A Few Anniversaries

I am happy to note that Lisa and I have been married for 25 years this coming Tuesday!  We will be off somewhere and sleeping in and having the sort of fun we tend to have, which is probably terribly low-key compared to most...

I also calculated something else and it has been fifteen years since "The Great Writing Year", where I penned many of my short stories, the awesome novella Rachel and Her Knight in Shining Armor, and wrote the first complete draft of a book from The Navigiary Series.  That was 1998, while I was bobbing about on the waters off the US Gulf Coast and the west coast of Africa as a seismic navigator.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of my big writing push, I am giving everyone A Free Copy of "The Joys of Autism and Christian Ethos", which is a collection of many of these stories that is available from my Amazon store.  The book will only be free for a few days, so don't hesitate to get it right now! Of course, I welcome your kind reviews of my writing!

If you are really in a celebratory mood, you can certainly check out other books by Jason Nemrow on Amazon and make me a a little money.

I'll be celebrating over the next few days and you can, too!  Happy days for us all!

New Mexico Insubstantial Sub-College of Home Economics, Alchemy, and Politics

History

The New Mexico Insubstantial Sub-College of Home Economics, Alchemy, and Politics was founded in 1925 as “The Sabino Women's College of Household Economy” by Francisco Velásquez of Sabino, New Mexico. The school's first degrees in Home Economics were awarded to five women in commencement ceremonies conducted in early July 1930. Its first building was completed in 1929 on land donated from the Valesquez Ranch Company. The first Headmistress was Annabella “Bubba-Ann” Eaton Mondragon de Velasquez. The name of the college was changed to “The Sabino College of Home Economics” in 1961 incidental to the enrollment of the first man in the college.
In 1963, forty-three degrees in Home Economics were awarded by the faculty of sixteen professors and the campus consisted of ten classrooms and one residential hall. Due to financial pressures, the faculty appealed to the New Mexico Legislature to bring the college and its campus under state control, against the wishes of the headmistress, which resulted in a heated and violent debate in the senate chambers. In 1964, the governor, being empowered by the legislature, ousted Mrs. Velásquez as headmistress and gave the management and facilities of the school to the regents and administration of New Mexico State University (NMSU). Josephine Crenshaw, an NMSU instructor, was appointed as headmistress that same year.

Under Mrs. Crenshaw, the school was initially marginalized, as New Mexico State University already had a school of home economics and plans were made to dissolve the redundant school at Sabino in after the 1966-7 school year. As the result of a vision that came to Mrs. Crenshaw over a squash dinner at the Velásquez Ranch, she formed new classes with the intent of making the puncturevine that flourishes in the area, commonly called the “goathead” plant, into a cash crop. Mrs. Crenshaw and the Valesquez Ranch Company formed Goathead Industries, Inc. as a private venture to capitalize on the dream. The regents of NMSU had Mrs. Crenshaw declared mentally incompetent with the phrase “she sounds like a medieval alchemist, trying to change goatheads into money!” and decided to disband the Sabino College immediately rather than seek a new headmistress to complete a more organized closure. The Velasquez Ranch Company bought back the college campus and immediately sold a half-interest in the land to Goathead Industries, Inc in exchange for stock. Classes were resumed and the newly re-privatized school leased the original land and buildings, earning another name change: “The Sabino College of Home Economics and Alchemy”, which became a subsidiary of Goathead Industries in 1969. Mrs. Crenshaw remained at the helm of the college until her death in 1982, when Sabino was acknowledged as the wealthiest private educational institution in New Mexico. The Josephine Crenshaw Chair of Alchemy and Home Economics continues to be one of the most prestigious posts in the field of home economics to this day.

