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How to let a populist beat you, over and over again.
The following article appears in it's entirety in the Washington Post. Click the link at the bottom to read it all. I highly recommend that for all my American friends and even my Canadian friends who could soon find themselves in the throes of their own Trumpism with Mr O'Leary. Donald Trump is an avowed capitalist; Hugo Chávez was a socialist with communist dreams. One builds skyscrapers, the other expropriated them. But politics is only one-half policy: The other, darker half is rhetoric. Sometimes the rhetoric takes over. Such has been our lot in Venezuela for the past two decades — and such is yours now, Americans. Because in one regard, Trump and Chávez are identical. They are both masters of populism. The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior. Capture the people’s imagination. Forget about policies and plans, just enrapture them with a tale. One that starts with anger and ends in vengeance. A vengeance they can participate in. That’s how it becomes a movement. There’s something soothing in all that anger. Populism is built on the irresistible allure of simplicity. The narcotic of the simple answer to an intractable question. The problem is now made simple. The problem is you. How do I know? Because I grew up as the “you” Trump is about to turn you into. In Venezuela, the urban middle class I come from was cast as the enemy in the political struggle that followed Chávez’s arrival in 1998. For years, I watched in frustration as the opposition failed to do anything about the catastrophe overtaking our nation. Only later did I realize that this failure was self-inflicted. So now, to my American friends, here is some advice on how to avoid Venezuela’s mistakes.
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 The GenerationsWhich Generation are You?
By Michael T. Robinson Founder and Career Coach CareerPlanner.com These are Western Cultural Generations. Japan and Asia and portions of Europe will have their own generational definitions based on major cultural, political, and economic influences. Notes on Each of the Latest Cultural GenerationsGen Z: Born between 1996 and 2010As of 2013 most of these folks are still too young to have made an impact. However the older ones might be fighting our war in Afghanistan. The younger ones are hopefully still in school and planning on careers and jobs that will have strong demand and generate new opportunities. If you are Gen Z, please pick a major in fields where there will be plenty of jobs and avoid fields where the jobs are limited. Unless of course you are so different and truly exceptional. Healthcare and high tech are the booming fields now and that will continue for decades. Thus careers in science, engineering, software, and medicine are a good choice. There won't be many jobs for people who major in English, history, geology. Sorry. Electrical Engineering and Software Engineering look really good. As does nursing, and being a family doctor. Civil Engineering offers very few jobs since we are not building a lot of bridges and buildings. So avoid that. Automotive engineering is tough. Not many US jobs. Gen Y: "The Millennials" Born between 1980 and 1995The Millennials grew up and began their careers in a time when:
Gen X: Born between 1965 and 1979According to WikiPedia, Gen X was originally called "Gen Bust" because their birth rate was vastly smaller than the preceding Baby Boomers. Gen X'ers were the first generation to experience:
Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964Baby Boomers are defined as being from the huge population increase that followed World War II, and the Great Depression. They grew up in a time of prosperity and an absence of world wars. They were the Flower Children, taking LSD and protesting the war in Vietnam. Unlike their parents who grew up during the Great Depression, Boomers became the great consumers. They became famous for spending every dollar they earned. This was the first Western Generation to grow up with two cars in every garage and a chicken in every pot. Baby Boomer spending and consumerism has fueled the world economies. The Baby Boomers fought for environmental protection. Baby Boomers were the first generation to experience:
The Silent Generation: Born between 1925 and 1945Those of the Silent Generation were born during the Great Depression. Their parents were mostly of the Lost Generation. They grew up expecting a hard life. This was the era when a Christmas present might be a orange or a full meal. They are called the Silent Generation because as a group they were not loud. They did not protest in Washington. There were no major wars to protest. The Greatest Generation: Born between 1910 and 1924Those of the Greatest Generation grew up during the Great Depression and probably fought in World War II. They are also known as the GI Joe Generation. They are the parents of the Baby Boomers. They were named the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw, famous News Broadcaster. Brokaw said they were the greatest because they fought for what was right rather than fighting for selfish reasons. They certainly made great self sacrifices, fighting to protect people in other countries from the likes of Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese Kamikaze suicide bombers. Makes one wonder what they will call those bankers and insurance company executives who fought only for personal gain thus creating the 2007-2009 financial collapse. Primary Sources for our Data on Generations:
The US Census Bureau appears to use census data (duh) and the rise and fall of the birth rate to mark borders between generations. Other researchers, such as Pew, use major cultural events to define the borders between generations. Here is an example of using the birth rate fluctuations to define borders between generations: What Generation Are You If You Are On The Cusp?If your birth date falls on the border between two generations, which one do you pick? Pick the generation that you relate to the most, and the one you want to be part of. Why so arbitrary? This is not a precise science with firm definitions. Updates and RevisionsOn 9-29-2016 we made the following adjustments to the date ranges of Gen x, Millenials, Gen Z:
The bottom line is that the experts do not agree on when generations begin and end. Sorry for this confusion. I would prefer to have things nice and tidy, precise and exact.  I have had a few people contact me over the last 3 weeks asking me what I think of the new social network, Empowr. I felt it was important for me and anyone who has any influence in social media to step in and stop their friends from being scammed. Yes, it is one huge scam folks.
