Life Workshop
At the Life Workshop, we explore and spark curiosity around the topics that shape our everyday lives. We believe in the power of the 80/20 principle—focusing on the 20% of effort that delivers 80% of the results—so you can achieve more with less.
Life Workshop
S1E17 Value Systems: Part 2
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In order to have a good life we should have our values in the right order.
For me the most important thing is to be happy and have a good life in general. The chain that makes a happy life has different links to it, e.g. health, money, circle of friends, helping others, fame, power, daylight, satisfying job and so on. At different times of my life different links have been the weakest where I put my attention. By re evaluating my life, re-examining which links are the weakest at the time and focus on it till it has improved to my satisfaction. After all a chain is as strong as its weakest link.
Q: What are your priorities in life, Wealth, health, happiness, family, fame, power ....... and in what order?
Welcome to Life Workshop where we discuss the forgotten basics. The topic of this episode is again value system part two. We are gonna have more parts to this one. Yeah. So, first of all, again, your most favorite host and co-host Mo and Bo. Hello. And so I have this question for you. Actually, before maybe I have started the question again, I would like to ask, you know, the audience, please, please, please, you know, support us by by subscribing, liking, and sharing. And I would love to hear your feedbacks. Again, remember, really, to be honest, this is what gets us going. When I see, not necessarily to agree with me again, but you know, to um to get some feedback to see if it makes you think a bit more, if it makes your life a bit better. And I really like to hear those things. And I said I have friends that you know they tell me in person or sometimes they have put on Facebook and or they have messaged me, you know, personally, but I uh would like you know if we get more of those things and you know, ask me if there is any other topic you want me to talk about, and then if I think I'm qualified or have some information about that, I would be more than happy to do that. But anyway, let's get started with part two. So, both the question for you is if we have two stores and they sell the exact same products, let's say they sell appliances.
SPEAKER_02Are they right across the street from one another?
SPEAKER_01Uh let's say one is closer than the other. So there are two stores closer to my house? Yeah. Okay. So physically. Okay. Okay. And then one of the stores, the owner, you know, so don't challenge me on this too much, but you know for a fact that, for example, is a child molester, but sells the same products, okay, and then the other one is a normal person and sells the same products. Okay. Which one will you go to shop for?
SPEAKER_02Which one's closer to me?
SPEAKER_01Let's say child molester is closer to you. Okay. Would you shop from the child molester who has the same products, or would you go shop from the normal?
SPEAKER_02I would go shop from the normal because I'm not yeah, no. Okay, good enough. Now that that was pretty easy.
SPEAKER_01Okay, good.
SPEAKER_02Where are you going with this?
SPEAKER_01Okay, just wait. Where's the twist? The twist is coming. Now let's say if this guy was not a child molester, he was a drug dealer and a thief. Of course, I know the drug dealers might get offended, I'm a drug dealer, not a thief. But let's say and the thief means I'm not a drug dealer, I'm just a thief. But anyways, if the one that is closer to you is a drug dealer and a thief, and you know that for a fact, the other one isn't, and they sell the same products for the same price. Which one would you go to?
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm not going to the thief because he's gonna steal from me.
SPEAKER_01Fair enough. Now, the next one. Let's say no, the one that's closer is not a child molester, is not a drug dealer or thief. But you know, he does a speeding, you know, he has got some speeding tickets and some tax evasions that you know, you know, they have done. He has done. But so he does this, but the other one hasn't done that. Which one, which one would you shop from?
SPEAKER_02Well, speeding, I don't care. Because everyone does that. Um does that. Don't even okay. Think about that.
SPEAKER_01Okay, fair enough. And tax evasion, what do you mean? For example, they try to cheat on his taxes, not to pay, pay under the table. You know, people do that.
SPEAKER_02So you mean do you mean just using the rules to the extent that he can, or are you talking like actual cheating on them? I just said tax evasion. That's not using the rules. Sorry. Okay. Uh well I don't know if those things are really a big deal to me per se. I probably shouldn't. I probably shouldn't go to them. I think fair enough.
