Dream or Die

"I have a dream" these words are probably amongst the most famous that anyone has spoken. This is a phrase that propelled the great Martin Luther towards his purpose. These are the words of his vow even to the point of death, this vow made him a valuable man even years after his death. Its a dream that makes a difference, such are people who dare to die so that their dream can forever live. If death is not an intimidation then destiny is the ultimate, many people live in the shadow of fear and put their potential in their grave waiting for their days to end while living a life of mediocre. A dead person is immune to everything that can stimulate life back into their body, such is to be a dreamer: you must be immune to every thing that stairs up elements that pull against your dream. The premise of a dream must be discussed with consideration that destiny is persuade in day light, purpose does not make problems disappear rather they are magnified, therefore we must be clear that the pursuit of purpose is a process and can never at any point be achieved instantly but requires patience and persistence. Clearly define what you see(dream) and develop how you'll get there (destiny). Its is easy to be caught in the day to day busyness without realizing you've lost direction. A small step towards a deliberate direction with birth a drastic destiny. The are three things that will make a dream a day light reality, 1. Establish it as your destiny, 2. Develop direction toward destiny(plan) and 3. Reduce the distance between your dream and destiny by taking a deliberate step toward the direction of destiny. Dreams never die, but destinies can be delay till the person dies. Do it, do it today!!!

by
Siphesihle AfrikaWisdom Shabalala
© [Freethinkersclub] [2013] All Rights Reserved No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

What is Your Reality?

“The Happiest Place on Earth.” “There’s no Substitute.” “I’m Loving It.” Ordinary sentences, however behind these ordinary phrases billion dollar corporations have taken ownership of these slogans. They have spent a great amount of time and money to come up with a sentence, which they think would entice consumers the best in order to choose their product over the abundance of alternatives, if you can afford it that is.

Every year hundred thousands of dollars are spent on advertising and publicity budgets in order to create a world where the consumer is the protagonist and as the hero of this world you really cannot live without their product or brand. In order to make a profit, one needs to be prepared to invest. In this case the investment is the numerous research in human behavior, human expenditures and how to link these two together. Roderick White, writer of many advertising books points out that an American Advertising agency adheres to the following rules:

Rule 1: There are no rules

Rule 2: There may be exceptions to rule 1

But also, there are 5 general rules:

1. Every ad should embody a clear, straightforward proposition

2. Say what you want to say in as few words as possible

3. There is no place for humor in advertising

4. Give the consumer credit for some intelligence

5. Be original[1]

Rule 4 clearly points out their perception of the average consumer they wish to target. In addition David Ogilvy once wrote: “Products, like people, have personalities which can make or break them in the market place.”[2]With this in mind companies assign emotional appeal to their products or brand creating the ultimate emotional selling proposition[3]. They offer their aid in order to ensure that the perception of others on your role in society is flawless. The perception of reality is easily distorted; the basic fears, insecurities and inabilities are easily identified which the companies will gladly take advantage of as their products will complete you and make you superior to anybody else.

Why should we pay attention to the ugly truth anyway? If you can choose to look at your handsome IPhone 5 retina screen or the fact that the phone you are looking at in question was actually built by teenagers who earn, about 70 cents an hour, while you paid, let’s say $700-$800 for it. The only party who celebrates this difference is a small percentage of the world who is cashing in their money either way.

The surge of information available these days makes it hard to actually find what you are looking for. Distraction is all around. Whether by brands and products claiming that you need them, not to mention the discounts that brings you a step closer to them, or channels that provide you with information or entertainment, also called infotainment. One click and you are further removed from your destination.

While you had a route planned you actually end up taking side roads, (a cute dress), alleyways (information on the Boston bombing and becoming an investigative reporter crosses your mind), high ways, (Washington re-opens peace talks between Israel and Palestine and you actually think you have the solution), and even go cross continent (all inclusive holidays to Thailand, you are on the verge of booking a ticket). It does make your journey more exciting, however you never seem to reach your destination - and you never made it to Thailand either. In a matter of minutes a wave of information has been presented to you, all the while you try to figure out how to avoid paying shipping costs for that cute dress, you have forgotten what you were looking for in the first place.

The supply of information on the internet is endless, in fact every two days the amount of information posted on the internet equals all the information that has ever been gathered from the start of civilization until 2003. This equals to 5 Exabytes[4]. The below graph indicates how much an Exabyte actually is.

Prefixes for multiples of bits (b) or bytes (B)
Decimal Value Metric 1000 k kilo 10002 M mega 10003 G giga 10004 T tera 10005 P peta 10006 E exa 10007 Z zetta 10008 Y yotta	Binary Value JEDEC IEC 1024 K kilo Ki kibi 10242 M mega Mi mebi 10243 G giga Gi gibi 10244 T tera Ti tebi 10245 Pi pebi 10246 Ei exbi 10247 Zi zebi 10248 Yi yobi

Figure 1.[5]

In this sense the Internet is the number one source to gather information. It has turned people into information junkies. Information junkies like to collect as much information is possible, whether the information is relevant is not important. They like to share what they know. Some would consider knowledge is power. A fierce competition of cerebral data harboring seems to be at hand. They perpetually munch on data and regurgitate the information while being completely indifferent of the situation they are in.

