Friday, February 6, 2015

Tugging for Option

When you play tug of war, you pull to get your opponent to topple over. The stronger team wins.
However, if the other side does not even attempt to pull, then in the words of somebody, "you win already".

I find it funny that people do not even attempt to pull. They just allowed themselves to  be brought into deeper and deeper s***.

First, someone said please give us your money to safe keep, and let us return the money to you when you reach 55. They said fine.
Then, the same guy said, looks like it is too risky for you to have all your money back at 55. You better let us keep it longer. You will get some back when you reach 65, no, 66, no maybe even later. And they said fine.
Then the guy said, oh no it looks like you don't have enough to live. You need to keep even more, and more each year. If not, then you can just withdraw back a small amount. And again they said fine.
Then some people made noise and the guy panicked. So they made some noise and come back with essentially the same old thing, except now you are able to take a little bit more at 67. Oh, and if you want you can even give them more for safe keeping. And the whole thing is glorified over and over. And yet one can see that there is nothing much that is changed.

And they said the money must go into a fund that will be created, And the fund will give you payout but the payout is not certain. And if the fund goes bust and you are will get any payment.

Effectively, all the risks are pushed entirely to you. The guy administers the scheme and takes management fee.

All this while, there is only one thing that I want to know. Where is my choice in this? That is my fundamental rights- the freedom to choose. I don't want this monopoly over how I will keep my own retirement money. In fact I am willing to take work out the risks for myself. I don't want you to decide this for me.

So here I am, giving my little tug. I want to have back that option, my choice. It belongs to me in the first place, dude.



Tuesday, January 13, 2015

freedom to express

I say whatever I like. But I want to say it in a responsible manner.
I can be confrontational, provocative, even obnoxious. I will do that if the result achieves a certain purpose that I  believe is ultimately good.
Otherwise it really serves no purpose.
If what I say invokes distress, strife and hatred, then is that helpful or edifying?
If what I am doing is to satisfy my narrow self, merely to allow myself to "let off some steam", so that I don't get all cooked up inside, does that make me a better person?
I would rather shut up. Because there are other ways to let off steam. Run along now.


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

e9uali5er

So Subhas Anandan has died.
He was a prominent lawyer. Had an illustrious career. A sharp minded legal eagle.
Well he is dead now. He will be going 6 feet under or out with the flame.
That just reminded me. Death is the great equaliser.
No matter how great or how low you are in life, we will all be equalised before the grim reaper.
So make the best out of the cards that you are dealt with. If the game plays well, great. Be happy. Enjoy the success. You deserve it.
If the outcome is not good, so what? It is not going to matter too much eventually.
Everything will be equalised eventually.
But how do you evaluate your life outcome in the first place? What exactly is a good or bad outcome?
After all, life comes as a package right? I say look at the entire package rather than focus on one or two narrow criteria, such as cash in the bank account.