SPEAKER_01I got my answer. I shouldn't. And I'm hoping you as an audience, you answer the same questions, please. Just and obviously I won't hear you, but just it would really depend on if I like them or not. Good enough. So basically, you know that's why not very in in a nutshell, basically, this is what you're saying. When it's a child molester, definitely no. When it's a drug dealer and thief, hmm, no, but you're not as strong as when it is the child molester. But when it's such speeding and exhibition, you know what, we just become a bit more mellow, which is fair enough. Now, I'm gonna change it a little bit. And you audience, please have your answer in your mind.
SPEAKER_02That bugs me. That makes me feel like maybe there's a lot, uh there's a lax in you know, in like your moral character.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01But just okay, you you're reading too far into this. Let's just just take it easy. Again, life is simple. Don't make it complicated. Well, why why why are you asking me these questions? No, the next question is now let's say you want to buy, let's say, a TV, and then the child molester sells the same TV for let's say $500 less than the other store who's a good person.
SPEAKER_02No, I'm not dealing with the child molester.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Period.
SPEAKER_02Good.
SPEAKER_01Now, the second one.
SPEAKER_02Why is he even across the street from me?
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01You vote for the wrong politician. That's how no, I'm just kidding. It's going back to the previous, previous podcast that we had the episode. But anyway, now again, audience, please you answer this to, you know. Now, the next one is let's say he's not the child molester, but he's that drug dealer and thief. And he might have actually stolen even the TV, but I don't I don't buy things at the back of a van, so no. Okay. No, of course, it's back of a van. It is it is in his store. He's selling it. You get everything, the same exactly it probably came from the back of an Mark van, so no.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Now, if it's the person, you make things complicated. No, I don't. I don't I don't want to support that kind of thing because that's a steal from from from me and something. I'll walk in there. Oh, hey, you can buy your own your own T T T V T V back.
SPEAKER_01I'm not, I don't, I don't want to do that. Good enough. But and then if the person, I said is that no, is this guy, you know, is just again does a speeding and some tax evasions and other things, and then but he sells it for $500 less than the other one. Then you're okay.
SPEAKER_02And this is exactly I'm not okay. No, and there's again, speeding and tax evasion are too. I don't think we can classify those as the same thing. You can't do that. I said they do. I didn't stop sign, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Like different. We are going into too many details. That was a general thing to do. But anyway, now the interesting part is this. I have asked the same question from different people, and this was one of the things. For the first time, then I asked that they are the same price. Nobody questioned it. They said, no, they are not going to definitely buy it from the child monster, they are not gonna buy it from the drug dealer, they are not, uh, you know, but they're the spinning and tax evasion, uh, it's okay. So they can go from each. But when I brought up the the concept of Dinah, that if they can buy it a bit cheaper from the drug dealer and the thief, or the child molester, all of a sudden this became for some. How do you know he's a child molester? So there's no just listen to this. This is exactly where I'm from. And how do you know that this is the thing?
SPEAKER_02This is the exact-the question was framed as you know he's a child molester. That's there's no question of how do you know.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. But you know, this is do you know why they do that? Why? Because they're cheap. They want to justify their action, yes. Ah, but how do you know? Maybe it was not there. I said, but you didn't ask this question. Then I said they are selling them at the same price. But when I say it's a $500, or actually I had said $200 less. Now you start, but maybe he's not a child molester. That the question doesn't come up. For you, it's not, it was not as important before it is now. So this is where I'm going with this. That if you see, then it it basically shows that how much the the value system that we have for the $200 versus with the morality, you know, that the child molester or drug dealer and thief don't support evil. Correct. Correct. So this is again what I'm trying to get at. So the way the value system that we have decides what we do and decides who to go on top. That's as simple as that. There is no thing. The uh the value again, and this is of course I have to trick it to an extreme to make my point a bit more clear, but then it comes to the smaller things. For example, as I said in the previous episode, if Donald Trump says, you know what, it's 16 a story within uh versus 15 story building, uh, it's okay.
