This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
—Frank Sinatra
I don’t think transgender women are women. I think they’re men with mental health issues. And I don’t give a rat’s ass what our Progressive Overlords have to say about this matter. No amount of drugs or surgery will ever endow a biological man with XX chromosomes and functional female parts—and compelling reality-based people to accept this Frankensteinian tomfoolery is an affront to decency and liberty.
Now I have a question for you. If I were heavily in debt and derived the bulk of my income from this blog, do you think I would divulge my true thoughts on transgenderism? Hell no.
I like to think of myself as a modern-day Terry Malloy, but deep down, I know I’m not. When I worked in government and discovered a culture of sloth that was systematically abusing the taxpayers, I said and did nothing. Yep, when my Terry Malloy moment came (see below video), I slunk into the shadows of cravenness like an egg-sucking dog. I had a chance to be a hero but I was too cowardly to jeopardize the comfort of a regular paycheck, a bevy of employer-provided benefits, and a gold-plated pension.
Today, however, I use this blog to frequently rail against my erstwhile government employer and poop all over Progressive sensibilities (see here, here, and here). And the sad truth is that I only do so because I’m financially strong. If I were up to my eyeballs in debt and my livelihood depended on this blog, I wouldn’t be nearly so “brave.”
Simply put, FIRE has done far more to give me guts than my devotion to honor ever has.
The Moral Imperative of FIRE
Check out the following two YouTube videos.
In the first video, we learn that several Boeing employees questioned the flight-worthiness of the 737 Max and did nothing to stop its entry into the global fleet of commercial airplanes.
One employee quipped that the 737 Max was “designed by clowns who in turn [were] supervised by monkeys.” Another employee rhetorically asked, “Would you put your family on a Max simulator trained aircraft?” This same employee then balefully answered, “I wouldn’t.”
In the second video, we learn that ABC News had the Jeffery Epstein story years before it was revealed by the Miami Herald. A frustrated Amy Robach groused to a fellow ABC employee:
“I’ve had this story for three years… It was unbelievable what we had. Clinton—we had everything. I tried for three years to get it on to no avail and now it’s all coming out and it’s like these new revelations. And I freaking had all of it. I’m so pissed right now. Every day I get more and more pissed… What we had was unreal.”
It’s easy to point the steely finger of indignation at Robach and the 737-Max naysayers. Why weren’t they screaming their revelations from the rooftop?! Why did they fail so miserably when fate supplied them with their own Terry Malloy moments?
I don’t think Robach and the 737-Max naysayers are bad people. In fact, I think they’re actually good people. My guess is that they failed their Terry Malloy moments because they were financially weak. They had large mortgages, their kids were either in college or on the doorstep of college, they hadn’t begun saving for retirement yet—whatever. I firmly believe that they, like most Americans, were overextended financially and this left them woefully dependent on their jobs. Had they not been so dependent on their jobs—had they been armed with good old fashioned FU money—I’m sure they would have responded to their bosses’ perfidy much more heroically.
For the longest time, I only thought of FIRE as a happiness imperative. You master money and your odds of living a fulfilling life shoot up dramatically. But now I also see FIRE as a moral imperative. Very rarely do the financially weak speak truth to power. You raise a generation of financial morons—and convince them that debt in the pursuit of ever more glorious stuff is hardly a vice—and you will have a generation that is incapable of standing up to evil or corruption.
Nature doesn’t produce Terry Malloys in large numbers. Only the FIRE movement can do that.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? I say America has a shortage of heroes, not because America has a shortage of good people, but because America has a shortage of financially strong people. But maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe one’s financial situation has nothing to do with how one acts when one is confronted with evil or corruption. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
Progressive Overlords! 🤣 Mr. Groovy you are truly one of a kind.
Yes, it always comes back to money. The almighty dollar sign. I have learned that if you really want to know something, then you should follow the money. The buck stops someone and it usually starts at the top because the bottom doesn’t have any.
That is why I work on being FI and getting my fiscal act together. Can’t ask me to do things I don’t want if I don’t need your money because I got my own. As women, we must have own , Own money. bank accounts, etc. Bring money to the table in all our relationships so we can be equals. Men tend to marry and stay married to fiscally responsible women. I’m frugal, got money in the bank and haven’t been single in years. Girl Power!! Sisters before misters!!!! hahaha
Greenbacks Magnet recently posted…Why You Should Always Trust But Verify
I would wholehearted agree that Financial Independence gives the freedom to exercise your shade of moral.
However, Retire Early is not!
Once you have fulfilled the responsibility with your immediate family, imagine of all the small and big challenges humanity are facing that your time and/or resource can make a difference!
