity and hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Maintaining a High Spirit | Reading of Moral Armor: An Indestructible Spirit CH2P5

Happiness is a discipline, and it requires the engraining of new patterns.

The whole structure of consciousness is meant to protect us, from the need of clarity, confidence and affection, to the safety we create in accomplishing what we know we must do, to the pride we feel by doing it right. No one consciously desires dysfunction. Even when being irrational, we want our views to work!

Happiness is so elusive and fleeting that most feel as if they are staring into a void, just saying the word. We all know what it feels like but few can describe it, and fewer can repeat the steps necessary to conjure it. But once the steps are known, it can be had as a constant medium of our existence. The incredible meaning most come upon only once or twice throughout their span of years, you can come to feel a few times every day, and it will keep getting more and more frequent and more and more powerful.

What’s really entertaining is watching those who emerge from the depths and struggle with their new happiness. They don’t believe it’s real. They struggled against pain for so long with the tools of evasion, denial and false justifications that they’re not prepared for an intense and consistent joy. They are so used to pushing feelings away that they are unpracticed in dealing with something they want to keep. They fear that it will elude them as in the past, and in panic, try to hoard it; but they have to break down and laugh, because it just keeps bubbling out of them. By practicing the correct causal factors, they’ve become a bunch of little happiness generators, and the rest of their lives are going to be like this. Instead of dealing with pain, they have the wealth of a new resource to contend with, and all the years ahead to discover the immense pleasures it will bring them.

 

Ingraining New Patterns. Preserving a high-spirited outlook is crucial to everyone, yet under society’s mess of moral contradictions, there is nothing more difficult than spiritual maintenance. Cultural roots have us so off track, I’m surprised anyone wants to get out of bed in the morning. To most, a sense of invigorating pride and opportunity is inconsistent, uncontrollable and elusive, as if the stability of a human consciousness had a fragile nature. It doesn’t, but under the ancient inversion, it becomes unstable. The whole structure of consciousness is meant to protect us, from the need of clarity, confidence and affection, to the safety we create in accomplishing what we know we must do, to the pride we feel by doing it right. Cause and effect can be identified from one end of it to the other, but we are vulnerable if we agree to pretend that the rules of the physical world do not apply to the soul. They do. There is no meaningful, lasting emotional intensity without acceptance of the concept of identity—accepting that existence exists. There is no long-term safety in relationships, business or law, without an organized and rational value-hierarchy, or in other words, without standards.

Our disconnection from rational standards is obvious in that we’d all like to live with great depth, passion and meaning, yet the trouble for everyone is…How? All men desire the same sense of ease in life; a sense of inner peace on a fundamental level. No one consciously desires dysfunction. Even when being irrational, we want our views to work! We all say we “just want to be happy,” and then the fog rolls in and the epistemological chain ends. Happiness is so elusive and fleeting that most feel as if they are staring into a void, just saying the word. We all know what it feels like but few can describe it, and fewer can repeat the steps necessary to conjure it. But once the steps are known, it can be had as a constant medium of our existence. The path to an indestructible spirit is the reintegration of mind and body, of Man’s proper relation to existence and of Man’s proper relation to other men. The solution is had by looking to those untarnished by the problem.

There are people out there that are bulletproof spiritually, and they do certain things that make them that way. By conforming to the right code, they exist outside the Spirit Murderer’s power. However, so few have reached an intransigent mindset—the soul of a hero—that it cannot be studied readily. If there were more such men in existence, its nature could more rightly be determined, but for now, we are left at the mercy of the sheer number who seek it. Such heroes embody a strength beyond strength; an impenetrable barrier for pain; a reservoir which holds a purity so potent that no foreign matter can survive past a certain point. By following their lead, it is possible to grow just as strong, to achieve all of our goals in a framework of our own design, to meet and surround ourselves with people we can respect and admire and to live a life largely absent of pain, contempt, boredom and senselessness.

The incredible meaning most come upon only once or twice throughout their span of years, you can come to feel a few times every day, and it will keep getting more and more frequent and more and more powerful. The full integration of mind and body is so potent a combination that no such individual can remain a follower; therein lies its danger to precedent. Your physical senses and their integrator—your consciousness—are the metaphysical inlets that open into a virtual ocean of knowledge and fulfillment. Sensory perception is the foundation of all exertion-generated human values including happiness, whose enjoyment is the bane and impossibility of those otherwise denied. Honest spirituality follows the clean rationality in the volitional nature of our being. Pride is a barometer, measuring the success of our choices.

As the human brain has a specific physical makeup, so too does the structure of its content. The function of a mind is identical for every man and cannot be altered, as the function of a heart or any other organ cannot. It has evolved into its most efficient design and can only be nourished by a proper diet, or starved and mangled by an improper diet. To flourish, we need certain nutrients in mind and body, and they go much deeper than you might imagine. So many things that you perceive as okay to leave approximate or optional, are not. The mechanics of the medium must be understood to fully exercise its power to achieve pure happiness, supreme confidence and a radiant self-worth. As in all of the other realms we have mastered, our control will remain precarious until with experience and introspection, we gain a firm grasp on its proper use.

The spirit must be worked and fed throughout life like any muscle, to maintain its strength. Like an athlete, it has a game to play—the game of life—and it must be kept in practice; otherwise, it will suffer in atrophy. All living things deteriorate from neglect. Still, its use must be healthful. An old martial arts instructor once said to me, “Any form is good, but some are better for you.” I learned what he meant after training with Aikido students, most of whom wore joint supports for hyper-extension injuries, which often led to severe arthritis and the eventual quitting of the sport out of physical necessity. Such practice misuses the entity that acts—the human body. Likewise, evasion, repression, hysterics, emotional deadness and the desire for any causeless reward are all a reflection of the misuse and malnourishment of the human mind. A light, healthy spirit can never be conjured with a false smile and an affirmation. It is a state of mind that is earned—achieved—by a direct, focused, conscious effort. Such vitality is the natural result of enacting the correct life-furthering premises—a moral choice. The correct premises are identified by honestly experimenting with rational new ideas and by weeding out contradictions in the old ones. The pinnacle of emotional states has its own constant gauge, evidenced by a pure, vibrant emotional health. The closer we get to practicing the structures nature intended, the healthier we are.

There are ups and downs for us all, but someone with an indestructible spirit makes the right moves when things go wrong. They remain bright, awake and alive—ready and willing to defend themselves, actively seeking new clarity, willing to earn their own sense of significance and ready to enjoy their own existence. To come to this requires that we get good at being human. We have to learn how to demand human status; accepting and supporting that we do see, we do hear, we do feel, think, love and live. We have to learn not to buckle under centuries of ill conditioning by our opposition. It can be done. We must split, not our minds from our bodies, but from the irrational weight of that cross we all bear. The central civil issue in life is that we have the opportunity to experience our highest possibilities, in body and spirit.

Imagine a solid yellow line within your mind, which is the straightest path to your own ideals. It leads to that beautiful stranger, it conveys your truest style and your freest, most desirable way of being. If identified at all, most of us spend our time jockeying back and forth, fearfully and humbly crisscrossing the directness of this path. Learning to walk down the center of your life is a brave step forward. Bringing the heroic into your destiny will be a chaos of challenges as the defaults wither and the spirit blooms, with incredible new highs and frightening but clairvoyant lows; a roller coaster of emotional triumph that will make life worth living again.

What’s really entertaining is watching those who emerge from the depths and struggle with their new happiness. They don’t believe it’s real. I get a kick out of it. They struggled against pain for so long with the tools of evasion, denial and false justifications that they’re not prepared for an intense and consistent joy. They are so used to pushing feelings away that they are unpracticed in dealing with something they want to keep. They fear that it will elude them as in the past, and in panic, try to hoard it; but they have to break down and laugh, because it just keeps bubbling out of them. By practicing the correct causal factors, they’ve become a bunch of little happiness generators, and the rest of their lives are going to be like this. Instead of dealing with pain, they have the wealth of a new resource to contend with, and all the years ahead to discover the immense pleasures it will bring them. They gracefully learn to channel it, and every few months they step up to a new level. So used to being pushed around on moral issues, their new determination becomes a cherished facet of their lives.

Settling into this new code, those outside start to treat you with more deference, the exact deference you have come to associate with a trait you have worshipped and sought. Astonished, you’ll think, “It’s as if they believe I have that stature,” and then you’ll realize that your uncertainty with this level is rapidly diminishing or gone; that you’re comfortable associating with peers on this plane, and suddenly realize that you are one of them. You’ve made it with one up; you’re still moving. It is quietly exciting to watch yourself grow, and such deliverance always happens this way. You will see the day when you have the courage to do what was so recently impossible, and you’ll do it as an afterthought. When you finish this book, you’re going to feel a spectacular moral power. It will accent every thing you do, and your life will never be the same.

Dangers to Our Self Esteem: The Stark Proximity | Reading of Moral Armor: An Indestructible Spirit CH2P4

I’m tired of watching a whole society struggling to bloom while their killing code holds them from it. Neurotic action is the offspring of missing, evaded or corrupt moral standards. Most of us experience their effects the hard way—listening to people twist morality in order to use us, to stop us, or to penalize us, only to realize later that we were conned.

Sidestepping your consciousness allows them endless opportunities to hide their motivations. Clean motives have nothing to worry about; they enjoy an audience. Deadly motives loath awareness, and in self-defense, therefore demand it. My intention is to spawn a race of steady eyes; eyes that see; eyes that know what is being done and won’t be stopped by it.

