An Interview with Michael Spence

In this interview, Michael Spence brings up an interesting topic. He describes the relationship between technology and our thinking capacity. As new technology is being introduced into our society, he feels that this is unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with the technology, but it has to due with our capacity to control the technology. In a sense, he is trying to say that technology nowadays is taking over our will. Some individuals are consumed by technology and spend countless hours on it. He states that we have not developed "the inner discipline, the inner strength, to know when to use the possibilities and when they've become destructive," I think we need to realize and identify our internal strength. Developing discipline can allow one to overcome the internal conflict that technology can bring. We cannot allow technology to consume our lives.

The Genius of Money Chapter 15

Ralph Waldo Emerson (the American transcendentalist) talks about the moral challenges of accumulating wealth and the forces that money bears. He mentions that some people are "born to own" and others are not because their owning is not graceful; it seems to be a compromise within their own self. During his time, he was beginning to feel the force of money within his culture and work environment. Emerson was able to identify that land holders, bankers, and emerging industrialists were accumulating wealth through their ownership of land and capital.  However, he questioned "Who should be given the right of the use and distribution of that wealth?" Emerson recognized that money has now become the new natural resources. In his eyes, a person with high moral integrity will be able to determine if he or she can administer the use of wealth. 

Furthermore, Eva Hoffman (a Polish immigrant, who moved to Canada at the age of thirteen, and then to America) viewed ones identity on the influence of both material and cultural circumstances. Bloom brings in great reference to this point. He mentions that in today's society, media has played a big role in shaping the identity formation on the younger generation. The media bombards us with material items that will give us a higher status in life, but that is not being true to ones self. Bloom states, "I would think of myself as a brand rather than a self, an image rather than its source," I find this quote interesting because being materialistic can cloud us to think clearly and distracts the true focus of our main goals.Hoffman mentions that we should look beyond the material and focus on the spiritual perspective of life.

The Genius of Money: Tribute Paid

Chapter one describes the intersection of spirit and money. The spiritual practice is considered a private matter and the world of money is a public matter. John Bloom refers to a painting that shows a Herodian character handing Jesus a coin. In the painting, Jesus is looking directly in the eye of the other person rather than at the coin because he is trying to unmask the deceit from this other character. He is not focused on the money at all. This illustrates the power of spirit over the power of money. Jesus was able to to identify what belonged in this world and what was in the realm of spirits. He was able to point out when the two would fall out of integrity. Moreover, people are dependent of money because it revolves around their culture. Money carries value in our sense of well being, which is dangerous because it is close to our self spirit. We have the opportunity to transform the way we see money and not be controlled by our desire nature. We should see money as connected to our intentions whether it be moral-ethical or disingenuous.

Food Post 3

As Kurt goes on to tell his story about becoming a farmer, we can see his progression as each chapter goes on. Kurt introduces new live stocks into his farm and provides us with important detail as why it is beneficial to the farm. He also explains what roles each animals have. An important quote that Kurt mentions, “It’s easy to discuss the “best” environmental practices in farming without a budget, but implementing good systems with limited funds is a challenge.” We see a few challenges that Kurt has to face with his farm and with each roadblock; Kurt has to find solutions in order to overcome them. To solve his environmental practices he uses rotational grazing, which is a system that moves the animals around so that the pasture can grow again. Kurt is always exploring new ideas and ways on how he can improve as a farmer.
Furthermore, this is an interesting book and proves to be an eye opener to try new things. 

The Entrepreneurial Journey

 If you would like to start your own company in the future, here are some advice that I gained from other entrepreneurs and research that I have done. Starting your own business can be a challenging task, but it is also rewarding. Even though one does not succeed with their first venture, they can learn from their mistakes and try to improve themselves in the future or with their next endeavor. It is important to not feel discouraged and to always have an empowering mindset so that you can stay determined and try to achieve your goals. Negativity will only bring you down.

When developing your business, you should not only create a detailed business plan, but also try to sell and create enough awareness for your product. As an entrepreneur, you should try to tell as many people as you can about your business. This helps to draw in potential sales and also allows you to obtain feedback on how your product can improve. Creating your customer base is crucial in the beginning. One method to solve this problem is to work in the industry that you are interested in the sales or marketing department and network with your customers. Identify any problems that they currently have and take this information and apply it to your own business. Therefore you can fulfill the needs of your consumers. However, you have to make sure that when you contact your previous customers from your old job, you are not breaching any type of contract agreements.

Lastly, you should have a desiring passion when forming your business because this is something that you will be investing a lot of time in and if it does not inspire or make you happy, one can have a difficult time in taking the business to the next level. Enjoying what you do, will allow you to have fun and will give you motivation to break into new barriers. It is also important to always stay focused and have a clear mindset if you want to succeed. One should learn to overcome problems and gain knowledge from the experience.