With the death of Mrs. Crenshaw in 1982, control of both the Sabino College and its parent company Goathead Industries fell to the remaining stockholder, Velásquez Ranch Company, which appointed Bubba-Ann Velasquez headmistress for a second term beginning in 1983. Two months into the new school year, the disgruntled NMSU regents, robbed of what they felt was NMSU's share of the Goathead Industries and Sabino College profits, pressured the State Legislature to again take control of Sabino College and assign its management and financial portfolio to NMSU. A delegation of Sabino faculty went to the Roundhouse and successfully blocked the takeover and even won the College a hefty legislative appropriation to explore electronically-based “virtual” education delivery. The enraged NMSU regents prevailed upon the state to seize the real estate leased to Sabino College through eminent domain and gift it to NMSU in exchange for perpetual computing resources for the College and a new Lincoln Continental automobile for half-owner Velásquez Ranch Company. The transaction was completed in the spring of 1985.

In 1985, the college name was changed again to reflect the new direction that legislative funding had opened up. The “New Mexico Insubstantial Sub-College of Home Economics, Alchemy, and Politics” began its new life as a “virtual” campus by taking advantage its perpetual NMSU computer resource rights. Goathead Industries was taken public and sold off its remaining interest in the College to Velásquez Ranch Company as part of the IPO. By the time NMSU received the property formerly used by Sabino College, all they got was twenty acres of goatheads in the middle of nowhere and a hefty new computer services bill.

Since 1985, New Mexico Insubstantial Sub-College of Home Economics, Alchemy, and Politics (NMISCHEAP) has lived on as an independent, privately-held virtual institution of higher education housed on a network server paid for by New Mexico State University. At the death of “Bubba-Ann” Velasquez in 1988, control of both NMISCHEAP and Velásquez Ranch Company passed to the Cooperative Sisterhood of Sabino Home Economists. Although the Sub-College now only awards honorary degrees to deserving home economists, it still ranks as one of the most prestigious virtual institutions for home economics research and advocacy in the world. As most universities are distancing themselves from the term “home economics”, NMISCHEAP is proud to stand behind the name!

Official Team Name: Iron Maidens (for all activities except the speech team); Crones (speech team)

Official Taglines: “Watch Out! You don't want to piss her off!” “Skillet. Run. Hide.”

About Annabella "Bubba-Ann" Eaton Mondragon de Velasquez

Bubba-Ann was the illegitimate daughter of famed “wild west” gunslinger and lawman Frank “Pistol Pete” Eaton and Gabriella Mondragon Herrera and was born on the Mora Land Grant of New Mexico in about 1884. Her parents reportedly met in a bar in western Oklahoma where she gave him an ornate cross (that later caught a bullet and saved his life) and he got her pregnant and skipped town. Gabriella returned to her home in New Mexico to birth the child and raised her on hopeful stories that her father would soon return and give them a wonderful life. In spite of reports to the contrary, Frank Eaton never set foot in New Mexico and never had any contact with Bubba-Ann, which may have been at the root of her legendary temper toward men and New Mexico State University, who insisted on honoring her absentee father as a mascot.

The nickname “Bubba-Ann” is said to have been given to her by a group of rough teenage boys, mocking her very crooked teeth. They apparently confessed to the name-calling after she had finished assaulting them and sent them crying to their mothers. The nickname stuck and the incident was the beginning of Bubba-Ann's reputation for being a crafty woman that no one wanted to cross.

Due to her mother's dying wish that she give men another chance, Bubba-Ann married Francisco Velasquez and moved to his small ranch near Sabino in newly formed Harding County. The land was unyielding, the living conditions were deplorable, and her husband was a complete failure as a rancher and provider. Ultimately, the couple was financially supported by Bubba-Ann's doiley-making cottage industry and fed from her expansive squash patch. One evening, after Frank had returned drunk from another “business meeting” in Springer, Bubba-Ann became so enraged that she beat him repeatedly over the head with a cast-iron skillet. Strangely enough, after this incident, conditions on the ranch drastically improved and the entire operation soon became profitable. Frank and his new Velásquez Ranch Company became one of the wealthiest endeavors in the county, though no one ever saw him in public again and Bubba-Ann was seen to use a power of attorney to handle all his affairs.

