You pay your power bill?

Life is a power struggle according to the rules of communication. We jockey for position over each other, or relinquish our personal power daily and with each interaction with the people we encounter. There are even exchanges of power, but the vast majority of communication results in one person assuming the more dominant roll and walking away with more power. In doing so we all give power away in our lives on a daily basis. It is not a bad thing, its just the way communication works.

This is why I choose to surround myself with good people. This does not always mean people I agree with, but good people none the less. If I am going to trade social power and engage in emotional commerce I would like to do it with people that do not launder their currency. I have friends I do not agree with. Hel one of those friends gets so heated in debates that his wife yells at us for waking up his nine month old son with our raised and passionate voices.

To once again quote my favorite founding father I offer this "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."
Thomas Jefferson

So it is imperative that we look to those we call friend, and those we interact with and ask if they are involved in fair social trade? Do they offer you their power as well as you offer yours. When they give you their power, ergo bend to your ideas of whims, do they do so in a solid and stand up way. Is there a taint to what they offer you? They do not even have to agree with you but in this play for dominance in a conversation are you both left with a clean feeling? Do you walk away from these social occasions feeling improved or better for having it?

When you offer them your power do they do good things with it? Do they consider your interest as well as you attend to theirs? How do they spend your emotional currency when you put it in their register? Do they use it for good, like burning down and orphanage run by evil nuns that randomly attacked them first? Or do they use it for evil in situation like furthering the cause to destroy free good quality porn on the interwebs?

So who do you share your words with? Who's words do you hear? What do they offer you? Do they challenge you to improve yourself or do they just drain the marrow from your bones? If you have nothing to offer me in this life long quest for self improvement are you offering me a service or a disservice? That to me is what life is all about after all. Its not about buying all kinds of cool substantial baubles and gizmos, but rather using well earn social currency to buy understanding.

With that in mind I do not want to surround myself with people that tell me how awesome I am. I already know that. I find it hard to believe that much humble cool headed super smart sexiness can be contained in mortal form. Yeah I know, and I also know my friends appreciate the moments they are allowed to bask in my glow. They understand the need to feed that glow with their own awesomeness. So craptastic douchebaggery will not dominant, but rather be dominated. If you are not good in your nature you will not be allowed to engage in trade, you are just not cool enough.

Does that make me a bully? Maybe? Does it make me an elitist? Sure does, but that is because me and mine are elite. So be good or be gone. I don't have time for that negative drag people down self serving crap that a lot of people seem to like to swallow like a hooker in a dark alley.

On a lighter note Happy 236th Birthday Devil Dogs!! I don't a damn what anybody thinks about US Marines, but if your first birthday is celebrated in a bar you have a bright future of opening giant fucking cans of whoop ass. Like I said I like to hang out with good people and its hard to find better then the United States Marine Corps.