RULES TO PLAY BY

Beat the System, but play within the rules.  Don’t ‘cross the line’ morally or ethically.  No amount of money or benefits derived is worth losing your self –respect or your liberty. Live by the reverent version of the ‘golden rule’; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, not “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.

Even when the rules are unfair, it is generally to your advantage to stay within the DEFINED rules and laws set down by society.   If you do not, if you practice your own version of ‘civil disobedience’, then at least be aware of the consequences of your actions and be willing to accept them.   Make sure the risks are commensurate with the reward you are seeking

The ‘irreverent golden rule’ comes to mind; “He who has the gold makes the rules”.  The Big Boys have the gold.   By feeding a portion of it to the Political System through ‘special interest money’ they’re able to legislate the rules we’re forced to live by, the laws of our society.  That makes for a very formidable opponent if you compete on that level.

When sparring with the System, you’re challenging the organizations that are generally responsible for making the rules.  You’re sparring with an opponent with more ‘power’ than you, you’re picking a fight with the ‘big kid’ on the block.  And if the memory of your last childhood bloody nose isn’t too fresh in your mind, then let me remind you, it isn’t a pleasant experience.  It simply isn’t very smart, particularly when there are usually other alternatives to achieve the same objectives.

Even when the rules aren’t officially transformed into law, the power of the System to give or take away privileges often makes the penalty for openly defying their authority prohibitive. 

As an example, let’s say you’re trying to win the ‘airfare game’.   You engage in ‘back-to-back’ ticketing or ‘hidden city routing’.  You are not breaking the law.  No one is going to knock down your door and arrest you, but you are breaking the rules of the frequent flyer program.  It is likely, that given the increasingly sophisticated nature of the airlines computer systems, you will eventually get caught and forced to give up all the frequent flyer miles you have accumulated.  That’s not winning and that defeats the purpose of your ‘game’.

So………how are we going to beat the System with all these constraints to our free trade? 

We’re going to do an ‘end run’.  We’re going to play the David and Goliath game.  We’re going to chuck stones at the System until its bounty falls into our laps. 

We’re going to use the System to achieve our objectives, rather than being used BY the System.  We’ll be good little boys and girls, playing by all the rules.  This will enable us to covertly punch away at the ‘Bully’ without fear of retribution and without the accompanying stress and anxiety.

We’ll use the same ‘gorilla warfare’ tactics that have been used o defeat larger more powerful foes for centuries.

We’ll solve problems that plaque mankind and we’ll find loopholes in the System, angles that enable us to morally, ethically, and legally take advantage of the opportunities created for us by the System. 

We’ll cultivate a fertile garden of opportunities, planting new opportunities more rapidly than the old ones die out.

Will we ever run out of opportunities? 

No way!   The System is designed to create new opportunities, just as rapidly as the old ones die out.  It’s ecologically sound, totally renewable.

Besides, I’m not going to ‘give you a fish’.  I’m going to ‘teach you how to fish’.  When you learn ‘how to fish’, the technique to finding opportunities, you will have an unlimited resource, one enabling you to continually seek out unlimited opportunities.  Circumstances may change, but you’ll still have the ability to find new advantages. Your only limitation will be your own ambition and creativity.