Great point, TE. It’s better to have the morally strong actively engaged in the workplace and economy than sitting on the sidelines.
Yes sir!!! FI is where it’s at!
Save until it hurts! 50%, 60% or even more if you can!
Greenbacks Magnet recently posted…Get Rich Using The Tortoise And Not The Hare Method: An Interview With Get Rich Slowly
periodt luv
Had to research “periodt” and was pleasantly surprised to find out it’s considered high praise in the African-American community. Thank you, someone. You made a little ol’ country blogger from North Carolina very happy.
Instapundit has a recurring phrase he uses, “They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.” There’s a corollary that beggars are easier to control.
When I got my money numbers where I wanted them, I noticed I was a lot less tolerant of BS at work. Silly meetings became a source of bemusement. Inconvenient policies were not taken all that seriously.
Conversely, just after I bought my huge mortgage house, two things happened: the 1987 stock market crashed, and my employer seemed to feel greater freedom to tighten the screws. This was when I first got my three mortgages and I had to eat you-know-what and smile.
“…[B]eggars are easier to control.”
Nailed it, Steve. And this truism makes me weep for our future.
Being enslaved takes away your freedom, this is another great example of that. I do think a lot of those people who come out after the fact saying they knew all about it didn’t really. In most cases I think they are jumping on the band wagon for their 15 minutes of fame. I’m not taking about victims of course, but uninvolved observers. Generally misdeeds at high corporate levels are very well hidden from everyone but the victims.
“I do think a lot of those people who come out after the fact saying they knew all about it didn’t really. In most cases I think they are jumping on the band wagon for their 15 minutes of fame.”
Great point, my friend. Sadly, our journalists aren’t very good. So we got to remember that “the story” is very likely NOT “the story.”
Hadn’t thought of that – the moral imperative and the freedom to speak. But you are right. (As to transgender, I have long wondered, why if I want to cut off, say my ear, because I think it is ugly, I am considered to have a mental health issue, but if I want to cut off my penis [not that I have one] I am supported in this decision.)
Lucinda recently posted…Historical Sacramento 2
Great point, Lucinda. If I identified as a puppy dog and wanted to cut off my hands so I could have paws, people would consider me insane. But if I identified as a woman and wanted to cut off my penis, people would consider me a hero. We live in strange times.
Where do you get this stuff, Mr. G? I’ve never thought of FIRE as liberating truth tellers, but I think you’re spot in. All of us can likely think of examples where folks kept their mouths shut ‘cuz they needed the paycheck. I know I have. You’re the first I’ve seen who has recognized and written about the phenomenon. Great food for the brain today, per usual.
Thank you, Fritz. I think I come up with these twists on the human condition because I can’t help but consider myself a pathetic wretch. When you have that kind of humility, the posts just flow.
I can absolutely appreciate that being FIRE is empowering as you describe. It allows a person to be open and honest. It allows a person to be open and honest in a way that is challenging to do so when you are beholding to a lifestyle with so many interconnected strings attached.
We have not FIREd yet. We are a few years away from pulling the trigger. However, we solidly have our FU money put aside growing for us. Having our FU money has allowed me to make several changes over the past 4 years at the same company. Four years ago I was able to transition to a lessor role (in terms of responsibility and compensation) that offered a much better work/life balance. Just recently I turned down “a fantastic opportunity” (their words, not mine) to move to Thailand for 2 to 3 years of work. “You will make gobs of money, become a Vice President…”. FU money allowed me to (nicely) tell them to get bent. 🙂
Chasing FIRE and attaining it will certainly allow us to be more open and honest. In some ways be more like ourselves at heart. As long as we do so in a way that considers the feeling of others on a personal level, I look forward to that very much.
Nice blog post!!
“FU money allowed me to (nicely) tell them to get bent.”
I love it! I haven’t heard the phrase “get bent” and ages, and I must say it warmed the cockles of my heart. Thank you, TC. You made my day.
Glad that you enjoyed the slang flashback. I like the classics myself.
It is funny, yesterday at my job they announced who had taken the Thailand “opportunity” that I passed on. I am sure the person got some additional money and maybe there is some prestige in the new role but all I could think was – what a poor unfortunate soul. 🙂
Wow. Never looked at FIRE that way. There’s plenty of rhetoric about FIRE being self-serving, etc but it’s exactly the opposite. If people would only think things through, we’d realize we could make a difference simply by freeing ourselves from the chains we’ve created. It certainly strengthens my resolve.
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Carol. Damn, you have a first-rate mind!
Such. Truth. Wow, Mr. G., as usual, you’ve given me something new to think about. Thank you, and much love to you and the fabulous Mrs. G.
Thank you, Laurie. I can’t tell how much your kind words mean to me. Cheers.