Better alternatives header

let's Quit the Bullshit


I told a friend of mine, that I guess we -on average- waste about 80% of our time/energy/money/resources on BullShit. He laughed, and then estimated that 95% would be more realistic. What is your estimate? What parts in your life would you like to get rid of because they feel like: nonsense, unecessary, a waste of time, not essential, boring, bad, polluting, low quality, irritating, too expensive, unhealthy, stupid, dumb, a lie, unfair, like them having an official license to steal from you, bureaucratic rubbish, loveless?

We can not progress quickly with all that BS active.
When all of us quit the BS, we can get a huge amount of freedom back!
And next; what can we do with all that freedom?

What is bullshit and what is not

I'm sure that we can not completely agree about what is and what is not BullShit, because it is partly subjective.

Some things feel like BS, unpleasant things that you don't want to do. But if these things are actually necessary, essential, then they are not BS. Unpleasant does not equal BS. Some pleasant things we like to do, may seem like BS because they are not really necessary, not essential. But having a good time, having fun, enjoying whatever, is very important! This is no BS. Everybody should have enough time to 'waste' on pleasant activities.

Real BS are the things that seem necessary, but really they are not. They just rob us from or energy/time/money/resources and prevent us from progressing as individuals and as a species.

Can one person escape the BS by moving to an other place? Well; anywhere there are people there is BS, although some places more than the other. Going alone deep into a forest? That is extreme, not something everybody can or wants to do.

By the way; it is not my goal to make everybody a minimalist. If you like to have an almost empty house and life, cool, but if you like to collect certain things and be busy all the time, that is cool too.


What types of bullshit are there?

There are 2 types of BS: your personal BS and the BS of the community you live in.

Your personal BS:
Here everybody can take small and big steps, reducing and removing Your personal BS. Of many things are in you control!
Question everything:
- Where is your money going to? Do you really need all of that?
- All the stuff that you have? Do you really need all of that?
- All the things that you do that cost time/money. Are these activities really at the top of your wishlist?
- Where you live and the house itself, is that optimal?
- Your car, your bike, are they safe or are you risking your life every day?
- Different questions: your partner, your petts, your friends, are your social contacts good for you, and you for them?
- Ones there are children, you have to care for them, but how you care for them, is that working well for you and them?
- Your job, you do that for the money or because you really enjoy it, or both? What is more important?
- Your thoughts. Do you spend your mental power in a good way?
- You kind of are what you eat. What do you eat and drink?
- A healthy body is extremely important. Do you take good care of your body?
- Any unhealthy addictions? Illegal drugs, legal drugs, too much: alcohol, coffee, sugar? Reduce and stop it.

The BS of the community/country you live in:
This source of BS is way more difficult to reduce & remove, because it is out of your control. You could move to another country or to an other part of your country where there is less BS. But really; where there are people there is BS. For example:
- Some government rules are BS. We need some good rules, but not too much, we also need freedom.
- Bureaucracy from government and large companies that are in power or have a monopoly. When they produce BS bureaucracy, you have no choice, you will have to deal with it.
- Too much of our money goes to our government by taxes. I say too much because much of it is wasted.
- The cost of living is too high, 2024 Amsterdam I say at least 75% of the rent/cost of a house is BS. Do you think an apartment is worth that much? When build 80 years ago, and you know a house is just a collection of: stones, wood, glass, pipes, wires, paint and such. 80 years ago it was designed and build by some people. These costs have long been paid for. There are the cost of maintenance, but further more you are paying for: who owns the land, who owns the location, and tax. The house itself is almost worthless.
- Too much low quality goods, foods, & services. And as a result (!) high quality goods, foods, & services are too few and too expensive, and more waste is produced. This is actually the result of the majority of us preference of cheap over quality.
- Comercials, advertisements, I do NOT want to see or hear them, anywhere, not even the funny ones. It is an enormous waste of everything, just to trick us to by product B instead of product A. Information is fine, and making things look good; yes please.
- Having to choose a good internet & telephone deal. Connection has become so basic, elementary, I say make a basic connection free for everybody. Vote for me! -oh no, I am not running for president.



How to personality deal with the B.S?

You can start by reducing your personal B.S. Easier said than done, but basically a matter of "just do it".

Then the B.S. coming from your community/country.. You have to deal with this B.S. Best approaches: work through it as efficient and fast as you can, to be done with it a.s.a.p. The other best approach is: to let somebody else deal with your B.S. This sounds easy, but this person needs to be paid. Also will this person sometimes interfere with your life, and sometimes not be available.

Yeah there is a solution coming: robots plus A.G.I. Always available, super smart, works for free, does not really interfere with your life. I need two robots!


How can we reduce the amount of B.S. in our community/country/world?

This is a difficult and large challenge. Luckily do most people support a fight against B.S. You can try to make a change IF you devote your life to it. But you can only do that if somebody else supports your life and actions. More chance of success it your form a group of people with the common goal to reduce the amount of B.S. But then again: another group of people has to support this group to live and work. This starts to sound like a political party. A political party that gets things done? That sound unreal..

I can't write exactly how to on this page, because I am still puzzled myself!
I have my opinions about what is and what is not BS. But not everybody will agree with me.
Thus we can/schould start by making a list of BS in order of most hated?


What is the opposite of BS? I think of the words: common sense, fair, simple, clear, efficient, well organized, personal attention, trust, useful, flexible, logic over rules, short, less waste, smart, wisedom.

If BS is so stupid, and everybody hates it, then why is it all over the place?
- Lazy people? To make something good takes effort. Aren't most people lazy?
- Not smart people? To make something good takes high quality brains. Not everybody has high quality brains.
- Is it cheaper to make B.S.? Maybe short term?
- We "need" to work, for money. The goal is money instead of a good product/service. We create too much stuff, to stay bussy, for the money.


But then how can we get rid of the BS?
- By force of punishment? From the government? Or by court case? So we need a law that forbids too much BS!
- By reward? Do it better and we'll reward you! Payed by who? And next some will create BS on purpose, so to get payed clearing it.. People.
And I don't like to give the government too much control.
Then again; we can also use anti BS laws against the government itself!




Giesbert Nijhuis
2024-11