Cognitive Dissonance

So, joylessly I ingested a combination of nicotine and other noxious carcinogens first thing this morning while having coffee. I skimmed over the news and noted that a large automotive company had set aside 39 billion to offset the future tax liability of some of their retained earnings.

I confess the phrase “retained earnings” never had any meaning for me. Retained? What the hell is that? By contrast, I fully understand the phrase “rapid asset distribution” and “negative checkbook balance.”

These observations came right after percolating over what I read yesterday. There was a science article in the New York Times about cognitive dissonance and, being in a creative state of mind, I launched an extremely complex computer painting/collage to illustrate the point. Needless to say, I also fully understood the state-of-being described by the phrase “cognitive dissonance.” …indeed.

Ordinarily, at this point, I would pause and smile but, crude oil prices are just above $130 a barrel and that means that when we get the refined product to power our vehicles we have to spend over $4 a gallon for it. I’m going to coin the phrase, “little-bite-legal-theft” to account for constantly ratcheting upward costs.

Ah, what the hell, I’m going to smile anyways. It’s only money. Money has become a rather abstract plastic-card-electronic-posting-notation anyway. The relative few who carry cash do it only for showing off to their companion/s of the moment or they are criminals who need to not be traceable by checking accounts and such.

Money brings imagined power to the money holder. It must be some kind of atavistic herd behavior, an evolutionary drive that forces human beings to be “better than.” Money does not guarantee a better seat when death finally comes yet no one believes they will die, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. That, by the way, is the very definition of cognitive dissonance!

In my case, after being sucked in to the entire social-climbing game as a young man; that is, a super-charged income machine, late middle age and some health disasters have taught me the truth of what that Old Italian business man said to me. He owned a tile and carpet store in Painesville, Ohio, at an old, L-shaped strip mall across from what was, at the time, my favorite bar.

When I met him I was half-owner of a lighting-supply distributorship and was making cold calls on a whim. I had planned my sales calls to end near my bar, of course. So, I made my last sales call of the day at his store.

After a little bit of conversation, we humorously commiserated about the heavy burden of owning a business. Just before I was about to leave he said, “The secret of being successful is to stay small.”

I laughed that off at the time but, after seven audits by our friends in the IRS, three career changes (each super-charged with income,) a divorce, with its rapid property re-allocation, a descent into poverty, a triple-bypass surgery and a phoenix-like return from financial ashes, I finally understood what the old Italian said. At least I think I understand…

Stay small; be invisible to the powerful, the greedy and the government. Live modestly. Obtain enough income to pay for the roof over your head, food, cars and a couple of sparkly things, on occasion, for the important others in your life.

Do what you love and, most importantly, steal time to do what you love. Have people over for dinner. Get rid of the things you do not use. Be generous. Find compassion for others. Stop being better-than. Oh, and be nice, no matter what.

That practically guarantees the sunshine of true happiness. That’s what the Old Italian businessman meant. I’m sure of it.