Rumor has it that Frank may have died the night he was hit with a frying pan because, less than a year later, the creation of a school for girls “to combat the effects of worthless men” was financed in his name and Bubba-Ann was appointed to be its first headmistress. When Bubba-Ann was brought to court in Mosquero several years later on suspicion of murdering her husband, she brandished the same cast iron skillet and challenged the defense attorneys and judge to stay coherent long enough to accuse her again. This is when the judge exclaimed the celebrated statements, “Watch out! You don't want to piss her off!” and, in light of her gunslinger heritage, declared a mistrial. One of the lawyers called her a “crone” during the proceedings and was promptly brained, resulting in a Sabino College speech team mascot and tradition of brandishing iron skillets at every debate contest.

Bubba-Ann was the headmistress of The Sabino Women's College of Household Economy and later, The Sabino College of Home Economics, from its founding in 1925 until she “resigned” under a provision of the state legislative act providing public funds for the school in 1964. She also served as headmistress of The Sabino College of Home Economics and Alchemy and the New Mexico Insubstantial Sub-College of Home Economics, Alchemy, and Politics from 1983 until her death in 1988. She never left Velásquez Ranch in Sabino, where she always asserted that Frank was in the back room of the homestead “sleeping it off”. People still say that Frank must have wandered off after her funeral when he discovered that he wasn't getting any more squash dinners or beer. He was never found but his supposed generosity will never be forgotten.

Seeking Virtue

The BBC today reported what I would consider to be a rather local story of a circumstance in Ohio where two young American football players were convicted of raping an supposedly unconscious girl at a party. I suppose what makes this, on any level at all, international news is the fact that this incident was played out on Facebook, complete with pictures of the act and is creating quite a stir.

Let me say that I have not studied this Ohio incident at all and that I will make some assumptions in the case. I think this is a honest thing to do, as I seriously doubt that any media reports I could find to expand my knowledge of the matter would be rather tainted by one side or the other in the legal battle, therefore run through with misdirection and half-truths. I really don't want to study it and I don't want to particularly hear the rationalizations on either side on the matter. In the short report that I heard, it was obvious that significant camps on both sides were making excuses, accusations, and bald-face threats, also through Facebook, and I weep for the effort toward justice on the court's part. Given modern tactics, I would be surprised if this situation ultimately even made it to a courtroom past the plea-bargain stage of American jurisprudence. Frankly, I don't want to waste precious life digging into the slanted particulars of this story, but only to use aspects of it to highlight larger cultural and societal ills.

I want to write most here about the idea of virtue. I hear that this is a very quaint thing in the modern world, but I do see it as the only way to a better world that I, who may very well stand alone, hope to create. If there were more virtue in the world, the situation in Ohio would have never happened and, at the very least, would not have made international headlines.

At numerous points in a process that began the night of the alleged alcohol-saturated party, an injection of virtue could have made the outcome better and kinder for all involved. I suppose that it is beyond anyone's reckoning that the girl and the two football players could have skipped the party as everyone was likely aware that there was going to alcohol present. My local police often complain that they spend their weekend-night shifts breaking up "keg parties", typically with a nice mix of adults, youths, and young children present. My town is not unique in this way and I would imagine that each weekend features over a million such alcohol-laced gatherings across the United States. Basically, this looks like a typical case of a bad party.

Lest you think I side with the poor, little, "victimized" girl, I think she was just as culpable as anyone else on the scene. The girl could have chosen to avoid the alcohol, which I am sure will set off much moaning in my readers, or chosen to imbibe lightly to avoid a blackout. I am sure everyone will complain that I am being unrealistic toward teen behavior, but that is actually at the very root of the problem: society expects teens to go to parties and expects them to get "pass-out" drunk. Can I sneak ahead in the possibilities and say that the societal view must be that girls have no restraint when invited to parties and are offered alcohol and that this is an untouchable "women's issue"? Basically, this looks like a typical case of a bad girl.