This segment paces the psychological processes going on in the background for most of us, driven by a corrupt and incomplete moral code. Washing them away is required to prepare a new foundation; a spiritual cleanse for healing and new growth.

 

The Worst Danger Might Be Right Next to You… I’m tired of watching a whole society struggling to bloom while their killing code holds them from it. I’m sick of seeing those who endure and rise to great heights only to have their accomplishments physically and spiritually confiscated by irrational laws or a plotting spouse, unable to fight back. I’ve watched my own kind get pushed around and led like poodles by family, clergy and the fools they’ve married, led to their own spiritual deaths—and to contempt for me, the absolute; the unremitting. There is a reason why people fight to preserve what harms them while sacrificing their highest values throughout life. Have you ever wondered what it is? Neurotic action is the offspring of missing, evaded or corrupt moral standards. Most of us experience their effects the hard way—listening to people twist morality in order to use us, to stop us or to penalize us, only to realize later that we were conned, while suffering the desperate loneliness we feel while striving for and reaching pinnacles of our own. It will continue to happen, but it would be worse to live a whole life never having known the true intentions of those around us; never having identified and accepted in full understanding, their psychological health as well as our own.

Who has scheduled your spirit for execution? Who demands your acceptance, but not your understanding or agreement? Permitting the negation of awareness will bring irrationality to power, while your aspirations are left to wander down uncharted roads. Either you pick up and use the tools given you, or you become a tool of others. Of whom in particular? Of those who told you it was moral to drop your tools. Whether they host black-tie benefits, pose alongside productive spouses or inhabit slums, the fear-based used their perversions to claw their way on top of us, using their victims as life-preservers. Sidestepping your consciousness allows them endless opportunities to hide their motivations. Clean motives have nothing to worry about; they enjoy an audience. Deadly motives loath awareness, and in self-defense, therefore demand it. My intention is to spawn a race of steady eyes; eyes that see; eyes that know what is being done.

…Or Even Closer. The first and most crucial battle is to be fought in an unexpected place: within us. As we have been inundated with corruption from the beginning of our lives, the first wave of enemies is now internal. They are anti-epistemological—anti-awareness processes—harmful patterns we have been cycling without question. We have all been victims of this system of cannibal ethics; there has been no way to escape it. It has infected every thought, inverted every image and mental projection and defined every self-hampering physical response. It has placed our living energy in the service of death, corrupted our rational long-term understandings, perverted our ultimate goals and destroyed our capacity to enjoy truly wholesome moments. Even when we have identified and solved our own conscious errors, it has often not been deep enough to counter the subconscious drivers which promote an unstudied reactionary defense. We stomp out what we see, yet like a weed its underground network of irrational connections regenerates it. The alternatives it offers all lead to the same brick walls: fear, malice, powerlessness and subservience. It saps our will, as cognitive hampering kills the capacity to look for answers. We come to fear the darkness they conjured within us, and to fear others.

What spiritual path are you on at present? Ask yourself how the inversion has drawn you in. What makes you murderously angry, people smarter than you? People with greater courage, independence and tenacity? People with greater integrity? People with more money? Or is it stupidity, pointless activities, lethargy, denial, the unwillingness of others to see, to learn and to grow, and all the resulting consequences? Does what you hate in others, reflect what you hate in yourself? If you hate another’s ability, you have damned ability itself. On the other hand, if you hate another’s incompetence and any incompetence you may have yet to overcome, that is a tribute to life. Can you achieve your own highest vision of yourself in the world of today? Do you believe it has a chance? Who has determined your view of Man? Those around you, an ideal potentiality, or the worst in your experience? What do you really wish for Man? Are they benevolent thoughts or angry thoughts? Are you afraid of human beings? Be honest. I was afraid for a long time. I had inherited the fears of those who came before me, and though perceptive enough to understand that my fears had no foundation, I had no ammunition to challenge them with; only strength of resolve, but no aim for that strength. The pain was mine to bear; the problem was mine to decipher, and upon solving it, the benefits were mine to enjoy.

We must come to recognize and eradicate the errors as they are encountered, or in other words, learn to get out of our own way in life. This is the journey now before you. Those seeking reform have to walk what appears at first to be a tightrope, but it gets wider and more stable once the elements are set into a psycho-epistemological routine (don’t worry, I’ll provide it). Enjoyment becomes more constant as causal factors become clearer. The right actions become automatic and the outcomes become easy to see, given either fork in the road.

It is important not to damn yourself along the way for identifying traits of character that are destructive. Being forthright is an opportunity for growth. This is the process of refinement, not a spotlight for shame. As they may bring detriment now, their resolution will bring a new strength, your experience of life will become more intensely passionate and true forgiveness—if necessary—will be deserved; from others and from yourself. The road of healing, of safety, of empowerment and ultimately of intransigence is a different length for everyone. You must start from where you are. You must be honest about where you are, in order to start. Hanging on to your illusions will only leave you further and further behind. Let go and you’ll find firm ground just inches below. If you can understand that honesty is the greatest “leap of faith” in reason, that it will not toss you into an abyss, that it will not take your self-esteem but will bring you more than you could ever imagine, then you will be free. You will be well on your way to discover every answer you seek and every pleasure of living. And then your view of Man will change.

Anxiety & Depression: Lonely Road Inside Us All | Reading of Moral Armor: An Indestructible Spirit CH2P3

Life itself should never be the object of an unrequited love. We need moral acknowledgement, but it’s rare to come by. Most of us haven’t been paid for our virtues, and have lost the expectation of getting paid. What happiness and brotherhood can we expect under the daunting sneers of those who tell Man his desires are selfish, his senses invalid, his body feeble, his actions harmful and his destiny Hell? In this environment, the last thing healthy people want to confront is the subject of morality. The physical violations prohibited even in war are given no such protection on a spiritual level. Your spirit can live being shunned by the outside; it cannot live being shunned by the inside. If we hope for our spirits to survive, we need to look after ourselves.

The Lonely Road Inside Us All. The motive of spiritual undercutting is bad enough, but worse is what it is responsible for: senseless guilt, irrational fears, anxiety, depression, physical incapacitation, emotional deadening and dependencies on others or the heavens which go unfulfilled, as lives go unlived. The pretense of brother-love is abound, but we know full well that none of it is true and that we are very much alone. The rejection of reality denies us the process of identification and leaves us in an unrealistic limbo. Some take drugs to mimic the emotional states that rational premises would have generated naturally, while others take drugs to counter the pain and emotional conflict caused by our irrational code. I can sense the heartbreak in those trapped whom I pass daily—in hallways, in streets, in traffic—souls and bodies stiffened and aged by pain. Life promised so much once, a glory that never came. But underneath that is a cry for help, a weakness that screams, “I’m capable of so much more than you see, help me to find what I missed and I’ll show you what I really am.” There is so much untapped potential out there it is astonishing. The freedom in their souls has been stifled in so many ways and from so many directions that they have lost the capacity to recognize it. But one thing is clear: they’re not enjoying life, and the problem is inside now. Missing the gratification of living is a tragedy played out by most of mankind. Drudgery becomes their medium which doesn’t stimulate creative thought, but lethargy, leading to more drudgery. No matter what they try, all roads seem to lead there. They remain down on themselves and down on life.

If we’re not having fun, what’s the point? Life is only worth the effort if your spirit remains intact, meaning how you see the world, others and your possibilities. This is the most crucial human dilemma because life itself should never be the object of an unrequited love. I can see the dividing line which separates people from what they profess to seek in the statement, “Yeah, but.” I see the tail-chasing mistakes, the pointless stress, the efforts that lead nowhere and the minds slammed shut to any path that would provide relief. They know there is a problem, yet can take no steps in the direction of their fulfillment. Stuck in a loop provided by popular guidance, they are left with so delicate an esteem they’re easily shattered by a strong hand from either side. What happiness did they expect under the daunting sneers of those who tell Man his desires are selfish, his senses invalid, his body feeble, his actions harmful and his destiny Hell? With nowhere to turn, their feelings for life become conflicted. Any attempt to rise is blocked, stopped and thwarted, while they are encouraged by the plethora of mediocrity to coast downhill into degeneration. It is the nature of existence they end up damning as intended, while the code of the killers goes unquestioned. They learn not to expect justice, understanding or fulfillment; they learn to stand down, to know their place and to let go of their dreams. They come to believe that the only alternative in life is to feel torture, or to feel nothing. They expect pain as a result of any thought, so they shut off and disengage life, often never to be reached again.

Most of us haven’t been paid for our virtues, and have lost the expectation of getting paid. You know what you should be recognized for; you inherently know what virtue is, and what is vice. You know what pride you have earned, and what contempt. But what you meet with in this introspective moment is more disturbing: nothing. You hear silence, see not a lasting glance of concern, approval or disapproval in your direction; not from Man, not from nature. The only response is the quiet, impersonal, unstoppable ticking of the secondhand on the clock facing you. You know how clearly the good you’ve done outweighs the bad, making it insignificant—and yet the world remains silent about both. You wouldn’t mind paying the price for errors; you don’t seek to hide. What you need is to pour out the beauty of your soul, but no one is there to see. They keep walking, paying no attention, and all that is left is loneliness, pain, heart break, rejection and hate. Often you conclude, “What’s the point of being moral? Nobody notices either way.” The truth is everyone notices, but they suffer the same barriers. In this environment, the last thing healthy people want to confront is the subject of morality; yet one of the most sacred forms of elation denied us is seeing our fellow men look upon our lives with the same pride we feel about it; to enjoy the common bond of our solemn dedication to progress, and to know in quiet serenity that their tribute is deserved. Instead when attention does come as in childhood, it is often in the form of torture. The pressure to conform to pretenses in society, schools and families is ridiculous. Ostracism for practicing virtue is a truly debilitating punishment, and few can survive it alone. The physical violations prohibited even in war are given no such protection on a spiritual level. We are slow tortured, and I can see why most don’t make it emotionally.