And here are a few reasons why: 1- In order to cash out, you have to provide either your credit card details or a PayPal account, and when you provide your payment details, you have to agree to this: 2- Without you knowing, when you post something on Empowr, you automatically use their Ad Credits. If you have provided your payment details and have accepted the above terms, you will automatically be charged on your credit card or your PayPal account if you use more than $2 worth of advertising fee. Remember, this advertising fee is levied each time you perform an activity on Empowr, moreover, you will be charged a 2.9% ad platform fee on a monthly basis. 3- Any earnings that you make from Empowr takes 90 days (3 months) to mature, but it takes you a few seconds to pay their advertising fees. Does it make sense to you? Why you can’t cash out immediately if you have paid their advertising fee? HOW DOES EMPOWR MAKE MONEY? This is the first question I asked and no one had an answer. Now I know! You are required to do several things - 4 in particular to make money on Empowr. 1- Post - Photo's, comments, etc. 2- Share - others, photo's and comments 3- List - Products for sale 4- Bid - which also lets you reshare what you bid on. Every time you do any of these you get 'paid'. You also get charged. (CATCH)> You have to complete all four tasks every single day so that the money you are supposed to get paid will mature in 90 days. One of those tasks by the way, LIST is the most frustrating as your listings get rejected no matter how closely you follow their rules. And if you get rejected enough times they put you in LIST JAIL for a period of time. But all this Makes Sense now! This is how they make money. If you and I can't achieve our daily goals but are being charged for all our activities, every day for 90 days, we are not going to have enough income from Empowr to cover our expenses. HANGING ON...THE ILLUSION There are a lot of people hanging on in Empowr because they see their balances growing. That's what I did. My balance was over $10,000 and I couldn't cash out even though I was active enough to be frequently in the top 100. What I didn't realize is all that activity was costing me money. That money you have in Empowr is the beautiful illusion they put in front of you while they pick your back pocket. My clue came when PayPal sent me a notice saying my account was in arrears. I was shocked as I had not used my PayPal account for any purchases. So I logged in and low and behold Empowr had their hand in my PayPal account to the tune of about $140 USD. I filed a complaint with PayPal BUT that didn't work because I had signed their agreement (see point #1 conveniently and fraudulently called their FREE Automatic Account Protection. Who were they protecting the account from? Ha I'm such an idiot... When my PayPal balance gets negative they try to get the money from one of the credit cards I provided. So I cut off that credit card. Just in time as well. December 22nd the Empowr Alligators come again this time for $142.43 which my credit card denied. December 22nd again they now try to get $158 and again denied. No way I was going to let these scum bags get more money. So my final act was to delete the account with the following comments. I make a promise in those comments that I am going to keep. And if you will share this with your friends and loved ones to keep them from getting scammed that would help me spread the word. My Comments Upon Deleting My Account and the Illusory $9,000 I had in there. I am tired of you lot taking money from my paypal account and me not earning enough to cover that even though I'm listed in the top 100 in Canada. I will not be associated with these types of scams. I am social media guru with over 50,000 followers on various social media platforms and I am going to blast you guys across all of them. I realize I probably don't have much hope in winning my battle to recover $140 USD in funds that were taken from my PayPal account but I am working on it. But you're about to get a shit load of publicity. So I will bow down and you can kiss my ass. MORE NIGHTMARE STORIES can be found in the comments of this link: http://barenakedscam.com/empowr |
Allan Marston
I have written many blogs over the years so I am going to keep this one as my way of keeping in touch with my friends. The Secret Killer
Find out what it is before it kills you and your loved ones and what you can do about it.
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