Lest you think I am protecting the football players here, the behavior of the boys is totally inexcusable. Again, our society is quick to forgive them, as they are likely lionized local "sport figures" in embryo and intelligence tells us that such people are little more than animals and should be avoided by decent folk. Their behavior is acceptable as long as they score points in games and bring victory for their school, as far as sport sensibilities are concerned. Those boys could have chosen to help the girl avoid drinking so much, left the passed-out girl alone, avoided snapping photos and uploading them, or a number of other opportunities to exercise even a particle of self-restraint. Nothing of the sort happened, as far as my BBC report concluded. Basically, this looks like a typical case of some bad boys.

Lest you think I defend the justice system in the handling of this case, the outcome seems a classic case of political-correctness in siding with the girl. In my mind, no matter the specifics, she is likely just as culpable as the boys, though she will likely get fawned over, wined-and-dined by the media, and perhaps even get a book deal or become a well-paid spokesperson for underage drinking. One night's "indiscretion", properly manipulated by prosecutors and image consultants, could net her a fine career! Surely, this "victory" is a notch in the prosecutor's belt and justice, which should have seen the girl punished as well for her own lack of self-restraint, pats itself on the back in protecting "snookered and easy" girls everywhere. Basically, this looks like a typical case of bad justice.

I suppose I could go on with the "blame game", as it is called. Everyone wants to blame objects, circumstances, attitudes, and everything else for what happened here. In my estimation, everyone involved should get some punishment. Frankly, I think there should be some good, old-fashioned "hickory switch" action for everyone, from the owners of home that tolerated an alcohol party to go on, to the judge that tolerated the term "victim" being applied to the girl. Better yet, let's just line them all up for a stiff Southeast Asian caning. It seems the perfect punishment for a system gone horribly wrong. Perhaps everyone should take a few stripes for allowing our society make any step of this farce acceptable in any way.

I may have a better solution.

The parents of that girl should have whipped her for going to such a party. Whatever fallout (Facebook or otherwise) she "suffered" should be chalked up as natural consequences for getting herself into such a situation. After the whipping is done, give her a hug and help her face the damage.

The boys should be completely banned from sports along with their jail time. They should expect to be shunned by society and have no respectability except as much as they can piece together from very kindly people. I hope the parents of those boys hug them a lot as they face such punishment, which is very deserved. Hopefully, they will learn that actions have consequences and those must be faced rather than covered over or dismissed through the excuse of small fame.

I don't know what to do about society, which both excuses the sins of "celebrities" and deifies every act of perceived "minorities". We need to stop rationalizing bad behavior, no matter who does it or what the circumstances. We need to applaud those who do the right thing, even when that right thing includes admitting fault and accepting punishment. I know that I have far more respect for a person who admits their wrongdoings rather than the one that twists words and "gets off" punishment based on legal technicalities or adoring masses. Above all, we must consistently encourage people toward being and acting better and better.

Again, at any point in the situation in Ohio, any one of the people involved could have made just one better choice and this whole maelstrom could have been completely avoided. We should give virtue a try occasionally. One right step...

Hanukkah Season Opens!

I missed the beginning of Hanukkah yet again.

My connection to Judaism is rather on the light side, as it is through my paternal line and Jewish ethnicity runs through maternal lines (as far as Jews define such). so I suppose I simply have a Jewish heritage. I could always blame my Kohen forefathers for marrying gentile girls, but what can be done at this point - things are as they are...

My oldest daughter has really been into her Jewish heritage when she was younger. She even got reasonably conversant in Hebrew and, thanks to the Internet, had a chance to use her ability!

My mother (you know, "the gentile") is so nice about bringing up my father's family background, even after being divorced for about thirty years and she brought over a paper menorah as part of a lesson she was giving for Family Home Evening. The interesting part was that I was searching on the 'net for LED menorahs just before she started her lesson!  Coincidence?  I think not! The paper one is up in the window for the world to see, but I hope to get a much better electric version for next year.

