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Tuesday 29 November 2022

Why Selfishness is Regressive

I Read The Corpus Hermeticum So You Don't Have To (Hermeticism)
Prompted by Adam as part of the VIP Janthopoyism Bible package.

Ignoring that you've never seen one before, please picture an atom the best you can. The infinities of its powers are unknown as it tightly locks its secrets in an impossibly small world of inaccessibility. However, we can agree without much debate that it's the collection of like-atoms that bring about their influence. With enough grouped particles, all four fundamental states arrive into being (solid, liquid, gas, and plasma). As a result, the entirety of the Universe moves forward via this collaborative effort.

Atoms are the raw substance you are made of, from the bits of skin you shed every day to the electrical signals that spark between your neurological synapses, triggering thoughts, identifying yourself with yourself. Your brain is nothing but a conglomerate of these almost indistinguishable specks, and yet together, they create the most powerful organ known to humans. Still, what is a brain without the rest of the body? The atoms that construct the digestive tract to nourish your inner mechanics. The atoms that construct the lungs to draw oxygen into your cells. The atoms that construct the heart to pump blood, distributing that oxygen to keep the brain operational. And the atoms that construct the limbs which the mind can puppeteer to perform crucial tasks. Only in unity can these separate pieces of the anatomy manage a comfortably fulfilling life, relying on one another to do their job and forming the complete Homo sapien animal we recognise today.

For some reason, this model of systems built upon systems ends here for so many. The mind has no problem grasping the complexities of combined particles and tissues accomplishing singular units, yet when it reaches its individual perception, it snags on a ceiling manufactured by its ego. From this point upward, they're on their own. They're responsible for their life without much regard for those who do not bring benefit. It’s a line of thinking as miserable as it is ludicrous. If any organ adopted this approach, the body would soon perish. When a cell decides to behave independently, the consequences are cancerous.

Our society depends on humans satisfying specific roles, but we must look beyond the apparent chain of capitalist trade to find genuine value. For certain people to revel in excessive affluence while others suffer in poverty is akin to a robust set of kidneys next to a bad case of appendicitis. It only takes a single component to fail for the creature to fall. Instead, we must drop our outdated dog-eats-dog mentality and level the playing field so that every person has equal opportunity. With the right potential, the most skilled doctors, scientists, and artists will not entirely be found within the upper class. That is statistically implausible. For the better of the human race, we must view our species as a unit, no longer selfishly hoarding assets in fear but allocating favourable circumstances fairly, as this will ultimately enhance the collective and evolve us forward.

Once we manage this feat, we will conquer our egos, and our progression of thought will be infinite. First, the unification of the humans, then the humans with the Earth, then the Earth with our solar system, then our solar system with the galaxy, until we eventually identify ourselves for what we truly are: mere minute instruments, like atoms, functioning within the greatest superorganism of all. The assemblage of absolutely everything. The entire Universe as One Supreme Being.


Monday 19 September 2022

Financial Case Study: Janthopoyism Bible



If you are interested in writing a book using the crowdfunding avenue as I did (or if you're just a nerd for business stuff), I have chalked up the full financial results from my project below. Enjoy!

I based my economic model for the Janthopoyism Bible (Limited Black Edition) on socialist sentiments, whereby everyone in the world pays the exact same amount irrespective of location. This way, those who lived close (in the UK) would subsidise the postal cost for those overseas, especially when the currency was not in their favour.

I launched the Indiegogo campaign with various tiers, ranging from as little as £1 (a prayer) or £5 (digital copy) right up to £1,000 (I'd come to visit you anywhere in the world to collaborate on art) or £5,000 (tattoo your name on me).

I was banking on a £15 average: the printed book, signed, and mailed. I estimated £6 print per each book (50 copies) would leave £9 shipping a pop to be delegated however. It seemed a safe bet. Turns out, it was not, as we shall see.

39 people backed the project, raising a whopping £1,061, ultimately 212% of my stupidly low £500 goal.

As per usual, fomo struck many onlookers after the fact, and a further 14 people jumped into my DMs following, raising £239.7 on top of that, now £1300.70 in total.