In essence the amount of information you can store in your brain could enhance your role within society adding to all the new products you have just purchased and brands you associate yourself with, well equipped to play any role society deems you worthy to portray. A first impression can have you classified in four categories,

- without even having said one word - the clothes you are wearing, the color of your skin, your hairstyle and the expression on your face. Finally the words that come out of your mouth can either confirm the classification or inconveniently confuse the categorization process, also knows as cognitive dissonance.

Whether you are perfectly fine living in your own warped reality or you are being violently pulled from your dormant state the reality is that you believe what you want to believe.

By Julie Ng

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[1] Roderick White: Advertising – what it is and how to do it. McGraw Hill, Maidenhead 1980.

[2] David Ogilvy: Ogilvy on Advertising. Pan Books, London 1983.

[3] Philip Kotler: Marketing Management. Prentice Hall.

[4]http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/schmidt-data/

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte

© [Freethinkersclub] [2013]
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

Freedom from self

We always long for what we don't have and so having what you long for is the only way to free yourself from dissatisfaction. We have blamed a lot of things for the lack of freedom in our lives such that it seems revolutionary to go around blaming things and accuse them of oppression. Out of everything one thing that normally escapes blame is Self. Our ability to keep wanting what we don't need makes us vulnerable to dissatisfaction and there isn't a strong sense of self-worth in dissatisfaction, this is somehow the sickness of the whole world.

"You can't have it all" is a familiar phrase of comfort to out greedy souls that is lacking in everything with all its surrounded by. We fill the world with everything but ourselves and so with all that we accumulate we still longing for more not knowing that the sense of lack is an indication that you have jailed yourself to free the world to rule you.

Contentment is a sense of being satisfied even though you may not have everything but its knowing that you have the one thing that matters, Self. The world has pushed us to be defined by what we achive and not what we attain, people undress themselves to achive fame and attain shame. We drug ourselves with achievements when the emptiness of self shouts silently that "with all you have, you remain nothing". It is said "what good is it to gain the world and lose yourself"

With all priority the world advocates self is the last and so we remain salves to our very being, don't free the world free yourself!!!!

By Siphesihle Shabalala
Author of Well of Wisdom

© [Freethinkersclub] [2013]
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

Wrong connection

We live in a society, which, if you are lucky, enables men and women alike to dream and have the freedom to give a shot at actually achieving it.

However, how free are we in a world where all your movements can and will be monitored should they feel that you are a threat to the system? A system fueled by money and power. Two elements that have seeped into our lives creating the disillusion that it increases the quality of life, two elements that have divided human from humanity. Escaping the system is not an option. The current way of regulation has been ingrained throughout the years and the roots have been affecting not only every citizen in this world but more importantly the planet itself. Long-term vision in this case is non-existent, if we continue to exploit the earth’s natural resources at the current rate, living lavishly as we do, the planet’s resources will be completely exhausted within, 50 years.

Why would we even worry or think about the generations yet to come? After all, all we want is the newest smartphone, the newest and fastest car, a nice and big house, go to faraway places, we want everything to be done at our convenience and if it does not happen we complain mercilessly about it. Convenience has become the new norm. If it does not meet our standard, - mind you, there are more or less 7 billion people on this planet so what is exactly the right standard? - then it is obviously below par. Nonetheless, 1 in 8 people in the world suffer from chronic undernourishment, they have been rejected by society, they are not fit to compete within society and keep up with the standards that the system has imposed upon us in the first place.

The boundaries of these standards are shifting; the pace of life is accelerating whereby the focus is put on future demands. Tomorrow is already too late, what would the consumer want in 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now? As Apple coyly stated in the distant past of 2001, “The Future is Here”. And they are right. In order to keep up with this tremendous speed, multitasking seems to be a fundamental skill an individual needs to possess. While on the phone with one person you can easily be chatting with your friend online at the very same time. Social networks make it easy to connect with people. However, these days being connected carries a downright different connotation. Supposedly this type of connection does more justice to its physical meaning as the social network connection consists of a link between points through fiber-optic cables. Each connection in your social network is merely a point within the ever-expanding length of cables. Real human connection seems to get lost on the cyber highway. The screen that is willingly put between us is convenient, it is a place where you can hide and safeguard the role you are playing and desperately trying to uphold within society. The more different screens you have to put between you and the other the better; a self-actualization through the materials you have worked so hard to pay for.

Staying in touch has been demoted to text messages. Nobody calls any more, let alone taking the time to write an actual handwritten letter. While the standard of living has increased tremendously, the value of connectivity has deteriorated dramatically. As a result, people not only lose touch of human connectivity but have devalued being in touch with humanity and compassion. Vulnerability continues to be a sign of weakness, courage continues to be for the brave who dare to stare danger right in the eyes, compassion is left for the nuns and connectivity can be found at your provider.