The endurance of going on for years with nothing—no rewards outside of your own appreciation—with your reservoir of passion empty and only the stale residue of a memory—the awareness of how they loved you so much more when you were less—is tragically heartbreaking. Moral Armor grew out of that emotional delicacy, a precious respect for justice and a moral sanction I expected from the world and never received, to confirm my life-furthering attributes and actions. Even without respect for the judgment of others, it’s very painful to feel the world doesn’t want you, knowing that your virtues are what they reject. But in this moral environment, you have to be prepared to go it alone—to go without rewards from the outside. Until the beast is broken, we are all condemned to some level of desolation as we advance, and no, moral clarity doesn’t make up for it. What is most important in the interim is that you know the true sum. Your spirit can live being shunned by the outside; it cannot live being shunned by the inside. You can bring into this world the highest image of Man now, or you can hold off for the social atmosphere that rewards strivers. But that could be decades. Why wait? Cry for an hour, but live for twenty-three. Do it for you.

Ingrained Spiritual Trauma | Reading of Moral Armor: An Indestructible Spirit CH2P2

Ingrained Spiritual Trauma.

Similar to the physical, we often live in a state of depleted spiritual health. We sustain while being unnecessarily drained by our environment; an environment that can be tailored to our preferences if we take conscious control.

The very best in us was meant to thrive and fulfill for the betterment of all. More often than not, our tools of living have been turned against us and used to achieve destruction instead. It’s time to take control back.

The self-help revolution’s only clear flaw is that it doesn’t define itself as moral. This absolutely crucial flaw can and always has acted as the wedge under the lid of hell. We have been humming along, blissfully unaware that a cliff lines one whole edge of our journey. Without explicit understanding of the moral justifications for our actions, we risk the loss of our most precious values or worse—the horror of seeing our efforts accomplish the will of evil. We have to face the issue of right and wrong and we have to face it head on. The next abstract step for us to take is to gain a fully integrated view of Man, of consciousness and of existence—giving sense, order and meaning to Man’s life, to social actions and to all the tools we have been taught to use. With this knowledge, we can be sure that we are exercising our power responsibly and we can protect our right to exercise it. We can bring an end to what has been hurting us and secure human beings in their proper stature.

Intellectual freedom is a delicate and recent advance for Man, so the undercutting of our confidence has been easily perpetuated. The source of our spiritual fragility comes from a technology held back since Egyptian/Phoenician/Mesopotamian times, or about 3200 BC. The pharaoh’s brute physical domination which worked so effectively for eons was given a spiritual equivalent as men moved into the realm of abstraction. When men invented language, the Spirit Murderers invented abstract distortion. The fear-ridden at all levels of society twisted every concept to mean its opposite in moral implication to keep men from comprehending their own value. Every attribute of Man was construed as a liability. Every desire of Man was considered a destructive impulse. Every sense of pride was turned into shame. Every advance was regarded as a moral affront by those who had to adjust their views or actions. Any means to rational fulfillment was trounced, and Man was cut off from achieving and enjoying his proper stature.

As all knowledge was claimed as coming from above, the creative faculty which brought mankind wonders it had never seen was considered a transgressor, and was often greeted with violence. In legend, Prometheus was torn by vultures for stealing the fire of the gods. Copernicus was forced to renounced his revolutionary scientific theories, while in the same dilemma, Socrates chose death. Even Einstein lamented that the true key to success was keeping your mouth shut. Most considered the realm of spirituality to be the unknowable and therefore the uncontrollable. The intellect was not given the same respect as the uncharted territories of the physical world, where the unknown was simply the undiscovered as yet. We were knocking down one barrier after another in the sciences, yet the structure of the mind itself was relegated to the undiscoverable. As mankind progressed, the scientists—the men who learned that nature to be commanded must be obeyed—began to encroach upon the domain of spirituality preached by the moral scholar’s who sat beside kings. The scientific method was accountable and that clashed with the high priest’s incantations, so free thinkers were forced to abandon the subject, leaving the field wide open to those who never intended to see mankind achieve a pure spiritual independence.

They proceeded to claim that Man was an unnatural being borne of conflict: partially of Earth, partially of spirit, irreconcilably at odds while alive, damned with a mind capable of nothing but misinterpretation and a body capable of nothing but pain. The irrational division of a man was coupled with an irrational division between men. Fraudulently viewing all of mankind as either totally untrustworthy if strong, and honorable but helpless if not, they demanded in haughty righteousness that the latter be taken care of, and service to the self-actualized mass indigence became the highest moral order. Somehow, we were the only species on the planet not designed to fulfill our own requirements for living. Still, our weak limbs and useless minds were good enough to fulfill the needs of others, while another’s limbs and mind were good enough to satisfy ours. The Spirit Murderers claimed to have solved nature’s error, and like Frankenstein’s monster, we were hacked apart and then reassembled with parts of each other.

A man was evil and unnatural to the extent of his self-sufficiency; he could not be permitted to act alone. The forfeit of one’s own life to serve others became a moral code known as altruism, which in practice became a communal slave system often sanctioned by law, known as Socialism. Whether one’s self was sacrificed unwillingly to domination or willingly to charity, the result was the same. No matter the benefactor, it was the sacrifice of life as a means of survival. What civil, rational men find necessary in only the most rare and tragic of circumstances was made a societal standard. Allowing no property, no personal ambitions and nothing precious to lay outside the right of seizure by our brethren, such a system pitted us all against each other. Our self-respect, our ability and our intelligence—putting our best foot forward—was no longer socially beneficial, but a mutual threat. Achievement became a toll road, enabling the deceivers to confiscate the products of our lives and/or determine their distribution with our sanction, carrying away our most sacred spiritual rewards in the process.

Imagine walking down the street with no right to the contents of your pockets, with even your smallest day to day preparations and simplest conveniences thwarted. Hoarding they called it. Imagine restraining yourself from showing any sign of ability or giving an opinion for fear of being enslaved or martyred. The cause of Man divided, men divided had the desired result: Man neutralized, men neutralized. No one could build. No one could grow. By destroying privacy and mutual respect among men, they avoided mass unity which could spur an uprising against centralized control. Just as Hitler planted distrust between members of his own party to avoid alliances that could oust him, the same was done within a man and between all men from the beginning. But such barbarism is ancient history, right? Our escape from religious persecution and totalitarianism was successful. In present day we can seek our dreams, own property and are allowed private lives. We have established civil order in society, launched ourselves into outer space and have harnessed the atom. We have come so far; so why are we still stopped dead in our tracks with the snide question, “Is that moral?

It seems that anything is permitted, except what we really want. Walking into a review with your boss or into court, and though your mind might be saying that you have a right to ask for a fair shake, the reaction your body still has is that you are a slave. Our moral culture has ingrained us to go on submissive autopilot, feeling ashamed of our existence, feeling subservient and temporary—as if we exist on their grace—that this Earth is theirs and they have first right to it. We do not stand on common ground. For many, we react as if there is no common ground. That our natural relation is slave to master and that we must show respect for the irrational, because at any moment they can turn on us and take our lives, as they hold the whip-hand. The corrupters effectively stunted our cognition, and like farm animals have kept us within an intellectually tractable range. Our political system may be free, but our cultural ethics are still fear-driven. The irrational fundamentals that have allowed them to destroy individual lives and nations, are still in place.

Wiping Out Stress with an Indestructible Spirit | Reading of Moral Armor CH2P1

Friends,
The self-help revolution made it possible for us to learn so much on our own and outside the classroom. Cassettes, cd’s, dvd’s, and now mp3’s and videos have amplified the learning rate of the productive world. The realm of moral clarity is no different. Beyond acquisition of the working knowledge of a philosophy, there is the exposure of injustices and the restructuring of society made possible by these means. The result of functional competence in the realm of morality is the capacity to truly make a difference–for oneself, for one’s family, for one’s nation.

Wiping out stress is among the first steps along this road. To see clearly, to see easily, is to not be afraid to see, as you will have become confident in your ability to handle all that could follow. In time, this growing skill will make your spirit indestructible.

We are not sick men.” —Bruce Lee

What if there were stresses that you were so used to, you didn’t even notice the burden? In most communication with people, we hear insults to honor, to effort and to ability—to our own and to integrity as such—and in cutting to the chase, we let it go. What if this subtle repression of injustice is precisely what blocks you from enjoying sacred emotional rewards that you weren’t even aware you deserved? What if it was thee barrier between you and the “reason for it all,” and what if you found that it was placed there on purpose? Herein lies some of the great mysteries of life, and it’s time to solve them.