SPEAKER_02Who cares? He technically wasn't lying, right? He just actually technically was lying. He just included the basement. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01So maybe he is actually telling the truth. So then everybody else was not telling the truth. That's right. Include the basements. This is where it comes to justify your wrong action. That is exactly what you're doing right now. Because probably you're in favor of uh Donald Trump, and you just it's like somebody that you know is in favor of that $500 and says the same thing. But maybe he's not a child molester. It's exact same thing. There's there's no difference. We just uh may maybe not. I just want to. Actually, we have this even in psychology, they say this, for example, if let's say now I'm just going too far with this. If you you're dating somebody for the first time, let's say, and they poke their nose, you know, they put your finger up their nose, you will not see the person again. But if it is your espouse that you have been there for a long time because you like them for other things, you know what, but he or she is a good person. You just justify it. Justify the wrong action to fit to draw the conclusion that you want. That is exactly what we do, but I I brought up in a different basic format. So, anyways. So now the reason that I'm bringing this up, because when we our value system is money, then what do we do? And our value system is not better life. Then who do we choose for politician? And as a matter of fact, I think the concept is just funny if I say if a politician would come and say that, you know what, I will do anything to better your life versus making you richer. I haven't seen anybody. Normally the politicians are just to make you richer, but in real life those things go hand in hand. Not quite. Not exactly. As a matter of fact, in that concept that I had said about um, would you trim my back? Sorry, I'm just touched this thing wrongly, just a moment.
SPEAKER_00Um, for a moment, I think I disconnected the video. So just a moment again. Oh, I think I just screwed up everything. Oh my god. Okay, I got that going.
SPEAKER_01Um you're back to business. Again, um when I was uh talking, for example, about the fact that you know when we when we vote for politicians, again, uh normally we vote for politicians that what kind of um what kind of uh promises do they bring us? Normally it is about money making you richer because that has become a value system. In concept of, and we said about the fact that you know they go hand in hand, you know what? We have talked about this in the previous episode about happiness. There is so much of money we need. After that, the extra up to $80,000, they say, you know, something around that is enough. After that, it does not make your happiness level any better.
SPEAKER_02Um, what I'm talking more about is just um like um just wealth in general, you know? Wealth in general, but not but not like what politicians do a lot of times, they'll borrow from the future, right? When you when you go into these crazy deficits and everything, you're borrowing against the the future and you're putting everyone into debt. So you're actually taking money away from people. Okay. And at some point you're gonna have to have to pay that back, and that jerk dries jerk dries up at some point. So these politicians want to just give you a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01You're making life more complicated.
SPEAKER_02I'm just you know, people have to understand these things though.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, no.
SPEAKER_02We are talking about the you shouldn't just be just go with what someone someone wants to give you supposedly free stuff. That's not good. No, what I'm trying to say is that the subject is a kind of changing.
SPEAKER_01What are you talking about? Sorry, what are we talking about again? I'm I'm lost. We are talking about that again. Politicians that we choose normally they talk about they want us often. Often we vote we vote for a politician that has better promises for making us richer, but we don't have any promises. For example, a politician to come and say, you know what, um, I'm gonna make your life better, to make you to have a better life, and happier life. We don't have those kinds of promises from politicians because we, as public, our value system generally is to become richer because we think by becoming richer, we become happier. And I have asked even this question from people that you want to be rich or happy, and some often they people say that they want to be happy, but you know, some they say that, you know what, if I'm become richer, I know how to become happy. You know, I can use that valve. But I don't want to get too far from this, uh, from the main subject. The main subject that I'm trying to talk about again is the value system that we have. When we value money, then we we vote for people that they promise us money. And then what will happen? We our politicians that we get, they're the politicians that really would want to make us richer. So, how do they do that? They will be okay with child labor in some other country as long as we get our product for five cents less. Like what we had, I I don't know, in Bangladesh, it was that in this factory that collapsed because they just were building on it to make it bigger and bigger, and they were squeezed by the by the uh uh basically the business guys from this part of the world that I want the product to be cheaper, so for them to have it cheaper, they had a cheaper buildings, cheaper uh production line. They didn't pay their staff, and then the building collapsed and Allah people died. And child labor, eh, you know what, is not such a bad