Benjamin Franklin Set Up A Democratic Socialist Society

Benjamin Franklin invented the United States. He was a polymath. Most genius converges to a narrow focus like math or physics or medicine. Franklin's genius like Da Vinci's diverged, he was a genius in everything he touched, such people come along once every three or four hundred years. All the other founders were young men when Franklin was in his seventies and at the top of his game. They must have all took turns on their knees waiting to kiss his ass in the hope of gaining his favor and being allowed to stand in his light. 

He and John Adams another luminary ordered Jefferson to redact the Declaration and change, Life, Liberty and property to Life, Liberty, and The pursuit of happiness. Why? Because Franklin said that there was no right to hold property in excess of bare necessities because without society everyone would have to be a generalist like the Indians who lived in small families or tribes and had to be able to do it all themselves from hunting to building their homes to making their clothing and planting crops. 

And even if they could specialize and say make many pairs of moccasins, without a large society they would have no market for their goods, so he reasoned that since the existence of society and its laws were the only reason that anyone could accumulate property beyond his or her bare necessities, then all property accumulated by anyone beyond bare necessities was held only by the lack of objection of societal government and was subject to be taken at any time to provide for the general welfare of that society of which the individual was a member. 

So the Republican bullshit of, "I made it myself, so I get to keep it myself," is just that, bullshit, right along with the myth of the self-made man and American exceptionalism. Franklin set up a democratic socialist society. Society is an insurance policy for us all where we are all mutually dependent on each other. The entire Republican philosophy of greed and selfishness and society as just a group of individuals striving for their own success is a goddamned lie.

"All the Property that is necessary to a Man, for the Conservation of the Individual and the Propagation of the Species, is his natural Right, which none can justly deprive him of: But all Property superfluous to such purposes is the Property of the Publick, who, by their Laws, have created it, and who may therefore by other Laws dispose of it, whenever the Welfare of the Publick shall demand such Disposition. He that does not like civil Society on these Terms, let him retire and live among Savages. He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it." *

* Benjamin Franklin letter to Robert Morris, December 25, 1783

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/.../documents/v1ch16s12.html

Stress Kills — It's It Time To Do Something About It?

 
Are you feeling stressed? I would be very surprised if you weren’t. Between the growing demands of our jobs, raising a family while working full-time, and the increasing need to stay connected all day every day, most of us feel stressed out more often than we like to admit. Add to it a chronic lack of sleep and exercise and you have a recipe for disaster. Stress kills and that’s no joke. Let’s look at some of the worst negative side effects of stress and what you can do to stress less and relax more.

Stress will cause your blood pressure to rise. You’ve experienced this when you found yourself hot and with a raging headache when you were in a particularly stressful situation. Feeling that way from time to time is no big deal. The real danger is in the lower-level stress we all feel on a daily basis. It can lead to hypertension and a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack or stroke.

Next, let’s look at sleep. When you’re stressed, you don’t sleep well. You may even find it hard to sleep at all. Insomnia is a common side effect of living a stressful life. It doesn’t take long before you start to feel the negative side effects of not getting quality sleep. 

You feel drained, unfocused, and things spiral downward from there quickly. Your body can’t function well and recover without at least a few good hours of sleep per night. For optimal health, destress and shoot for at least six to eight hours.

Since stress is so hard on the body and mind, what can you do to reduce it? Quite a bit actually. The most obvious solution is to go to the source of the stress and cut it out of your life. Obviously, that isn’t very practical, or desirable when you’re having a few rough weeks at the job you rely on or your kids are driving you nuts. 

Instead, try things to actively relax and destress when and where you can to counterbalance the unavoidable. Go for a walk outside. Hit the gym for some exercise. Meditate. Learn some breathing exercises to help calm yourself down whenever you feel particularly stressed. Get plenty of quality sleep. Eat a healthy diet and cut down on sugar and caffeine.

We’ll talk more about how you can stress less and love life in future blog posts. Being aware of the stress and how it is affecting you is a great first step. Now take a deep breath and go for a stroll around the block. Notice how much better you’re feeling already?

If you are ready to live a stress-free life why not join us in our 7 part series as we explore how to overcome stressfulness? You may follow our series on this blog or request the 7 part series by email by sending your email address to stress@soci-media.com.