Jason Holland

Our Pragmatic Confines

by Jason HollandJanuary 15, 2014February 15, 2014

When facing a problem, a mere tweak is an appropriate solution more often than a complete overhaul. But it seems we’ve become so conditioned to …

8 Tips for Sounding Like a Crazy Uncle in Any Debate

by Jason HollandJanuary 11, 2014

Occasionally we’re all on the wrong side of a debate, some more than others. However, if you’re determined to be an insufferable clod in a …

On Irrational Bias

by Jason HollandDecember 12, 2013December 20, 2013

This just in, people are irrational. Irrationality is often constructed on a platform of bias that can mold opinions into moored granite. Intractable bias also …

The Myth of the Skills Gap

by Jason HollandSeptember 5, 2013November 16, 2014

On July 12th, 2013 handyman spokesman Mike Rowe took a break from what was likely a poop cleaning fetish film, or more commonly known as …

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.”
― Lao Tzu

“They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machine and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it.”

-George Carlin

Spanish proverb: honra y provecho no caben en un saco (Honour and money are not to be found in the same purse)

“I could not become anything; neither good nor bad; neither a scoundrel nor an honest man; neither a hero nor an insect. And now I am eking out my days in my corner, taunting myself with the bitter and entirely useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot seriously become anything, that only a fool can become something.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes From Underground

“A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you . . . Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question . . . Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t it is of no use.” – Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda

Hunter S Thompson on the 60s & Bay area from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:

“There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .

And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” – Marcel Proust

Essay

Hippie Jesus Isn’t Down with Capitalism

by Jason HollandApril 14, 2024April 14, 20240

I found some quotes in the Bible that I thought were pretty radical to the contemporary mindset. It seems convenient how so many Christians just…

Essay

On Rage and Non-Acceptance

by Jason HollandMarch 26, 2024March 26, 20240

There’s no doubt about it, I’ve struggled with numerous bouts of rage in my life. Those moments have become more rare as I age however…

Art / Essay

Taylor Swift and Pop Music Are Antithetical to Art, Truth & Beauty

by Jason HollandMarch 3, 2024March 3, 20240

This hater’s gonna hate but Swift can shake it off To channel a little righteous Henry Miller- This is not an essay. This is libel,…

Essay

Why Peace Is Impossible in Western Society Part III

by Jason HollandJanuary 23, 2024January 23, 20240

“They're profiting from your worry" - Andrew Bird, Bloodless To read prior installments: Here for Part I. And Part II here. In this series…

Essay

Why Peace Is Impossible in Western Society Part II

by Jason HollandOctober 7, 2023May 1, 20240

In case you missed it, part I can be read here. There are common patterns in societies that operate like a giant pyramid scheme. They…