The 48 Laws of Power

NorCal 50+
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3/12/2018 11:12am
My wife sent me these. I believe they are based on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War." It's basically how to be the most ruthless a-hole imaginable, and how to win at any cost.

http://the48lawsofpower.com/summary

I believe this is why certain people succeed in business, and others don't. I had a multi-millionaire friend that was just like this. His attitude was that cheating and lying were perfectly okay. I always argued that you also need ethics, but he told me I saw a sap for believing that, and that is why I wasn't rich.
If you read these, you will see they describe a certain high level American elected official to a T. That is his genius, especially these two:

27th of 48 laws of power
Play on people’s need to believe to create a cult-like following
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

3rd of 48 laws of power
Conceal your intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

6th of 48 laws of power
Court attention at all cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.
7th of 48 laws of power
Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
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3/12/2018 11:26am
Those 48 laws can be boiled down to three rules outlined in this book:

The Dictator's Handook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

It is about how to gain, maintain, and control power, and what happens when you ignore or mishandle any of the three requirements. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it very informative.
NorCal 50+
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3/12/2018 11:39am
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them more power and money. Like the fact that rich people like celebrities get everything for free- what a dichotomy. Meanwhile poor people get charged more for being poor.
The idea that successful people are good and poor people are bad is the central idea to our society. It is no surprise who rises to the top economically- the greedy, selfish and ruthless. "Nice guys finish last" etc. A good example is school teachers who could make more money delivering pizza, but they still do it.
hppylib
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3/12/2018 11:54am
NorCal 50+ wrote:
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them...
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them more power and money. Like the fact that rich people like celebrities get everything for free- what a dichotomy. Meanwhile poor people get charged more for being poor.
The idea that successful people are good and poor people are bad is the central idea to our society. It is no surprise who rises to the top economically- the greedy, selfish and ruthless. "Nice guys finish last" etc. A good example is school teachers who could make more money delivering pizza, but they still do it.
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.

The Shop

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3/12/2018 12:00pm
NorCal 50+ wrote:
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them...
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them more power and money. Like the fact that rich people like celebrities get everything for free- what a dichotomy. Meanwhile poor people get charged more for being poor.
The idea that successful people are good and poor people are bad is the central idea to our society. It is no surprise who rises to the top economically- the greedy, selfish and ruthless. "Nice guys finish last" etc. A good example is school teachers who could make more money delivering pizza, but they still do it.
hppylib wrote:
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.
Agreed. I see that every day. I was raised on self-sufficiency so it pisses me off when people expect something for nothing, and a lot of people do. At the same time, getting a chronic illness in America is a ticket straight to poverty, for example. We don't give a shit about our old people and sick people in the USA, especially the mentally ill. You can't pay money to a corporation in America and you're fucked basically. But I am not complaining- it's just the way it is.
Look at Puerto Rico- this is US territory and we can't even get them electricity. And pretty much nobody gives a crap except the people that don't have electricity. We hate with a passion those who suffer misfortune in our society.
early
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3/12/2018 12:32pm
NorCal 50+ wrote:
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them...
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them more power and money. Like the fact that rich people like celebrities get everything for free- what a dichotomy. Meanwhile poor people get charged more for being poor.
The idea that successful people are good and poor people are bad is the central idea to our society. It is no surprise who rises to the top economically- the greedy, selfish and ruthless. "Nice guys finish last" etc. A good example is school teachers who could make more money delivering pizza, but they still do it.
hppylib wrote:
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.
Effort will usually bump you up from make 8 bucks an hour to 50k plus but connections are where the true wealth is contained.
vetmxr
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3/12/2018 6:28pm
NorCal 50+ wrote:
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them...
These are especially true in a capitalist society, for obvious reasons. The more power and money people get, we seem to want to just give them more power and money. Like the fact that rich people like celebrities get everything for free- what a dichotomy. Meanwhile poor people get charged more for being poor.
The idea that successful people are good and poor people are bad is the central idea to our society. It is no surprise who rises to the top economically- the greedy, selfish and ruthless. "Nice guys finish last" etc. A good example is school teachers who could make more money delivering pizza, but they still do it.
hppylib wrote:
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.
early wrote:
Effort will usually bump you up from make 8 bucks an hour to 50k plus but connections are where the true wealth is contained.
And connections are why we give powerful, rich folks more free goodies. Because they can do 'things' for us that poor people cannot. Need bail money.....calling a broke dude is wasting time......call a rich guy that can write a check and hope he remembers the free tickets to the Lakers that you got for him once.

I tell my children all the time.......Its not what you know.....it's who you know...... don't burn bridges.
hard2kill
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3/13/2018 7:44am
Sadly it seems most people today have the wrong definition of power, and success.
3/13/2018 12:01pm
hppylib wrote:
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.
All those poor people working 2/3 jobs to make ends meet aren’t working hard enough?
Ive seen plenty of lazy rich people and plenty of hard working poor people. Opportunity and preparation don’t always meet.
NorCal 50+
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3/13/2018 12:56pm
hppylib wrote:
I'm not sure about other areas but where I live, income inequality correlates closely with effort inequality.
All those poor people working 2/3 jobs to make ends meet aren’t working hard enough? Ive seen plenty of lazy rich people and plenty of hard...
All those poor people working 2/3 jobs to make ends meet aren’t working hard enough?
Ive seen plenty of lazy rich people and plenty of hard working poor people. Opportunity and preparation don’t always meet.
There are plenty of stupid rich people also. I had to deal with one mf'er recently in a legal battle and the dude has millions of dollars despite making a serious of entirely stupid and non-rational decisions in the course of our dispute. When he was on his fifth lawyer I realized his legal team was just sucking money off him, which ended up being the case. Not once did this guy even raise a cohesive argument. This guy was not only dumb but mental, He had made large amounts of money because of a state insurance law that benefitted his business.
3/13/2018 1:18pm
vetmxr wrote:
And connections are why we give powerful, rich folks more free goodies. Because they can do 'things' for us that poor people cannot. Need bail money.....calling...
And connections are why we give powerful, rich folks more free goodies. Because they can do 'things' for us that poor people cannot. Need bail money.....calling a broke dude is wasting time......call a rich guy that can write a check and hope he remembers the free tickets to the Lakers that you got for him once.

I tell my children all the time.......Its not what you know.....it's who you know...... don't burn bridges.
It's what you know AND who you know. They go hand in hand.
oh, and being born into a rich family. That always helps.

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