What price would you put on being certain about the moral implications of your every action? Moral certainty is the most powerful human force, and there are astonishing planes of fulfillment that accompany its attainment. Unfortunately, dysfunctional premises drive illusory consequences in the minds of most, providing a sufficient barrier to these levels. The Spirit Murderers don’t wish the masses to reach them. These values rest in latent form, which if remain suppressed, allow the Spirit Murderers to continue their game. What if solving this dilemma would allow you to reach the full maturity we all deserve an opportunity to feel? The Spirit Murderers stand frozen, hovering over their fragile control of this powerful force, in dread of what will happen if full mass moral validation is actualized. Men will be freed and they will be thrown off. “Thrown off to die” in their minds, which rationally translates as, “responsible to face nature in the manner their victims do.” As these rewards lay two levels of abstraction from the typical range of human consciousness, they have gone undetected. As long as there was no one to make axiomatically valid ideals explicit, their secret was safe; but in recent history they have suffered a major setback.

We are in the midst of the self-help revolution. This is the time where the productive middle class has matured, spread its wings and is soaring. It is a fantastic time to be alive. Many people no longer feel helpless and are now in control of their own destinies, which is a much more significant cultural shift than just a generation coming into its own. The esteem they have generated is wholesome and real. It is the perfect opportunity for a philosopher to come in and reinforce the foundations of this movement, and therefore have a profound impact on all of the years ahead.

The human race is not deaf, blind or helpless, and we are now proving that en masse. With the promotional genius of men like Anthony Robbins, it is becoming generally accepted to model excellence in all fields and in all aspects of living. The traits which our heroes appear to so naturally assume are coming within reach of anyone who puts forth the effort to attain them. Philosophically speaking, the potency of human ability is being restored. This is such a wonderful step for a culture to take towards a moral existence, that I am sure men will have the strength to move into the next dimension and comprehend a moral code designed to convey a clear purpose for that excellence. We have learned how to spend our time wisely, to manage our money and to set goals. We have learned to build profitable corporations, to build healthy bodies and healthy relationships. Self-improvement has socially and psychologically moved into the realm of abstraction, where we are now beginning to effectively harness our emotions. Step by step, field by field, we are taking conscious control of our destinies. Sure, television news shows us nothing but crime and devastation, but I see a better-educated world around me and most importantly, a greater ability to link cause to effect and act on it, which includes an aggregate lengthening of intellectual range—both in capacity and time. On what many consider the brink of disaster, I feel an undercurrent of sound moral judgment in society today—a self-responsibility practiced by a growing number and identified as “en vogue.” I see more leaders and fewer lemmings. At this point in history, it is time to make our moral countenance indestructible.

Along this road of progress, I’m sure you can recall experiences that have been turning points. Ideas you draw from constantly, which you couldn’t imagine functioning day to day without; ideas that seem to lie at the base of every decision. What if there were still more powerful ideas that once known and practiced, became an absolutely priceless frame of reference? For all of the splendor you have achieved in your life, what if there was an awareness you could gain that would tie everything together and give great conscious meaning to your every glance, to your every action and to your every day? What if this awareness were to give you the grand, paternal feeling of looking upon all of existence as you foster those you have risen above, sharing your calm, your clarity, your love and your sanction for all that is possible to us? That is what I intend to fulfill.

Have you ever felt so pure a sanction of existence that you just wanted to tickle something? All throughout life I have maintained the boundless energy, the playful excitement and the unlimited possibility that we all started out with. Little did I know then, how much more I would encounter in the adult world. The clean reasons for friendship and romance, the stunning interests I’ve had in sharks, astronomy, philosophy, jets, racing cars and bikes has all followed me into adulthood. Life is a playground for adrenaline, with day-to-day development, refinement and increased emotional intensity. I left nothing to cultural dictates, and stayed open to the most fulfilling returns in all contexts. With experience and the power of vision, all elements of life now flow harmoniously. I see the parallels between our intimacy and our productivity, our morality and our physiology, our political affiliations and our art, and I’ll bring that clarity to you.

The rewards just continue to gather more power and meaning, and among the pinnacles, I have found no greater interactive tribute to the incredible glory of Man than in visiting the Kennedy Space Center. Imagine being down in Cape Canaveral to witness an American space shuttle launch. Waiting for the countdown, your mind wanders, having time to appreciate the crisp, clean morning air and blue sky while you sit and enjoy the peaceful sounds of nature mixed with the motion of those gathered for the same purpose. With emotions fueled by spellbinding films and exhibits of their incredible struggle, you contemplate that sense of life that prompts men to endlessly explore; all driven to push the envelope, often at great risk to themselves. They carried mankind and technology along on their forward thrust into the unknown, to the crescendo of their final triumph—a man on the moon, which proved only the beginning. Here, you are a part of it, paying tribute to our present mastery in witnessing the launch of an orbiter, which is now building a space station. Suddenly the ground beneath you begins to vibrate, resonating with a deep, rich hum, which sweeps away your consciousness into a total focus on the craft. You look with wide unblinking eyes, barely allowing yourself to breathe, wishing to avoid the visual disruption of the rise and fall of your chest. The engines have been lit, and you can feel the pressure and heat of the air between you and the craft. As the countdown proceeds, your weight shifts, looking over the heads of others, astonished to realize you have been standing; not knowing when, or why. “Four…three…two…one,” and the roar of the solid fuel rockets slams your senses way beyond anything you have ever experienced. A cloud pours around the bottom of the craft, engulfing it completely, spreading towards you and you think, “If the power and the heat were to engulf us all, oh,…just to feel what I am feeling now as the emotional height I’ve always wanted to reach, to feel this as my final salute to life, would be a precious blessing.” The tip of the craft emerges above its cloud, and slowly lifts off with an incredible trail of fire, passion and thrust, as if it has joined forces with nature, harnessing and directing a storm to accomplish its will. Overwhelmed by the sensational rapture of your being, your eyes well with tears and you begin to pant in a pure, free, emotional release. With every sense filled so completely, you wonder if you’ll even survive such unbearable pleasure. As it rises higher, the power of the sound diminishes; the shuttle lifts into the heavens peacefully—a red tailed comet—its firm touch releases, returning control of your body, but for the shallow breath of exhilaration still coursing all through you. Trembling in the aftermath, immersed so deeply within your soul, you find it difficult to walk, and you notice the same in others. You have been stunned and then laid back to peace, rocked by the incredible power, complexity and glory of Man; contemplating, “My god, men did this. Men erected a skyscraper and just shot it into space. If we can do this, we can do anything,” and that is true. For the glory of that emotional release of all you can feel, which is a response to our highest potential, with the nature of the universe as our guide, we can do anything.

The most priceless reward of life is the ability to wake up every day with just such a wonderful sense of expectation; an awareness that you will have remarkable experiences of your own design that will make you feel so deeply, and so connected. The incredible power of Man is something we should all link to our own potentiality. Shivers move down my spine when I contemplate what each day might bring; the excitement, the risk, the adventure of life itself—of facing and conquering fears—is truly exhilarating.

Because of the implicit moral worth of our actions and its resulting confidence, it is going to be much easier for us individually to look inward at our own motives, to purify our body of knowledge and move to a new level, intellectually and spiritually. For example, picture yourself looking in the mirror. You think back and see achievement in your past. You see excitement in the present, and feeling a tingling sensation, your stomach drops, anticipating the plans you’ve laid for your future. This reflection is the life-force that makes it all possible, and which has made life worth living. Don’t deny it, you like what you see! And you should. There stands a strong, progressive individual, on its way to its chosen and cherished goals. There is pride in that being, and there is beauty in that pride. For once in history you have to learn, not to take a hit, but the immense deliverance of taking a steady flow of self-compliments, because you know they are deserved. In today’s world, the pursuit of our dreams seems limitless, and anything we want is just a ‘plan of attack’ away. Leading richer and fuller lives, we inherently know that our productivity is taking us in the right direction. As the industrious of Man, we now understand that our free expressions are the causes that reap mankind’s glory; it’s becoming obvious to all, but there are many crucial aspects of living which we still haven’t learned.

When the space shuttle is prepped, every last detail is monitored to assure the health of the craft; its path, its platform, its fuel, its structure and its environment. Everything must flow perfectly or it doesn’t take off. It is the same for a human spirit. This can be implied to mean that the craft is delicate, but that isn’t true. Ballistic glass and a bullet-proof hull isn’t delicate. The shuttle is designed to withstand the conditions it is expected to encounter in its traveled medium; so too properly, is the human mind. But how? Projecting what life should be and trying to live it, often feels like a soap bubble floating through the world. As light, as free and as easily punctured by experiencing the betrayal of values, by oneself or others. The difference is, as a bubble comes in contact with a thorn, its journey is over; not so for a damaged spirit. It goes on in a crippled state, kept in existence by the physical entity in which it is contained. One can wait for time to disassociate the pain, yet just when a benevolent medium returns, something else happens to smack it down in a self-defeating cycle. It isn’t necessary for a spirit to be so fragile. The honest portion of this delicacy comes from a technology in its infancy; not in the nature of the medium. We can control our spiritual outcomes by assessing its nature, its environment and our direction, leaving nothing to chance. We can steer clear of thorns, making it safe for our innocence to return and flourish. We can plan for the world we live in, standing strong, tall and able, and move through it with a swift, preeminent elegance. Moral Armor will provide what is necessary to give your spirit a good solid feel. Instead of a soap bubble, it will be more like a run-flat, the high-performance tire that can still speed you along to your dreams with grace and style, even after a severe puncture.

