Necessary Evils
America is such a fickle place. Stupid consumers took out loans they could never hope to afford, with all kinds of complex conditions they didn't bother to read, and then they gripe about the economy. Banks and lenders sell the loans under false pretenses out of pure, unadulterated greed, cry about needing a bailout and then go right back to spending lavishly on their employees. But floating right under the surface of this is something profoundly optimistic: the promise of a new start.
Jealousy: The Swift Killer
Of all the emotions in the human palette, the single most harmful is jealousy. Lives get taken over it, great leaders have lost their empires because of it and quite frankly you're a fool if you allow it to take hold anywhere in your life. When people see things they don't have yet, or someone who has excelled at something they don't understand or have previously failed in, the first thing that comes to mind is the deadly green monster. As an evil genius bent on world domination, you must make sure that as you progress on your journey, you don't flaunt your success in the face of lesser people. Even if they have no previous ambition, it will strike a fire within even the weakest men to make your down fall their single mission in life.
Money Changes The Rules
The life of a working person in America is largely nothing more than an illusion. People here are taught that you grow up, work hard at your job and retire in your 50s on some island in the Carribean, fat and happy. But even as a child, I'd notice that there were people in their 60s working at grocery stores and fast food restaurants. I'd look up and ask my parents, "why are these grandmas and grandpas working here?" Fortunately, I have brutally honest parents, and they told me the truth. They explained to me the reality of how this world doesn't take care of people who don't have money.