With 53 people on board, I rounded up to print 60 books, because I also wanted a copy, plus it was nice to have extras to play with. This totalled £21.68 per book available, yippee! No sweat.

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and many hidden (as well as obvious) costs rapidly chipped away at this amount.

Things first went wrong when the book was 100 pages longer than I anticipated, oops, me and my big mouth. That meant £7.13 per book to print, £427.7 all in.

Then there was the editing cost, £280.58. Of all expenses, this was probably the most worth it, as the quality of the product benefited endlessly, and I shudder to think of how many pages it would have been if not for this process. Shout-out to Jax!

The money arrived, and Indiegogo whacked out a £120.52 cut, WHA-POW! Paypal also stole £3.58 for no justifiable reason.

This left £469 after 60 books were in my lap. Sounds fine but, again, no.

Four contributors are the heroes of the story who went VIP and passed on £100 each. Most of you who receive the book owe it to them. Still, part of my gratitude came with additional prizes, which cost £47.71. Worth it from my side!

But one payment that proved my ignorance was general stationery (envelopes, printing, glue etc.), which totalled £59.28. Meanwhile, most international shipping required custom forms attached, a seemingly minor detail that came to £18.79.

Now we have £343 left, and we haven't even shipped anything yet! Which we shall do now.

Two VIP contributors lived abroad and deserved nothing less than the best postage care, costing £13.65 and £19.5 to Portugal and South Africa, respectively.

The rest of the shipping looked like this:
UK (27 copies) - £93.05 (£3.20 shipping per copy including return train ticket from Reading to London for hand deliveries)
EU (6 copies) - £53.95 (£8.99 shipping per copy)
Australia (5 copies) - £61.82 (£12.37 shipping per copy)
South Africa (1) - £14.85 (per shipping copy)
USA (11 copies) - £168.39 (£15.31 shipping per copy)

That's 52 copies.
There is another South African copy unaccounted for, which a friend's mom is hand delivering. Thanks!
Additionally, I gave 2 away for a competition, 2 more away to my friends who were kind enough to let me use their house like a book factory, and kept one for myself.
That leaves 2 more in case of emergencies.

In the end, the kitty was sucked dry, and I was £82 in debt.
This does not include the postcards I still owe those who paid for that bonus.
It also does not include tax, but I have an inkling I can write this all off because I lost the game?

There is a lucky twist to this story. Last year I wrote a book called Heartbreak Sucks! How to Get Over Your Breakup in 30 Days. Owed to everyone who purchased that publication, I had some extra cash in my "book account", which I'd yet to touch. This padding absorbed the entire £82 hit. I had other promotional plans for that cash, but still, I am grateful for you.

So there are two ways to evaluate this outcome.

The one is that I spent three years writing a once-in-a-lifetime book, and somehow, lost money, a total failure, especially considering a big part of my campaign was to give the profits to the Action Against Hunger charity. Sorry, starving kids. I cannot help today.

The other perspective is that I spent comparatively very little money and self-published a book currently on its way around the world. Honestly, when looking at it this way, I'm living in a dream. If I could go back two decades and tell myself this, I'd be like, "Holy shit, I wrote a book?" Yes, little boy. It's your fourth one, congrats.

To conclude, it was a worthy (and brave!) experiment that I am unsure I'll ever repeat. Indiegogo's cut alone is ridic, and I am certain there are better methods. Still, I learned so much, and I know I will only sharpen each book's strategy under additional smarts. One day, I'll be rich as fuck!

If you'd still like to help, please purchase the book on Amazon. That will super benefit the recuperation of funds and will also be the true moment to spread the word further than those closest to me (i.e. you). This is undoubtedly how I need y'all the most. It's be cheap. Fore more fun times, please keep an eye on this Instagram or this Instagram or sign up for the newsletter (preferably all three!).

And just know how grateful I am for everyone who supported a mate when they poured their life into something! For you, it's the cost of a pizza. For me, it's my life sprouting into meaning, thanks to you. ::HEART EMOJI::