thing. Because as long as I get a product that I don't even need for five cents less. A product that we call it fast fashion at times, and we throw them out, which is bad for the climate, bad for my own economy, bad for my own mental health, bad for everybody. There is no winner in this game. But because we have a wrong value system, we think that if I get different clothing, cheaper clothing for a cheaper price, you know, and they keep changing, I become happier. Which will hurt everybody, including ourselves. When we have the wrong value system of this type, I'm gonna go back now to something that we want to discuss in the previous episode that you asked. Okay, then becomes then for the politicians, they think, okay, so how can we make our country richer? So what do they do? Maybe we can cheat some other countries. So if in Rwanda there is a mass killing happening, uh Rwanda doesn't have anything, but Iraq has oil, then I will come up with an excuse to attack Iraq. We call that oh mass. I don't think I'm voting for you. It was not me, by the way. I'm talking about George Bush who did that. It was not me. But for example, he comes up with uh weapons of mass destruction, you know, an allergy, and he attacks Iraq. And then when this behavior happens, then we get, of course, I know that happened after 9-11, but before 9-11 we had these things happening. That because the politicians they would go, you know, they would interfere in other countries just because of the resources that they had, not the ones that they don't have anything, then they would manipulate the government, they would ruin it. That is how the revolution in Iran, by the way, happened. When you asked, the revolution in Iran happened primarily because of the British and the American governments, primarily these two, I don't know how much of French, but you know, basically these richer countries that they had more influence, they played with the system. As simple as that. And it was easy, it was not that difficult. Uh I will get into that in another topic. So um that basically they caused the revolution. Why? Because they didn't want Shah. Why? Because Shah was increasing the oil prices, the whole Middle East was a very secure place, they didn't need the big brother to sell them weapons, so it was not really that good after all. But if Shah goes, then the area becomes insecure, then who should come in? Big Brother, which is America, to help and supporting. And then we wonder why 9-11 happens, why terrorism happens. And I want to bring this topic, and I had brought it up even before. As we normally, I mean, we probably have heard, one terrorist is the other person's freedom fighter. If we don't sit and think that why disguise they go through so much to come and kill other people and they lose their own lives. It's a very bad thing, don't take me wrong. But why did he do that? If you go back to the why part of it, it goes back kind of this way in a very simplistic way. That probably big brother did something to them. And why did he do that? It was not. For they didn't do it to do something good there, they meant to manipulate it to make money, and then they couldn't do anything, they got mad, and then over time it became but it became a terrorism.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so all these things you've talked about with these value systems and everything, like say for me personally, and I think for and for most of you who I know who I I think anyway, um, we don't want child labor. Like, that's awful. Um, no one really wanted this, say, like your terrorism, terrorism and all these things. No, nobody really wants any of those things. That's correct. So how is it how is it that it's the people's value system? Like how how how are we getting to this? Because these aren't say my value system.
SPEAKER_01I'm I'm glad you asked that question.
SPEAKER_02And I don't I don't think it's mostly audience's value system. Absolutely. You're very much correct. I would prefer not to live in a disposable world if I have to pay more for things of better quality.
SPEAKER_00You know what?
SPEAKER_01I'm really glad that you brought that up. This is exactly where I'm going with these things. We don't want bad for anybody. A lot of times, very frequently, you hear people saying that why people can't you live can't live in peace? Why can't they just be nice to each other? They want to. They have the wrong value system to begin with, and they don't know the consequences. Say that again. They don't know the consequences of their bad value system. They don't know what is a good versus a bad value system. So we are, as I said, when we think I want to become richer, not I become happier, who do I vote for? The person who promised me to make me richer. The person who wants to make me richer, how do they make you richer? They sometimes push the other country for production, the child labor, or cheat the other country to take their resources for less money or sell them weapons or something to make them to make the person to this country richer. And then when they become richer, by the way, who do they give that money to? I'm talking, for example, about the United States in this case. Do they really give it to the all public American or maybe not? First, the top guys. And this is why we have such a you know, in the United States, we have some people that are multi-multi-billionaire, but at the same time we have a lot of poverty.
SPEAKER_02I'm just gonna throw this note there though. What about the redistribution of wealth? Isn't that isn't that a way of they're they're promising to give people money, but it's just they're taking from one and giving to another. But isn't that also pandering and and giving people money instead of happiness?