Enemy of Man: Spirit Murderer’s Revealed | Reading of Moral Armor CH1P5

Friends,

In cultural morality, the world isn’t black and white as we all know. But good and evil should be as clean and easily identifiable as possible. Defining these categories based on adherence or violation of a clear standard makes this process much less perplexing, and much more useful. The standard I speak of is the pattern of cognition–which is what Moral Armor is based on–or “the pattern of life” as I call it.

The capacity to counter evil is immensely empowering. Hang on, it’s about to get fun!

It was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Tyler and I just gave it a name.” —Fight Club

Revealing Our Enemy. No one could guess by whom and in how many ways their passion is drained, but one term describes the enemy: Spirit Murderers. They come in many forms, all motivated by fear essentially and hate ultimately, with one common social goal: to design and skin the perfect victim. Spirit Murderers ride us, and hate us for our ability to carry them. So they try to rob us of our sense of living which holds adventure, endless possibility and personal significance, and replace it with the paranoia, insignificance and helplessness that they chronically feel. Now and then, we encounter ideals that do make sense and see creations that astonish us, revealing a human being’s true dimensions to the world, only to discover the desolate tragedies these men suffered to bring such wonders into existence. Building a monument to Man is a delicate and heroic effort, be it a symphony, a skyscraper or the United States of America. The Spirit Murderer’s have always had it easier because no matter what heights we reach, it’s all downhill for them.

Victims can sacrifice an arm or a leg to survive, but not the nerve center; they cannot sacrifice their brains, which is why cognitive disintegration is the Spirit Murderer’s primary attack. I know that most people cannot face that there is something missing in their thinking; to doubt their own conscious adequacy feels like a mortal blow. They have been taught to believe that a wrong move is proof of damnation; that to be imperfect in action is to admit their own worthlessness. But the truth is their teachers have violated the natural pattern of human thought—the logical accumulation of knowledge—often on purpose. They begin in ways you wouldn’t suspect, gently undercutting with such questions as, “What came first? The chicken or the egg?” and because we falter in response to the unexpected, they claim the mind by its nature is unreliable. Wait a minute while I answer them: “Okay idiot, the chicken. Between the two it is the only one capable of sustaining itself in nature. The chicken came first, or more accurately, what evolved as a chicken. The existence of a living entity precedes its attributes—among them its reproductive process.” Their intention becomes clear with what follows: other questions bearing no consequence in our lives such as, “So where do we come from?” “The scientific method has been disproved long ago” they say, because some obscure estimate about the universe was in experience found to be inaccurate (disregarding the incredible advances required to establish that fact). “That proves” they claim with glee, “that thinking is futile,” and (forgetting that they are men too), “that mankind is a joke; everything he’s ever done has been proved wrong. He can’t get anything right; so why does he think he is so great?” Let me get this straight: We were wrong about gravity and it goes the other way now? Wow, this inconsequential detail has uncovered the folly of our existence. I get up in the morning and the sky isn’t blue. Fossil fuels cannot be burned in cars, homes or power plants, which due to our inability to build, have all collapsed anyway. Our skyscrapers, tunnels and bridges have all been reduced to rubble by their simple revelation. All the planes fall out of the sky, there is no use for electricity or running water, Earth no longer spins in a day and we don’t actually breathe air. Morons. They want us to believe that our “illusion of control” can be shaken by any senseless proposition they forward.

Reality has never been altered by their neurosis. Their claims are not a reflection of mankind’s existential inconstancy, but of theirs. Look at their lives. What they actually want is to have us buy into what stopped them. What makes them think they can get away with such ludicrous nonsense? And worst of all, why do they? All that really happened in their scientific mishap is Man took another step forward. The human chain of knowledge got a little longer. Theories became fact, estimated measurements were made precise and our capacity for control expanded. Our means of acquiring and validating knowledge was implicitly furthered in parallel with our declared intentions, just as their declared intentions were to destroy that capacity. A man’s rational faculty is not invalidated because fact follows theory, which follows hypothesis. Discoveries are limitless. At no time is it rational to stomp one’s feet because knowledge is not automatic, because thinking requires an excruciating effort at times and because the world’s secrets are not provided on a silver platter. Our database is in a constant state of accumulation and refinement. The efficacy of human consciousness is not “questionable” because new technologies supersede and new discoveries hone older ones; that is the natural progression of Man. But what was our response? We were silent: bearing their hostility until we could escape back to the clean rationality of our passions. What undercut our confidence? Why didn’t we fight back?

We didn’t fight back because we didn’t have a defense for simply being human, and could never have conceived of the need for one. But at this point in history it is necessary. The beast has found no resistance in the flinching eyes of its victims. Defense begins with a fundamental sanction of existence: accepting that reality is real. You must understand what life on Earth requires of Man and accept the correct basis of morality: the preservation of human life. Cleaning your own epistemological structure will allow a pure internal harmony; a united front from which to defend against the evils outside. Then you must identify if those you encounter seek to further life or to stop it; to work with you or to ride you; to respect your rights or to negate them. It is a war of good and evil, and of all “shades of gray” in between. Anyone who doesn’t want you to lead a rationally fulfilling life wants to kill you spiritually, as was done to them. Anyone who wants you to accept their shades of gray not only wants you to drink poison, but also wants to gain moral recognition for it.

Our productivity-generated spiritual wealth often leads us to assist and encourage those astray, back towards life, but you will learn that you can’t. Progress is not what they are after. I for one am no longer willing to assume the exasperating burden of explaining the self-evident to those bent on misunderstanding. I’m done trying to provide a sunrise for a mankind that rejects the evidence of their eyes. To hell with them. The shimmering beauty of our glorious life-giving power may never awaken the living dead among us. Their fate was never our responsibility anyway; it was and is theirs. After years of futile effort, I accept now that I cannot save them. Instead with regretful diligence, I must draw my sword and protect us against them because they are many, and capable of great devastation.

We have all felt from time to time that morality was a steamroller, one with a malevolent driver, endangering everything in its path. Well morality is a steamroller, that is true; but with the proper moral armor, we are behind the wheel. In times of warfare, weapons can be overtaken and used by our opposition. That is what has been done to us for centuries. It’s time to turn the tables. No matter what torture I for one have endured or will endure, the damage they can do now is limited. I know what moves them. To gain their acceptance and deflect their animosity requires that we be victims. I refuse to exist as a victim any longer. I refuse to let go of my dreams. I refuse to see the world through the vision of their panic. I refuse to cower to their supernatural threats. I refuse to just live with whatever irrational situation they present to us and to consider reform futile. I refuse to feed the rat. The world is ours as is our lives; ours to design. No longer shall we suffer the pain of knowing that that which should have been sanctioned was penalized instead. We are the adults now. It is time to take back control: of how we feed our minds, of how we live our lives, of what we choose as right and wrong, of what induces guilt and of what represents an obligation. Breaking free of their reign requires that you stand and declare what I declared to end my sacrifice: “If you continue to make me pay for my virtues, they will no longer serve you.”

The TRUE Sides of Good and Evil | Reading of Moral Armor CH1P4

Friends,

We live in shades of gray, when we deserve to understand the stark black and white reality of good and evil to honor accordingly. Our daily actions are much more sound than we are led to believe. And of course, who do we have to blame for being misled? Time to find out.

Life’s Ancient Opposition

She’ll breed. You’ll die.” —Alien Resurrection

The True Sides. From the dawn of time, mankind has been in a class war; not between rich and poor, white and black or weak and strong, but between rational motive and irrational motive; between dependence and independence; between Fear-driven Man and Self-made Man. Civilization eliminated irresponsible savagery from social action, but not from thought. All men understand the ideal of living competence, but one kind desires to enjoy the benefits of competence while remaining incompetent; to enjoy the deliverance of a long chain of knowledge without expending the effort, bravery or discipline to obtain it. The productive men and women live by their own effort, but the parasites seek to live off ours. The producers obey their own nature, which the parasites attempt to defy. To remain alive, the parasites had to devise a means of extorting their sustenance from those who produce it, without being thrown off. What they had to secure was our acceptance of their supremacy; some non-debatable justification for enduring their ridicule and submitting to their guidance. Their arch-enemy became the perceptivity and self-esteem of their betters.

To gain control of a man, one must destroy his intellectual independence. To this end for millennia, the parasites have subverted every living premise, dividing cause from result, work from reward and pride from choice. Only the unproductive, the fear-ridden and the incompetent could psychologically benefit from keeping the productive, the self-confident and the competent in a state of moral uncertainty. So like any scheming dictator, they began stripping us of our defenses when we were just children. They took the radiant, shining standards of our love and made it unconditional. Original Sin and its modern descendent, environmentalism, damned the very nature of Man and robbed us of our innocence. They labeled us grafters if we worked hard, taking our honor and our pride. Money, a product of social stability and Man’s civil means of exchange, was damned as the root of all evil. Any self-motivated action was considered destructively selfish, the pinnacle of which is one’s life’s purpose, while the pursuit of money was considered pure hedonistic greed. By denying us individual purpose, we became a society that could work for nothing but money. Their trap was complete and the circle closed.

