Ambrit, who lives in southern North America
Have you ever had someone you know ask you, “Why do you read that blog? Do you like feeling depressed?”
These direct questions usually leave you confused. How do you answer these seemingly “innocent” questions? It subtly throws you off balance. You’re made to feel “weird” and “different.” Don’t despair. If you’re forewarned, you’re safe. Naked Capitalism and fellow blogs provide the resources you need to be forewarned.
My personal favorite response to such an “innocent” question is that we live in dangerous times. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can exacerbate and foster depression. Being forewarned and prepared is essential to maintaining mental, physical, and financial balance. Naked Capitalism provides the resources needed to achieve and protect that balance. In essence, Naked Capitalism is a mental health resource for the woke and conscious.
Naked Capitalism has spent a lot of effort and money to provide us with these resources, and we owe it to them to give back. Don’t hesitate to give back in money. The tip jar is over there.As greater men than I have proclaimed, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
The basic structure of a well-designed mental health program has three parts:
First, you have to acknowledge that there is a problem.
Second, you need to understand the problem.
Third, appropriate healing strategies must be adopted.
Insofar as we need to acknowledge that there is a problem, Naked Capitalism provides the hard data and logical analysis needed to prove it. Links and Water Coolers is rich with articles from inside and outside sources that shed the light of honest research on the countless examples of folly that pervade the world we live in.
Naked Capitalism is an oasis of sanity in the “vast wilderness” that constitutes today’s public forum. To prove this, spend a little time with the mainstream media (MSM) that is presented to us today. Now, try not to let your eyes glaze over while you are watching the MSM. Because the eyes are the windows to the soul, when the eyes glaze over, the mind follows.
The cynics among us would argue that this process is deliberate. Cynics and optimists alike cannot deny the deep corruption that pervades our information sources. We are now living in the “vast wasteland” that Newton Minow predicted in his May 9, 1961, address to the National Broadcasting Corporation.
To combat the “vast wasteland,” we must fight the good fight for critical thinking and free expression of ideas. Some of us will be on the front lines, arguing in the comments sections of Naked Capitalism and other blogs like it.
Whether you are an active commenter or just a reader, you can help this movement financially. Money is called the “universal solvent.” To that end, please donate as much “solvent” as you can so Naked Capitalism can continue its never-ending campaign to dissolve and erase the fog and illusions that the MSM has created to blind and weaken us all. The tip jar awaits.
Regarding her plea for financial support, let’s recognize that we all have different financial capabilities. Some of us have nothing to offer beyond local evangelism and informed commentary on Naked Capitalism. Others of us are “affordable” financially and can donate varying amounts. In the end, it all balances out.
This appeal to raise funds is not about status or shame or “belonging.” It is about faith. Faith that people can rise up out of the barren wilderness of mainstream media. Faith that in the “wilderness” there are oases that will provide awakened, conscious people with the resources and emotional support we all need from time to time. Faith that possessing the knowledge and critical thinking skills that naked capitalism provides is the hallmark of a functioning member of a civilized society.
Being a member of a civilized society is a double good: public and private. Privately, we can more effectively manage the stresses that assail us; we are forewarned and can prepare in advance; publicly, we can either effectively counter evils that threaten us and others, or begin to develop “survival strategies” in case the situation worsens. Both are better outcomes than the mainstream media provides.
One of the driving forces that drives me to this oasis of naked capitalism in the vast wasteland of mainstream media is the ever-reinforcing awareness that we now live in what Bill Black so eloquently put it: a “criminogenic environment.”
Mechanisms for dealing with this society-wide experience of living in a “criminogenic environment” include severely limiting exposure to mainstream media, regular exposure to alternative media (such as Naked Capitalism), providing original Zeitgeist Reports in various comment sections, and most importantly, learning to think for oneself. Naked Capitalism is the primary resource for accomplishing that task. Naked Capitalism deserves our support for that fact alone. Support for Naked Capitalism is simply self-survival.
Support can take many forms. The currently preferred method is to visit a tip jar..
Unless we are aware of the pitfalls and traps of living in the modern “vast wilderness,” we cannot figure out how to avoid them. Such awareness requires knowledge. Knowledge is typically hard-won by others. This knowledge is gained through hard lessons. Naked Capitalism is the messenger that delivers this knowledge to us all. Absorbing knowledge and acting on it requires critical thinking skills, which Naked Capitalism provides for us as well.
The “lessons” that produce knowledge don’t just pop into your head. These “lessons” are collected on blogs and websites, on Substacks and Reddits, on Tweets and Squawks, and presented for our benefit. Among all these resources, Naked Capitalism occupies an almost unique position. Naked Capitalism is a news aggregator, but it’s not just any news aggregator. Naked Capitalism specializes in digging deep into subjects that are often obscure and arcane. Don’t be fooled. Just because a subject is obscure or arcane doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect you personally. Naked Capitalism is often your first line of defense. Keep these defenses strong.
Without the heroic efforts of all the people who create, manage and curate the Naked Capitalism website, most of us would be much poorer, in every sense of the word. Paradoxically, by funding Naked Capitalism, you will be richer – richer in knowledge, richer in understanding, and richer in every sense by avoiding the expensive traps and schemes that are often designed to keep you impoverished.
So I’ve been encouraging people to contribute financially to Naked Capitalism. As I’ve said before, Do the best you canEvery little bit helps.
The next time a “well-meaning” friend asks you why you read “Naked Capitalism,” answer emphatically: “They should read it too.” “Naked Capitalism” is the best book ever found to combat the overwhelming sense of powerlessness and hopelessness that pervades the world today. Powerlessness robs us of our “joy” in life. It robs us of our self-esteem and sense of worth. Tell that “friend” that seeing the world clearly and understanding it honestly is the basis of living an “authentic existence.”
Before I begin to explain the mystical secrets of naked capitalism, I will stop here for another, more auspicious time when the stars align.
Stay safe The tip jar is over there..