I found some really neat kits for LED menorahs from EvilMadScience.com.  The first is a "deluxe" version that looks a bit tacky to me, but I really like the minimalism of their LED Mini Menorah Soldering Kit, as it is a bit more difficult to make, looks more techy, and shakes out the casual sorts.

Anyway, have a Happy Hanukkah from one of those totally un-Jewish Kohens!

Timex Sinclair 1000

My first computers were the Texas Instruments 99/4 and /4A. I bought mine as an adult friend was an engineer at TI and my first computer mentor who also offered me the employee discount. Sadly, though the first 16-bit home computers, these were probably the most proprietary, shackled, and closed home computers in the universe. I wrote many an Extended Basic program with them, but I longed for a bit more open of a box to play with.

I was an early reader of Byte and Computer Shopper magazines (back when they were far more interesting in the early 1980s. I always had a hankering for CP/M computers, but those were sadly far beyond my means as a teenager. When I saw some of the amazing things being done with the Timex/Sinclair 1000, always considered a "toy" computer, I was intrigued.  These were so stunning simple and cheap that even a kid like me could acquire one and, more importantly, it was so simple that expansion was wide open. The most amazing things were done with this hardware, things far, far beyond its original design.

I didn't write as many programs for the T/S1000 as I did for the TI home computers, but I had endless fun souping the thing up and making modifications. Years later, I haven't touched my TIs, but I still pull out my Timex occasionally and made another change to it.  I increased its memory to 32k (I know, that seems pathetic these days) and wired up a better keyboard (strangely, old TI keyboards are just about perfect). I will have to post a picture of the rat's nest that the computer has become, which I think is kinda cool and looks the way a home-made computer is supposed to - wires, free-floating chips, discrete components and all.

The Psychic Proximity Principle

UPDATE! The Psychic Proximity Principle is all grown up now, rendered as a Kindle booklet, and even fools around on the altar of Steve Jobs! Check out Feeding the Soul of Steve Jobs today!

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From Fiddler on the Roof:Tevye: [to Chava] As the good book says 'Each shall seek his own kind'. In other words a bird may love a fish but where would they build a home together? 

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The Psychic Proximity Principle:
You will gravitate toward a place and circumstance that actually fit you and your nature.

So, if you are unhappy:

• You might be in the wrong place.
• You might be in the wrong circumstance.
• You might be ignoring your true nature.
• You might like fighting gravity or inertia a little too much.

Hey, I believe in God and I believe that God wants us to reach our potential and find happiness. I also believe that God knows how to accomplish these goals better than we do. Therefore, we have a really secular-sounding thing called "The Psychic Proximity Principle" that tries to explain how it works.

Ready?

I really worked for a long time to explain this thing that I felt was happening to me. That weird name came first and then, during one of my early morning walks, it hit me. You would be surprised at what strikes me in the wee hours and I am frankly surprised that a big vehicle piloted by some bleary-eyed dude has not also struck me as well.  So far, only epiphanies, no SUVs.

The Psychic Proximity Principle works on the principle of very weak magnetism.

You know about magnetism.  It is really fun to bring two magnets into the neighborhood of each other and figure out that, depending on their orientation, they either smack together pretty hard or get as far from each other as they can. This is an example of strong magnetism, that can actually move stuff and create electricity and might keep you on the ground rather than flying off into space.

Weak magnetism is attractive like the strong sort, but it just isn't irresistible. If you played with two little magnets as a kid, you could keep them apart pretty easily with what muscle power you could muster.  That was what made magnets fun - how much fun could it be if they got stuck together so firmly that you couldn't get them apart? The weak magnetism involved in The Psychic Proximity Principle is great fun (sometimes) but seems especially so for someone like God. It wouldn't be as interesting if you and your perfect circumstance slammed hard into each other very early in life!

You are attracted to your potential and your happiness, but you can resist it if you want. Sometimes the attraction is so weak that you have to "feel it out" to "find your way".