Instead of encouraging the refinement of our competencies in preparation for life, they made their heaven a stagnant utopia of effortless treasures. Afraid of using their minds, they set up rules based on how they wished things to be versus factual reality, which only made life miserable for those who had to provide it all. Fed from birth ideas that were laced with cyanide, our pursuit of happiness was replaced with a battle against suffering. We were harnessed by an inverted morality brought to life through the eyes of panic. Like cancer, it grew into a system which destroys the rewards of life, limiting us and degenerating our living potency in mind and body. Life’s ancient opposition is a battle against the nature of Man, against the pleasure of living and against existence itself.

Their Vile Substitution. Take a look at what is universally considered the domain of moral action: doling out soup to the poor, emptying bed-pans with a smile and being proudly victimized by the wretched: hand-outs, volunteer work and martyrdom. Proponents of this view respond to normal life in emergency fashion: wishing to seize what products they see, bandaging what wounds they see and cowering to whatever is an immediate danger; reacting to the now, as their consciousness does not extend much further. Morality to them is to answer disasters. Such non-intellectual beliefs uphold as our ideal—as our reason for living and as proof of our goodness—servitude to the most indigent, inattentive and unstable entities. In our quest for nobility, we inherently seek a shrine on which to stand; a hero’s pedestal. They present to us instead, a hospital ward of living nightmares to attend to, which offend and retract every sense—without mind, without joy and without hope. Our typical exposure to their view is boxing up a few things for Good Will, canned food drives and at the extreme of dedication, a mission to some backward village to supply food and medicine. We have come to consider moral action to be the exception in life, but not the exceptional. No wonder a futile sense of drudgery accompanies all contemplation of morality!

It is particularly painful as we are wide open in that moment, expecting to experience a deserved elation. Do you think their timing is only a coincidence? Where does the pride we wish to express come from? What makes us wish to stand in the sight of the whole world to be admired? It comes from our life-sustaining productivity: a sum that grows every day; a source they refuse to name or honor. They hand to us as the climax of our triumphant productive effort, not a ceremony with the solemnity of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, but a stupid grin under a chef’s hat, “giving something back” at the local soup kitchen, implying that our initial achievement was a form of robbery. Our most significant moral progress has been prompted and maintained by science and industry, and has gone completely unnoticed as such even by us, as we have been taught to believe that moral action means the distribution of goods and services required to sustain anonymous, immediate needs, without any consideration for their source. God we’ve been fools. The business of mankind—the production and exchange of products—is not evil, it keeps us alive! It is the means of civil human living. We fight to justify the existence of our business world, lacking the one weapon that would assure victory: the knowledge that it is moral.

In our time, where free trade has put so much distance between ourselves and our crudest needs, they wish to reduce the world’s focus back to worrying where our next meal will come from. Their intention is to reduce us to the same terror of their own limited range. The truth is that charities, civil service and other such volunteer work are very minor league moral actions, if at all. And have you ever tried turning the other cheek to a criminal? So how was the hospital food? They tell us to permit and forgive any evil, therefore placing the whole burden of responsible action upon the innocent. Does it make sense that our moral worthiness is tied to whether or not we can catch a speeding bullet and reform the shooter in the process? Is there a rational moral code to follow for the time when we are not starving to death or dangling from cliffs? Why have they set moral standards to make sure that we can’t be moral? Does the productive ninety-eight percent of the population need focus on the ailing two percent and fall victim to the criminal .01% in order to be virtuous? With a ratio of more than fifty-to-one, you can’t possibly spend your life serving those in need. Does that mean that you spend the other ninety-eight percent of your life doing things that are immoral? In their code, that is exactly what they mean, and culturally it is accepted as a forgone conclusion. Why is the majority of life’s activity not considered moral? Why is preserving the lives of the healthy and able, dismissed as hedonism? Does it make sense that morality is designed, not for our protection and fulfillment, but against it?

thanks,

Ronald E. Springer

Ethics Underground

Our Moral Compass: The Road to Moral Clarity | Reading of Moral Armor CH1P3

The road to moral clarity is one we’ve been walking all along. So many aspects of individualism have been damned however, that it is difficult to recognize. Especially in today’s world, where Social Justice Warriors intend to have us feel guilt for every productive trait, we find ourselves under fire for our virtues directly.

Let’s break away from their condemnation and begin to understand a few key aspects about morality that have had our compass askew.

The Road to Moral Clarity. Moral courage has freed me, and now I want to make it possible for others to step out of their reach as well, and lose the fear of being judged. I want to wipe out the reasons that drive men and women to practice an insincerity that just leads to their own unhappiness. I want to see to it that they are no longer victims, and bring them to a level of confidence where they need no longer make victims of others in turn. It is time to set the moral standard for human action: to make explicit, the nature of the motivations by which we all live. It is time to identify and validate the true sides of good and evil; to see what we really are, and decide what we truly want to sustain and to become. Don’t be afraid. You’re not about to find out how evil you are, but to step out of the darkness to discover just the opposite.

Actually, there is so much right about our personal and social actions in this world, that we have very little to fear in the way of negative self-discovery. The guilt in our lives is mostly unjustified and many problems we feel looming up behind us aren’t even there. Still, it takes an unusual bravery to look. As we saw above, an inquiring mind is open to more than learning; it is open to attack. Intellectually, physically and spiritually we are bombarded with studies, opinions and statistics that classify us by our supposed flaws. Much publicity is given to medical doctors and psychologists who propose anti-theories which violate the very nature of their own disciplines; yet they are often heeded. Like the church, such professionals provide few solutions and provoke a sense of dread in the public, fearing that whatever traits we display will be labeled as the next malady. What they don’t seem to understand is that by identifying and classifying what is healthy and right, often the bad just drops off. If you concentrate on advancing critical areas, you never have a chance to address problems or stress. They are simply forgotten. We could kill thousands of man-hours analyzing every known sub-classification of evil, nervously contemplating how we fit in, and still not understand what we should be doing.

I’m not going to waste your time. If you can read this, there is nothing essentially wrong with you! For most of the reading public (those who nurture and enjoy the process of abstraction), moral confusion is like walking out of the house with messed up hair. Nothing is essentially missing, it’s just humorously unkempt and needs to be straightened out.

The actual purpose of morality has always been awry. When it is adjusted to its proper intent, everything else in life falls right into place. Morality doesn’t start with a kind smile, a shared seat or anything between men. It is not primarily social. Morality starts when you open your eyes, look at the magnificence of the world and say, “It is.” And then get to work.

Morality is not something you give homage to for a few hours on Sunday, then forget about while you’re busy making a living. Morality is the means by which you pursue the goal of living, and to the extent that your activity has been constructive versus parasitical, what you’ve done for your own prosperity is directly in line with the moral progress of mankind. People know implicitly what is moral and immoral. Nature tells them. Other’s reactions tell them. It is not difficult to evaluate what furthers the life of an entity and what hinders it, as it is not difficult to ascertain that this is the main issue of morality.

There is a crystal clear, non-contradictory structure for morality, and it is based on the nature of Man. This standard is not subjective, small and malicious, but objective, mature and honorable. The proper standard flows with life instead of defying it, requires no allegiance to the unprovable and vents no fundamental contempt whatsoever for Mankind. The true structure follows our pattern of cognition, and as the purpose of cognition is life, it reveals the structure of evil as well, in any break with the moral pattern. This natural process is the basis for sound mental health, sound relationships and provides the structure for mankind’s proper organizations. It governs and can be seen in, all human action.

Morality’s fundamental process is choice. Every choice you make serves one side or the other; either it is good, or it is evil. It either furthers your life or threatens it. Should the pride of choosing life be reserved only for when we help the needy, or should it be a constant medium of existence? The right choices and the right results, provide certainty. Do you ever wonder if you’re good enough? Morally certain people don’t have to wonder. Think you’re a coward for being afraid of life sometimes? It is time to find out what cowardice really is. The correct standard returns morality to its proper function: that of a fascinating, constructive, life-shaping frame of reference; not a source of forbidding, dismal barriers. A morally clear mind is a stress-free mind, and we are going to clean house. We are going to check every premise that drives us as individuals, for that is what we act on, what we judge ourselves and others by and ultimately, what we create as a society. More important is learning to identify and correct if necessary, the premises driving the other aspects of your existence, so that all of your motives flow together in one common life-furthering direction.

We are on a road now that is going to make your every step planted more certain. Imagine the feeling each time your foot lands, of “Yes, this is right.” And the rhythm of another step lands thinking, “This is why I’m alive: I know where I’m going and why I’m taking these actions.” You turn into the wind’s warmth thinking, “No rational doctrine would damn the motion of my body or the thoughts that drive them, for they are so clearly and effectively taken to further my life.” With such a standard, moral confidence would become apparent in your every thought and in your every action, as soothingly as you would gaze upon a sunset. When you look to nature, you will feel a special bond returning: a relationship you haven’t felt since you were a child.

Moral Crisis in Today’s World | Reading of Moral Armor CH1P2

Friends,

There is a lot I could say on this topic. I’m planning a special video on it in addition to the text of the book. Given Moral Armor was released in 2004, the specific forms of evil have changed a bit, but the enemy is the same.

The great value of my work (if I do say so myself) is that it shows there is a pattern to evil, just as there is a pattern to good. Once again, as we watch those protesting American social order, I see the same patterns in action. Once this awareness goes mainstream (with responsible people), the result should be downright explosive, and very positive.

