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Before we get deep into today’s topic I am going to go a bit deeper with some planned changes in the show’s format.  Don’t worry TSP isn’t changing per se just some changes in the schedule, format, etc. to keep stuff fresh.

Then I want to discuss the subject of personal responsibility in the world today.  I was recently asked by a guest if I really believed the quote buy Permaculturist Geoff Lawton…

“All the worlds problems can be solved in a garden.”

My response was, absolutely, but you need personal responsibility as well.  The response came back,

“Personal responsibility of the gardener or the world.”

Well, both but first, the gardener!  This is the key, the rest of the world is not ever going to be personally responsible for shit until the minority that actually see value in such things, shuts up about it and gets on with doing it.  This is one of many reasons that politics is dead to me.  I see the same bullshit from both sides and I ain’t talking the elected clowns at this point, I am talking about the people watching the circus and choosing a group of clowns to root for.

The left attacks the right, the right attacks the left, everyone agrees that government sucks and is corrupt but they want more of their kind.  So here is another quote, this one is my own….

“Here is everything wrong with government, along with my plan to make government bigger and more powerful”

~ Every Politician Ever

So it is clear that the solutions exist outside of the State and its’ systems.  It is also clear that the solutions are not really of interest to the average person.  So what is the answer?  You and your own back yard, side yard, friends, porch, life, bank account, children, etc.  As always we are back to the “real circles of life”.

What are the real circles of life?  There are three, they are…

1. The circle of concern
2. The circle of influence
3. The circle of control

I call them your real circles of life because you will spend every waking moment of your life with your mind and hence you inside them.  The first circle is the weakest, these are all the things you are concerned about but have no real control or influence over.  Like the SJWs crying on YouTube or the assclown circus going on in congress right now, etc.  This also includes anything anyone is doing or saying that takes up your attention but you can’t really influence or control.

The second circle is all of the things you are concerned about and can influence but can’t control.  If you are a parent of adult children, this is a perfect example.  I personally feel I have a lot of influence in the life of my son, daughter-in-law and grand kids.  When they want advice I give it, sometimes I see an issue and I give advice unasked.  My son, however; is a grown ass man. It is his family, he makes the call.

Likewise some of my neighbors have started to plant trees due to my example some never will, I have influence but no control.  Via this podcast I influence over 200,000 people and those they influence, but I don’t control a damn thing my listeners do or don’t do.  I can tell you guys, my neighbors or my son that you need a household budget but I can’t make you write it up, nor can I make you follow it.

The third circle is the most powerful circle.  It is all the things you both care about and control.  If you want a garden and you have a yard, you can damn well plant a garden.  The most important thing about this circle is not just that you can control your actions in it, but your thoughts as well.  Don’t like gardens, then thoughts of gardens are not something you need to concern yourself with.  Got it?  The key here is you control what you think, how you learn, how you act, etc.  And you don’t get to do this for any other human on the planet.  Just you!

Some folks you may have more influence with then others.  Such as a spouse, a child or in say a formal student teacher relationship, etc.  In the end though humans are sovereign over themselves, at least they should be.

When we break it down that way, we realize quite logically that we should spend the majority of our lives inside our circle of control and in our actions alone we will naturally expand our circle of influence.  As to our circle of concern it should be like weather radar.  What I mean by that is simple, yea these idiots are doing idiot things, in this case this might impact me.  In response I am looking to my circle of control first and influence second as to how I can mitigate that.

The only purpose your circle of concern should serve is education and entertainment.  As such it is a means by which you can be proactive in your actions within the areas you have control and or influence on.  When a tornado warning happens we move to the safe areas of our home.  When we see one approaching a friend or family member who is not the type that pays attention we give them a heads up.  Yet we never fool ourselves into believing by watching the weather app that we can stop a tornado or control it.

Sadly most people spend the majority of their waking hours where?  In their circles of concern.  That is what leads almost directly to a society totally divorced at this point from personal responsibility.   In short we have become a society where the average person tells their neighbor to put in smoke alarms while smoke billows from their own roof.

Today we discuss how to change that.

Resources for today’s show…

• Join the Members Brigade
• Join Our Forum
• Walking To Freedom
• TspAz.com
• The Granddaddy’s Gun Club
• Take Hold of the Flame – Queensryche

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