If you have noticed that a lot of people are unhappy and never seem to "come into focus", my theory is that they are ignoring or not feeling out the weak magnetic pull toward happiness and their potential. I have some big problems with finding happiness myself, but I am starting to figure things out. I don't know if that magnetic pull has different strength for different people, but I have learned one thing: Successful and happy people often describe their "journey" in terms that sound suspiciously like The Psychic Proximity Principle. Sometimes they even say that these things seemed to find them or that their success and themselves crossed paths one day. This sounds a lot like magnets attracting each other and people trying to figure out which magnet attracted the other - the answer is that both you and your "happy potential" (for lack of a better term) attract each other. The great part is that God set things up that way - what a great guy!

There is an analogue to this idea in religion, at least among Mormons. We call it "following the Spirit". Most Christians struggle with this because they fear "spiritualism" as some sort of parlor trick. It is just another way of describing what we can see operating around us all the time, whether some preacher says that God spoke to her in a dream about something she should do, or Dr. Emmett Brown from the movie "Back to the Future" saw the Flux Capacitor after hitting his head on a toilet. While atheists would contend that I am "deifying" the creative process, I can just as easily say that "inspiration" is God tickling your brain toward your potential. My contention is that if you simply chalk up The Psychic Proximity Principle to some atheistic coincidence or "luck", you will find it difficult to recognize that this happens all the time and that there is a weak magnetic pull between you and some large vats of happiness and finding your best potential that often leads to such nice by-products as financial success. In order for it to work, you have to trust that it works, which as a one-word term to describe it:  FAITH. These things don't often happen to atheists because, along with not believing in God, many also don't believe in anything as wonky as weak magnetism.

I call it the Psychic Proximity Principle because it is a fun name and it describes something that I have noticed again and again. I also think it helps Mormons understand "the workings of the Spirit" better. If people poo-poo the "religious" flavor of spiritual things, it can jokingly be called "psychic" and the principle still works until you are ready to acknowledge "a higher power" or just smile and admit that there must be a God up there that does fiddle with knobs.

My final point is that God is working to bring together you and your best potential, fraught with happiness and often with "success". You can call it "inspiration from the Spirit" or "weak magnetism" or "psychic proximity", but it is reliable and it lets me know (and perhaps you know as well) that God is there and that He loves you! Someday, we might figure out that we can take those promises to the bank and beyond!

Monkey Work

I remember watching television re-runs of the television cartoon "The Jetsons" as a child. I actually liked it for its social commentary, for which I don't recall that it was known for. Honestly, I found the whole idea that George Jetson's job, that he was often complaining about and desiring a deserved pay-raise, was pressing a button. I don't remember him having to press that button very often, but it seemed vital to things, for the constant threat of a firing always seemed to dissolve away in the twenty or so minutes of any episode that featured his boss' angst. This was my first exposure to "monkey-work", which I define as paid work that trained monkeys could easily do. On "The Jetsons", George's "monkey-work" was a funny running gag that probably would be a little embarrassing in today's world as almost all of us just press occasional buttons as employment these days.

Monkey-work is everywhere. In my first job at a movie theatre, I had a checklist of things that needed to be done on my shift.  Other people did about the same thing on their shifts and that list varied very little over the months that I did that job. It was really easy to get bored with the monotony of it all, but the pay was supposed to make up for that. I got a few promotions, which meant that I had a different list of tasks which might require a slightly higher IQ, but typically only meant that I made slightly more money. Over the years, I can say that more than half of my paid employment was basically a list of simple tasks to do, for which I received increasingly larger amounts of money. Most times, I have functioned basically like a monkey, albeit an increasingly better-trained one.

I only really notice this these days because I don't really engage in monkey-work. The stark contrast came because my job just before this one demanded that I behave like a monkey, basically just following an intricate flowchart of canned procedures in diagnosing and repairing computer problems. If you followed the process religiously, the solution would reveal itself ultimately. Sadly, as a non-monkey, I never looked at the flowcharts and just found solutions by "the seat of my pants", often with far fewer steps than expected. One time, my supervisor both praised me for my efficiency and chastised me for not following procedure. It is interesting how much I like my present job and how much I disliked my previous one - the work was basically the same but the "monkey-ness" was really different.