The point to sound philosophy is to be of evergreen, universal value; to easily adapt as times change, steering a course that is true. Here is the second installment of Moral Armor:

The Present Conflict in Morality. Just about every premise preached to Man under the guise of morality is wrong; often the exact opposite is true. Discovering this has not made my life any easier. When morality is inverted, it is the honest, the clean, the just and the rational that is considered controversial. When you have corrected this inversion of principles, you are speaking another language; even your physiological responses invert. As the language of good and evil has only two sides, those in the confused majority will classify you improperly and they will make you pay. There are so many fragile egos in the world, you’ll feel like a bull in a china shop. A radiant spiritual health can appear frightening at times, and will become the rift between friends who are not brave enough to break from their conditioning. In my life, I watched them peel off in layers of honesty, and I could tell who would fall next, but it’s just as well. They couldn’t soar being chained to the ground.

I’m free of the Fear-driven psychologically, but societal interaction is unavoidable. And as they certainly haven’t changed, the game goes on. I’m tired of being used; I’m tired of being considered the bad apple for being honest; I’m tired of being called ruthless and mean when standing for justice; I’m tired of being called arrogant for showing confidence; I’m sick of being called lucky for expending effort. We work and we work, hoping to see our lives develop into a logical whole, and every time we reach a sense of mature significance about it all, there is something or someone out there to undercut it. Notice the hostile silence of others when you do well, and the mocking compassion when you don’t. Notice their veiled fraud of a smile in false approval of any accomplishment. Do anything too spectacular and you’re treated like an outsider; but often, their companionship is worse. I’m tired of watching people avoid purpose and self-responsibility. Stagnation is always their noble sacrifice to their kids or their spouse, where any alternate path would (of course) have led to an achievement to match or exceed ours. Such excuses allow them to abandon the subject of purpose, squidding out in relief, to return to the safety of their shallow domain. I’m sick and tired of talking about little things. I’m tired of the inspirationally lethargic ignoring everything that matters. I’m sick of their attempts to delude us into giving up, slowing down and selling out.

What fun is there in playing it safe? The Fear-driven are moving towards an epitaph of “Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve.” Ours will say “Did.” I’m tired of seeing no one speak up to defend themselves or any of us against any injustice. Sometimes they vent about valid issues, but lose all backbone when facing their opposition; failing life and failing themselves. They damn the evils openly; they do understand. They can gage by rational standards when they’re treated unfairly by a boss or a spouse, but nevertheless, they cave in and carry the burdens of moral default without protest. Then they actually reverse their moral response by condemning those who refuse to suffer the consequences of giving up along with them. Staring into the void of their basic cognitive unwillingness, you can explain until you are blue in the face, but they won’t get it. They’ll make sure they won’t. Stand for anything and the first wave of fools will resent you; not on the issue, but for the capacity to stand. They turn against the fighters for truth, and in so doing, turn against themselves. They recognize the rat and nourish it anyway. At work, they cower under their bosses irrationality, and instead of wishing to correct the nonsense, they fantasize of taking over to impose their own irrationality on their subordinates. Powerless to fulfill this dream, they go home and impose it on their family. I’m tired of life in the muck. Why should it be muck? Why is it so exasperating and so difficult to get out of? What keeps us stuck at this moral level? If our enemies were all fire and brimstone they would be easy to see; but they’re not so obvious. The battle hasn’t been a swift, clean, violent clash, but a lethargic, smothering goo-offensive.

Their Predation of Innocence. A child stares with wide-eyed wonder at the gigantic industries of Man: the huge vehicles, the rigs and trains that like a bloodstream, supply life to the nation. Watching his father in operation of this wonderfully complex machinery, he thinks, “Wow, my father is a giant.” The man makes his living and is seen by innocent eyes as a hero. Then the child hears unsettling lessons that tell him that his father’s role is predatory, that his making of money is vicious and that his creations are destruction. Nothing the boy can witness in his father’s bearing suggests any malevolent intention. He sees only an active, able figure, intent on its task. Even if the work is dangerous, he feels an immense exhilaration, and strangely, safety. His actual response to evil—that sense of arresting fear—more appropriately describes the feelings he has for such teachers. Confused he remains silent, but inwardly he knows something is out of line.

Whether his father is a fisherman, a foreman or an executive, he isn’t thinking of destroying the world, of cheating or harming anyone. He’s thinking about the Visa bill that was due yesterday, or the overtime he needs in order to buy that bicycle for his son’s birthday which he didn’t budget for. He, like the rest of us, is keeping his family afloat and trying to make life comfortable in the process, and that’s it. We are not evil. Often, life is too perplexing for us to consider having any motives at all, beyond earning a decent living and being able to enjoy it. We spend the majority of our days working, never having enough time to relax and reflect, and we get to find out every Sunday how black our hearts are; what evils lurk beneath our surface. Hearing this, a strange uneasiness washes over; we know we don’t feel any real negativity, but we also know that we are supposed to just listen and accept. Too emotionally exhausted to consider making an issue of it and sensing no reward if victorious anyway, that is what we do. It is a big mistake: beyond that controversy lies the most critical values of living.

If we’re brave enough to make a query, we’ll hear something like, “A question reveals a doubt. You don’t doubt your Savior, do you?” Stammering, we respond, “Well, no.” Unarmed and uncertain, we feel safer to remain anonymous on the subject, fearing that a less than perfect understanding would reveal a moral flaw. But we would not fear condemnation for an honest question or error if its antithesis were not protected—appreciation and reward for maintaining a pretense, such as irrational perfection. Mankind would come out of hiding from moral judgment if an unquestionable, unaccountable force was not held to rule morality; if objective values were considered moral, such as the furtherance of his life; if he had the right to defend himself and to see morality as an issue of defense; if he were free to love the things he loves, and free to investigate their cause; if righteousness was not preached as an impossibility to hopelessly strive for; if he felt safe in seeking answers for his confusion.

It would be a different world for all of us if actual virtues were rewarded as we grew up. The dynamic motion of youth, fearlessly speeding along to their dreams could be all around us, as would be the marvels of their creation. But until recent history, the professionals in any field have not been acknowledged as the good, but damned as exploiters, highway robbers and fools. Nothing breeds hesitation in us quicker than watching our idols fall, physically and morally. Witnessing their hardships does not encourage youth or anyone else to follow. The bright future of a pioneer has historically been a daunting road of sneers, ridicule, intimidation, torture and sometimes even murder. How long have we been kept from emulating or even identifying the best, and for what reasons? The struggle would be palatable if we had a clear choice of good or evil, but I look around and I see that the actual good has no explicit representation in the world. As a result, only the bravest strike out on this path, while the rest dread stepping away from the skirt.

Good and evil are so intertwined in our culture that neither is independently recognizable, which of course was premeditated. This made it impossible to define guilt rationally or to refute its abusive misapplication. Everyone dreads the horrible feeling of a moral failure—the shame, the downcast eyes, the public knowledge that one has intentionally chosen the wrong—to rob, to deceive, to harm or to sponge. No one wants to be that kind of outsider. Guilt is a dreadful emotion to deserve, and very important to feel for the right reasons; but what if for the most part, we don’t deserve to feel it? This inversion has us feeling guilty for making our living, for feeling good about ourselves and for upholding rational standards. Guilt is a correctional facility in itself for those who really want to live; but it is a brutal trauma to experience if undeserved, and is a sacrilege if imposed dishonestly. When you work hard and accomplish something great, then hear you are a greedy, selfish hater of those less endowed, you should be mad. When we reach our limit of tolerance and become offended, they’ll tell us not to take it personally. I’m here to tell you, take it personally. Look at your accuser. Steady eyes will see the way.

thanks and best wishes,

Ronald E. Springer
EthicsUnderground.com

The Last Straw: The Ugly Truth About Morality | Reading of Moral Armor: CH1P1

Friends,

Moral Armor will be read in a way that makes the videos easy to navigate by subject, so some will be longer, some shorter, whatever makes sense as I go. The book has a mix of philosophy, psychology, and picturesque projections as examples, which are natural to a reader, but seem a little odd in spoken form. No big deal, but I’ll do my best to make it flow.

As I get more comfortable, there will be more commentary in the videos in addition to the text itself. Here is the first installment. Enjoy!

Sometimes, something so bad happens, the soul can’t rest.” —The Crow

There is no need to be afraid. This image of dark vengeance is startling, I know. Pursuers tend to assume traits of the pursued. In a battle against open evil, this is the form which the good must take. You have seen me before, in the desperate need for a guardian—one who should have been there. I watched the betrayal you felt when no one came to rescue your innocence. I saw your tortured, valiant effort to understand what they had made of this world and why; so I left to discover the answer. I will not bring you harm. This hostile, vibrant force is protective; look closely: yes, that’s right; strength, certainty and amusement; a portal to the world you expected this one to be. What did you think would be on the other side? I have returned, to pull you out and take you there. We are to be the victims of the soulless, no longer. Battered? Bruised? I know. But I’m back now, and it’s going to be alright. Where was I?

It began as a wonderful dream. We met, exhilarated, living eyes full of hope, of love, of fantasies for our future. Intoxicated by the mystery of each other, so pure, so faithful, so devoted. All lies. The site of a plane crash; the decimation of my heart; shattered… blackened… transformed. Now I lay quietly, undetected, viewing the evil without a spiritual pulse of my own; detached, incorruptible, intransigent. No more values to seek or to lose; the perfect camouflage. The time for fear has passed. I look with steady, all-seeing eyes, upon that which has torn away my most precious possession. I vow to hold down my pain and last long enough to warn the others—my dying wish: to see those who still have a chance, lifted safely out of their reach.