SPEAKER_01You know what? Um again, this is a little bit, I guess, off topic, but I'm glad you brought it up. I'm gonna very quickly touch based on it. Normally I think about prevention. You're talking about the treatment. Yeah. And I'm not a politician. I'm not a liar for sure. I'm not a politician. I don't know the treatment as much. But when it comes to prevention, I think I know it relatively good. And the prevention is very easy. As I said, next time you want to vote, when you want to select your friends, be honest. Vote for honesty to begin with. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with your friends. When you do that, you vote for the honesty. You will get an honest politician. When you get that, they will show their flaw. We all do have flaws. But because we are honest, we show our flaws. When we write, we show our flaws, we get a chance to fix it. That is the basic thing. Let's not worry about too far about it. So honesty, that is what I'm trying to say, comes up. Because when you're honest, you show your own flaw. Other people they show their flaws, and then we get a chance to improve on. Otherwise, we are just faking things.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Well, what's the difference between honesty and well, there's honesty and then there's truth, right? And then truth can depend on your point of view, apparently. That's what OE1 Kenobi has taught us.
SPEAKER_01To mean you lost me there. What I'm trying to say again, if you're honest with your own feeling, you promote as this honesty. If somebody comes and tells you you make a mistake, very honestly they tell you that they believe you're making a mistake and they don't approve of what you're doing, then you be you choose those as friends and chose you know, vote for them like them, versus somebody that whatever you do, they say, Oh, you're good, you're right, you know, and they approve of you.
SPEAKER_02Honesty means it just makes me wonder what's the difference though between honesty and truth. You know, there's there's honesty, someone being honest, and then there's the truth. Right? Oh and those are the things that I think becomes too philosophical. Those aren't always the same things. So I think I think we have to be a little bit careful there. Um to say someone might be honest, sure, in their opinion or with with what they believe or something, sure, you can be as honest as you want. Is it the truth though? And and we want to search for truth as best we can, right? Could I? And I'm not I'm not saying that no, don't and they got honesty and everything. That's that's like good and and and great. And I think you're you you are right, you know, go with who is honest, but we we can't just throw out truth. We always have to be searching for what's true.
SPEAKER_01That is yeah, correct.
unknownCorrect.
SPEAKER_01Obviously, I don't want to say that is truth. Yeah, we are looking for the truth. But again, at the end of the day, that's what I'm saying. It's becoming too philosophical and out of my scope to be honest a little bit. Okay. But so what I'm trying to say is that let us just go for the honesty and being honest, and you know, and then again, uh, really, I think the priorities that we have in life, if we we we have the right value system, if for example we go to other countries, to other people, to everybody, really with the idea of helping them versus cheating them. To to want to bring other people up versus pushing them down so that we take advantage. If we switch in that one, we will never have a concept of hate, war, terrorism, those things will be abolished. That is what I'm saying. I mean it would become really scarce. I'm not saying it stops, but definitely it will drop it. If you go and help somebody genuinely, most of the time they see the genuity. And I'm not saying all the time, because some people they just don't believe, they they don't believe in genuity. You can do all the best to them. Again, if they haven't experienced it, they think everybody's there to get them. There are some are like that, but in general, in the big picture, the answer is no. Uh, you know, majority of people they see you have been genuine to them, you have been really trying to help them, and then what do you think they are gonna do to you? They are gonna be good to you, right? Right again, like the native that they have this expression there is a good wolf and bad wolf in you. Which one wins? The one that you feed. So it goes back to that. Again, at the end, I would like to finish it with this question for everybody. That what are the priorities for you in life? Wealth, health, happiness, family, fame, power, what? And in what order? And trust me, the order will not change ever. I come from a poor family. I, of course, again, during Shastan, we were good. I have to clarify that. After that, we became poor, so I felt it a lot more. And then for me, for example, money was very important. But very soon in life, I'm really glad that I realized that, you know, but that no, no, they've I want to be happy personally, and they worked on that. Yes, I had needed so much money. As soon as I got that afterwards, I kept working. It didn't stop me. But my main goal was not to make more money, my main goal was to be happy, and then and I the same thing, it happened both health and you know, lots of other things. So the question for you is what is your priority? And are your priorities correct and the right order? Because that is will decide that exactly which direction you go and who you vote for and who your friends are.
SPEAKER_02I think I have to move to I can't be across the street from the child molester. It's it's kind of it's kind of bugging me now.
SPEAKER_01Don't worry, that was just uh simple simple scenario. Don't worry about that, it's not there. Anyway, love you guys, and again, please remember life is simple, we make it complicated. Take care.