By Julie Ng

© [Freethinkersclub] [2013]
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

You Can Achieve

The only limits you have
Are those you accept
It is much better to have tried
Than to live in regret
You must reach for the sky
But take heed of your steps
There is more to life than
Money, Power, and Respect
There morals and values
That define what we do
There is a world out there
Much bigger than you
There is love there is hate
There is peace and there is war
There is a window left open
For every closed door
There are chances to take
You have a voice to be heard
For each of your mistakes
You have two lessons to learn
Do not be concerned
With trials of the past
Let go and move on
This life will not last
Enjoy what you have
But go for your dreams
Just know in your heart
That you can achieve.

author Victorious Robinson

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All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

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Be at liberty,Freedom to choose.

We exist within confines adhered to by conformity, there are so many people seeking to take advantage of us without our concern, the challenge of the 21st century is to consciously make a choice. I believe freedom to choose is the highest form of liberty and since people want to dominate over others there are so many ways in effect to oppress people in their liberty, so the question is are you really free?

Ignorance is a yoke of oppression, laziness to think and pursue knowledge keeps one under the hand of canning people in different areas of life. Its called T&C when we buy and ignoring this has left so many in great debt, the gray areas in business are the reason why others are employed and others are employees, there is always a barrier of ignorance around a slave the modern day trick of oppression is "make them believe they are free".

There is no rising above ignorance without diligence: we live in a reality where intelligence without diligence is being exploited for its ignorance. There is so much potential being wasted either because its being wrongly invested or its invested in laziness, diligence in the regard isn't only about working wholeheartedly but is also above searching and understanding the peak of your potential. Its sad to see an Eagle never take off and its strength compromised by the ignorance of its potential. Ignorance holds one back through two things: fear and preoccupation. A person living below the bar of their true potential is either afraid to pursue their true potential or they are overworked.

Ignorance in the past was through limiting information but today its through an overdose of information such that we cannot find our way to the desired end and so for us to express our freedom we have to diligently pursue our desire.

By Siphesihle AfrikaWisdom Shabalala
Author of Well of Wisdom

© [Freethinkersclub] [2013]
All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

Caught in a cage made by myself.

As I look out of my window, I can’t help feeling like a prisoner. A prisoner in my own home. A prisoner in my own body. A prisoner in my own mind. In this world, freedom is an illusion. People are led to believe they are free. Free to do what they want, free to live the way they want, free to think, free to voice their opinions. But, are we really? Can we ever feel completely free? With every action, every thought and every feeling defined by rules that were encrypted into our brains from the moment we open our eyes in this world. we are under constant judgement and scrutiny of ourselves and the society around us. How many of us really feel completely liberated at any given time of our lives? and what all can we feel free from?

There is so much suffering and hatred around us. What possession or what wealth can free us from the guilt that we feel? What can free us from our selfishness, from our greed, our lack of compassion towards ourselves, people like us and all the living things that exist around us?
None of us can ever call ourselves free. We are all prisoners in this world. We imprisoned ourselves.

It is believed by many, that it is a blessing to be born as a human being. It pains my heart to think otherwise, but according to me, human life is a curse. What is the point of possessing all the things that other living things do not when we use those possessions for self destruction, to cause suffering, to to destroy everything around us mindlessly.

We talk about intelligence, the greatest human power. What is intelligence? Competing with our fellow human beings to earn wealth? or is it obtaining a whole bunch of man made degrees (excelling in education)? What the hell is education? A person who goes through a government approved learning program, and at the end of it, is certified by the government as educated?

Everything that we consider important today is a joke! Made important by ourselves and wrongly so. We live in so much darkness, even when the world is flooded with light. There is no light in the world that can illuminate the darkness in our minds.

Why is it that, whatever we do, how much ever of it we do, how much ever we want to do it, we feel unsatisfied? The only explanation can be that we are not doing the right things with our lives. Not using what we have in the right way.

All these inventions and creations, what do we expect to keep doing with them? Keep destroying not only our planet but everything else in the universe? When is man’s quest going to end? What the hell is our ultimate goal in life? Some say, it is to make the universe, not only the world a better place for future generations. but do we really know what ‘better’ is? When is anything going to be good enough? We live our whole lives in the quest for better things. No one ever thinks about what is the best thing that anyone can ever have. The thing that they might trade any number of things, they might have, for?

Why is ‘Utopia’ considered such an illusive, impractical and unrealistic idea? Because we don’t believe we can ever be that civilized? And we gloat about how civilization was the best thing that ever happened to humanity. Who are classified as civilized human beings? The same people who make rules so they can justify the killing of people, exploitation and controlling every action of a human being?

Author - Anusha Rao
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All Rights Reserved
No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author and blog, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

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