Every day without her—my life’s pinnacle, worked for, bled for, reached and discarded as an unspeakable fraud, is another day spent in front of a firing squad. The same feelings day after day; the stillness, the grim finality I chose, is better than the long, drawn out murder I was to suffer at her hands. Resurrection? One day; but I can’t think of that now. With death, there is peace. Peace enough to do what I have to do. It was the last straw in a lifetime of unjustifiable inflictions; the last sanctioned violation. I’d had enough. The plague must be eradicated once and for all, no matter the cost. She drained me; not taking my life, but taking my will to live. Which is worse? Years of philosophical study could not shield me from what happened. Was it supposed to?…I don’t know. But now, I have grown strong enough to shield what I sanction, and to blast the whole structure of evil, back into the dark ages. Then maybe, I can return to what I once was; maybe. Sometimes, when the fire of your will has gone out and your passion has been consumed, just knowing what killed you is enough.

Our Plague. Through every hurtful deception of others, every limitation, every act of cowardice, every evasive reaction, a voice inside you has said, “Don’t turn away! Look at the treason; remember it.” You knew these evils were all connected somehow; that there was a principle outside of your range, left to future discovery. The time has come. We met for the first time, through the courage of that voice. Justice is what stepped through the shadows of the background, and now it has taken form. I have identified what no one has had the stomach for, and have returned with the defense from all the pain and hardships imposed on us that we never should’ve had to endure. Now there is a path cut to leave the anguish behind; a road to higher ground, but first we must return to the origin of the conflict and create a bridge to this new world.

For centuries, the world has suffered from a glaring yet elusive plague, which has kept men cowering in uncertainty, gun-shy in contemplation of every moral step. It has kept men from gaining their rightful pride and spiritual freedom, and from living their lives to the fullest. It has kept parents from handing down the most valuable traits they could give to their children, allowing their lives to flow smoothly and their relationships to be sound in turn. It has kept men from validating their own judgment, and left them open to any atrocity. It is responsible for erecting a wall of stress between their productivity and the enjoyment which that effort deserves. It is responsible for all of the heartache suffered by mankind, and has led to every disloyalty at the hands of its devotees. It has been a plague of moral confusion. There has been a very specific victim all along, within you and outside of you; and a very specific predator, within you and outside of you. The worst premises have been feeding their fear by riding and torturing the best through an inverted moral code, where the good is the evil and the evil is the good; a weapon most people have never conceived of or thought to question.

Morality, the crucial life or death, brother against brother, walk on eggshells issue—has always been the ultimate taboo subject. Since my earliest capacity to identify good and bad, I’ve watched in pathetic amusement the senseless, contradictory actions of my elders. It seemed so straight forward to make judgments and act accordingly, that I couldn’t understand how moral issues could divide everyone into their hurt, indignant sides of foggy uncertainty and stubborn evasion. I believed that reality was real. From my earliest encounter with others to present day, I have watched most act as if it wasn’t. Siblings sponged, connived and tortured as a means to deal with existence, and there was nothing they would not sacrifice to keep their illusions intact. We were taught that judging one’s character and beliefs was to be avoided at all costs. The grown-ups around me were all so tangled in lies, reproaches and cowardice that their range of thought was barely able to project into the next day, and twenty-five years later, they have come no further.

Uncomfortable with my pursuit of knowledge and higher clarity on any subject, adults discouraged it with, “Who are you to know?” Curiosity about their self-destructive behavior was deflected with “Who are you to judge?” Their relationship advice was, “Don’t ever talk about anything meaningful” (and discover whether you are compatible). As my understanding grew, their malice towards me grew. I was engaged in the forbidden; I was looking. Unable to comprehend their motives, I lived in moral confusion, suffering at the hands of subhuman beings for my willingness to see, to think, to judge and to act. It was almost as if my guardians believed that honesty was profane and lying was virtuous; that weakness and incompetence deserved affection while strength and ability deserved contempt; that awareness was destructive and blindness was kind. As a child, I looked up and saw that everything was backwards! Their teachings seemed to say that whatever gave me exhilaration for living was somehow wrong; and yet how could I renounce my sight, my hearing, my mind and body, and continue to enjoy life? By what means and through what senses would I then seek fulfillment? If comprehension, if seeing the truth, if deeply breathing the cool, fresh air into my proud, strong, able young body, boundlessly pursuing all the wonderful discoveries of existence, was evil, then why should men wish to live at all?

I never doubted myself; I thought they were idiots. They made all of life an unrewarding hell, until I discovered just what drove them. If moral judgment was to be interpreted and applied by men, then they interpreted it wrong, like every other primitive and dysfunctional aspect of their lives. The fault did not originate with their Bible per say; they simply tailored their moral view to cover their own fraud, while the productive were quiet on the subject. Before learning deception as children, all of us could see the source of hostility, of cowardice or of phoniness. If it began and ended in one individual, we knew it. Innocence is not stupidity. Lack of experience is not incompetence. We knew when we were hearing lies. We always did. It was their folly and its miserable result that I chose to renounce. I held my potency in reserve, longing for the day when the power to determine my course would match the power I felt while observing my world.

I’ve always had a special relationship with existence; a feeling that others didn’t share. I was at home on Earth, glad to be alive, where the emotional response of others was to cope. The elements of nature were there to serve me; to be commanded by my direction, while others reacted as if some unknown beast was about to devour them. I would watch the same mistakes of my elders being made by the fear-ridden of my generation, and laugh; I’m not sure just when I began to consider it dangerous. With life experience and budding philosophical clarity, my contemptuous humor towards such self-abasing cowardice descended into a long, dark period of indignation, and then a fear of my own. The insanity was extrapolated deeply into business and world affairs; it marred everything in its path. I couldn’t escape its influence and still couldn’t believe that anyone took it seriously.

Operating so clean and efficient, I was eager to share my glorious road of achievement with others and longed for our worlds to merge. But in relationships as well as in business, I kept suffering that code’s painful betrayals. Instead of the elegant atmosphere I expected, business was like an even more profane and immature high school. My most profitable ideas and efforts were scoffed at, and then stolen. Competence took a back seat to age, seniority or cliques. With friends and lovers, I was abandoned for being too successful, or I was used. They would not expand their concern outside of the inconsequential, and they ignored everything I needed acknowledgment for. Explaining to family a facet of industry unseen by my competitors, the response I would hear was, “But are you eating enough?” There was a whole level of my life I needed to share, and no one to listen. No one to understand. I felt like a freak because I was unable to erase this feeling: the feeling that life is a quest; a quest of the most crucial importance, allowing no primary time or consideration for the details. But my reward in any attempt to convey this was always a blank stare, and then something like, “Have you called your grandmother?” I could not bring my mind back to that level.

I could not reverse the priorities of my consciousness, and it took years to conceive of our fundamental incompatibility. I would meet a woman and have a similar emotional response to what I felt about my work; that our relationship was something epic, to be knelt before and carried out with reverence; a shrine of magnificence for us to build. I could see the beauty of our bodies and the beauty of the world together. I could feel the awesome power of life as almost audible, but it would be sunk with her complete reversal of claimed intentions. Fear drove everyone to wear masks; no one was what they portrayed. It began to ruin my enjoyment of life; time was being lost and it just wasn’t funny anymore. I saw irrationality in every direction; my head wanted to explode, and I could sense that it was all tied together somehow.

I refused to give up. As my wealth and ability grew, so did my distance to others; not by my choice, but by theirs. I could not understand their discontent, and little by little, I lost everyone. Heartbroken, I couldn’t see what I was doing wrong. I worked so hard; much harder than they did. Wasn’t I good enough? It was incomprehensible to me that they could be responding with hatred toward the things I did well, but they were. Entranced with my style of living yet locked in social dysfunction, I stepped out. I stayed the intellectual course, trying to understand. I was sure that when I did, I would discover or create a world to match my ideals; my true homeland. I had glimpsed that world from time to time, as my means of its attainment grew more consistent. I could see it coming. Yet so ingrained was my tolerance of evil, that I had to be taken down in one final conflict before I accepted the truth. When I resurfaced, I found as in a rite of passage, that a shimmering, glistening, living morality awaited me. I finally stepped out of their reach. The rewards were clear and forever mine, but the evil was still there, and the war had just begun.

thanks,

Ronald E. Springer
EthicsUnderground.com

Reading of Moral Armor on Youtube!

The one thing that’s hard to do is set aside time to read. And I have to admit, Moral Armor is a bit of a bear. It’s a long book, which is why I went through consolidation works such as A Bridge Between Us All and Sovereignty, seeking to bring these breakthroughs to mankind in more concise ways.

But the most thorough document remains Moral Armor, and we just happen to have the perfect medium available to disseminate it by topic: Youtube. I’ll have them set up in a playlist so you don’t have to hunt for the next segment. Given the censorship developments at Google (who owns Youtube), I’m uploading Moral Armor to the video site Daily Motion as well.

This process will take some time. Right now, I calculate three months to completion. It will be approximately 24 hours of video, in segments from 5 to 15 minutes; not a small task. This in part is an exercise to get me used to shooting videos, which I plan to expand to a myriad of topics–many controversial–such as those discussed in The Care and Feeding of Freedom.

Here is the first video, an intro to Moral Armor.

thanks and best wishes,

Ronald E. Springer