The Basics
Male: Refers to the sex that produces small gametes (spermatozoa) for fertilization
Female: Refers to the sex capable of bearing offspring or producing eggs.
Work: Physical or mental activity for income.
Leisure: Using free time for enjoyment.
Education: Acquiring knowledge or training in a particular field.
Information = school, training = job.
Having a college degree doesn’t guarantee more knowledge than practical experience in a field.
Race: Physical characteristics defining a person’s specific group.
Ethnicity: Cultural characteristics defining a person’s specific group.
Nationality: Legal belonging to a specific political nation-state.
Ideology
Capitalism: An economic and political system where private owners control trade and industry for profit, rather than the state.
Socialism: A theory advocating community ownership or regulation of production, distribution, and exchange.
Conservatism: Emphasizes liberty, individual rights, and adherence to traditional values.
Liberalism: Open to new opinions and willing to discard traditional values.
Conservatives advocate for small government, while liberals support bigger government. Libertarians prefer minimal government intervention.
Conservatives prioritize private decision-making, whereas liberals focus on achieving equality. How conservative or liberal one is normally depends on the state of their corresponding government during their human lifespan.
Opportunity does not guarantee equal outcome, and policies like Affirmative Action can create unequal opportunities.
It is important to respect different values as long as they do not jeopardize life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness.
Modern observations on political leanings with respect to charity
Charity donations vary across states and are correlated with residents’ political identification. States with the highest fraction of income donated to charity in 2010 were Utah, Wyoming, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Tennessee, and New York. Surprisingly, the most generous Americans tend to reside in rural, conservative, religious, and moderately-income states, as opposed to high-income, urban, liberal states like California or Massachusetts.
Silicon Valley, known for its wealth and progressiveness, lags behind in charitable giving. San Jose and San Francisco, major cities in the region, rank near the bottom among the 50 biggest cities, donating only 2.2 percent and 2.4 percent of their income, respectively.
Religion is defined as a system of faith and worship, while spirituality concerns the human spirit or soul. Some view God as the creator, ruler, and supreme being, while others see God as simply “The Universe.” This shift in perspective can have theoretical appeal, but its practicality may wane over time. Spirituality often involves experimentation with different belief systems and lifestyles until finding the right fit.
The “Right Belief System”
one that keeps you humble when successful, empathetic when privileged, hard-working when well-fed, courageous when fearful, loving when not loved, and searching for truth even when the truth is the last thing you want to hear.
Having faith in God is believing that when you out yourself in his arms, things will turn out okay. It is carrying your cross, your suffering, your burdens, and even with those burdens, you have the strength to help your fellow brother with his cross when all seems lost. When someone has nothing, you can sacrifice the little you have, to give, because you are strengthened by God. You essentially outsource your power to God, like Jesus, because a mere mortal simply cannot output unlimited energy into the world without being grounded or rooted in God.