If you want a sad realization, just know that most people, armed with some training and a decent procedure, would make adequate medical doctors or corporate executive officers, both basically very(,very, very) highly paid monkey-work jobs. If you find a better version of almost any paid employment, you are probably not looking at a better person, but a more detailed and involved procedure adhered to more strictly.

It brings to mind the global obsession these days with "STEM" training, which stands for "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math", which are supposed to be the tickets to a vaunted high technology, high wage economy. Sadly, the extent of creativity imbued in the entire effort was basically spent in coming up with the acronym. The curriculum, for the most part, is an exercise in slavishly following a flowchart, reading detailed instructions completely (the mantra of schools and societies), and doing so quickly. If you look at education today, it can be summed up in the "timed test" culminating in college entrance exams that really only measure one's ability to quickly follow instructions. Apparently, these are the sort of skills the modern "college" and the larger society desires and rewards.

And what does the modern economy demand of us? It is the manufacture and consumption of a high volume of highly-marked-up and low-quality trinkets. Monkeys build such, monkeys consume such, and their masters profit from both ends by providing low-value products at exorbitant prices. The monkeys find it difficult to complain as they are often paid proportionately for their extremely low-skill labor, they are foolish enough to desire and buy over-priced and valueless trinkets, and they have few scruples to comprehend that they could do and have better. Every marketer knows that the best profits are to be made from the most naive and stupid consumers and therefore our schools manufacture these as well.

It brings to mind the excellent wisdom of John Taylor Gatto, the man who taught school for about thirty years and then walked away because he couldn't live with himself and what he and his fellow teachers did to children. As he began to look about for more purposeful learning, he investigated how the most elite American private schools prepares our next generation of masters and was stunned to see how different it is from a public education. The next leaders of the world don't engage in "monkey-work" themselves but know how important it is to impart such a living on their underlings so that their own superiority is an unquestioned reality. If all you need to aspire to is "monkey-work", you only have to be a monkey and your natural masters don't need to be much more capable.

If you are interested in avoiding a "Jetsons" future for yourself and your children, I would suggest a few things that anyone can do:

Avoid School-ish-ness.  If you can physically avoid it by homeschooling or perhaps fishing, that is best. On the other hand, if circumstances don't allow a real divorce from the institution, you can avoid the "dumbing-down" effect of school by putting what bits of time you have to better use than cruising the halls or creating pools of slobber on your desk.  I raced through math with good grades and spent my earned "free time" in class creating a little comedy called the "Term O' The Day" that I distributed covertly. No monkey could produce that!

Emphasize Production over Consumption. Fight the urge to spend your time and money trying to buy happiness or prestige. The only reason to have an iPad is if you are developing "apps" for it. Convince your kids that the only decent reason to be a "gamer" is to be a game developer. You will always do well to be more productive than consumptive, which I harp to the kids about a lot. Since you live in a "monkey" world, why not profit from them?

Build Your Creativity. Even if your creative efforts don't make you a dime (like this blog), you will be a far better person for having made the effort. Instead of watching TV, put on your own play. Instead of just reading a book, why not write one? Rather than eat pre-prepared meals out of the freezer, why not buy the ingredients yourself and make your own (and likely better)? Don't bother so much with a monetary cost/benefit analysis because being creative pays off in dividends far beyond the bank account.

Be "Value-Added". I used to do monkey-work for a government program, handing out food vouchers to poor families. I joked around with my clients and had fun bringing them "raw entertainment value" and I had one of the highest caseloads because my clients liked to come around! (I am not advocating the government dole here.) It would have worked in any endeavor and made people's days more pleasant and my life far more fulfilling.

Everything around us seems to encourage toward "monkey-work" and a sad life that accompanies a lack of real accomplishment.  Don't let it happen to you!